US3777840A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Door mounted seat belt locking retractor
Assignee: POLSTER
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Filing: 1971-04-23
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Granted: 1973-12-11
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Expires: 1991-04-23
Abstract
Abstract In a door mounted seat belt retracting and locking unit, one belt end is secured to an anchor plug lockable in a translatable, cable-guiding anchor bracket by a vacuum bellows actuated latch; a flexible cable from the inner plug end being wound on a spring return-biased reel, having sprocketed flanges engaged in a rack in a unit base or frame attached to the vehicle door. Upon a permitted door opening, with plug withdrawal and cable unreeling, the reel with connected anchor bracket walks forwardly along the door carrying the belt away from the seat and winding the spring of the reel, which upon door closure automatically retracts the cable, the reel and anchor bracket walking back into position for locking by the latch control system upon the motor starting. The bracket slot at all times is covered by a roller-guided flexible band running from one side of the bracket around the unit frame back to the other bracket side. Variants are disclosed. As the installation of seat belts in automotive vehicles, particularly passenger autos, is now quite widespread, the personal safety advantages of seat belt equipment, the environment of use, and the ordinary use thereof require here no particular discussion. However, safety studies evaluating the now considerable experience with belts have shown that there is extensive non-use of installed belts in consequence of carelessness, laziness, inadvertance or forgetfulness of drivers or passengers in attending to the simple operation of picking up and buckling the seat belt ends immediately upon entering the vehicle.
Inventors
- 👤 I Botnick
- 👤 L Polster
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-26 05:18
CPC Classifications
B; B60; B60R; B60R22/00; B60R22/04
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 30
Claim 1
Independent Claim
228 words
For mounting on a forwardly swinging automotive vehicle door adjacent one side of a seat position provided with a seat belt having a first end secured on the other side of the seat position, a unit for securing the second belt end to the door releasably anchored when the door is closed and extensibly with swinging of the belt forwardly away from the seat when the door is opened, said unit comprising: a frame securable to the door structure; a sprocket rack extending longitudinally of the frame; a walking reel assembly including a sprocket reel with sprocket teeth engaged in said rack; spring means biasing said reel assembly along said rack toward a retracted rearmost position adjacent said seat; means guiding said assembly for translation longitudinally of the frame from said retracted position toward the hinged door edge and back; belt terminating flexible means end-anchored and wound on said reel; said frame including at its seatward side a longitudinal slot along the path of said assembly to accommodate said terminating means upon reel translation; said terminating means wound on said reel in a direction tending to cause the reel to advance forwardly on said rack when the terminating means is withdrawn from the unit as upon door opening, and to rewind the terminating means drawing the belt toward the door upon spring biased reel retraction during door closing.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
228 words
For mounting on a forwardly swinging automotive vehicle door adjacent one side of a seat position provided with a seat belt having a first end secured on the other side of the seat position, a unit for securing the second belt end to the door releasably anchored when the door is closed and extensibly with swinging of the belt forwardly away from the seat when the door is opened, said unit comprising: a frame securable to the door structure; a sprocket rack extending longitudinally of the frame; a walking reel assembly including a sprocket reel with sprocket teeth engaged in said rack; spring means biasing said reel assembly along said rack toward a retracted rearmost position adjacent said seat; means guiding said assembly for translation longitudinally of the frame from said retracted position toward the hinged door edge and back; belt terminating flexible means end-anchored and wound on said reel; said frame including at its seatward side a longitudinal slot along the path of said assembly to accommodate said terminating means upon reel translation; said terminating means wound on said reel in a direction tending to cause the reel to advance forwardly on said rack when the terminating means is withdrawn from the unit as upon door opening, and to rewind the terminating means drawing the belt toward the door upon spring biased reel retraction during door closing.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
54 words
A unit as described in claim 1 with said means guiding said assembly comprising longitudinally parallel-slotted, spaced top and bottom walls in said frame, with the slots parallel to said rack, and a non-rotatable shaft rotatably supporting said reel and having top and bottom ends slideable respectively in the top and bottom wall slots.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
28 words
A unit as described in claim 2, with said spring means comprising a spiral spring operatively connected between said shaft and said reel to rotationally bias the reel.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
19 words
A unit as described in claim 3, with said reel being hollow as a barrel for said spiral spring.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
56 words
A unit as described in claim 3, wherein: said reel is an inertial reel permitting moderate speed belt withdrawal for normal personal body movements of the user and for door opening, and locking to said shaft upon rapid reel rotation upon a fast withdrawal of said terminating means, to secure the belt against forceful body movement.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
37 words
A unit as described in claim 3, including inertial means carried by said reel assembly for translation therewith and adapted to latch the unit against withdrawal of said terminating belt means upon sudden change in vehicle velocity.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
45 words
A unit as described in claim 3, including means for latching the unit against withdrawal of said terminating belt means, whereby said belt is located in operative disposition across said seat position; the latching means actuated into latching condition upon sudden change in vehicle velocity.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
17 words
A unit as described in claim 7, with the latching means controlled by an acceleration sensing device.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
49 words
A unit as described in claim 7, wherein: the latching means comprises: a spring retracted inertial body slideably mounted to advance inertially upon vehicle deceleration into engagement in iNter-tooth spaces of a sprocket portion of said reel, thereby to block reel rotation and thereby belt withdrawal and reel translation.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
44 words
A unit as described in claim 7, with said latching means further comprising: a switch actuated by said inertial body upon advancement to reel blocking position and holding means energized upon actuation of said switch to hold the inertial body in said blocking position.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
39 words
A unit as described in claim 1, including means responsive to a condition initiated with vehicle engine starting to lock said reel assembly at a retracted position, whereby said belt is located in operative disposition across said seat position.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
42 words
A unit as described in claim 1, including latching means blocking said reel assembly from translation and thereby against rotation to lock said flexible means from withdrawal from the unit, whereby said belt is located in operative disposition across said seat position.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
34 words
A unit as described in claim 1, including latching means engaging said belt terminating flexible means to prevent withdrawal from the unit, whereby said belt is located in operative disposition across said seat position.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
120 words
A unit as described in claim 12, including as said belt terminating flexible means, a length of belt material end-anchored on and wound on said reel; and as said latching means, a carriage secured to and guided for translation with said reel assembly, a fixed roller rotatably mounted on the carriage with said length passing thereover from the reel to leave said unit, a shiftable roller mounted by eccentric shaft means displaceable on the carriage toward and away from the fixed roller, said shiftable roller cooperable with the fixed roller to engage and immobilize said length thereby to latch the unit against belt withdrawal, and camming means engaging said shaft means to shift the shiftable roller toward belt gripping engagement.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
43 words
A unit as described in claim 14, including a return spring biased inertial body connected with and actuating said camming means for said belt gripping engagement by inertial body advancement upon deceleration of the vehicle, and means for holding the said body advanced.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
123 words
A unit as described in claim 1, wherein: said belt terminating means comprises a flexible cable on said reel; said unit further comprising a bracket carried by said reel assembly for translation therewith longitudinally on said frame and including an apertured cable guide accommodated in said longitudinal slot of the frame and having said cable passed therethrough; a belt anchoring plug secured on the cable, receivable in the aperture of said guide, and having connected thereto the doorward end of the main belt portion spanning said seat position; and latch means to lock said plug in the guide aperture and thereby to lock said guide and reel assembly at a retracted position with the belt anchored in operative disposition across said seat position.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
29 words
A unit as described in claim 16, wherein: said latch means includes a latch plate on said frame engageable with said plug and spring biased out of latching position.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
40 words
A unit as described in claim 17, wherein: said latch means includes, as a latch actuator, a vacuum bellows sliding said latch plate to plug-engaging position upon vacuum effected contraction and embodying a bellows-expanding spring providing a plate return bias.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
27 words
A unit as described in claim 18, wherein: said plug is circumferentially grooved and said latch plate bifurcated to engage in the grooved portion of the plug.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
25 words
A unit as described in claim 19, wherein: said bellows is connected to the vehicle engine intake manifold to cause latch actuation upon engine starting.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
85 words
A unit as described in claim 20, including a normally open, solenoidally closed valve in a vacuum line between said bellows and said manifod; a switch closed by said latch plate advanced to plug engaging position and opened upon latch plate retraction; sAid switch and the solenoid of said valve in a series electrical control branch between the controlled side of the engine ignition switch and ground of the vehicle; whereby the valve locks the vacuum in said bellows upon engine starting and plug latching.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
93 words
A unit as described in claim 21, including second solenoidally controlled valve means connected to said vacuum line, adapted in one condition to vent said line and bellows and thereby unlatch said plug and in a second condition non-venting to permit vacuum application to the bellows, a transmission switch closed when the vehicle is in a driveable transmission setting and opened when the transmission is set for non-driving; the solenoid of said second valve and said transmission switch connected between ground and a point energized from the controlled side of the ignition switch.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
17 words
A unit as described in claim 22, wherein: said transmission switch is included in said control branch.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
73 words
A unit as described in claim 22, including as said second valve a three-way valve in said line between the first said valve and the intake manifold as a vacuum source, said three-way valve being in said one condition upon solenoid de-energization and connecting the vacuum input side of the first valve to atmosphere and in said second condition upon solenoid energization connecting said input side of the first valve to said manifold.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
89 words
A unit as described in claim 1, including a flexible band with opposite ends secured to a shiftable apertured element to assume a closed configuration running about said unit over guide rollers maintaining the band in a longitudinal disposition parallel to and over said longitudinal slot of the said frame with the said element shiftable parallel to the slot with said belt terminating means extending through the aperture thereof thereby to provide a mask for said slot and for a corresponding slot-like opening of a cover for the frame.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
90 words
A unit as described in claim 1, including controlled latch means for latching the unit against withdrawal of said terminating belt portion, whereby said belt is located in operative disposition across said seat position; and control means for said latching means comprising first means controlling operation of the latch means to latched condition when the vehicle engine is started and thereafter maintaining the latched condition during engine operation, and second means manually settable to remove control from said first means, whereby the unit may be rendered inoperable by the user.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
21 words
A unit as described in claim 26, with said latch means comprising vacuum actuated means connected to the engine intake manifold.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
272 words
For mounting on a forwardly swinging automotive vehicle door adjacent one side of a seat position provided with an occupant-restraining seat belt having a first end secured on the other side of the seat position, in combination with anchoring means for the said first end, automatic means for securing the second belt end to the door releasably anchored proximate to the seat position when the door is closed and shiftably with swinging of the belt forwardly away from the seat when the door is opened, and means including a reel for a terminating portion for one said belt end allowing the terminating portion to be withdrawn from the reel as upon door opening and to rewind the terminating portion drawing the belt toward the seat occupant upon spring biased retraction during door closing and securing the belt relative to the occupant in safetying disposition for occupant restraint upon a damgerous change in vehicle velocity, the last said means allowing freedom for normal bodily movement of the occupant; said automatic means being a unit comprising: a frame secured to the door structure, cooperating means including a sprocket rack, extending longitudinally of the frame, having engaged therein, a sprocket with said second belt end secured thereto, and spring means biasing said sproCket along said rack toward a retracted rearmost position adjacent said seat, said cooperating means affording guided translation longitudinally of the frame for said second belt end from said retracted position toward the hinged door edge and back, said frame including at its seatward side a longitudinal slot along the path of said sprocket to accommodate said second belt end upon said translation.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
272 words
For mounting on a forwardly swinging automotive vehicle door adjacent one side of a seat position provided with an occupant-restraining seat belt having a first end secured on the other side of the seat position, in combination with anchoring means for the said first end, automatic means for securing the second belt end to the door releasably anchored proximate to the seat position when the door is closed and shiftably with swinging of the belt forwardly away from the seat when the door is opened, and means including a reel for a terminating portion for one said belt end allowing the terminating portion to be withdrawn from the reel as upon door opening and to rewind the terminating portion drawing the belt toward the seat occupant upon spring biased retraction during door closing and securing the belt relative to the occupant in safetying disposition for occupant restraint upon a damgerous change in vehicle velocity, the last said means allowing freedom for normal bodily movement of the occupant; said automatic means being a unit comprising: a frame secured to the door structure, cooperating means including a sprocket rack, extending longitudinally of the frame, having engaged therein, a sprocket with said second belt end secured thereto, and spring means biasing said sproCket along said rack toward a retracted rearmost position adjacent said seat, said cooperating means affording guided translation longitudinally of the frame for said second belt end from said retracted position toward the hinged door edge and back, said frame including at its seatward side a longitudinal slot along the path of said sprocket to accommodate said second belt end upon said translation.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1976-12-10 | 1977-06-11 | 1977-12-11 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1980-12-10 | 1981-06-11 | 1981-12-11 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1984-12-10 | 1985-06-11 | 1985-12-11 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |