Safety belt for vehicles

Claim 1

A seat belt device in a vehicle containing at least one door, a seat, and floor, roof and pillar vehicle elements, said device being for securing a passenger to said vehicle seat in the absence of manual manipulation, said device comprising; a waist belt permanently anchored at one end thereof to the vehicle door and at the other end to a portion of the vehicle opposed to said door on the seat or the floor; retracting means fastened to one of said belt ends for securing said waist belt to said door or vehicle portion; a shoulder belt having one end permanently anchored to a roof side portion of the vehicle body immediately over the shoulder of a passenger in said seat; a second retracting means securing the other end of said shoulder belt to a portion of the vehicle opposite to said door on the seat side or the floor; a string member linking said waist and shoulder belts so as to form a preset space between said belts in a passenger protecting position while permitting said space to vary upon displacement of both said belts; a guide track extending closely along a curvature of the roof side from a portion thereof proximate the end of said shoulder belt over the passenger''s shoulder toward the lowermost end of a front pillar of the vehicle; sliding guide means adapted to freely slide within said track and engage said shoulder belt in freely slidable relation therewith; driving means; a cable connecting said driving means to said sliding means; and means for controlling said driving means in response to ingress or egress motion of the passenger so as to respectively displace said shoulder belt and said waist belt into the protecting or unprotecting position rendering it unnecessary for the passenger to manually strap to or release his body from the vehicle seat.