Webbing Support Device

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a webbing support device adapted for use in a seatbelt system for supporting an intermediate portion of the webbing on a vehicle body.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Among seatbelt systems of various types in one using a continuous occupant restraining webbing an intermediate portion of the occupant restraining webbing positioned between a webbing retractor retracting the webbing therein and a torso of the occupant is supported on a side wall of the vehicle body through a slip joint. The slip joint allows the intermediate portion of the webbing to be moved freely in its longitudinal direction, whereby the occupant is capable of changing his attitude voluntarily in a restrained situation by the webbing.

Also, the slip joint is constructed toughly so as to sustain a large tension acting on the webbing in the emergency situation of the vehicle and transmit it to the vehicle body reliably, and it is securely mounted on the side wall of the vehicle body.

Accordingly, when an occupant having a very small physical build, a child or so is restrained by the webbing, he is obliged to be kept in an unnatural attitude or in some cases the webbing touches his face, which hurts his feelings.

In view of the above facts, the present invention has as its object the provision of a webbing support device for supporting an intermediate portion of an occupant restraining webbing in which even when an occupant having a physical build different from a normal physical build is restrained by the webbing a position at which the webbing is supported on a vehicle body can be changed in accordance with the physical build.

In the webbing support device for supporting an intermediate portion of the occupant restraining webbing, a webbing supporting member capable of supporting the webbing is mounted on a side wall of the vehicle body for a slip joint supporting the webbing in addition to the slip joint, whereby a portion of the webbing positioned between the slip joint and a torso of the occupant is supported turnedly to the webbing supporting member so that an anchor point of the webbing for the torso of the occupant can be changed corresponding to physical build of an occupant restrained by the webbing.

Description will hereinunder be given of embodiments of the present invention with reference to the drawings attached hereto.

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a seatbelt system to which a webbing support device for supporting an intermediate portion of an occupant restraining webbing according to the present invention, seen from a side of a vehicle;

FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along a line III--III of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a front view showing a rod material 38 of a first embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a front view of a second embodiment according to the present invention; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a third embodiment according to the present invention.

In FIG. 1, there is shown a seatbelt system to which a webbing support device 10 for supporting an intermediate portion of an occupant restraining webbing according to a first embodiment is applied.

The seatbelt system is constructed in such a manner that an occupant 16 sitting on a seat 14 is put in a restrained situation by an occupant restraining webbing 12 in an emergency situation of a vehicle. The webbing 12 is secured at its one end portion to an anchor plate 20 fixed to a side wall 18 of a vehicle body. An intermediate portion of the webbing 12 is turned back by a tongue plate 22 and the webbing support device 10, and it is retracted from the other end portion of the webbing 12 into a webbing retractor 24.

The webbing retractor 24 is fixed to the side wall 18 of the vehicle body, and it is constructed so as to retract the webbing 12 from the other end portion thereof. The webbing retractor 24 is provided with an inertial locking mechanism stopping an unwinding of the webbing 24 instantaneously in the emergency situation of the vehicle.

In addition, the tongue plate 22 can be latched to a buckle device 26 which is fixed to a tunnel portion 28 formed projectingly on a substantially central portion of a floor of the vehicle in a front and a rear directions of the vehicle, so that the buckle device 26 is disposed adjacent to a side portion of the seat 14.

The webbing support device 10 will now be described in detail in accordance with FIGS. 2 and 3.

The webbing support device 10 includes a slip ring 30 for turning and supporting the webbing 12 as well as a conventional webbing support means, and the webbing 12 unwound from the webbing retractor 24 is turned back and supported by the slip ring 30. That is to say, the slip ring 30 is made of rod material having a sectional configuration of a circular shape and it is formed in an oval shape having two sides substantially parallel to each other. One of the sides is applied for turning and supporting the webbing 12 as a supporting portion 30A and the other thereof is secured with a connecting plate 32. The connecting plate 32 is penetrated by a mounting bolt 34, as is mounting means, which is screwed into the side wall 18 of the vehicle body, so that the slip ring 30 is mounted on the side wall 18. Disposed between the side wall 18 and the connecting plate 32 is a spacer 36 of a tubular shape penetrated by the mounting bolt 34, whereby the connecting plate 32 and the slip ring 30 are kept in rotatable situations about the mounting bolt 34. Thus, the slip ring 30 and the connecting plate 32 constitute a slip joint.

Suspended from the spacer 36 is a webbing supporting member 38 made of rod material through its one end portion bent in a U shape, so that the webbing supporting member 38 is made rotatable about the mounting bolt 34. The webbing supporting member 38 is formed with a vertical portion contiguous to the U-shaped portion reaching an approximately middle portion thereof and it is formed with a bent portion contiguous to the vertial portion bent in a direction of separation from the side wall 18 in the suspended situation of the webbing supporting memeber 38, as shown in FIG. 3. Also, the webbing supporting member 38 is further formed with a J-shaped portion contiguous to the bend portion reaching the other end portion thereof, the J-shaped portion functioning as a supporting portion 40 for turning and supporting the webbing 12. The supporting portion 40 is positioned nearer to the occupant 16 than a portion of the webbing 12 positioned between the webbing retractor 24 and the slip ring 30, i.e., farther from the side wall 18 than the portion of the webbing 12 thus positioned. In additon, a portion of the webbing 12 turned back by the slip ring 30 to reach the tongue plate 22 is positioned nearer to a central portion of a width direction of the vehicle body than the supporting portion 40 in an ordinarily used situation of the webbing 12, but the portion of the webbing 12 thus turned back to reach the tongue plate 22 can be turned back and supported on the supporting portion 40, as necessary, as shown with a double-dotted line in FIG. 3, so that a portion of the webbing 12 positioned between the supporting portion 40 and the slip ring 30 is positioned nearer to the side wall 18 of the vehicle body than the turning and supporting portion 40.

Description will now be given of operation of the first embodiment thus constructed.

When the tongue plate 22 is latched to the buckle device 26 after the occupant 16 sits on the seat 14, the occupant 16 is put in a restrained situation by the seatbelt system of 3-point type. A portion of the webbing 12 positioned between the anchor plate 20 and the tongue plate 22 functions to restrain a lap portion of the occupant 16 and a portion thereof positioned between the tongue plate 22 and the webbing support device 10 functions to restrain a torso of the occupant 16.

Also, in case that the seatbelt system is applied to an occupant having a small physical build different from an ordinary one, such as a child, a portion of the webbing 12 between the slip ring 30 and the tongue plate 22 can be supported by the supporting portion 40, whereby an anchor point of the webbing 12 restraining a torso of the occupant is changed corresponding to the physical build, so that the occupant is put in a confortably restrained situation by the webbing 12. In this connection, the slip joint is rotatable about the mounting bolt 34 and the webbing supporting member 38 is also rotatable about the spacer 36 as set forth above, whereby when the occupant 16 is restrained by the webbing 12, the slip joint and the webbing supporting member 38 are rotated in such a manner that the webbing fits the occupant.

In this embodiment, the webbing supporting member 38 can additionally be fixed thereto with another supporting portion 40, i.e., the supporting portion 40 is formed in a multi-stage, as shown with a double-dotted line in FIG. 4, whereby the anchor point for the shoulder portion of the occupant 16 can be changed in a multi-step manner.

In FIG. 5, there is shown a second embodiment according to the present invention in which a portion of the slip ring 30 is fixed with a forward end portion of the webbing supporting member 38.

In this embodiment, accordingly, the webbing supporting member 38 is rotatable about the mounting bolt 34 together with the slip ring 30 but the substantially same function and effect as the first embodiment can be obtained. In this connection, the slip ring 30 and the webbing supporting member 38 are made integrally of a rod material.

Next, in FIG. 6, there is shown a third embodiment according to the present invention in which plate material is used as the webbing supporting member 38 instead of the rod material of the first and the second embodiments. The webbing supporting member 38 is formed substantially in an L-shape, which is formed at an end portion of a long side thereof with a circular hole 44 receiving the mounting bolt 34 therein. A short side of the webbing supporting member 38 is applied as the supporting portion 40. The webbing supporting member 38 is further formed with a bent portion 46 running from an almost middle portion of the long side to an end portion of the short side in a manner to have a sectional configural of an L shape at the bent portion 46, whereby the webbing supporting member 38 is reinforced.

As a result, in the third embodiment, also, the webbing supporting member 38 is capable of supporting the webbing 12 at the support portion 40, so that the substantially same function and effect as the first and the second embodiments can be obtained.