JP2005280483A - Seat belt device of vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a seat belt device for preventing an occupant from braking hard without noticing that a seat belt is in an inappropriately worn state. <P>SOLUTION: The seat belt device is arranged in front of the occupant M in the vehicle, and comprises detecting means 30, 32 for detecting the wearing state of the seat belt 21 on an upper body of the occupant, and a warning means 35 for warning to the occupant when the detecting means detect that the seat belt 21, especially a shoulder belt part 22a, is worn on except for a predetermined part. The occupant M who is warned about the inappropriate wearing state by the warning means 35 can correct the dangerous wearing state of the shoulder belt part 22a into a safely worn state. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

The present invention relates to a vehicle seat belt device, and more particularly to a device for detecting a state of a seat belt hooked on an occupant.

  As is well known, a seat belt device protects an occupant from a serious accident by restraining the occupant to a seat when a sudden brake is applied or a vehicle collides. A seat belt (webbing) pulled out from a retractor attached to a pillar or the like is folded back by thruing to form a shoulder belt portion and a waist belt portion. In addition, the front end of the seat belt is fixed to an anchor fixed to the floor, and the sluting can be engaged with a buckle fixed to the floor.

To restrain the occupant firmly to the seat with the seat belt device during sudden braking, etc., the seat belt should rest on the predetermined part (shoulder, chest and side) of the occupant's upper body (first point), and the slutung and buckle It is important that Togura is properly engaged (second point). The conventional seat belt device (see Patent Document 1) detects the engagement between the sluting and the buckle with respect to the second point.
JP 2000-272474 A

  However, few prior arts that pay attention to the first point are known. While the seat size and the position of the retractor, buckle and anchor are fixed, the physique of the occupant varies from individual to individual. Therefore, the seat belt does not always hang over a predetermined portion of the upper body. In addition, the occupant cannot see himself / herself and is not likely to notice an inappropriate state of the seat belt.

  For example, a portion closer to the upper side of the shoulder belt that should be applied to the shoulder may be applied to the neck. If the upper half of the body is moved forward by stepping on the sudden brake in this state, the portion near the upper end will bite into the neck, which is very dangerous. In other words, a seat belt device that originally protects an occupant from an accident may be a weapon that hurts or kills the occupant.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides a seat belt device in which a vehicle does not travel without a passenger being aware that the seat belt is improperly engaged or a sudden brake is not stepped on. For the purpose.

  The inventor of the present application has come up with the idea of notifying the occupant when the seat belt is worn or thereafter when the state of the seat belt on the occupant's upper body is inappropriate.

  According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicle seat belt device, wherein the vehicle seat belt device is disposed in front of an occupant in the vehicle and detects a state in which the seat belt is engaged with the upper body of the occupant; Warning means for warning the occupant to the effect that the seat belt has been hooked on the other side. In this seat belt device, the detecting means detects a state of the seat belt being applied to the upper half of the seat belt when the seat belt is worn after the user is seated or thereafter. The warning means warns the occupant and prompts correction when an improper hook on a portion other than the predetermined portion is detected.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a seat belt device according to the first aspect, wherein the detection means includes a CCD camera for photographing the upper body of the occupant with the seat belt from the front, and an image processing section for processing the image of the CCD camera. According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a seat belt device according to the first aspect, wherein the detecting means includes a transmitter for transmitting infrared rays from the front to the upper body of the occupant with the seat belt and a receiver for receiving infrared rays reflected by the upper body.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the seat belt device according to the second or third aspect, wherein the detecting means examines the deviation of the seat belt from the shoulder of the occupant. According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the fourth aspect, the warning means is a lighting lamp or a buzzer that emits a sound.

  According to the vehicle seat belt device of the present invention, the warning means issues a warning when the detection means detects an inappropriate hanging state. Thus, the occupant is noticed in an improper engagement state and can be appropriately corrected to the position. As a result, the occupant is protected during sudden braking and damage can be avoided. According to the seat belt of the second aspect, it is possible to accurately detect the state of the seat belt from the shade difference based on the difference in color and reflectance between the seat belt and the occupant's clothes. According to the seat belt of the third aspect, it is possible to accurately detect the seat belt engagement state based on the temperature difference based on the friction between the portion where the seat belt is applied and the portion where the seat belt is not applied.

  According to the seat belt of the fourth aspect, it is possible to detect and avoid a dangerous situation in which a part of the seat belt bites into the occupant's neck. According to the seat belt of claim 5, the occupant is informed of an inappropriate engagement visually or audibly by a lamp or a buzzer, and can correct the engagement position.

<Seat belt device, etc.>
(A) The seat belt device includes a seat belt, a retractor that winds and pulls out the seat belt, a sluting attached in the middle of the seat belt, a buckle engaged with the sluting, an anchor coupled to the front end of the seat belt, and the like. The seat belt may be slightly tightened by detecting the engagement with the buckling buckle and operating the retractor.

During sudden braking, an acceleration detection mechanism in the retractor acts to prohibit (lock) the withdrawal of the seat belt. Note that the seat belt device may be prohibited from being pulled out by a signal from an acceleration sensor for operating the airbag device provided separately.
(B) A pretensioner device and an airbag device can be combined with the seat belt device, and the occupant can be protected more safely. The pretensioner device removes the slack of the seat belt during sudden braking or the like, and reliably restrains the occupant by the seat back. The airbag device is used to relieve the collision of the occupant with the vehicle body by deploying the airbag between the occupant and the vehicle body at the time of sudden braking or the like.

In order to operate the pretensioner device and the airbag, an acceleration sensor is provided at a predetermined position (front and / or side) of the vehicle. When the ECU determines the risk of collision based on the detection signal of the acceleration sensor, the pretensioner device and the airbag device are driven.
<Detection means>
The detecting means of the present invention detects the state of the seat belt on the occupant's upper body. In the technology of the seat belt device, “wearing of the seat belt” is used in many ways, and often means engagement between the slugging and the buckle. On the other hand, in the present invention, it is detected whether or not the “hanging state of the seat belt on the occupant's upper body” is appropriate. "Inappropriate" hanging state means that the original hanging state is shifted upward, downward, or sideward, and it is particularly problematic which part of the upper body of the shoulder belt portion is applied to the upper body. .

The hooked state can be detected, for example, when the seat belt is seated after sitting, that is, when the slugging and the buckle are engaged. It should be noted that even when seating is appropriate, even if it is appropriate, it may be in an inappropriate state due to movement of the upper body, etc., so that it can be detected periodically after seating. The following two types can be adopted as the detection means.
(A) Image processing technology Image processing technology uses a CCD camera and an image processing unit. The image processing unit performs density enhancement, noise removal, binarization, labeling, and the like. In other words, due to the difference in color and light reflectance between the occupant's clothes and the seat belt, the density of the part where the seat belt is hung and the part where it is not hung are different, so the dark part or the light (thin) part is the predetermined part of the upper body. It is possible to detect the hanging state by checking whether or not.
(B) Infrared sensor An infrared sensor including an infrared oscillator and receiver uses the fact that the temperature of the upper body is different between the portion where the seat belt is hung and the portion where the seat belt is not hung. Of the upper body of the occupant, the temperature at which the seat belt and the clothes come into contact with each other is higher than the temperature at which the seat belt does not contact due to friction. Therefore, it is possible to detect the hanging state by examining whether or not the high temperature part is a predetermined part of the upper body.
<Warning means>
As the warning means of the present invention, a lamp or buzzer arranged on the instrument panel can be employed. If the seat belt is not properly seated, it can be indicated by a lamp display or a buzzer sound. The warning means is preferably activated at least when the detection means is activated.
<Changing the hanging state>
An occupant who is warned of an improper hanging state by the warning means corrects the hanging state on the upper body of the seat belt. If the seat belt device and your physique match, but the hanging state is unsuitable due to sudden wearing, etc., the hanging position may be adjusted (corrected) by hand. On the other hand, when the improper hanging state is caused by the fact that the seat belt device does not match the physique, it is sufficient to move the seat in the front-rear direction or adjust the seat seat height. (For example, put a rug).

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
(Constitution)
a. Overall Crew Protection System The vehicle occupant protection system shown in FIG. 1 includes an airbag device, a seat belt device, and a pretensioner device. An acceleration sensor 10L is arranged on the left side of the front part of the vehicle, and an acceleration sensor 10R is arranged on the right side of the front part. The right front airbag 12R is disposed in the handle in front of the driver seat A, and the left front airbag 12L is disposed in the instrument panel in front of the passenger seat B. The left door and pillar are provided with a left seat belt 14L and a left pretensioner device 16L, and the right door and pillar are provided with a right seat belt 14R and a right pretensioner device 16R.

  Information is input from the acceleration sensors 10L and 10R to the ECU 18 disposed in the center of the vehicle, and based on this, the ECU 18 issues drive signals to the airbag devices 12L and 12R and the pretensioner devices 16L and 16R. .

b. Seat Belt Device As shown in FIG. 2 which is a front view of the seat S, the seat belt device 14R includes a seat belt (webbing) 21, a retractor 23, an anchor 25, a throttling 26 and a buckle 27. Of these, the retractor 23 pulls in the seat belt 21 and locks the drawer when the vehicle body is impacted. The anchor 25 supports the tip of the seat belt 21. The sluting 26 is slidably inserted in the middle of the seat belt 21, divided into a shoulder belt portion 22 a and a waist belt portion 22 b, and is attachable to and detachable from the buckle 27.

c. Detection Unit, Warning Unit In FIGS. 1 and 3, a CCD camera 30 and an image processing unit 32 are built in the instrument panel. The lens of the CCD camera 30 is directed rearward, and the upper body of the driver M including the head, neck, shoulders and chest is photographed. The image processing unit 32 performs image processing on an image of the upper body of the driver photographed by the CCD camera 30, and determines whether or not the seat belt 21 is on a predetermined portion of the upper body.

A buzzer 35 is embedded in the instrument panel near the CCD camera 30. The buzzer 35 receives a signal from the image processing unit 32, and emits a sound to warn the driver M when the seat belt 21 is not properly engaged.
(Function)
Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. The driver M seated on the seat S pulls out the seat belt 21 from the retractor 23 with the sluting 26, and engages the slugging 26 with the buckle 27. Originally, as shown in FIG. 4A, the shoulder belt portion 22a should extend to the shoulder Ma, the chest Mb, and the side Mc to restrain the upper body. The CCD camera 30 starts photographing the upper body due to the engagement of the thruching 26 with the buckle 27, and the photographed result is image-processed by the image processing 32. However, since the hanging state is appropriate, the buzzer 35 does not emit a warning sound.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4B, the upper end portion 22a1 of the shoulder belt portion 22a is located slightly above the shoulder belt device 22 because the seat belt device and the physique of the driver M do not match. It may hit the neck Md instead of Ma. In this case, based on information from the CCD camera 30, the image processing unit 32 determines that the hanging state is not appropriate, and the buzzer 35 emits a warning sound. The driver M adjusts the position of the seat S so that the upper end portion 22a1 of the shoulder belt 22a is properly placed on the shoulder Ma by adjusting the position of the seat S in the front-rear direction and the height of the seat 52.
(effect)
According to this embodiment, the driver M is warned of this by the buzzer 35 when the seat belt 21 is not properly applied to the upper body, and can take necessary measures. Inappropriate hooking often occurs when the seat belt 21 is attached to the seat S (when the slugging 26 is engaged with the buckle 27). In this case, the hooking state can be corrected before the vehicle starts.

  The improper hooking state may occur, for example, due to movement or twisting of the upper body while the vehicle is running after the seat belt 21 is once attached. Also in this case, since the buzzer 35 emits a warning sound, it is sufficient to slow down or stop and correct the hooked state of the shoulder belt portion 22a. If a collision accident occurs, the slack of the seat belt 21 is removed by the pretensioner devices 16L and 16R, and the collision of the occupant M with the vehicle body is mitigated by the airbag devices 12L and 12R. In addition, a serious accident in which the upper end portion 22a1 of the shoulder belt portion 22a of the seat belt device bites into the occupant's neck can be avoided.

It is a plane explanatory view showing the whole occupant protection system. It is a front view which shows the driver | operator who seated on the seat and equipped with the seat belt. It is a block diagram explaining the detection means and warning means of an Example. (A) is explanatory drawing which shows the appropriate hooking state of a seatbelt, (b) is explanatory drawing which shows an improper hooking state.

Explanation of symbols

10L, 10R: Acceleration sensor 14L, 14R: Seat belt device 18: ECU 21: Seat belt 22a: Shoulder belt portion 23: Retractor 26: Sluttering 27: Buckle 30: CCD camera 32: Image processing unit 35: Buzzer M: Crew

Claims (5)

A detecting means that is disposed in front of the occupant in the vehicle and detects the state of the seat belt hanging on the upper body of the occupant;
Warning means for warning the occupant to the effect that when the detection means detects that the seat belt is hooked to a portion other than the predetermined portion,
A vehicle seat belt device comprising:   The seatbelt device according to claim 1, wherein the detection means includes a CCD camera that photographs the upper body of the occupant with the seatbelt from the front, and an image processing unit that processes an image of the CCD camera.   2. The seat belt device according to claim 1, wherein the detection unit includes a transmitter that emits infrared rays from the front to an upper body of an occupant who is hung on the seat belt, and a receiver that receives infrared rays reflected by the upper body.   The seatbelt device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the detection means checks a deviation of the seatbelt from a shoulder of an occupant.   The seat belt device according to claim 4, wherein the warning means is a lighted lamp or a buzzer that emits a sound.

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