Vehicle occupant restraint belt system with comfort clip assembly

Claim 2

In an automotive vehicle including an occupant seat having cushion and back portions, a restraint belt system for a seated occupant comprising: lap and shoulder belts, a common first buckle component secured to adjacent first ends of the lap and shoulder belts, a second buckle component for selectively attaching the first buckle component so as to secure the belts in an occupant restraining position, the lap belt extending generally laterally with respect to the vehicle across the occupant''s lap while in the restraining position, and the shoulder belt extending diagonally across the occupant''s chest while in the restraining position; means attaching the other end of the lap belt so as to secure the lap belt in the occupant restraining position; an inertia locking type belt retractor receiving the other end of the shoulder belt so as to normally tension the shoulder belt across the chest of the belted occupant and to store the shoulder belt upon detachment of the buckle components; a stop through which the shoulder belt passes, the stop being located toward the shoulder belt retractor with respect to the shoulder of the belted occupant over which the shoulder belt passes while extending diagonally across the occupant''s chest in the restraining position, and the stop allowing the shoulder belt to be freely pulled in either direction therethrough so that the shoulder belt is not impeded thereby during movement to the restraining position and does not, in and of itself, prevent the shoulder belt retractor from tensioning the shoulder belt across the occupant''s chest; and a plastic comfort clip assembly positioned on the shoulder belt between the first buckle component and the stop, the comfort clip assembly being of a two-piece construction including an integral plastic comfort clip having a generally planar base that extends between the opposite edges of the shoulder belt in a generally parallel relationship with respect to the plane of this belt and having a pair of clamping portions integrally supported by the base so as to extend about the edges of the belt back toward each other and to terminate short of each other in a manner that defines a slot extending parallel to the longitudinal axis of the belt, and an integral plastic retainer having a generally planar base located between the clamping portions of the clip and the shoulder belt so as to close the clip slot and to thereby prevent an intermediate portion of the shoulder belt from moving back through the slot after insertion thereof into the clip through the slot such that the clip assembly is thereby held on the shoulder belt, the base and the clamping portions of the clip cooperating to clamp the shoulder belt therebetween with a force that is not so large as to prevent the clip assembly from being readily slid along the shoulder belt by a manual effort to provide adjustment thereof, the clamping force being sufficiently large to prevent the shoulder belt retractor from pulling the shoulder belt through the clip assembly, and the clip assembly engaging the stop to prevent movement therethrough so that appropriate manual adjustment of the clip assembly along the shoulder belt will prevent the shoulder belt retractor from tensioning the shoulder belt across the occupant''s chest while in the restraining position.

Claim 3

In an automotive vehicle including an occupant seat having cushion and back portions, a restraint belt system for a seated occupant comprising: lap and shoulder belts, a common first buckle component secured to adjacent first ends of the lap and shoulder belts, a second buckle component for selectively attaching the first buckle component so as to secure the belts in an occupant restraining position, the lap belt extending generally laterally with respect to the vehicle across the occupant''s lap while in the restraining position, and the shoulder belt extending diagonally across the occupant''s chest while in the restraining position; means attaching the other end of the lap belt so as to secure the lap belt in the occupant restraining position; an inertia locking type belt retractor receiving the other end of the shoulder belt so as to normally tension the shoulder belt across the chest of the belted occupant and to store the shoulder belt upon detachment of the buckle components; a stop through which the shoulder belt passes, the stop being located toward the shoulder belt retractor with respect to the shoulder of the belted occupant over which the shoulder belt passes while extending diagonally across the occupant''s chest in the restraining position, and the stop allowing the shoulder belt to be freely pulled in either direction therethrough so that the shoulder belt is not impeded thereby during movement to the restraining position and does not, in and of itself, prevent the shoulder belt retractor from tensioning the shoulder belt across the occupant''s chest; and a plastic comfort clip assembly positioned on the shoulder belt between the first buckle component and the stop, the comfort clip assembly being of a two-piece construction including an integral plastic comfort clip having a generally planar base that extends between the opposite edges of the shoulder belt in a generally parallel relationship with respect to the plane of this belt, and a pair of clamping portions integrally supported by the base so as to extend about the edges of the belt back toward each other and to terminate short of each other in a manner that defines a slot extending parallel to the longitudinal axis of the belt, and an integral plastic retainer having a generally planar base located between the clamping portions of the clip and the shoulder belt so as to close the clip slot and to thereby prevent an intermediate portion of the shoulder belt from moving back through the clip such that the clip asSembly is thereby held on the shoulder belt, and a pair of upstanding flanges extending away from the shoulder belt at the ends of the retainer so as to be located on opposite sides of the clip in longitudinally spaced relationship with respect to the belt, one of the retainer flanges engaging the clamping portions of the clip during adjustment of the clip assembly in either direction along the shoulder belt so that the retainer moves with the clip, the base and the clamping portions of the clip cooperating to clamp the shoulder belt therebetween with a force that is not so large as to prevent the clip from being readily slid along the shoulder belt by a manual force applied to the clip so as to provide adjustment of the clip position along the length of the shoulder belt, the clamping force being sufficiently large to prevent the shoulder belt retractor from pulling the shoulder belt through the clip, and the clip assembly engaging the stop to prevent movement of the clip assembly therethrough so that appropriate manual adjustment of the clip assembly along the shoulder belt will prevent the shoulder belt retractor from tensioning the shoulder belt across the occupant''s chest while in the restraining position.

Claim 4

In an automotive vehicle including an occupant seat having cushion and back portions, a restraint belt system for a seated occupant comprising: lap and shoulder belts, a common first buckle component secured to adjacent first ends of the lap and shoulder belts, a second buckle component for selectively attaching the first buckle component so as to secure the belts in an occupant restraining position, the lap belt extending generally laterally with respect to the vehicle across the occupant''s lap while in the restraining position, and the shoulder belt extending diagonally across the occupant''s chest while in the restraining position; means attaching the other end of the lap belt so as to secure the lap belt in the occupant restraining position; an inertia locking type belt retractor receiving the other end of the shoulder belt so as to normally tension the shoulder belt across the chest of the belted occupant and to store the shoulder belt upon detachment of the buckle components; a stop through which the shoulder belt passes, the stop being located toward the shoulder belt retractor with respect to the shoulder of the belted occupant over which the shoulder belt passes while extending diagonally across the occupant''s chest in the restraining position, and the stop allowing the shoulder belt to be freely pulled in either direction therethrough so that the shoulder belt is not impeded thereby during movement to the restraining position and does not, in and of itself, prevent the shoulder belt retractor from tensioning the shoulder belt across the occupant''s chest; and a plastic comfort clip assembly positioned on the shoulder belt between the first buckle component and the stop, the comfort clip assembly being of a two-piece construction including an integral plastic comfort clip having a generally planar base that extends between the opposite edges of the shoulder belt in a generally parallel relationship with respect to the plane of this belt, and a pair of clamping portions integrally supported by the base so as to extend about the edges of the belt back toward each other and to terminate short of each other in a manner that defines a slot extending parallel to the longitudinal axis of the belt, and an integral plastic retainer having a generally planar base located between the clamping portions of the clip and the shoulder belt so as to close the clip slot and to thereby prevent an intermediate portion of the shoulder belt from moving back through the clip such that the clip asSembly is thereby held on the shoulder belt, and a pair of upstanding flanges extending away from the shoulder belt at the ends of the retainer so as to be located on opposite sides of the clip in longitudinally spaced relationship with respect to the belt, one of the retainer flanges engaging the clamping portions of the clip during adjustment of the clip assembly in either direction along the shoulder belt so that the retainer moves with the clip, the base and the clamping portions of the clip cooperating to clamp the shoulder belt therebetween with a force that is not so large as to prevent the clip from being readily slid along the shoulder belt by a manual force applied to the clip so as to provide adjustment of the clip position along the length of the shoulder belt, the clamping force being sufficiently large to prevent the shoulder belt retractor from pulling the shoulder belt through the clip, and the clip assembly engaging the stop to prevent movement of the clip assembly therethrough so that appropriate manual adjustment of the clip assembly along the shoulder belt will prevent the shoulder belt retractor from tensioning the shoulder belt across the occupant''s chest while in the restraining position.

Claim 5

In an automotive vehicle including an occupant seat having cushion and back portions, a restraint belt system for a seated occupant comprising: lap and shoulder belts, a common first buckle component secured to adjacent first ends of the lap and shoulder belts, a second buckle component for selectively attaching the first buckle component so as to secure the belts in an occupant restraining position, the lap belt extending generally laterally with respect to the vehicle across the occupant''s lap while in the restraining position, and the shoulder belt extending diagonally across the occupant''s chest while in the restraining position; means attaching the other end of the lap belt so as to secure the lap belt portion in the occupant restraining position; an inertia locking type belt retractor receiving the other end of the shoulder belt so as to normally tension the shoulder belt across the chest of the belted occupant and to store the shoulder belt upon detachment of the buckle components; a stop through which the shoulder belt passes, the stop being located toward the shoulder belt retractor with respect to the shoulder of the belted occupant over which the shoulder belt passes while extending diagonally across the occupant''s chest in the restraining position, and the stop allowing the shoulder belt to be freely pulled in either direction therethrough so that the shoulder belt is not impeded thereby during movement to the restraining position and does not, in and of itself, prevent the shoulder belt retractor from tensioning the shoulder belt across the occupant''s chest; and a plastic comfort clip assembly positioned on the shoulder belt between the first buckle component and the stop, the comfort clip being a two-piece construction including an integral plastic comfort clip having a generally planar base that extends between the opposite edges of the shoulder belt in a generally parallel relationship with respect to the plane of this belt, and a pair of clamping portions integrally supported by the base so as to extend about the edges of the belt back toward each other in a manner that defines a slot extending parallel to the longitudinal axis of the belt, and an integral plastic retainer including a generally planar base located between the clamping portions of the clip and the shoulder belt and defining a pair of elongated slots extending parallel to the belt length so that the retainer base has a configuration like a Roman numeral III, the ends of the clip clamping portions adjacent the clip slot being received within the slots of the retainer base so as to directly engage the shoulder belt, these ends of the clip clamping portions being engageable with the ends of the retainer base slOts so that the retainer is moved with the clip during adjustment of the clip assembly along the length of the shoulder belt, and the central portion of the retainer case between its slots being positioned so as to close the clip slot in a manner that prevents an intermediate portion of the shoulder belt from moving back through the clip slot after insertion into the clip through this slot, the base and the clamping portions of the clip cooperating to clamp the shoulder belt therebetween with a force that is not so large as to prevent the clip assembly from being readily slid along the shoulder belt by a manual effort to provide adjustment thereof, the clamping force being sufficiently large to prevent the shoulder belt retractor from pulling the shoulder belt through the clip assembly, and the clip assembly engaging the stop to prevent movement therethrough so that appropriate manual adjustment of the clip assembly along the shoulder belt will prevent the shoulder belt retractor from tensioning the shoulder belt across the occupant''s chest.

Claim 6

In an automotive vehicle including an occupant seat having cushion and back portions, a restraint belt system for a seated occupant comprising: lap and shoulder belts, a common first buckle component secured to adjacent first ends of the lap and shoulder belts, a second buckle component for selectively attaching the first buckle component so as to secure the belts in an occupant restraining position, the lap belt extending generally laterally with respect to the vehicle across the occupant''s lap while in the restraining position, and the shoulder belt extending diagonally across the occupant''s chest while in the restraining position; means attaching the other end of the lap belt so as to secure the lap belt portion in the occupant restraining position; an inertia locking type belt retractor receiving the other end of the shoulder belt so as to normally tension the shoulder belt across the chest of the belted occupant and to store the shoulder belt upon detachment of the buckle components; a stop through which the shoulder belt passes, the stop being located toward the shoulder belt retractor with respect to the shoulder of the belted occupant over which the shoulder belt passes while extending diagonally across the occupant''s chest in the restraining position, and the stop allowing the shoulder belt to be freely pulled in either direction therethrough so that the shoulder belt is not impeded thereby during movement to the restraining position and does not, in and of itself, prevent the shoulder belt retractor from tensioning the shoulder belt across the occupant''s chest; and a plastic comfort clip assembly positioned on the shoulder belt between the first buckle component and the stop, the comfort clip being a two-piece construction including an integral plastic comfort clip having a generally planar base that extends between the opposite edges of the shoulder belt in a generally parallel relationship with respect to the plane of this belt, and a pair of clamping portions integrally supported by the base so as to extend about the edges of the belt back toward each other in a manner that defines a slot extending parallel to the longitudinal axis of the belt, and an integral plastic retainer including a generally planar base located between the clamping portions of the clip and the shoulder belt and defining a pair of elongated slots extending parallel to the belt length so that the retainer base has a configuration like a Roman numeral III, the ends of the clip clamping portions adjacent the clip slot being received within the slots of the retainer base so as to directly engage the shoulder belt, these ends of the clip clamping portions being engageable with the ends of the retainer base slOts so that the retainer is moved with the clip during adjustment of the clip assembly along the length of the shoulder belt, and the central portion of the retainer case between its slots being positioned so as to close the clip slot in a manner that prevents an intermediate portion of the shoulder belt from moving back through the clip slot after insertion into the clip through this slot, the base and the clamping portions of the clip cooperating to clamp the shoulder belt therebetween with a force that is not so large as to prevent the clip assembly from being readily slid along the shoulder belt by a manual effort to provide adjustment thereof, the clamping force being sufficiently large to prevent the shoulder belt retractor from pulling the shoulder belt through the clip assembly, and the clip assembly engaging the stop to prevent movement therethrough so that appropriate manual adjustment of the clip assembly along the shoulder belt will prevent the shoulder belt retractor from tensioning the shoulder belt across the occupant''s chest.