Four-point seat restraint

[00002] The present invention relates to an apparatus for restraining an occupant in an automotive vehicle seat during rapid deceleration. More particularly, the invention relates to a four-point seat mounted restraint apparatus.

[00003] It is known in the automotive vehicle art to provide various types of seat belts or restraint apparatus for restraining an occupant in the seat and providing controlled deceleration of portions of the body to limit the forces applied to the occupant's body during rapid deceleration of a vehicle from a cause such as a collision. Four-point restraint apparatus are among the many types provided for use in various types of vehicles.

[00004] The present invention provides a four-point seat-mounted restraint apparatus designed to reduce and distributed forces applied to the body of an occupant during rapid deceleration conditions.

[00005] In a preferred form, and apparatus according to the invention includes a seat mountable within the vehicle, a first seat belt is provided having a first end coupled to a lower medial location of the seat and a second end coupled to the upper medial location of the seat. A slip tongue is disposed between the first and second ends of the first seat belt. A second seat belt is provided which has a first end coupled to the lower medial location and a second end having a second tongue. A pair of tracks are provided which have seat belt buckles. The drive mechanism is configured to move at least one of the seat belt buckles from a first location to a second location.

[00006] In an alternate embodiment, an apparatus for restraining an occupant within a vehicle is provided that has a seat having a seat mounted seat belt retractor. A seat belt is coupled to the seat mounted seat belt retractor at one end and is coupled to a lower medial location of the seat at its other end. A second seat belt is provided which couples a second buckle to the lower medial location. Provided are a first track having a first buckle configured to be moved from a first fore location to a first aft location, and a second track having a second buckle, configured to be moveable from a second fore location to a second aft location.

[00007] In yet another embodiment of the invention, a restraint system is provided which has a seat having a seat mounted seat belt retractor. A first seat belt having a first tongue is coupled to the seat mounted seat belt retractor and a lower medial seat location. A second seat belt having a second tongue is coupled to the medial lower seat location. A first track having a first buckle configured to be moved from a first fore location to a first aft location, and a second track having a second buckle, configured to be moveable from a second fore location to a second aft location are provided. The first track is located upon a vehicle door and is actuatable upon the closing of the door, while the second track is located on the vehicle's door frame. The first buckle is configured to be coupled to the first tongue, while the second buckle is configured to be coupled to the second tongue.

[00008] Further areas of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating the preferred embodiment of the invention, are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.

[00014] The following description of the preferred embodiments is merely exemplary in nature and is in no way intended to limit the invention, its application, or uses.

[00015] Referring generally to FIGS. 1-5 which show a restraint system 10 according to the teachings of the present invention. The system 10 is shown utilizing a vehicle left front seat 12 and first and second seat belts 14 and 16. Coupled to the seat belts 14 and 16 are first and second tongues 18 and 20, which are coupled to the webbing 22 and 24 of seat belts 14 and 16. The tongues 18 and 20 are configured to be coupled to first and second seat belt buckles 26 and 28. The first seat belt 14 is coupled at its first and second ends 27 and 29 to upper and lower medial locations 30 and 32 on a medial side 33 of the seat 12. The lower medial location 32 is located generally below or at the occupant's hip-point, and can be on the vehicle seat 12 or the vehicle floor 40. Disposed between the first and second ends 27 and 29 is the first tongue 18, which is coupled to the webbing 22 utilizing a slip tongue slot 35.

[00016] Disposed at either one or both of the upper and lower medial locations 30 and 32 are first and second seat belt retractors 34 and 36. The upper medial location 30 can have either a fixed mounting point which couples the webbing 22 to the seat frame (not shown) or a seat integrated retractor. In this regard, the seat integrated retractor can be located at the upper medial location 30 or, alternatively, can be mounted at a second lower location 38, which is closer to a seat vehicle floor interface. In this regard, should the seat integrated retractor be located at the second lower location 38, a webbing D-ring (not shown) must be used at the upper medial location 30 to facilitate the movement of the webbing 22.

[00017] Located at the lower medial location 32 is either a fixed mounting point or a second seat belt retractor 36. The second retractor 36 can be mounted to the vehicle seat 12 or, alternatively, can be mounted to the vehicle's floor 40.

[00018] The second seat belt 16 is coupled at its first end 42 to a third retractor 44 located at the lower medial location 32. Coupled to a second end 45 of the webbing 24 is a second tongue 20. The second tongue 20 is sewn in a non-sliding fashion to the webbing 24.

[00019] The first, second, and third retractors 34, 36, and 44 are of the emergency locking type. Generally, the retractors 34, 36, and 44 take the form of a spring-loaded spool mounted to a frame. A blocking member, which is coupled to the frame, is configured to prevent rotation of the webbing 22 or 24 during a deceleration event. A pair of sensors is coupled to the blocking member which actuate the blocking mechanism either at a predetermined vehicle deceleration level or upon the extraction of the webbing 22 or 24 at a predetermined rate. With respect to the single point mounting of the webbing 22 or 24, a bracket (not shown) is sewn to the webbing 22 or 24 and fixed to the vehicle using a standard hardened bolt. It is envisioned that the retractors 34, 36, and 44 additionally can have pre-tensioning and energy absorbing structures.

[00020] Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the first and second buckles 26 and 28 are coupled to first and second seat belt rails 46 and 48. The first rail 46 is in the form of a generally arcuate slot 50 defined within the vehicle's door 52. The first rail 46 has a first drive mechanism (not shown) which functions to move the location of the first buckle 26 from a first fore location 54 of the first rail 46 to an aft location 56. The aft location 56 is generally located at a lower lateral position 57 adjacent to or about the occupant's hip point.

[00021] The second rail 48 is defined by a second track 58 positioned along a top portion 60 of the door frame 62. The second rail 48 has a second drive mechanism (not shown) which functions to move the second buckle 28 from a second fore location 64 generally in front of the vehicle door 52, second aft location 66 generally aft of the vehicle door 52.

[00022] Each of the fore locations 54 and 64 are positioned such that an occupant can enter or exist the vehicle seat 12 without being obstructed by the first or second belts 14 and 16. Upon the closing of the vehicle door 52, both the first and second drive mechanisms move the first and second buckles 26 and 28 from the fore locations 54 and 64 to the aft locations 56 and 66. It should be noted that both aft locations 56 and 66 are configured to fixably restrain the seat belt buckles 26 and 28 during a deceleration event.

[00023] As can be seen in FIG. 4, the first and second seat belt tongues 18 and 20 can be coupled to the first and second buckles 26 and 28 when the buckles 26 and 28 are in the fore locations 54 and 64. Additionally, the tongues 18 and 20 can be coupled to the buckles 26 and 28 when the buckles 26 and 28 are in the aft locations 56 and 66. The system 10 is specifically configured that an occupant need not decouple the tongues 18 and 20 from the first and second buckles 26 and 28 to facilitate ingress or egress of the occupant from the vehicle.

[00024] FIG. 5 represents a side view of the function of the system 10. Upon entering a vehicle, the occupant seated on a vehicle seat 12 closes the vehicle's door 52. The first and second drive mechanisms move the first and second buckles 26 and 28 to aft locations 56 and 66. While the buckles 26 and 28 are being retracted, the retractors 34, 36, and 44 function to apply tension to the first and second seat belts 14 and 16, while allowing the belt length to increase through the rotation of the retractor's spool.

[00025] The first seat belt 14 defines a torso portion 51 between the first tongue 18 and the upper medial location 30 which is configured to pass closely adjacent the neck portion and across the clavicle of the occupant downward across the front edge portion of the occupant's rib cage. The first belt further defines a second portion from the first tongue 18 to the lower medial location 32 which functions to restrain the occupant's pelvis. The second seat belt is configured to pass closely to and adjacent a lateral side of the neck portion and across the occupant's lateral clavicle and extend downward across the edge portion of the occupant's rib cage to the lower medial location 32.

[00026] The description of the invention is merely exemplary in nature and, thus, variations that do not depart from the gist of the invention are intended to be within the scope of the invention. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, it is possible to modify the previously described system so that one may use a single track which would necessitate the occupant to manually insert one or both of the tongues 18 or 20 into a buckle fixed at locations 56 or 66.