The invention relates, generally, to a restraint system having a strap and an adjuster and, more particularly, to a belt adjuster for such a restraint, system for use in a vehicle having a lower anchor and upper tether system.
Restraint systems are used in various applications including child restraint systems for a vehicle, restraint systems for cargo loaded upon a pallet, etc.
The prior art includes various types of child safety seats, including rear-facing infant seats which may or may not include a removable base, convertible seats which may be rear or forward-facing, forward-facing only seats, high-back booster seats with a five-point harness, and belt positioning booster seats, for example. Initially, the various child restraint systems were designed to be used with the seatbelts of a vehicle, which seatbelts were originally developed for adult passengers. The prior art seatbelts include lap belts and three-point belts. With the many types of child restraint seats and the various manufacturers, one of the problems with installing child restraint seats properly has always been the incompatibility between the child restraint seat and the vehicle belt system.
To address the incompatibility and to arrive at a standard, various countries are implementing legislation to provide guidelines as to a system to be installed in vehicles for the securing of child restraint seats.
The lower anchor and tethers for children (LATCH) system was designed to make installation of child safety seats easier by requiring child safety seats to be installed without using the vehicles seat belt system. The system requires all new forward-facing child safety seats (not including booster seats) to meet stricter head protection requirements, which calls for a top tether strap. The top tether strap is adjustable via an adjuster and is attached to the back of a child safety seat. The strap includes a hook for securing the child safety seat to a tether anchor found on the rear shelf area of the vehicle or, in the case of mini-vans and station wagons, on the rear floor or on the back of the rear seat of the vehicle. In addition to the tether anchor, the system requires two rear seating positions of all cars, mini-vans and light trucks to become equipped with lower child safety seat anchorage points located at the seat bight, i.e., between the vehicle's seat cushion and the vehicle's seat back. Further, the system requires that all child safety seats will have two attachments which will connect to the vehicle's lower anchorage attachment points. Together, the lower anchors and upper tethers make up the LATCH system.
In accordance with the LATCH system, a child restraint seat is secured to the lower anchor of a vehicle with two clips or hooks. The hooks are coupled to the child restraint seat via a belt or webbing which either extends from each hook to a secured point on the child restraint seat, or via webbing which extends through the structure of the child restraint seat. The belt is adjustable by means of a belt adjuster.
The prior art suffers several disadvantages. For example, current adjuster devices for lower anchor and upper tether assemblies rely on the webbing or belt tension to lock. The greater the tension or load on the belt, the more difficult for the user to release the tension in the belt system. In addition, a prior art cam adjuster with a serrated edge cuts the belt when high loads are imposed in the belt.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a strap restraint system having an adjuster, wherein the strap may be easily adjusted even when the strap is under tension.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a belt restraint system having an adjuster wherein high loads do not cause the belt to be cut.
It is a still a further object of the present invention to provide an adjuster for a restraint system, wherein the adjuster is easy and inexpensive to manufacture.
The present invention provides an adjuster for a restraint system, the restraint system having a belt which extends through the adjuster. The belt includes a free end and another end or fastening end which is adapted to be secured to an object. The adjuster allows adjustment of the length of the belt between the adjuster and the fastening end, the adjuster comprising, a frame having a base member and upright side flanges, the base member includes an upper side, a lower side, and an opening, the opening defines a first or edge plate and a second or securement plate, the first and second plates extending between the upright side flanges, the first plate and the opening define a belt engaging edge, a clamping member pivotally mounted between the upright side flanges, the clamping member includes a pivoting lever and a load bar having a clamping edge; and a resilient spring member which urges the clamping member to rotate the clamping edge toward the belt engaging edge of the frame, whereby a belt may extend around the load bar, with the free end extending between the belt engaging edge and the clamping edge and through the base member opening and along the lower side of the first edge plate and away from the opening, and the fastening end of the belt extending through the opening and parallel and adjacent to the free end wherein tension introduced in the fastening end imposes a corresponding rotational force about the load bar which translates into a clamping force upon the free end between the clamping edge and the belt engaging edge, wherein a user may pull on the free end and decrease the length of the belt extending between the adjuster and the fastening end, and wherein a user may press the pivoting lever to rotate the clamping edge away from the belt engaging edge so as to free the belt to allow the belt length to be increased between the adjuster and the fastening end.
The clamping member 14 is shown to be a single piece cast component. The clamping member 14 includes a load bar 52 having pins 54 extending from a proximal end 56 of the load bar 52 and which extend along the longitudinal axis 24 of the upright side flange openings 22. A distal end 58 of the load bar 52 includes a clamping edge 60. A front surface 62 of the load bar 52 includes a belt-receiving load surface 64. The belt receiving load surface 64 is provided with a rough surface. Extending from the proximal end 56 of the load bar 52 via two side flanges 66 is a pivot release lever 68.
It will be appreciated that the restraint system is tightened by means of pulling on the free end 92 of the belt 88. In this manner, the slack is taken out of the fastening end 94 of the belt 88. As soon as tension is introduced in the belt 88, the fastening end 94 engages the load surface 64 of the load bar 52 and causes the load bar 52 to rotate in a clockwise direction as viewed in
Slack may be introduced into the restraint system by means of exerting pressure upon the pivoting release lever 68 causing it to rotate in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in
The fulcrum provided by the pivoting release lever 68 assists the user in introducing slack into the restraint system even when a substantial amount of tension exists in the restraint system. In an alternative embodiment, the securement plate 30 of
It can be seen that the resilient member 16 takes the form of a helical spring. The edge plate 28 includes an upwardly bent tab 100 to receive one end 102 of the helical spring 16. The clamping member 14 includes a spring retainer 104 in the pivoting release lever 68 to receive the other end 106 of the helical spring 16. The opening 26 of the base member 18 is formed by punching out a center portion 108 of the base member 18 and bending it downwardly so as to be substantially parallel to the second or securement plate 30.
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