Safety belt overhead holder

Claim 2

In a two-door type vehicle body including a roof covering an occupant compartment thereof, a rear seat, a front seat with a forward foldable seat back movable between an upright seating position and a forwardly tipped easy entry position, an occupant access door port for an occupant entering or exiting said door port to said front seat and said rear seat, a shoulder safety belt for an occupant of said front seat, guide means mounted on an upper portion of said seat back for coupling said shoulder safety belt to said seat back, a belt retractor means fixed to said roof inside of said compartment and connected to said shoulder belt for paying out said shoulder belt as needed for said movement of said seat back and said front seat occupant and for maintaining said shoulder belt taut, said shoulder belt being disposed proximal to said door port and transferse thereto the combination comprising: (a) a frame, (b) mounting means for fixing said frame in said compartment of said vehicle body over said door port, (c) a belt supporting means including a laterally extending lever pivotally mounted on said frame for pivotal movement about an axis of rotation from a belt holding position rearwardly to a belt non-holding position for selectively holding said shoulder belt over said door port of said vehicle body when said shoulder belt is manually uplifted thereon, (i) said lever being movable rearwardly to said belt non-holding position in response to rearward movement of said shoulder belt, and (d) biasing means fixed to said frame for yieldingly biasing said lever to said belt holding position.

Claim 3

In a two-door type vehicle body including a roof covering an occupant compartment thereof, a rear seat, a front seat with a forward foldable seat back movable between an upright seating position and a forwardly tipped easy entry position, an occupant access door port for an occupant entering or exiting said door port to said front seat and said rear seat, a shoulder safety belt for an occupant of said front seat, a belt retractor means fixed to said roof inside of said compartment and connected to said shoulder belt for paying out said shoulder belt as needed for said movement of said seat back and said front seat occupant and for maintaining said shoulder belt taut, said shoulder belt defining a straight line between a first point on said front seat back and a second point at said retractor means, said shoulder belt being disposed proximal to said door port and transverse thereto the combination comprising: (a) a frame, (b) mounting means for fixing said frame in said compartment of said vehicle body over said door port, (c) a belt supporting means including a laterally extending lever pivotally mounted on said frame at a third point for pivotal movement about an axis of rotation from a belt holding position rearwardly to a belt non-holding position for selectively holding said shoulder belt over said door port of said vehicle body when said shoulder belt is manually uplifted thereon at said third point so that said shoulder safety belt is supported at said first, second and third points to provide an unobstructed path to and from said rear seat through said door port, (i) said lever being movable rearwardly to said belt non-holding position in response to rearward movement of said shoulder belt for releasing said shoulder safety belt from said lever and said third point, and (d) biasing means fixed to said frame and said lever for yieldingly biasing said lever to said belt holding position.

Claim 4

In a two-door type vehicle body including a roof covering an occupant compartment thereof, a rear seat, a front seat with a forward foldable seat back movable between an upright seating position and a forwardly tipped easy entry position, an occupant access door port for an occupant entering or exiting said door port to said front seat and said rear seat, a shoulder safety belt for an occupant of said front seat, a belt retractor means fixed to said roof inside of said compartment and connected to said shoulder belt for paying out said shoulder belt as needed for said movement of said seat back and said front seat occupant and for maintaining said shoulder belt taut, said shoulder belt defining a straight line between a first point on said front seat back and a second point at said retractor means, said shoulder belt being disposed proximal to said door port and transverse thereto the combination comprising: (a) a frame, (b) mounting means for fixing said frame in said compartment of said vehicle body over said door port, (c) a belt supporting means including a laterally extending lever pivotally mounted on said frame at a third point for pivotal movement about an axis of rotation from a belt holding position rearwardly to a belt non-holding position for selectively holding said shoulder belt over said door port of said vehicle body when said shoulder belt is manually uplifted thereon at said third point so that said shoulder safety belt is supported at said first, second and third points to provide an unobstructed path to and from said rear seat through said door port, (i) said lever being movable rearwardly to said belt non-holding position in response to rearward movement of said shoulder belt for releasing said shoulder safety belt from said lever and said third point, and (d) biasing means fixed to said frame and said lever for yieldingly biasing said lever to said belt holding position.

Claim 5

The invention defined in claim 2 wherein said third point is disposed forward of said first point when said front seat back is in an upright sitting position and rearward of said first point when said front seat back is tipped forward.

Claim 6

The invention defined in claim 2 wherein said biasing means includes a spring connected to said lever for urging said lever to said belt holding position.

Claim 7

The invention defined in claim 2 wherein said frame is a door molding over said occupant access door port of said vehicle body.

Claim 8

A safety belt overhead holder comprising: (a) a frame, (b) a lever, (c) pivot means for pivotally mounting said lever on said frame for rotational movement between a belt holding position and a belt non-holding position, (d) biasing means coupled to said lever for yieldingly urging said lever to said belt holding position, and (e) mounting means for mounting said frame over an occupant access door port of a two-door vehicle body at a given point over said door port of said two-door vehicle body, (i) said given point being forward of a top portion of a forward foldable front seat back of a front seat in said two-door vehicle body when said seat is in an upright position and rearward of said top portion of said forward foldable front seat back when said front seat back is tipped forward.

Claim 9

A safety belt overhead holder comprising: (a) a frame, (b) a lever, (c) pivot means for pivotally mounting said lever on said frame for rotational movement between a belt holding position and a belt non-holding position, (d) biasing means coupled to said lever for yieldingly urging said lever to said belt holding position, and (e) mounting means for mounting said frame over an occupant access door port of a two-door vehicle body at a given point over said door port of said two-door vehicle body, (i) said given point being forward of a top portion of a forward foldable front seat back of a front seat in said two-door vehicle body when said seat is in an upright position and rearward of said top portion of said forward foldable front seat back when said front seat back is tipped forward.