VEHICLE PASSIVE OCCUPANT RESTRAINING BELT ARRANGEMENT

摘要

A vehicle passive occupant restraining belt arrangement includes a generally flexible cable with one end attached to the vehicle body generally adjacent the lower end of a windshield pillar laterally of the hinge axis of the adjacent door, a door mounted guide receiving the other end of the cable which extends to within the door for attachment to one end of a helical spring whose other end is fixed to the door, an apertured member slidably receiving an intermediate portion of the cable and connected to lap and shoulder belt portions of a first belt, and a second belt with one end fixedly attached to the apertured member and the other end received by a belt retractor mounted on the door adjacent the other end of the cable. During door opening movement, the cable is moved to a generally outwardly extending orientation and due to the lateral positioning of the one end with respect to the door hinge axis, the effective length of the cable is increased to tension the spring. As the spring and cable are thus tensioned, the retractor extends the second belt while the apertured member slides forwardly along the cable to move the lap and shoulder belt portions to easy-enter positions. During door closing movement, the retractor retracts the second belt and the apertured member slides rearwardly along the cable to move the lap and shoulder belt portions to occupant restraining positions while the cable slackens and moves to a generally longitudinally extending orientation adjacent the lower door edge and generally out of sight. In another embodiment, the one end of the cable slides through a guide mounted on the vehicle body adjacent the lower end of the windshield pillar and is attached to the forward edge of the door laterally of the hinge axis. In this embodiment, the effective change in length of the cable during door movement is increased by the corresponding change in distance between the guide and the end of the cable attached to the forward door edge. When the door is moved to closed position, a resilient member pulls the cable back through the guide and the cable assumes a slackened condition adjacent the vehicle body floor and generally out of sight.