JPH03279058A - Retractor for seat belt - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce vibration sound of a lock mechanism by providing soft material in the open end face of a cap-like cover, and closely contacting the cover with the outer face of a side plate through the soft material. CONSTITUTION:A groove 60 is drillingly provided on the open end face 52a of a cap-like cover 52 covering a lock mechanism projected from the side plate of a reel frame, so as to circumferentially turn around the opening of the cover 52, and soft material 62 such as rubber is charged in the groove so as to project from the end face. Hereby, the cover 52 can be mounted to cover a lock mechanism and closely contact the cover 52 end face to the side plate through the soft material 62. Adhesion is improved with the soft material 62 having adhesive property. The cover is fitted in the side plate by tightening bolts through the opening 66 of the projecting part 64 of the cover 52, and high airtightness is obtained by squashing the soft material 62. Consequently, vibration sound of the lock mechanism leaked from the cover 52 is markedly minified.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a seat belt retractor for protecting vehicle occupants in an emergency, and particularly relates to a seat belt retractor that is attached to a vehicle and put into practical use. This invention relates to a retractor that has been improved to reduce the propagation of vibration noise, etc. to the surrounding area.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, seat belt devices have been attached to the seats of automobiles in order to protect occupants in the event of an emergency such as a vehicle collision. The seat belt in such a seat belt device is wound around an emergency lock type retractor device attached to a vehicle body strength member. When the occupant wears the seat belt, the seat belt is normally able to be freely pulled out from the retractor device, so that the occupant's movement is not restricted.

In the event of an emergency such as a vehicle collision, the reel shaft locking means is activated by sensing the impact force or sudden acceleration to lock the rotation of the reel shaft that retracts the seat belt. . In addition,
The seat belt itself may be locked by a clamping means. By locking the reel shaft and the seat belt in this manner, the seat belt restrains the occupant and prevents the occupant from moving suddenly, thereby protecting the occupant.

An example of such a conventional seat belt retractor will be described with reference to FIG. 4.

In FIG. 4, reference numeral 10 denotes a frame, which in this embodiment has a substantially U-shape in plan view. That is, the frame 10 has a pair of opposing side plates 12.14 and a connecting portion 16 that connects the side plates 12.14. A reel shaft 18 is mounted between the side plates 12 and 14, and a seat belt 20 is wound around the reel shaft 18.

A string-wound coil spring (the path shown) is arranged outside the side plate 12, and applies a rotational force to the reel shaft 18 in a direction to wind up the seat belt 20. Reference numeral 22 is a cover that covers this string-wound coil spring.

A locking mechanism 24 for locking the reel shaft 18 is provided on the outside of the side plate 14. In this embodiment, the operating mechanism is composed of a string-wound coil spring and the lock mechanism 24. By the way, this locking mechanism 24 includes a ratchet wheel 26 fixed to the reel shaft 18.
, a lock ring 28 fitted to the reel shaft 18, a flywheel 30, a lever 32 for forcibly locking the ratchet wheel 26, and a flywheel 30.
The lock activation device 36 includes an actuation piece 34 that engages with the lock activation device 36.

The lock activation device 36 includes a case 38 fixed to the side plate 14, an actuator 40 loosely fitted within the case 38,
The actuating piece 34, in which the protrusion 34a is in contact with the upper surface of the actuating element 40, and the support part 42 that pivotally supports the actuating piece 34.
It is equipped with such things as

An arm 44 is integrally provided on the M lock ring 28, and an elongated hole 46 is bored in the arm 44. The lower end of the lever 32 is pivotally connected to the side plate 14 by a pivot pin 48, and the upper end thereof is tiltable. A bottle 50 is fixed to the lever 32, and the bottle 50 is engaged with the elongated hole 46.

Although not shown, a friction locking member is provided within the flywheel 30, and parts such as a hook and a hook retainer are incorporated within the lock ring 28.

A cover 52 for covering the locking mechanism 24 is approximately lid-shaped, and is placed over the locking mechanism 24 so that its open end surface 52a abuts the outer surface of the side plate 14. 5
2b is a hook portion for detachably holding the cover 52 on the outer surface of the side plate 14, and the hook portion 52b is fitted into a circular opening 54 provided in the side plate 14.

In the seat belt retractor configured in this manner, when the seat belt 20 is pulled out by the occupant, the flywheel 30 and the actuating piece 34 are in a disengaged state, the reel shaft 18 rotates freely, and the seat belt 2
0 is unwound. Note that when the force for pulling out the seat belt 20 is released, the reel shaft 18 is moved to the cover 22.
The seat belt 20 is urged in the winding direction by the inner spring, and the seat belt 20 is taken on the reel shaft 18 e-1.

When the vehicle undergoes a large acceleration change due to a collision or the like, the lock activation device 36 is activated to prevent the seat belt 20 from unwinding. That is, when a large acceleration is applied to the lock activation device 36, the actuator 40 tilts. Then, the actuating piece 34 is pushed up via the protrusion 34a, the tip of the actuating piece 34 is lifted, and the tip engages with the claw portion on the outer peripheral surface of the flywheel 30. As the flywheel 30 stops rotating, the lock ring 28 is rotated counterclockwise in FIG. 4 by a mechanism not shown. Then, the arm 44 shifts the upper end side of the lever 32 to the right in FIG. As a result, the tip of the lever 32 engages with the ratchet wheel 26, and the reel shaft 18 is firmly locked.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In the seat belt retractor configured as described above, even when the vehicle is not in an emergency, the lock activation device 36, flywheel 30,
Fine mechanical vibration noise is generated in the lock ring 28 or the surrounding area. Further, as the seatbelt is pulled out and retracted, the string-wound coil spring also generates operating noise. Although the provision of the cover 22.52 reduces the propagation of this sound to the outside, there is a risk that a considerable amount of sound will leak outside and become audible to vehicle occupants. Ta.

Additionally, there was a risk that this sound could be mistaken for the sound before the failure.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The seat belt retractor of the present invention includes the cover 22
．． A soft material is provided on the end face of the cover 22.52 and the side plate! 2.14 and the outer surface thereof is airtightly sealed.

[Function] According to the seat belt retractor of the present invention, the sound emitted from the operating mechanism is less likely to leak out of the cover, and the volume heard by the vehicle occupant is significantly reduced.

[Example] Examples will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cover used in an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line II-II in FIG. 1. In this embodiment, the configuration other than the cover is the same as that of the conventional example shown in the drawings, so only the configuration of a portion of the cover will be described.

In this embodiment, a groove 60 is provided on the end surface 52a of the cover 52.
is bored so as to go around the opening of the cover 52,
The groove 60 is filled with a soft material 62 (for example, rubber or synthetic resin). By providing the soft material 62 so as to protrude from the end surface 52a, the soft material 62 comes into close contact with the side plate 14, and the vibration noise of the lock mechanism 24 leaking from the cover 52 to the outside is significantly reduced.

Note that the soft material 62 may have adhesive properties. This improves adhesion and enhances the sound insulation effect. Furthermore, it becomes difficult to remove the cover 52 from the side plate 14, and careless disassembly and repair by the user of the locking mechanism section 24 is prevented, thereby avoiding failures due to incomplete repair or the like.

In this embodiment, a protrusion 64 is provided on the cover 52, and an opening 66 is formed in the protrusion 64. This frontage 6
By screwing bolts through the bolts 6 into the openings of the side plates 14, the cover 52 is pressed against the side plates 14, and the soft material 62 interposed between the two is crushed to create an extremely airtight state. Therefore, the volume leaking from the cover 52 is significantly small.

In the above embodiment, the soft material 62 is fitted into the groove 60, but in the present invention, the cover 52 is made of synthetic resin, and when manufacturing the synthetic resin cover 52 as shown in Fig. 343,
The soft material 62 may be integrally molded using a two-color molding method. In this case as well, a part of the soft material 62 is made to protrude from the end surface 52a of the cover 52 as in FIG.
It is preferable to configure the structure to airtightly seal the space between the two.

In the above embodiment, the reel shaft 1 is attached to the outer part of the side plate 14.
A lock mechanism for locking the seat belt 8 is provided to prevent the seat belt 20 from being unwound in the event of a vehicle emergency.

However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a mechanism for holding the seat belt 20 is provided within the frame 10,
In the event of a vehicle emergency, the seat belt 20 may be held by this holding mechanism to lock the seat belt from being unrolled. In this case, a locking mechanism for operating this clamping mechanism is arranged on the outside of the side plate 14. The cover 52 is provided to cover this locking mechanism.

In the above embodiment, no particular soundproofing measures are taken for the cover 22, but a soft material as shown in FIG. It may also be possible to prevent the spread of the virus.

[Effects] As described above, according to the seatbelt retractor of the present invention, it is possible to reduce the propagation of sound generated from the operating mechanism such as the locking mechanism of the retractor to the outside. As a result, the comfort inside the vehicle can be improved. Furthermore, the possibility that the sound generated from the seatbelt retractor is mistaken for a malfunction sound is also eliminated.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cover used in an embodiment of the present invention;
2 is a sectional view taken along line II-II in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a main part according to another embodiment.'! Figure J4 is a perspective view showing a conventional example. 10...Frame, 20...Seat belt, 2
4...Lock mechanism, 30...Flywheel, 36
... Lock activation device, 52 ... Cover 62 ... Soft material.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A frame having a pair of opposing side plates, a reel shaft installed between these side plates, an actuation mechanism connected to the reel shaft and disposed outside the side plates, and a mechanism that covers the actuation mechanism. In a seatbelt retractor equipped with a lid-shaped cover, a soft material is provided on an end surface of the opening surrounding the opening of the lid-shaped cover, and the soft material is in close contact with the outer surface of the side plate. Features a seat belt retractor.