Patent Application
20240227722
The disclosure relates to seatbelt retainer apparatuses and more particularly pertains to a new seatbelt retainer apparatus for resisting twisting of a seatbelt near the tongue of the seatbelt.
The prior art relates to seatbelt retainer apparatuses. These include, for example, sleeve apparatuses for keeping seatbelts from twisting and a rigid apparatus for maintaining a female member of a latch in a fixed position. The prior art also discloses an apparatus for keeping the seatbelts of a car seat spaced apart from each other across the seat so that a child can be positioned in the seat without trapping the seatbelts between the child and the seat. However, the prior art fails to disclose a resiliently flexible apparatus with two sleeves which are configured to be attached to a seatbelt such that a tongue of the seatbelt is positioned between the sleeves.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising an upper sleeve has an upper outer wall and an upper channel. The upper channel extends vertically through the upper outer wall and is configured for receiving a webbing. A connecting strap is coupled to and extends downwardly from the upper sleeve. A lower sleeve is coupled to and extends downwardly from the connecting strap. The lower sleeve has a lower outer wall and a lower channel. The lower channel extends vertically through the lower outer wall and is configured for receiving the webbing. The retainer apparatus is configured for simultaneously positioning the webbing in each of the upper channel and the lower channel and a tongue of the seatbelt between the upper sleeve and the lower sleeve. The retainer apparatus is resiliently flexible such that the retainer apparatus resists twisting around a vertical axis extending through the retainer apparatus.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
The upper sleeve 12 has an upper outer wall 34. An upper channel 36 extends vertically through the upper outer wall 34 and receives the webbing 20 of the seatbelt 18. The upper outer wall 34 includes an upper front panel 38 and an upper rear panel 40. The upper front panel 38 is coupled to a first lateral edge 42 of the upper rear panel 40 and is spaced from a second lateral edge 44 of the upper rear panel 40 to define an upper slot 28 for receiving the webbing 20 into the upper channel 36. The upper rear panel 40 is planar, and the upper front panel 38 is arcuate with a convex front surface 46. The upper sleeve 12 has a width between a first lateral side 48 of the upper sleeve 12 and a second lateral side 50 of the upper sleeve 12 of between 1.25 inches and 1.75 inches. The upper sleeve 12 has a height between a top edge 52 of the upper sleeve 12 and a bottom edge 54 of the upper sleeve 12 of between 1.75 inches and 2.25 inches.
The connecting strap 16 is coupled to and extends downwardly from the bottom edge 54 of the upper rear panel 40 of the upper sleeve 12.
The lower sleeve 14 is coupled to and extends downwardly from the connecting strap 16 and has a lower outer wall 56. A lower channel 58 extends vertically through the lower outer wall 56 and receives the webbing 20. The lower outer wall 56 includes a lower front panel 60 and a lower rear panel 62, and the lower rear panel 62 is coupled to the connecting strap 16. The lower front panel 60 is coupled to a first lateral edge 64 of the lower rear panel 62 and is spaced from a second lateral edge 66 of the lower rear panel 62 to define a lower slot 67 for receiving the webbing 20 into the lower channel 58. The lower rear panel 62 is planar, and the lower front panel 60 is arcuate with a convex front surface 68. The lower sleeve 14 has a width between a first lateral side 70 of the lower sleeve 14 and a second lateral side 72 of the lower sleeve 14 of between 1.25 inches and 1.75 inches. The lower sleeve 14 has a height between a top edge 74 of the lower sleeve 14 and a bottom edge 76 of the lower sleeve 14 of between 1.75 inches and 2.25 inches.
The webbing 20 is positioned in each of the upper channel 36 and the lower channel 58, and the tongue 22 of the seatbelt 18 is positioned between the upper sleeve 12 and the lower sleeve 14. The retainer apparatus 10 is resiliently flexible such that the retainer apparatus 10 resists twisting around a vertical axis extending through the retainer apparatus 10.
In use, the retainer apparatus 10 is coupled to the webbing 20 by positioning the webbing 20 in each of the upper channel 36 and the lower channel 58 such that the tongue 22 is positioned between the upper sleeve 12 and the lower sleeve 14. In this position, the retainer apparatus 10 resists twisting around the vertical axis.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
