Passive belt arrangement

Claim 2

In combination with a vehicle body having a door movable between open and closed positions laterally adjacent a seat mounted within the occupant compartment of the vehicle body, a passive belt arrangement for restraining a seated occupant comprising, a shoulder belt including an outboard end secured adjacent an upper outboard portion of the seat and adaptable to extend downwardly and inwardly from the outboard end across the chest of the occupant in a restraining position, a lap belt including an outboard end secured to the vehicle door and adaptable to extend across the lap of the occupant in a restraining position, attachment means secured to the inboard ends of the belts and normally biasing these belt ends to a lower rearward position to maintain the belts in the restraining positions while selectively allowing movement thereof to an upper forward position, control means movable forwardly and rearwardly relative to the vehicle body generally adjacent the upper edge of the vehicle body door opening which receives the door in closed position, the control means slidably receiving an intermediate portion of the shoulder belt, and actuating means attached to the control means and operatively associated with the door so as to move the control means forwardly in response to door opening movement and rearwardly in response to door closing movement, the shoulder belt moving fowardly in response to the forward movement of the control means while sliding therethrough such that the inboard ends of both the belts move to the upper forward position against the bias of the attachment means and so both belts are positioned in easy-enter positions when the door is in open position, and the bias of the attachment means moving the inboard belt ends to the lower rearward position as the control means moves rearwardly with the shoulder belt sliding therethrough to thereby position both belts in the occupant restraining positions when the door is in closed position.

Claim 3

In combination with a vehicle body having a door movable between open and closed positions laterally adjacent a seat mounted within the occupant compartment of the vehicle body, a passive belt arrangement for restraining a seated occupant comprising, a shoulder belt including an outboard end secured adjacent an upper outboard portion of the seat and adaptable to extend downwardly and inwardly from the outboard end across the chest of the occupant in a restraining position, a lap belt including an outboard end secured to the vehicle door and adaptable to extend across the lap of the occupant in a restraining position, a control belt including a first end secured to the inboard ends of the lap and shoulder belts, belt retractor means adjacent a lower inboard portion of the seat and normally retracting the second end of the control belt to maintain the lap and shoulder belts in the restraining positions, control means movable forwardly and rearwardly relative to the vehicle body generally adjacent the upper edge of the vehicle body door opening which receives the door in closed position, the control means slidably receiving an intermediate portion of the shoulder belt, and actuating means attached to the control means and operatively associated with the door so as to move the control means forwardly in response to door opening movement and rearwardly in response to door closing movement, the shoulder belt moving forwardly in response to the forward movement of the control means while sliding therethrough such that the inboard ends of both belts move forwardly and upwardly to extend the control belt from the belt retractor means and to position both belts in easy-enter positions when the door is in open position, and the bias of the belt retractor means retracting the control belt as the control means moves rearwardly with the shoulder belt sliding therethrough to thereby position both belts in the occupant restraining positions when the door is in closed position.

Claim 4

In combination with a vehicle body having a door movable between open and closed positions laterally adjacent a seat mounted within the occupant compartment of the vehicle body, a passive belt arrangement for restraining a seated occupant comprising, a shoulder belt including an outboard end secured adjacent an upper outboard portion of the seat and adaptable to extend downwardly and inwardly from the outboard end across the chest of the occupant in a restraining position, a lap belt including an outboard end secured to the vehicle door and adaptable to extend across the lap of the occupant in a restraining position, a control belt including a first end secured to the inboard ends of the lap and shoulder belts, belt retractor means adjacent a lower inboard portion of the seat and normally retracting the second end of the control belt to maintain the lap and shoulder belts in the restraining positions, control means movable forwardly and rearwardly relative to the vehicle body generally adjacent the upper edge of the vehicle body door opening which receives the door in closed position, the control means slidably receiving an intermediate portion of the shoulder belt, and actuating means attached to the control means and operatively associated with the door so as to move the control means forwardly in response to door opening movement and rearwardly in response to door closing movement, the shoulder belt moving forwardly in response to the forward movement of the control means while sliding therethrough such that the inboard ends of both belts move forwardly and upwardly to extend the control belt from the belt retractor means and to position both belts in easy-enter positions when the door is in open position, and the bias of the belt retractor means retracting the control belt as the control means moves rearwardly with the shoulder belt sliding therethrough to thereby position both belts in the occupant restraining positions when the door is in closed position.

Claim 5

In combination with a vehicle body having a doOr movable between open and closed positions laterally adjacent a seat mounted within the occupant compartment of the vehicle body, a passive belt arrangement for restraining a seated occupant comprising, a shoulder belt including an outboard end secured adjacent an upper outboard portion of the seat and adaptable to extend downwardly and inwardly from the outboard end across the chest of the occupant in a restraining position, a lap belt adaptable to extend across the lap of the occupant in a restraining position, door mounted belt retractor means receiving the outboard end of the lap belt, a control belt including a first end secured to the inboard ends of the lap and shoulder belts, belt retractor means adjacent a lower inboard portion of the seat and normally retracting the second end of the control belt while the door mounted retractor means retracts the outboard end of the lap belt to maintain the lap and shoulder belts in the restraining positions, a control member slidably receiving an intermediate portion of the shoulder belt and having respective ends of first and second cables attached thereto, means attaching the other end of the first cable to the door and slidably receiving an intermediate portion of the cable adjacent a forward portion of the door opening to move the control member forwardly during door opening movement, the shoulder belt sliding through the forwardly moving control member and moving forwardly to an easy-enter position while extending the control belt from the associated belt retractor means to move the inboard ends of the lap and shoulder belts forwardly and upwardly and concomitantly move the lap belt forwardly to an easy-enter position as the door mounted belt retractor means extends the outboard end of the lap belt, and cable retractor means receiving the other end of the second cable and retracting this cable during door closing movement to move the control member rearwardly, the belt retractor means inboard of the seat retracting the control belt as the control member moves rearwardly to move the inboard ends of the lap and shoulder belts to a lower rearward position as the door mounted retractor means retracts the outboard end of the lap belt and the lap and shoulder belts move to the restraining positions.

Claim 6

In combination with a vehicle body having a doOr movable between open and closed positions laterally adjacent a seat mounted within the occupant compartment of the vehicle body, a passive belt arrangement for restraining a seated occupant comprising, a shoulder belt including an outboard end secured adjacent an upper outboard portion of the seat and adaptable to extend downwardly and inwardly from the outboard end across the chest of the occupant in a restraining position, a lap belt adaptable to extend across the lap of the occupant in a restraining position, door mounted belt retractor means receiving the outboard end of the lap belt, a control belt including a first end secured to the inboard ends of the lap and shoulder belts, belt retractor means adjacent a lower inboard portion of the seat and normally retracting the second end of the control belt while the door mounted retractor means retracts the outboard end of the lap belt to maintain the lap and shoulder belts in the restraining positions, a control member slidably receiving an intermediate portion of the shoulder belt and having respective ends of first and second cables attached thereto, means attaching the other end of the first cable to the door and slidably receiving an intermediate portion of the cable adjacent a forward portion of the door opening to move the control member forwardly during door opening movement, the shoulder belt sliding through the forwardly moving control member and moving forwardly to an easy-enter position while extending the control belt from the associated belt retractor means to move the inboard ends of the lap and shoulder belts forwardly and upwardly and concomitantly move the lap belt forwardly to an easy-enter position as the door mounted belt retractor means extends the outboard end of the lap belt, and cable retractor means receiving the other end of the second cable and retracting this cable during door closing movement to move the control member rearwardly, the belt retractor means inboard of the seat retracting the control belt as the control member moves rearwardly to move the inboard ends of the lap and shoulder belts to a lower rearward position as the door mounted retractor means retracts the outboard end of the lap belt and the lap and shoulder belts move to the restraining positions.

Claim 7

The combination of claim 3 wherein one of the belt retractor means is an inertia belt retractor.

Claim 8

The combination of claim 3 wherein one of the belt retractor means is a belt retractor that is locked against belt extending movement in response to the position of the bolt of a door lock assembly associated with the door.

Claim 9

The combination of claim 3 wherein one of the belt retractor means is a belt retractor that is locked against belt extending movement in response to the position of an inside remote release handle associated with a door lock assembly of the door.

Claim 10

The combination of claim 3 wherein one of the belt retractor means is a belt retractor that is locked against belt extending movement in response to the positions of the inside remote release handle and the bolt associated with a door lock assembly of the door.