Adjustable Fitting for Safety Belt

Further features, advantages and possible applications of the present invention will become manifest from the following description which must be taken in conjunction with the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the adjusting device with belt portions fitted;

FIG. 2 is a side view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view on the line A-B in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the locking cap;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the locking cap;

FIG. 6 is a section on the line D--D in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the frame;

FIG. 8 is a view of the thrust piece from below;

FIG. 9 is a section through the view in FIG. 8 on the line E-F;

FIG. 10 shows a perspective view of a different embodiment of locking cap;

FIG. 11 is a cross-section through the locking cap in FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a plan view of the locking cap in FIGS. 10 and 11; and

FIG. 13 is a cross-section through the locking cap according to FIGS. 10 and 12.

Shown on the right in FIG. 1, on the frame 1 with the longitudinal aperture 2 is that belt strip 3 which, as its right-hand broken away and not shown end, is attached to the vehicle, preferably alongside the seat of the occupant.

On the opposite front side is shown the belt strip 4, of which one end is passed around the hip or shoulder of the occupant, while the other oppositely disposed free belt end 5 is riveted to a (not shown) synthetic plastics part which is slideably disposed on the other part 4 of the belt strip. The exact run of the belt is shown clearly in FIGS. 2 and 3. The free end 6 of the rearward belt strip 3 is passed from below through the longitudinal aperture 2, is pulled upwards and folded back around the long lateral face 7 (see FIGS. 2 and 3) and onto itself, being secured for example by a seam 8 according to FIG. 1. The front belt strip 4 is pulled up behind the transverse web 9 according to FIG. 3, through the longitudinal aperture 2, is passed around the transverse web 9 and is pulled downwards again through the longitudinal aperture 2 and then under the frame 1, on the left in the drawings.

The embodiment shown in the drawings constitutes a preferred embodiment having three component elements. The first element is the already-described frame 1. The second component is the thrust piece 10 shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 and the third component is the locking cap 11 shown in FIGS. 4 to 6.

The thrust piece 10 shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 has a transverse web 9 with a locking edge 12 and lateral guide panels 13, 13'. FIG. 9 shows that the transverse web 9 is bent away or set at a small angle to the main plane of the thrust piece 10. In consequence, the clamping slot 14 shown in FIG. 3 does not, in the locked state, shear off the belt passed through it, because the clear locking action is adequate, as various series of tests has shown. As an additional measure to increase the friction and thus the locking action, the under side of the transverse web 9 is ribbed, as shown at 15. The length of the thrust piece 10 measured beyond the transverse web 9 and the guide panels 13, 13' is equal to the outer length of the frame 1.

The locking cap is shown in FIGS. 4 to 6. It constitutes the third element of the preferred embodiment shown in the drawings and provides for guiding of the thrust piece 10 on the frame 1 which, as shown in FIG. 7 in conjunction with FIGS. 2 and 3, consists essentially of a flat steel plate with the stamped out longitudinal aperture 2, the embodiment shown in FIG. 7 also having an angled gripping pane 16. The plan view in FIG. 5 shows that, in plan view, the locking cap 11 has approximately the shape of the thrust piece 10. Instead of the transverse web 9 of the thrust piece, it has a profiled web 17 of approximately semi-circular cross-section and on the outside faces of which cranked guide jaw 18 are provided. The size of the locking cap 11 is such that it completely masks the thrust piece 10 when they are in superimposed relationship. The guide jaws 18 consist of lateral walls 19 which are bent over at the bottom through approximately 90.degree. to form projections 20. From the side walls 19, short projections 21 also extend in the direction of the profile web 17, to ensure that, when pushed up from below against the profile web 17, the inserted thrust piece 10 is secured transversely thereto.

When in the foregoing description, it is stated that the side walls 19 are "bent over" to form projections 20, this expression does not include the possibility that in the case of the preferred embodiment in which the locking cap consists of plastics material, preferably polyamide, the entire locking cap is cast in one piece, the projections 20 then being naturally formed not by being "bent over" but being formed by casting or moulding in a mould.

Preferably, the locking cap is black and also the frame 1 may have a black surface sintered with synthetic plastics material. The thrust piece on the other hand, when the adjusting device is assembled, is not visible and may have a metal surface having a more or less bright appearance.

The adjusting device or adjustable fitting according to the invention is assembled in that first the thrust piece 10 is pushed into the locking cap 11 between projections 20 and profile web 17, then is pressed upwards against the profile web and between the short projections 21, and, in this state, is pushed together with the locking cap over the frame 1, so the position shown in FIG. 1 is assumed. The belts are then fitted and secured in the manner described at the outset.

The adjusting device functions as follows:

The frame 1 is tilted out of the plane of the belt strips 3 to 6 by a slight lifting, for example by thumb pressure on the grip panel 16, so that the thrust piece 10 can move together with the locking cap 11 somewhat to the right in FIGS. 1 to 3. The locking slot 14 opens and for adjusting the length of the belt strip, the belt strip 4 can now be pulled to extend the belt. In order to shorten the belt, the aforesaid slight raising of the frame 1 is not necessary; it is necessary only to pull on the free belt strip 5. By reason of the approximately semi-circular configuration, shown particularly clearly in FIG. 6, i.e. by reason of the rounded surface of the profile web 17, the belt strip can be moved more easily in the open position, i.e. adjusted, because the looping-around angle for the belt strip is improved and the sharp kinking thereof, as in conventional adjustable fittings, over the rear edge of the transverse web 9, is avoided. The said facilitation of adjustment will be immediately obvious from FIGS. 2 and 3. In an emergency, ie. in the case of an impact of the motor vehicle, there is a sudden violent pull on the belt strip 4. As in the case of the known adjustable fittings, when this loading occurs, there is immediately a locking moment, i.e. the belt strip 4 pulls the transverse web 9 together with the profile web 17 (together with FIGS. 1 to 3) to the left, narrowing the locking slot 14, effecting a transposition of the transverse member 9 together with the profile web 17 and the frame 1, rendering any further movement for extending the belt strip 4 impossible.

The locking cap according to FIGS. 10 to 13 differs from that shown in FIGS. 4 to 6 only by virtue of the laterally overlapping guide webs 30 and 31. These are mounted on the outside faces of the profile web 17 and overlap the profile web somewhat, being disposed at a distance therefrom. The other parts of the locking cap are not described in greater detail since they have already been described in conjunction with the embodiment shown in FIGS. 4 to 6.