GB2172493A

GB2172493A - Safety belt location device

Info

Publication number: GB2172493A
Application number: GB08605792A
Authority: GB
Inventors: D J M Barker
Original assignee: Britax PMG Ltd
Current assignee: Britax PMG Ltd
Priority date: 1985-03-20
Filing date: 1986-03-10
Publication date: 1986-09-24
Also published as: GB8605792D0; GB8507187D0; GB2172493B

Abstract

Means for retaining a safety belt 12 for an occupant of a front seat 10 of a two-door motor car, when unfastened, in a position in which it is accessible to such occupant, comprises an arm 30 pivotally mounted on the seat back 22 for angular movement about a vertical axis 32. A spring 40 biases the arm 30 into a neutral position in which it projects transversely of the vehicle outboard of the seat back 22, and a releasable detent 42 inhibits movement of the arm 30 rearwardly of the neutral position. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Safety belt location device This invention relates to a location device for retaining a safety belt for the occupant of a front seat of a two-door motor car in a position where it can conveniently be grasped by a user. In a two-door motor car, the B-post is usually located a significant distance behind the seat backs ofthe front seats. Since the shoulder anchorages of the front seat safety belts are secured to the respective B-posts, such safety belts hang well behind the seat backs ofthefrontseats when not in use, rendering them relatively inaccessi bleto front seat occupants.

According to the invention, means for retaining a safety belt for an occupant of a front seat of a two-door motor car, when unfastened, in a position in which it is accessible to such occupant, comprises an arm pivotally mounted on the seat back for angular movement about a vertical axis and spring means for biasing the arm into a neutral position in which it projects transversely ofthe vehicle outboard of the seatback,and releasable detent meansfor inhibiting movement ofthe arm rearwardly of the neutral position.

Preferably the spring means is arranged to bias the arm into its neutral position both from positions in front ofthe neutral position and from positions behind the neutral position.

In oneform ofthe invention, the detent means is coupled to release means which allows at least the back of said from seat to move forwardly, whereby the detent means allows the arm to fold rearwardlyfrom its neutral position when the seat back is moved forwardly to allow access to the rear of the motor car.

In anotherform of the invention, the detent means is arranged to yield, so asto allowthe arm to pivot rearwardly when a rearwa rd force thereon exceeds a threshold value.

Two embodiments ofthe invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure lisa perspective view of part ofthe interior of a motor car, showing a front seat equipped with retaining means in accordancewiththe invention; Figure 2 is a schematic elevational view ofthe mechanism ofthe retaining means shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a cross sectional view taken on the line 3-3 in Figure 2; Figure 4 is an elevational view, similarto Figure 2, of another embodiment of the invention; Figure 5 is a cross sectional view taken on the line 5-Sin Figure 4; Figure 6 is a cross sectional view, similarto Figure 5, butwith the arm folded forwardly from its neutral position.

Referring to Figure 1, a two-door motor car has a front seat 10 mounted adjacentto the left hand side door opening.A safety beltfor an occupant ofthe seat 10 has astrap 12 carrying atongue 14which extends from an anchorage 16 adjacenttothe bottom ofthe left hand B-post 18, through a pillar loop 20 and thence to a retractor (not shown). The seat back 22 of the seat 10 can befoldedforwardly,so asto giveaccesstothe rear seats 24, after depressing a lever 26 which releases a conventional mechanism (not shown) for securing the seat back 22 in its upright position for normal use.

In accordance with the invention, an arm 30 projects laterally from the seat back 22 towards the B-post 18.

The front edge ofthe arm 300 is of concave shape so that, when the tongue 14 ofthe safety belt 12 is released from a buckle (not shown) on the inboard side ofthe seat 10 and it is retracted by the above-mentioned retractor (notshown), the belt 12 remains caught round the arm 30 with the tongue 14 in a position where it can conveniently be grasped by an occupant ofthe seat 10. The belt 12 remains in this position unless access to the rear seat 24 is required.

Turning to Figures 2 and 3, the arm 30 is journalled on a vertical axle 32 which is mounted on a bracket 34.

The bracket 34 is secured to theframe (not shown in Figures 2 and 3) ofthe seat back 22 (Figure 1). The bracket 34 has a semicircular upper surface 36 with the bottom end ofthe axle 32 projecting upwardly from the region ofthe centre ofthe semicircle. An inverted L-shaped extension 38 extends upwardly from the surface 36to provide a top attach mentforthe axle 32.

A spring 40 has one end secured to the projection 38 and the other end to the arm 30. When the spring 40 is relaxed,the arm 30 is disposed in the orientation illustrated in Figures 1 and 3.

A detent plunger42 isslidably mounted in vertical bore 44 in the top surface 36 ofthe bracket 34. A spring 46 biases the plunger42 upwardlytothe position illustrated in which it prevents angular movement of the arm 30 in the direction which would move its outer end rearwardlyfrom the neutral position.

A cable 48 connects the plunger 42 to the seat back release 26 lever so that,when the seat back locking mechanism is released to allowthe seat back 22to fold forwardly, the plunger42 is pulled down out ofthe path ofthe lever 30. This allows the arm 30 to fold rearwardly, againstthe action of the spring 40, permitting the seat belt 12 to slip offthe end ofthe arm and lie in close proximitytothe B-post 18 where it provides minimal obstruction to access to the rear seat 24. As soon as this has happened, the arm 30 springs backs its neutral position, allowing the plunger 42 to return to its projecting position when the seat back locking mechanism once again engages.

Whentheseatbelt 12 is next used, the arm 30folds forwardly as the belt 12 is pulled pastthetop corner of the seat back 22 and thus presents no additional obstruction. Alternatively, the user hasthe option of hooking the seat belt 12 round the arm 30 after restoring the seat back 22 to its upright position.

Instead of linking the plunger 42 to the release lever 26, the abutting face ofthe arm 30may be bevelled so that a rearward force on the arm 30 sufficientto overcome the spring 46 can force the plunger 42 downwardly. The strength ofthe spring 46 is then chosen to be such that it cannot be overcome by the force exerted on the safety belt 12 by the retractor but that very little additional force is necessaryto pivotthe arm 30 rearwardly.

Figures 4 and 5 illustrate another embodiment of the invention in which the arm 30 is replaced by an arm 50 which is pivotally mounted on a vertical axle 52. The axle 52 is journalied in a bracket 54 which is secured to a tubular member 56 forming part oftheframe ofthe seat back. A peg 58 projects through a transverse bore nearthe top ofthe axle 52. The arm 50 has abuttment faces 60 and 62 which engage with the pin 58so as to prevent rearward angular movement behindthe neutral position. A spring 64 links a peg 66On the inboard end ofthe arm 50with a peg 68 on the bracket 54so as to bias the arm 50 into the neutral position in which the abuttmentfaces 60 and 62 abut against the pin 58. The bottom end ofthe axle 52 (not shown) is linked to the seat back release mechanism, the arm 50 itself constituting the seatback release lever. In order to allow the seat back to fold forwardly, the arm 50 is rotated in the anticlockwise direction (as viewed in Figure 5) about the axis of the axle 52. This movement is transmitted to the axle 52 by engagementthe abutment faces 60 and 62 with the pin 58 the resulting angular movement of the pin 58 releasing the seat back locking mechanism. When the arm 50 is required to pivotforwardlyto allowthe seat belt 12 to return to its position of use, such pivotal movement takes place against the action of the spring 64 as illustrated in Figure 6.

Claims

1. Means for retaining a safety beltfor an occupant of a front seat ofatwo-door motor car, when unfastened, in a position in which it is accessible to such occupant, comprising an arm pivotally mounted on the seat back for angular movement about a vertical axis and spring means for biasing the arm into a neutral position in which it projects transversely of the vehicle outboard of the seat back, and releasable detent meansfor inhibiting movement ofthe arm rearwardly ofthe neutral position.

2. Retaining means according to claim 1, wherein the spring means is arranged to bias the arm into its neutral position both from positions in front ofthe neutral position and from positions behindthe neutral position.

3. Retaining means according to claim 1 or 2, whereinthedetentmeansiscoupledto release means which allows at least the back of said front seat to moveforwardly,wherebythe detent means allows the arm to fold rearwardly from its neutral position when the seat back is moved forwardly to allow access to the rearofthe motorcar.

4. Retaining means according to claim 3, wherein the arm is pivotally mounted on an axle coupled to the release means.

5. Retaining means accordingto claim 1 or2, wherein the detent means is arranged to yield, so as to allowthe arm to pivot rearwardlywhen a rearward forcethereon exceedsathresholdvalue.

6. Meansfor retaining a safety beitfor an occupant of a frontseat of a two-door motorcar, when unfastened, in a position in which it is accessible to such occupant, substantiaily as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.