Motorized passive seat belt system

Claim 1

In a passive seat belt system in a vehicle including a door and a seat belt adapted to be positioned about an occupant in a seat, one end of said belt being connected to a retractor and the other end of said belt being mounted to said vehicle, the improvement comprising: (a) rod means having one portion connected at said seat belt; (b) hook means connected to said rod means and engageable with said belt; (c) an electric motor to which one end of said rod means is drivingly connected; (d) switch means in said vehicle actuated in response to opening and closing of said door, said switch means being in electrical connection with said motor so that when said switch means is actuated, said motor is actuated; and (e) said rod means being extended from said motor and being moved to a forward position when said door is opened to thereby move said seat belt to a forward position permitting free ingress to and egress from said vehicle, with said hook means supporting a portion of said belt, and said rod means being moved by said motor to a rearward position when said door is closed to thereby move said seat belt to a rearward occupant-engaging position, said hook means being movable into supporting engagement with said belt upon movement of said rod means to its forward position upon opening of said door and said hook means being movable out of supporting engagement with said belt upon movement of said rod means to its rearward position upon closing of said door.