GB2100970A

GB2100970A - Guide fitting for a safety belt, more particularly for motor vehicles

Info

Publication number: GB2100970A
Application number: GB08211170A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Alfred Liensdorf
Original assignee: Autoflug GmbH
Current assignee: Autoflug GmbH
Priority date: 1981-04-18
Filing date: 1982-04-16
Publication date: 1983-01-12
Also published as: FR2504016A1; FR2504016B1; JPS57188269A; GB2100970B; DE3115726C2; DE3115726A1; JPH03262B2

Abstract

A guide fitting 80 for a safety belt 18a, 18b, more particularly for motor vehicles, is arranged for pivotal mounting and is provided with a guide element 83 over which the belt passes in such a way as to change from a stationary section 18a, via the guide element 83, into a pulling section 18b, whilst the pivot axis 84 of the guide fitting intersects, or virtually intersects, the central longitudinal plane of the belt passing over the guide element in any position of the guide fitting 80. This may be the case both for a guide fitting with clamping means for the belt and also for a guide fitting without clamping means. It is important that the belt should be guided as far as possible from above and freely from the side wall of the vehicle bodywork to the body of the wearer. In order to solve the problem of keeping the stationary section 18a of the belt constantly motionless, on the one hand, and achieving the optimum geometrical position of the belt over the wearer's body, on the other hand, the guide fitting 80 is mounted on inverted "L"-shaped levers 75 pivoted at 74 on a housing 70. In the event of an accident pull on the section 18b of the belt pivots levers 75 clockwise, clamping belt section 18a between the housing 70 and a plate 87 carried by the levers 75. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Guide fitting for a safety belt, more particularly for motor vehicles The invention relates to a guide fitting for a safety belt, more particularly for motor vehicles, which is arranged for pivotal mounting and is provided with a guide element over which the belt passes in such a way as to change over from a stationary section, via the guide means, to a pulling section, whilst the pivot axis intersects or virtually intersects the central longitudinal plane of the belt passing over the guide element in any position of the guide fitting.

From German Auslegeschrift 2354803 (Stakupress) a safety belt reeling mechanism is known which is provided with a belt guide inclined relative to the belt reeling shaft, this belt guide being pivotable about an axis which passes through or near the line of intersection of the planes formed by the belt as it enters the belt guide. Hence, the pivot axis intersects the central longitudinal plane of the belt extending over the guide element ofthe belt guide in any position of this belt guide. With reference to the belt reeling mechanism, the known belt guide forms a guide fitting for the safety belt and is integral with the belt reeling mechanism.The known belt reeling mechanism and its belt guide are intended to overcome the disadvantage of other belt reeling mechanisms, which is that the so-called stationary section of the belt between the guide fitting and the belt reeling mechanism is not fixed in position but moves laterally back and forth in accordance with the path of movement of the pulling section, e.g. in two-door cars wherein the belt reeling mechanism has to be mounted particularly far back, as afunction of the sitting position and possible movements of the belt wearer. As a result of these movements, the belt does not always run on to the belt winding spindle in precisely the same position, with the resu It that the belt reeling mechanism may not operate satisfactorily in an emergency.

Admittedly, the known belt reeling mechanism with belt guide ensures that the belt always runs on to the belt winding spindle in the same position, but owing to the long distance which the belt has to travel from the belt reeling mechanism to the body of the wearer, there may be some additional inaccuracies in the guiding of the belt. In fact, between the reeling mechanism and the wearer, the belt must be guided through a guide fitting laterally above the wearer's shoulder so as to extend in the correct spatial position over the wearer's body, to ensure that, in an emergency, no only is the body held back but also neck injuries and breakage ofthe collar bone, etc, are avoided.This requires a special construction of the guide fitting laterally above the wearer, and the invention relates to such a guide fitting, whilst making use of some features already known from the belt reeling mechanism described hereinbefore.

The invention relates both ta a guide fitting with a clamping device for the belt, as disclosed, for example, in German Offenlegungsschrift 2540 302 (Autoflug), and to a guide fitting without a clamping device, i.e. where the belt runs, without any additional clamping, from the belt reeling mechanism on the floor of the vehicle directly to the guide fitting in the upper window area of the vehicle body. In both cases, it is important to guide the belt as far as poss ibis from above and with a certain degree of freedom from the side wall of the vehicle bodywork to the body of the wearer. The aim of the invention is to achieve this, whilst preventing the above-mentioned movements back and forth of the stationary section of the belt, however much the person wearing the belt moves about.At the same time, the safety belt should hold the wearer safely back in the event of a crash.

The solution to this problem according to the invention, together with some advantageous embodiments and further features, will become apparent from the patent claims which follow this description.

Afurther advantage of the invention, inter alia, is that it provides a very simple solution to the problem described. The guide fitting is shaped like an inverted "L", like a crane jib, and this is a very lightweight construction which can be produced at low manufacturing cost. At the same time, the functions of the guide fitting are maintained in every respect, i.e. the belt of the stationary section can be rolled up precisely, and the pulling section provides an optimum geometrical positioning of the belt over the wearer's body.

The drawings show two embodiments by way of example of the invention, which are described hereinafter: Fig 1 shows a first embodiment of the guide fitting in front elevation, showing a number of pivoting positions, Fig 2 shows the object of Fig 1, in a lateral section, Fig 3 shows the lower part of Fig 2 on a larger scale, Fig 4 is a view of the object of Fig 3 in the direction of the arrow IV, but on a smaller scale, Fig 5 is a second embodiment, wherein the guide fitting is combined with a safety belt clamping device, in diagrammatic view, Fig 6 is a view of a perpendicular cross-section through the object of Fig 5, on a larger scale.

Figures 1 to 4 show a guide fitting 30 for mounting on the so-called B-column inside a motor car. This guide fitting 30 has a fishplate 31 folded from a sheet metal blank, by means of which an elongate eyering 32 is clamped in place. The fishplate 31 is pivotally mounted on the car-body sheet metal 15 of the B-column by means of a screw 13 and a nut-like reinforcing member 14. The eyering 32 has two straight legs, the upper one of which is embraced and held by the fishplate 31, whilst the lower leg 33 serves for the guidance ofthe belt 18.The so-called stationary section 18a of the belt 18 runs vertically downwards from the leg 33 of the eyering 32, whilst the so-called pulling section 18b ofthe belt 18 follows the move The drawing(s) originally filed was/were informal and the print here reproduced is taken from a later filed formal copy.

ments which the wearer makes when putting on or unbuckling the safety belt, pulling the belt back and forth with the hand.

The fishplate 31 is L-shaped and is mounted on the screw 13 so as to produce an inverted L-shape, i.e.

the short stroke of the "L" is at the top and projects into the interior of the vehicle. Together with the eyering 32, the fishplate 31 and eyering 32 roughly form a U-shaped component mounted with its opening pointing downwards, the dimensions of this component being such that the central plane of the belt 18 at the point where it runs over the straight leg 33 of the eyering 32 is aligned with the central longitudinal line 24 of the screw bolt 13. This ensures that the stationary section 18a of the belt 18 stays still, in terms of lateral movement, in any position of the guide fitting 30.

In practice, mathematically accurate intersection of the central longitudinal line 24 and the central plane ofthe belt 18 will not always be possible, since belts are supplied in different widths, for example, or a belt which has been stretched by long use will become thinner in the course of time. However, mathematical accuracy is of no importance to the desired effect of a fixed resting position of the stationary section 18a, provided that the conditions are such that the stationary section 18a does not make any substantial sideways movement.

In order to prevent the guide fitting 30 from tilting over under the effect of an inclined tensile force acting on the pulling section 18b of the belt 18, this guide fitting is provided with a tilt preventing means and with a restoring device, which are shown particularly in Figures 3 and 4. The tilt preventing means consist of a bent-out portion 34 stamped out of the sheet metal 15 of the B-column so as to produce a projection which cooperates with two stops 35 on the lower end of the fishplate 31 of the guide fitting 30. Depending on the direction in which the fishplate 31 pivots when there is a pull on the pulling section 18b of the belt 18, either the right-hand or left-hand stop 35 comes into contact with the bent-out portion 34 after a pivoting movement through one-eighth of a circle, thereby preventing further pivoting and hence inversion of the guide fitting 30.As the pull on the belt 18 is released, the fishplate 31 is restored to its basic position by means of a return spring 36 which is mounted on a pin 37 and engages with a finger 38 in a bore 39 provided at the lower end of the fishplate 31. The opposite end 40 of the spring is fixed in a bore 41 provided on the B-column.

The eyering 32 may be held in position by means of indentations (not shown) in the surrounding sheet metal of the fishplate 31, whilst the inclined position of the eyering 32 is selected so that the upper edge of the straight leg 33 is located approximately level with the extended central longitudinal line 24 of the fixing screw 13.

Figures 5 and 6 show an embodiment which is a combination of a guide fitting with a belt clamping device, i.e. the guide fitting and the clamping device form a unit. The satisfactory operation of this independent component of a safety belt is ensured by a construction of the guide fitting which prevents lateral movement back and forth of the stationary section 18a ofthe belt 18. Forthis purpose, the central longitudinal line of the pivot means of the guide fitting again preferably intersects the central plane of the belt extending over the guide element ofthe fitting, in any position of the guide fitting.

The combined apparatus has a housing 70 in the form of an annular strip (see Figure 5), i.e. the housing 70 is open at the top and bottom. The vertical rear wall 71 of the housing 70 has a central bore 72 through which a screw bolt (not shown) is passed, by means of which the apparatus is secured in nonrotatable manner to a load-bearing part of the B-column in the car. This is preferably the inner surface in the conventional U-shaped profile of a B-column, and this also means that the apparatus is concealed inside this roof column, i.e. it is invisible from inside the car.

Two lateral lugs 73 are formed on the bottom of the housing 70 and are connected to each other by an axial bolt 74. Two lateral upwardly projecting levers 75 are pivotally mounted thereon, these levers being of an inverted L-shape and being joined together at the top by means of a transverse wall 76.

In this transverse wall there is a bore through which a bearing pin 77, secured by a spring ring 78, is guided, this bearing pin 77 carrying a guide fitting 80 at its front end. This guide fitting consists of a base portion 81 and two side pieces 82 mounted thereon, between which there extends a guide element 83 in the form of a fixed bolt or a rotatable roller. The safety belt 18 is guided over the guide element 83.

The central longitudinal line 84 ofthe bearing pin 77 intersects - with a certain tolerance - the central plane of the belt 18 running overthe guide element 83 in any position of the guide fitting 80, i.e. the upper edge of the guide element 83 is arranged relative to the pivotal mounting of the guide fitting 80 so that these geometric conditions are obtained. This ensures that the stationary section 18a of the belt 18 cannot move in the lateral direction during the various pulling and pivoting movements of the pulling section 18b which occur during practical operation.

Perpendicularly aligned below the inner upper edge of the guide element 83 there is provided, on the apparatus, a clamping slot 85 which is limited on one side by the inner surface of the front housing wall 86 of the housing 70 and on the other side by a clamping plate 87. This clamping plate has, on its rear side, two attachments 88 with which the plate is tiltably mounted on an axial bolt 89 which extends between the levers 75. This provides a stiff mounting, in order to obtain sluggish tilting movements of the clamping plate 87. This plate should not come into contact with the stationary section 18a of the safety belt as :long as no clamping is required.

In operation, the stationary section 18a ofthe belt 18 runs from the belt reeling mechanism (not shown) in an ascending direction through the clamping slot 85 to the guide element 83 and from there, in the form of the pulling section 1 8b, to the body of the wearer and from there to the belt buckle. The guide fitting assumes the angular position (cf. Fig 5) which arises from the particular circumstances, for example the position of the car seat and the size (corpulence) of the belt wearer. In the vent of an accident, the body of the wearer is hurled forwards, thereby exerting a strong pull on the pulling section 18b, and at the same time the entire guide fitting 80 is pulled forwards (to the right in Fig 6) via the element 83.

Sincethe guideftting 80 is pivotable but is also fixedly connected to the two levers 75, these levers pivot clockwise in Figure 6 about the axial bolt 74 and thus push the clamping plate 87 to the right, whereupon the stationary section 18a becomes clamped in the clamping slot 85 between the clamping plate 87 and the inside of the front wall 86 of the apparatus 70. This ensures that the belt 18 cannot be unrolled any further from the belt winding spindle of the belt reeling mechanism, thus producing the known advantageous effects. Failure ofthe clamping device caused by the belt 18 running into the slot 85 at an angle, for example, is out of the question.

With an apparatus as shown in Figures 5 and 6, wherein the guiding and the clamping of the belt are combined in a single unit, there is also the advantage that a comparatively somali spacing can be maintained between the guide point and the clamping point, so that any folding or pleating of the belt on the guide element 83 when the guide fitting 80 pivots into unusual positions will not have any serious consequences.

The features of the object of the application disclosed in the claims, in the description, in the abstract and in the drawings may be essential to the realisation of the invention, in its various embodiments, both individually and in any desired combinations.

Claims

1. A guide fitting for a safety belt, particularly for motor vehicles, which is arranged for pivotal mounting and is provided with a guide element over which the belt passes in such a way as to change over from a stationary section, via the guide means, to a pulling section, whilst the pivot axis intersects, or virtually intersects the central longitudinal plane of the belt passing over the guide element in any position of the guide fitting, in which the guide element is mounted in a mounting member which is in the form of an inverted "L".

2. A guide fitting as claimed in claim 1 in which the mounting member is in the form of a fishplate of L-shaped cross-section mounting the guide element in the form of an eyering at the free end of its short leg, the eyering being constructed as an elongate eyering having one straight leg over which the belt is guided, whilstthe other straight leg is connected, via the fishplate, to the pivot axis whilst the L-shaped fishplate is mounted in the form of an inverted "L" anthe eyering extends diagonally downwards and thefishplate is provided, on its end projecting downwards over the pivot axis, with stops which cooperate with a mating stop so asto limit the pivoting movements of the guide fitting.

3 A guide fitting as claimed in claim 2, in which the fishplate is biassed to a central position by a return spring.

4. A guide fitting as claimed in claim 1 in which the guide fitting incorporates a belt clamping device arranged along the path ofthe stationary belt section, the guide fitting and belt clamping device forming a construction unit.

5. A guide fitting as claimed in claim 4 in which the unit for combining the guide fitting and the belt clamping device contains at least one lever in the form of an inverted "L", which is tiltably mounted and bears, at its free end, the guide fitting, whilst it comprises, near its mounted end, a clamping plate which acts on the stationary section of the belt passing through a clamping slot.

6. A guide fitting as claimed in claim 5 in which two levers of an inverted "L" shape are provided, connected to each other, which are mounted in a housing, the rear side of which can be secured to a part integral with the vehicle, whilst the front side is used to form the clamping slot.

7. A guide fitting as claimed in claim 6 in which the stationary section of the belt is guided to ascend in a straight line through the clamping slot to the guide element and in that there is only a relatively small spacing between the associated clamping slot opening and the guide element.

8. A guide fitting for a safety belt substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.