Driving force transmitting structure for automatic seatbelt system

Details

Inventors: Nishimura, Yuji;
Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Tokai-Rika-Denki-Seisakusho (JP)
Primary Examiner: Bertsch; Richard A.
Assistant Examiner:
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Sixbey, Friedman & Leedom

A seatbelt system for a vehicle which enables a webbing to be automatically fastened to the body of an occupant includes a tape subjected to driving force derived from a motor. The distal end portion of the tape is provided with a plurality of neck portions. Projecting members are provided on a slider which retains the webbing. The projecting members are fitted into the neck portions, respectively, so that the driving force from the motor is transmitted to the slider while being distributed among a plurality of portions of the tape. Thus, even when the tape has a relatively small width, the driving force is reliably transmitted to the slider and hence the webbing.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION In view of the above circumstances, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a driving force transmitting structure for an automatic seatbelt system which enables driving force to be reliably transmitted to a webbing even when a flexible continuous member for transmitting tensile and compressive forces has a relatively small cross-sectional area.
To this end, the present invention provides a driving force transmitting structure for use in an automatic seatbelt system designed to move a slider along a guide rail by means of driving force derived from driving means, so as to connect a continuous member subjected to the driving force to the slider, the structure comprising: a plurality of neck portions formed on the distal end portion of the continuous member in such a manner that the neck portions are spaced apart from each other in the longitudinal direction of the continuous member; and intermediate piece moved through the guide rail together with the slider; and projecting members formed on the intermediate piece and fitted into the neck portions, respectively, the projecting members being adapted to transmit the driving force to the intermediate piece in such a manner that the driving force is distributed among a plurality of portions of the joint between the continuous member and the intermediate piece.
By virtue of the above-described arrangement of the present invention, it is unnecessary to secure the slider to the continuous member through an opening provided in the latter, and the neck portions of the continuous member are reliably engaged with the projecting members to transmit the driving force to the webbing.
Since the plurality of neck portions have different widths in such a manner that one neck portion which is closer to the distal end of the continuous member than another has a smaller width that that of the latter, the driving force is transmitted through these neck portions while being distributed among a plurality of portions of the continuous member

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