GB2445148A

GB2445148A - A seat-belt presenter arrangement

Info

Publication number: GB2445148A
Application number: GB0625940A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Erik Hjerpe; Dan Br Se
Original assignee: Autoliv Development AB
Current assignee: Autoliv Development AB
Priority date: 2006-12-27
Filing date: 2006-12-27
Publication date: 2008-07-02
Anticipated expiration: 2026-12-27
Also published as: GB2445148B; GB0625940D0

Abstract

A seat-belt presenter arrangement 1 is disclosed for use with a vehicle seat 2. The arrangement comprises an engaging element 17 which is arranged for engagement with part of a seat-belt 7. An actuating mechanism is also provided and the engaging element 17 is moveable from a starting position to a presenting position which is located forwardly of the starting position relative to the seat 2. The actuating mechanism is pneumatically operable to move the engaging element 17 from its starting position to its presenting position, thereby engaging the seat-belt 7 and moving part of the seat-belt forwardly relative to the seat 2. The actuating mechanism may comprise a compressed gas operated piston 22 acting upon an elongate lever arm 14, where said arm may be urged back to it's starting position under the action of a helical spring 25.

Description

Title: A Seat-Belt Presenter Arrangement

Description of Invention

The present invention relates to a seat-belt presenter arrangement, and more particularly relates to a seat-belt presenter arrangement for use with a vehicle seat and intended to present a seat-belt conveniently to an occupant of the seat.

The use of seat-belts in motor vehicles is now very widely known and, indeed, in many countries is now mandatory. Conventional seat-belts are of the lap-and-shoulder-strap configuration including a lap belt portion and a shoulder belt portion formed from a continuous webbing safety-belt. In such an arrangement, one end of the belt is anchored either to the floor of the motor vehicle or to the seat itself, typically on an outboard side of the seat. The other end of the belt extends generally upwardly from the anchor point, passing through a pillar-loop secured to or in the region of B-pillar of the motor vehicle, before being directed downwardly again to a retractor arrangement mounted on the floor of the motor vehicle or in the seat itself. A locking tongue is slidably mounted along the seat-belt, between the anchor point and the pillar loop and is configured to engage a buckle positioned adjacent the inboard side of the vehicle seat. When not in use, the retractor arrangement biases the belt and tongue arrangement towards the outboard side of the vehicle.

To fasten a seat-belt of the type described above, a vehicle occupant sitting on the seat must first twist around in the seat and reach across his or her body in order to grab the sliding tongue that usually hangs above and behind the seat.

Then, the occupant must draw the tongue and the belt across his or her body so that the shoulder belt portion extends from the pillar loop diagonally across the occupant's chest, whilst the lap-belt portion extends across the occupant's lap. Finally, the occupant must then releasably secure the tongue in the

S I

buckle at the inboard side of the seat. As will therefore be appreciated, this procedure can be difficult and inconvenient, particularly for seat occupants having a restrictive degree of movement, such as pregnant women or overweight passengers.

It has therefore been proposed previously to provide a motor vehicle seat with a seat-belt presenter arrangement configured to move the seat-belt and its associated sliding tongue into a position into which is more readily accessible to the vehicle occupant when sitting on the seat, but which nevertheless allows substantially unrestricted entry and exit through the door aperture of the vehicle. One such arrangement is disclosed in US 6,308, 086 which discloses a number of relatively complicated mechanical arrangements.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved seat-belt presenter arrangement for use with a motor vehicle seat.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a seat-belt presenter arrangement for use with a vehicle seat, the arrangement comprising: an engaging element arranged for engagement with part of the seat-belt, and an actuating mechanism, the engaging element being moveable between a starting position and a presenting position, the presenting position being forward of the starting position relative to the seat, wherein the actuating mechanism is pneumatically operable to move the engaging element from its starting position to its presenting position, thereby engaging the seat-belt and moving said part of the seat-belt forwardly relative to the seat.

Preferably, the actuating mechanism comprises an elongate lever-arm mounted at a first end for substantially pivotal movement about a pivot axis, and carrying the engaging element at a second end, the pivot axis being fixed relative to the seat.

Conveniently, the first end of the lever-arm is mounted for eccentric movement about said pivot axis, so as to impart a degree of upwards movement to the engaging element relative to the seat as it moves from its starting position to its presenting position.

Advantageously, the engaging element is pivotally mounted to the lever-arm at its second end.

Conveniently, the engaging element is mounted for pivotal movement relative to the lever arm about a substantially horizontal pivot axis.

Preferably, the engaging element is tethered to a point fixed with respect to the seat so as to impart pivotal movement to the engaging element relative to the lever-arm as the actuating mechanism is operated.

Advantageously, the engaging element is mounted for substantially pivotal movement relative to the lever arm about a substantially vertical pivot axis.

Conveniently, the actuating mechanism comprises a drive-unit operable under the action of a source of compressed gas to move the lever-arm substantially pivotally about said pivot axis.

Advantageously, the drive-unit comprises a gas-piston mounted between the lever-arm and a point fixed with respect to the seat, the gas-piston being actuable so as to extend under the action of the compressed gas.

Preferably, the gas-piston is pivotally connected to the lever arm at a position between the first and second ends of the lever arm.

Conveniently, the gas piston is pivotally connected to the lever arm at a position closer to the first end of the lever arm than to the second end of the lever arm.

Advantageously, the actuating mechanism is biased towards a condition in which the engaging element is located in its starting position.

Preferably, the actuating mechanism is biased by a spring.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicle seat in combination with a seat-belt presenter as defined above.

Preferably, the seat-belt presenter arrangement is provided integrally with the seat.

So that the invention may be more readily understood, and so that further features thereof may be appreciated, embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a side view of a vehicle seat equipped with a seat-belt presenter in accordance with the present invention, showing the seat-belt presenter arrangement in an initial, starting position; Figure 2 is a side view corresponding generally to that of Figure 1, but illustrating the seat-belt presenter arrangement in an alternate, presenting, position following actuation; Figure 3 is a view from above illustrating an additional feature of a favoured embodiment of the seat-belt presenter arrangement, with the arrangement in an initial starting position; and Figure 4 is a view corresponding generally to that of Figure 3, illustrating the arrangement in a presenting position.

Referring initially to Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings, there is illustrated a seat-belt presenter arrangement, indicated generally at 1, provided in combination with a vehicle seat 2. The vehicle seat comprises a squab 3 and a back-rest 4 in a generally conventional manner.

On the outboard side of the seat 2, an anchor plate 5 is secured to the lower region of the back-rest 4 by any convenient means such as, for example, a bolt 6. The anchor plate is angled with respect to the back-rest 4 so as to point in a generally upwards and forwards direction relative to the lower region of the back-rest.

A seat-belt 7 is provided with preferably takes the form of a generally conventional webbing strap. One end of the seat-belt, indicated at 8, is secured to the anchor plate 5 and is hence fixed relative to the back-rest of the seat. From the point of connection between the end 8 of the safety-belt 7 and the anchor plate 5, the safety-belt 7 extends generally upwardly and passes through a pillar loop 9 which, as its name suggests, is preferably mounted to a structural pillar of the motor vehicle cabin. In the case of a front seat, the pillar loop 9 is mounted to the B-pillar of the motor vehicle, but in the case of a rear seat, then the pillar loop 9 is mounted to the C-pillar of the motor vehicle.

However, it should be appreciated that in variants of the invention, the loop 9 can be provided integrally with the back-rest 4 of the seat 2.

The safety-belt 7 turns through the pillar loop 9 and from there extends generally downwardly where it is wound on to a retractor 10 which is either secured to part of the structure of the motor vehicle or, in variants of the invention, is secured to part of the back-rest 4 of the seat 2.

A generally conventional locking tongue 11 is provided along the length of the seat-belt 7 extending between the anchor plate 5 and the pillar loop 9, the tongue being slidably retained on the safety-belt for sliding movement along the safety-belt. The tongue is configured, in a manner known per Se, for releasable engagement in a buckle which is located on the opposite side of the seat to the anchor plate 5 in an otherwise generally similar position (not shown).

Figure 1 illustrates the seat-belt 7 in its normal rest position in which it is substantially completely retracted by the retractor 10 so as to lie generally adjacent the back-rest 4 of the seat in order to allow an occupant to enter or exit the cabin of the motor vehicle through the door aperture.

The actuating mechanism I will now be described in more detail.

A generally circular plate 12 is mounted to the structure of the seat 2, for rotation about a substantially horizontal pivot axis 13 which runs transversely with respect to the seat (into the page as viewed).

An elongate lever arm 14 is provided, which is pivotally mounted at its lower end 15 to a point on the circular plate 12 which is spaced slightly from the central pivot axis 13 of the circular plate 12. In this manner, the lower end 15 of the lever arm 14 is eccentrically mounted relative to the pivot axis 13.

The lever arm 14 extends upwardly and rearwardly relative to the seat 2, from its point of connection with the circular plate 12 so as to terminate, at its upper end 16, at a position generally adjacent, but slightly above, the anchor plate 5.

The actuating mechanism I further comprises an engaging element indicated generally at 17 which is pivotally mounted to the upper end 16 of the lever arm 14, for substantially pivotal movement relative to the lever arm about a substantially horizontal axis. The engaging element 17 comprises an upwardly and generally inwardly (i.e. towards the seat) directed part 18 which is fixedly connected to a substantially discshaped plate 19. The upper end 16 of the lever arm 14 is pivotally connected to the disc-shaped plate 19 at a point around its periphery. Also connected to the periphery of the disc-shaped plate 19, at a position generally adjacent the point of connection with the upper end of the lever arm 14, is a first end 20 of a flexible tether 21, the other end of which is connected to the end of the seat-belt 8.

It should be appreciated at this point that Figure 1 illustrates the engaging element 17 in its initial starting position in which it is located generally behind the lower region of the seat-belt 7 extending upwardly from the anchor point 5.

The actuating mechanism 1 further comprises a drive unit which takes the form of a selectively actuable gas-piston 22, the piston being actuable so as to increase in length in a manner known per Se. The gas piston 22 is mounted between a fixed point 23 on the structure of the seat, at the base of the back-rest 4, and a point 24 along the length of the lever arm 14. The connection between the gas piston 22 and the lever arm 14, at the point 24 is a pivotal connection, the point 24 being located nearer to the lower end 15 of the lever arm than to the upper end 16.

A restoring spring 25, in the form of a helically-wound tension spring, is provided, connected between an upper region of the lever arm 14 and the fixed point 23. The restoring spring 25 thus serves to bias the lever arm 14 towards its starting position illustrated in Figure 1 (i.e. biased in a clockwise sense as viewed in Figure 1).

The gas piston 22 is fluidly connected to a gas source, for example a compressed gas container (not shown). The gas container is preferably arranged so as to be automatically refilled with compressed gas from a compressor powered from the motor vehicle's engine.

Upon receipt of a triggering signal from a triggering circuit (not shown) indicative of an occupant sitting on the seat (e.g. from a weight sensor), the gas piston 22 is actuated so that the gas pressure within the piston begins to increase, thereby causing the piston rod to move out from the piston cylinder, thereby increasing the overall length of the gas piston 22. This serves to push the lever arm 14 away from the fixed point 23 which causes the pivot arm 14 to move substantially pivotally about the pivot axis 13 from the start position illustrated in Figure 1 to a presenting position, as illustrated in Figure 2. In fact, because the lower end 15 of the lever arm 14 is preferably eccentrically mounted to the rotatable circular plate 12, as the gas piston 22 increases in length, a degree of upwards movement is also imparted to the lever arm 14 as the circular plate 12 rotates in a counter-clockwise sense as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2.

As the lever arm 14 is moved from its start position in Figure 1 to its presenting position in Figure 2, the engaging element 17 is similarly moved forwards. As the lever arm 14 moves in this manner, the tether 21 is drawn tight and this serves to maintain the general orientation of the engaging element 17, about its horizontal axis (into the page) as it is moved forwardly, and to some degree upwardly, throughout the range of movement of the lever arm 14.

As the engaging element 17 is moved forwardly in this manner, the part 18 engages the inner face of the seat-belt 7 and pushes that region of the seat-belt 7 forwardly so as to adopt a more convenient position for an occupant of the seat to grasp the seat-belt across his or her body. This is the condition illustrated generally in Figure 2.

It will be appreciated that as the lever arm 14 is moved from its starting position in Figure 1 to its presenting position in Figure 2, the restoring spring is extended, against its natural biasing force.

After a predetermined time, preferably determined by a timer incorporated in the triggering circuit, the triggering circuit sends a further signal to the gas piston 22 which is effective to vent the gas from the piston cylinder. When this occurs, the restoring force provided by the spring 25 is effective to return the lever arm 14 from its presenting position in Figure 2 to its starting position in Figure 1. Preferably, the aforementioned predetermined time is set so as to allow the seat occupant sufficient time after initially sitting on the seat, to grasp the seat-belt from its forwardly-presented position in Figure 2, and to draw the seat-belt across his or her body so as to engage the tongue 11 in the buckle on the other side of the seat.

Figure 3 illustrates a further optional feature of the preferred seat-belt presenter arrangement of the present invention. Figure 3 illustrates the engaging element 17 from above, showing it in its initial starting position. In this arrangement, the engaging element 17 has a slightly curved profile as viewed from above and is pivotally mounted to the upper end of the lever arm 14 so as to allow the engaging element 17 to pivot about a substantially vertical pivot axis 26. In the starting position illustrated in Figure 3, the seat-belt 7 passes around, and bears against, the engaging element 17 on its outermost region, to the outboard side of the pivot axis 26, with the lower region of the seat-belt then extending inwardly from the engaging element 17 towards the anchor plate 15.

During actuation of the seat-belt presenter arrangement, the lever arm 14 is pivoted forwardly, as illustrated in Figure 4, which thus serves to move the engaging element 17 towards its forward presenting position. However, as the engaging element 17 is moved forwardly in this manner, a combination of its curved profile, and the inboard location of the anchor plate 15 relative to the engaging element 17, causes the seat-belt 7 to slide along the engaging element 17, towards the seat as indicated generally by arrow 27. As it happens, the engaging element 17 pivots inwardly relative to the seat, about its pivot axis 26 as illustrated in Figure 4, the pivot axis remaining substantially vertical throughout the range of movement of the lever arm due to the action of the tether maintaining the orientation of the engaging element about its horizontal axis. This inwardly pivoting action makes it easier for a person sitting on the seat to grasp the seat-belt 7 and remove it from the engaging element 17 of the presenter arrangement.

In variants of the arrangement described above with reference to Figures 3 and 4, the inwardly-pivoting action of the engaging element 17 can be provided by means of a gear mechanism arranged so that forwards movement of the lever arm 14 is effective to positively drive the inward pivoting movement of the engaging element 17.

It should be appreciated that the above-described invention provides a relatively simple and very convenient form of seat-belt presenter arrangement which is operable pneumatically by the gas piston 22.

Whilst the present invention has been described with particular reference to specific embodiments, it should be appreciated that certain modifications can be made to the above-described embodiments without departing from the scope of the claimed invention. For example, whilst the embodiments described above utilise a restoring spring in the form of an elongate tension springs, in variants of the invention, the restoring spring could take the form of a spirally-wound coil spnng provided around the pivot axis 13 and mounted so as to provide a rotational restoring force directly to the circular plate 12.

When used in this specification and claims, the terms "comprises" and "comprising" and variations thereof mean that the specified features, steps or integers are included. The terms are not to be interpreted to exclude the presence of other features, steps or components.

The features disclosed in the foregoing description, or the following claims, or the accompanying drawings, expressed in their specific forms or in terms of a means for performing the disclosed function, or a method or process for attaining the disclosed result, as appropriate, may, separately, or in any combination of such features, be utilised for realising the invention in diverse forms thereof.

Claims

Claims: 1. A seat-belt presenter arrangement for use with a vehicle

seat, the arrangement comprising: an engaging element arranged for engagement with part of the seat-belt, and an actuating mechanism, the engaging element being moveable between a starting position and a presenting position, the presenting position being forward of the starting position relative to the seat, wherein the actuating mechanism is pneumatically operable to move the engaging element from its starting position to its presenting position, thereby engaging the seat-belt and moving said part of the seat-belt forwardly relative to the seat.
2. A seat-belt presenter arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the actuating mechanism comprises an elongate lever-arm mounted at a first end for substantially pivotal movement about a pivot axis, and carrying the engaging element at a second end, the pivot axis being fixed relative to the seat.
3. A seat-belt presenter arrangement according to claim 2, wherein the first end of the lever-arm is mounted for eccentric movement about said pivot axis, so as to impart a degree of upwards movement to the engaging element relative to the seat as it moves from its starting position to its presenting position.
4. A seat-belt presenter arrangement according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the engaging element is pivotally mounted to the lever-arm at its second end.
5. A seat-belt presenter arrangement according to claim 4, wherein the engaging element is mounted for pivotal movement relative to the lever arm about a substantially horizontal axis.
6. A seat-belt presenter arrangement according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the engaging element is tethered to a point fixed with respect to the seat so as to impart pivotal movement to the engaging element relative to the lever-arm as the actuating mechanism is operated.
7. A set-belt presenter arrangement according to any one of claims 4 to 6, wherein the engaging element is mounted for substantially pivotal movement relative to the lever arm, about a substantially vertical pivot axis.
8. A seat-belt presenter arrangement according to any one of claims 2 to 7, wherein the actuating mechanism comprises a drive-unit operable under the action of a source of compressed gas to move the lever-arm substantially pivotally about said pivot axis.
9. A seat-belt presenter arrangement according to claim 9, wherein the drive-unit comprises a gas-piston mounted between the lever-arm and a point fixed with respect to the seat, the gas-piston being actuable so as to extend under the action of the compressed gas.
10. A seat-belt presenter arrangement according to claim 9, wherein the gas-piston is pivotally connected to the lever arm at a position between the first and second ends of the lever arm.
11. A seat-belt presenter arrangement according to claim 10, wherein the gas piston is pivotally connected to the lever arm at a position closer to the first end of the lever arm than to the second end of the lever arm.
12. A seat-belt presenter arrangement according to any preceding claim, wherein the actuating mechanism is biased towards a condition in which the engaging element is located in its starting position.
13. A seat-belt presenter arrangement according to claim 12, wherein the actuating mechanism is biased by a spring.
14. A vehicle seat provided with a seat-belt presenter arrangement according to any preceding claim.
15. A vehicle seat according to claim 14, wherein the seat-belt presenter arrangement is provided integrally with the seat.
16. A seat-belt presenter arrangement substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.
17. A vehicle seat provided with a seat-belt presenter arrangement substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.
18. Any novel feature or combination of features disclosed herein.