Vehicle passive occupant restraining belt arrangement

Claim 1

In combination with a vehicle including a vehicle body having a floor and a roof defining an occupant compartment in which is mounted a vehicle seat accessible through a vehicle body door opening selectively opened and closed by a vehicle body door whose forward edge is pivoted to the vehicle body, a passive occupant restraining belt arrangement comprising, a shoulder belt having one end secured within the occupant compartment adjacent a rear inboard lower portion of the vehicle seat, an inertia retractor fixedly mounted to the vehicle body within the occupant compartment rearward of the seat and adjacent an outboard portion thereof, the inertia retractor receiving the other end of the shoulder belt and normally retracting the shoulder belt to a suitable occupant restraining position diagonally disposed across the chest of a seated occupant, a lap belt having one end secured within the occupant compartment adjacent the one end of the shoulder belt, a releasable automatic locking retractor mounted on the inboard lower rear portion of the door, the locking retractor receiving the other end of the lap belt and normally retracting the lap belt to a suitable occupant restraining position disposed across the lap of a seated occupant, releasable means for releasing the locking retractor, a first track member mounted on a outboard portion of the roof in a generally longitudinally extending direction within the occupant compartment, an apertured first carrier mounted by the first track member for longitudinal movement with respect thereto, the aperture of the first carrier slidably receiving an intermediate portion of the shoulder belt and the first carrier being positioned in a rearward position adjacent the rear end of the seat with the shoulder belt in restraining position, a second track member mounted on the inboard side of the door in a diagonal orientation with the rear end positioned adjacent the locking retractor and with the front end positioned above the rear end adjacent the front edge of the door, an apertured second carrier mounted by the second track member for longitudinal movement with respect thereto, the aperture of the second carrier slidably receiving an intermediate portion of the lap belt and the second carrier being positioned in a rearward position adjacent the locking retractor with the lap belt in restraining position, drive means for moving the carriers between the rearward positions and respective forward positions as the belts slide through the carriers to move the belts between the restraining positions and easy-enter positions allowing convenient occupant access to the vehicle Seat, and control means for actuating the drive means to move the carriers to the rearward positions and the belts to restraining positions in response to an operative condition of the vehicle, the control means actuating the release means to release the locking retractor and subsequently actuating the drive means to move the carriers to the forward positions and the belts to easy-enter positions upon cessation of the operative condition of the vehicle.