Seat belt position adjuster and seat belt device including the same

Abstract

A seat belt position adjuster includes a guide rail attached to a vehicle body and a slider slidably provided to the guide rail. The slider swingably supports a belt anchor that guides a seat belt. The slider includes a boss portion that supports the belt anchor, and slides with respect to the guide rail to adjust the position of the seat belt. The boss portion includes an inner diameter that is kept constant between a base portion and a leading end portion of the boss portion, and an outer diameter that is continuously reduced from the base portion toward a leading end of the boss portion.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1( a) and 1(b) illustrate a guide rail and a slider of an embodiment of a seat belt position adjuster according to the present invention, wherein FIG. 1(a) is a perspective view and FIG. 1(b) is a cross-sectional view taken along line 1(b)-1(b) of FIG. 1(a).

FIGS. 2( a) and 2(b) illustrate the slider of the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1(a) and 1(b), wherein FIG. 2(a) is a cross-sectional view of the slider in the longitudinal direction thereof and FIG. 2(b) is an explanatory diagram of a boss portion formed by a burring process.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a commonly-used conventional three-point seat belt device installed in an automobile.

FIGS. 4( a)-4(c) illustrate sliders used in a conventional seat belt position adjuster, wherein FIG. 4(a) is a cross-sectional view of a slider according to one embodiment, 4(b) is a cross-sectional view of a slider according to another embodiment, and 4(c) is an explanatory diagram of a boss portion of the slider illustrated in FIG. 4(b) formed by a burring process.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIGS. 1(a) and 1(b) illustrate a guide rail and a slider of an embodiment of a seat belt position adjuster according to the present invention. FIG. 1(a) is a perspective view, and FIG. 1(b) is a cross-sectional view taken along line 1(b)-1(b) of FIG. 1(a). The same components as the components of the above-described conventional example are assigned with the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1(a) and 1(b), the seat belt position adjuster 9 of the present embodiment also includes a guide rail 10 and a slider 11. The guide rail 10 extends in the vertical direction (the height direction), and is disposed at an upper position of the side portion of the vehicle body, such as the center pillar 8. The guide rail 10 is attached by passing not-illustrated bolts through attachment holes 10a and 10b formed in upper and lower ends of the guide rail 10 and screwing the bolts into the side portion of the vehicle body.

The left and right side edges of the guide rail 10 are provided with rail portions 10c and 10d, respectively, which extend in the vertical direction. Further, the center of the guide rail 10 is drilled with a predetermined number of positioning holes 10e at predetermined intervals in the vertical direction.

The slider 11 is provided to also extend in the vertical direction. The left and right side edges of the slider 11 are bent to form guided portions 11a and 11b. The guided portions 11a and 11b slidably engage with the rail portions 10c and 10d of the guide rail 10, respectively, to vertically move while being guided by the rail portions 10c and 10d.

As illustrated in FIG. 1(a), similarly to the conventional slider 11, the slider 11 of the present embodiment is also provided with the boss portion 12, which protrudes from the slider 11 to swingably support the belt anchor 7. As illustrated in FIG. 2(a), the boss portion 12 is integrally formed with the slider 11 by the burring process, and the inner circumferential surface of the boss portion 12 is formed with the internal thread 12a. As illustrated in FIG. 2(b), the outer diameter b of the leading end 12d of the boss portion 12 is smaller than the outer diameter a of the base portion 12c of the boss portion 12 (b<a). Meanwhile, the inner diameter d of the leading end 12d of the boss portion 12 is equal to the inner diameter c of the base portion 12c of the boss portion 12 (c=d). That is, while the outer diameter of the boss portion 12 changes to be reduced from the base portion 12c toward the leading end 12d, the inner diameter of the boss portion 12 is kept constant without changing from the base portion 12c toward the leading end 12d. Thus, the boss portion 12 does not have a difference in inner diameter.

In the boss portion 12 of the present embodiment, the leading end portion 12b of the boss portion 12 is thinner than the base portion 12c due to the burring process. However, the inner diameters c and d of the boss portion 12 are constant and are equal to each other, as described above. Thus, as illustrated in FIG. 2(b), there arises a difference in outer diameter between the outer diameter b at the leading end 12d of the boss portion 12 and the outer diameter a at the base portion 12c, i.e., the outer diameter b of the leading end 12d is smaller than the outer diameter a of the base portion 12c (b<a).

According to the seat belt position adjuster 9 of the present embodiment, the boss portion 12 formed by the burring process is kept constant in inner diameter without having a difference in inner diameter. Therefore, a height (amount of protrusion) e of the boss portion 12 can be made greater than the height of the conventional boss portion. Accordingly, it is possible to effectively perform the thread cutting on the boss portion 12 by using a tap, and to form the effective internal thread 12a longer than a conventional internal thread. Due to the increase in length of the effective internal thread 12a, therefore, the support of the belt anchor 7 can be more firmly maintained.

Other configurations and other operations and effects of the seat belt position adjuster 9 of the present embodiment are the same as the configurations and the operations and effects of the commonly-used conventional seat belt position adjuster provided with the slider 11 as illustrated in FIG. 4(b) including the boss portion 12 formed by the burring process.

Further, the seat belt position adjuster 9 of the present embodiment can be applied to the seat belt position adjuster 9 of the commonly-used conventional three-point seat belt device 1 illustrated in FIG. 3, for example. Provided with the seat belt position adjuster 9 of the present embodiment, the seat-belt device 1 can more firmly maintain the support of the belt anchor 7 and more effectively restrain and protect an occupant from being inertially moved when a vehicle is applied with a large deceleration in the event of a vehicle collision or the like.

The seat belt position adjuster according to the present invention and the seat belt device including the adjuster can be preferably applied to a seat belt position adjuster for adjusting the height position of a seat belt of a seat belt device used in a vehicle, and to a seat belt device including the adjuster.

The disclosure of Japanese Patent Application No. 2006-158577 filed on Jun. 7, 2006 is incorporated as a reference.

While the invention has been explained with reference to the specific embodiments of the invention, the explanation is illustrative and the invention is limited only by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A seat belt position adjuster comprising: a guide rail attached to a vehicle body; anda slider slidably attached to the guide rail for swingably supporting a belt anchor that guides a seat belt, the slider including a boss portion for supporting the belt anchor and sliding with respect to the guide rail to adjust a position of the seat belt;wherein the boss portion comprises an inner diameter that is kept constant between a base portion and a leading end portion of the boss portion, and an outer diameter that is continuously reduced from the base portion toward the leading end of the boss portion.

2. The seat belt position adjuster according to claim 1, wherein the boss portion is integrally formed with the slider by a burring process.

3. A seat belt device comprising at least: a seat belt;a seat belt retractor configured to keep the seat belt withdrawably retracted in a normal state and preventing the seat belt from being withdrawn in an emergency;a belt anchor to be attached to a vehicle body to guide the seat belt withdrawn from the seat belt retractor; anda seat belt position adjuster for adjusting a position of the belt anchor, the seat belt position adjuster operable to adjust the position of the belt anchor to thereby adjust the position of the seat belt with respect to an occupant;wherein the seat belt position adjuster is the seat belt position adjuster according to claim 1.

4. The seat belt device according to claim 3, further comprising: a tongue slidably supported by the seat belt; anda buckle fixed to a vehicle seat or a vehicle body, the buckle configured to be latched with the tongue.