GB2200529A - Improvements relating to vehicle seat belts - Google Patents

Abstract

A seat belt assembly provides an extra long belt (7) for coping with wheelchair passengers. The belt is wound on two inertia reels (5, 6) and a clip (8) is captive on it between the reels. These reels may be adjustably anchored to a common floor rail (1) and the clip engaged in a socket (14) adjustably anchored to another, parallel floor rail (2), the belt then forming shoulder and lap straps. A device to prevent belt retraction may be clamped onto the shoulder strap portion adjacent its reel (5). <IMAGE>

Description

Improvements relating to Vehicle Seat Belts This invention relates to vehicle seat belts and it is primarily concerned with belts for the occupants of wheelchairs.

It is now quite common for vehicles to be adapted to take wheelchairs, allowing the user to remain in his chair without the awkward and tedious process of transferring to a fixed vehicle seat and folding up and transporting the chair separately. Various ways of securing a wheelchair in a vehicle have been proposed, and one is described in our co-pending Application No.

8726770.

However, it is not enough just to secure the chair; the occupant must also be held safe by a belt or harness. While it might be tempting to have this anchored to the wheelchair itself, and then rely on the anchoring of the chair to the vehicle, this is not safe.

Wheelchairs are lightly constructed and, in any serious accident, are likely to disintegrate. It is therefore necessary to have the seat belt anchored to the vehicle itself.

It is of course possible to use ordinary belts securely bolted to the body or chassis. However, when not actually in use, these will lie about untidily, get very dirty and make it hazardous for anyone moving about the inside of the vehicle.

Inertia reels are now fitted to the majority of ordinary cars and they offer an obvious solution to the untidiness problem. However, they are usually fitted at shoulder level to house one end of the belt, the other being anchored to the floor below. A clip is captive on the intervening run. With this belt, the inertia reel pays out the necessary amount to create a lap strap and one diagonally across the shoulder. The clip snaps into a floor fitting on the other side of the seat. The total amount of belt paid out is not all that great, and naturally the reels are made to house little more than the expected maximum. But when it comes to using such reels for the occupant of a wheelchair, there is not enough belt.In order to allow the wheelchair to manoeuvre in and out there has to be clear floor space, at least at one side, and so any seat belt fitted once the wheelchair is in place has to stretch right over the chair and its occupant down to floor level. Standard inertia reels currently available do not have this capacity, and the specialist market for the handicapped does not justify the manufacture of larger capacity reels.

It is the aim of this invention to provide a solution to this problem.

A further problem with seat belts is that they rub or bear with some pressure on the user, and this is particularly noticeable with shoulder straps. To most people, this is a minor price to pay for safety, and is in any event not much of an irritant when heavy clothes are worn. Also the position can be slightly adjusted from time to time. But wheelchair occupants may be virtually incapacitated, and not even able to express the reason for discomfort. For them a seat belt may be maddening, and it is therefore a further object of this invention to relieve unnecessary pressure from such a belt.

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a seat belt assembly comprising a pair of inertia reels, each having a secure anchorage, a belt common to the reels, and means for securing an intermediate point on the belt, when at least partially withdrawn from both reels, to a further anchorage.

In practice, two standard inertia reels may be used, the standard belts being removed and replaced by a single, substantially longer belt whose ends can each be wound in by respective reels. This extra length allows the belt to create two straps across the occupant of a wheelchair.

Preferably, a clip will be captive on the belt between the reels, and this will be co-operable with said further anchorage to secure said intermediate point. The clip will normally be free to slide along the belt, although it could be fastened to it.

The further anchorage is conveniently provided by a floor mounted "stalk", with a socket at its upper end to receive a clip. This may be on a member lockable at selected positions along a floor track.

The first mentioned anchorage may also include a floor track. Such tracks are quite commonly found in vehicles and aircraft for securing seats in selected positions and one is shown in our co-pending Application referred to above. The inertia reels may be carried on a member which locks to this track, or they may be on separate lockable members.

According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a seat belt assembly comprising an inertia reel, a belt withdrawable therefrom, and releasable means engageable with the belt for preventing retraction of the belt from a withdrawn position.

This releasable means is conveniently a device through which the belt is threaded and which can be actuated to nip the belt and to provide a stop thereon which cannot be drawn into the inertia reel.

It may be associated with at least one of the pair of reels referred to above, in particular with the one from which a shoulder strap portion is withdrawn.

Thus, for a wheelchair occupant, the shoulder strap may be adjusted until it is on the point of being loose, and then the stop is applied immediately adjacent the associated inertia reel. If the wheelchair occupant does then want to ease forwards, he can still do so, the stop being pulled temporarily clear of the inertia reel.

For a better understanding of the invention, one embodiment will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which: Figure 1 is a diagrammatic perspective view of a seat belt assembly for a wheelchair occupant, Figure 2 is a perspective view of a first anchorage for the assembly of Figure 1, and Figure 3 is a perspective view of a second anchorage for the assembly of Figure 1.

The wheelchair and occupant, shown in outline, are pos-itioned to straddle two parallel floor tracks 1 and 2, with the occupant facing in a direction parallel to those tracks. An anchorage member 3 can be locked in selected positions along the track 1 by means of studs 4 in known manner for seat anchorages. It carries two inertia reels 5 and 6 and these have a belt 7 in common between them on which a clip 8 is captive but slidable.

A plate 9 spans the portion of the belt 7 emerging from the reel 5 and which is to form the shoulder strap.

This plate is cy-lindrically concave towards the rear with two lugs 10 projecting rearwardly at opposite sides. A correspondingly shaped wedge 11 is pivoted between these lugs, the pivot axis being near the upper edge so that the wedge tends to fall into the recess of the plate 9. The belt 7 passes between the plate and the wedge and when the latter is swung up, as shown in Figure 2, the belt can run quite freely in either direction. The weight of the plate/wedge assembly, referred to hereafter as a buckle, keeps it resting on the reel 5.

When the belt is extended the desired amount, the wedge can be pushed down, nipping the belt between itself and the plate recess. The geometry is such that the wedge will remain firm until released by being pulled away, its concave side forming a convenient handle for this purpose. With the buckle fixed to form a stop, the belt is released and the inertia reel 5 exerts its pull. However, the buckle jams against the reel and the belt cannot be retracted. But the belt can be pulled out- further if, for example, the wheelchair occupant wishes to lean forward to reach something. In practice, of course, the wedge 11 will be set when the shoulder strap is comfortable to the person sitting normally in the wheelchair.

A similar device could be provided for the lap portion of the belt, but will generally not be necessary.

Thus when the belt is released from the position shown in Figure 1, and the buckle is freed, each reel will take up about half the length of the belt and there will just be a short span through the buckle and the clip 8, as shown in Figure 2. This is unobstrusive and tidy.

The other track 2 has another anchorage member 12 which can be locked into it at selected positions, and this member carries a stalk 13 with a socket 14 at its upper end to receive the clip 8. Thus, in use, the belt can be drawn out to provide two runs, the one between the reel 5 and the clip 8 forming a shoulder strap and the other between the reel 6 and the clip 8 forming a lap belt.

The stalk 13 will generally be provided on the track 2 adjacent the side of the vehicle so that when there is no wheelchair it is not providing a hazardous upward projection out in the middle of the floor space. It also makes the buckle 9,11 more accessible to an attendant. Of course the anchorage member 3 and the reel assembly could also be a hazard to trip over, but if this is thought likely it can be temporarily transferred to the other track until required.

With some vehicles it may be possible to do without one or both floor tracks. For example a socket for the clip 8 might be securely anchored to the side of the vehicle, or the inertia reels might be mounted on the side of the vehicle, with the anchorage for the clip on the track 1.

Another version is to have the reels 5 and 6 on separate anchorage members rather than the single member 3.

Claims (11)

CLAIlIS

1. A seat belt assembly comprising a pair of inertia reels, each reel having a secure anchorage, a belt common to the reels, and means for securing an intermediate point on the belt, when at least partially withdrawn from both reels, to a further anchorage.

2. An assembly as claimed in Claim 1, wherein a clip is captive on the belt between the reels, and the further anchorage has means with which this clip can be releasably engaged.

3. An assembly as claimed in Claim 2, wherein said further anchorage is provided by a floor track and a member carrying the clip engaging means which is lockable at selected positions along the floor track.

4. An assembly as claimed in Claim 1,2 or 3, wherein the first anchorage includes a floor track.

5. An assembly as claimed in Claim 4, wherein said reels are mounted on a common member which is lockable at selected positions along the floor track.

6. An assembly as claimed in Claim 4, wherein said reels are mounted on separate members each lockable at selected positions along the floor track.

7. A seat belt assembly comprising an inertia reel, a belt withdrawable therefrom, and releasable means engageable with the belt for preventing retraction of the belt from a withdrawn position.

8. An assembly as claimed in Claim 7, wherein said releasable means is a device through which the belt is threaded and which can be actuated to nip the belt and to provide a stop thereon which cannot be withdrawn into the inertia reel.

9. An assembly as claimed in Claim 7 or 8, and as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 6, wherein the releasable means is associated with at least one of said pair of reels.

10. An assembly as claimed in Claim 9, wherein the releasable means is associated with the reel of said pair from which a shoulder strap portion is withdrawn.

11. A seat belt assembly substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawing.