Motor vehicle seat belt apparatus

Claim 1

The combination of a vehicle having a front hinged side door adjacent the vehicle seat and a seat belt apparatus comprising an arm having an angled end piece, means pivotally mounting said end piece on the inner side of said door for pivoting about an axis extending upwardly and rearwardly in the vertical plane of the door such that the free portion of said arm at an angle of said end piece is swingable about said axis toward and away from the door, spring means biasing said free arm portion downwardly against said door, a buckle connected to the outer end of said swingable arm portion; a seat belt connected at one end thereof to said buckle and at its opposite end to the floor rearwardly of the seat, a shoulder strap attached at one end to the vehicle roof above and to the rear of the seat back, the opposite end of said strap attached to an intermediate portion of the seat belt, a recess on the door sill for receiving said arm outer end when said arm is against the door in the closed position thereof so that the door overlies said arm end in the recess and thereby serves as a releasable arm locking means whereby when the door is swung from a closed to an open position said seat belt and shoulder strap are shifted by the upward rotation of said swingable arm portion from an occupant body restraining position to a forward elevated position away from the occupant to permit convenient passage between open door and seat.