Vehicle safety harness rigging

Claim 1

Passive safety strap rigging for an occupant of an automotive vehicle seat adjacent a door with the front edge thereof hinged to the vehicle chassis for outward forward opening swing away from the seat space, compRising: a belt strap having a first end portion secured to said door adjacent one side of a passenger seat location and the second end portion secured to the vehicle on the other side of the seat location to extend in safetying restraining disposition across the body of a person occupying the seat location; an anchor device as securing means for the second end portion of the belt strap affixed to the vehicle; one of said securing means including a self-retracting reel enabling unreeling of a respective belt end portion at a rate allowing normal door opening and normal bodily movement of a seat occupant, but locking up against unreeling to restrain the occupant upon vehicle deceleration; belt shifting mechanism comprising a member mounted to the door, and as the respective said securing means, having the said first end portion secured thereto, said member being a slide member slidably supported in a slideway mounted to said door and shiftable generally horizontally for a fore-and-aft movement carrying the respective belt end portion with a forward component away from a position near the seat where the belt is held in safetying disposition across the seat; means carried by the door and including an element engaging a fixed chassis part adjacent the door and force transmission means connected between said element and said member for communicating door swing motion to, and thereby energy applied through mediation of the door on door closing to, said member to force return of said member with the belt to a safetying disposition and controlling movement of said member away from the seat location to progress forwardly on the door with door opening swing, whereby the doorward end of the belt is moved away from the seat position to afored convenient exit and ingress when the door is opened and by door closing is returned to a rearmost position with the belt in safetying disposition.