Vehicle and vehicle seat belt system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9403479-B2
Application number	US-201414470464-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 27, 2014
Priority date	Aug 27, 2014
Publication date	Aug 2, 2016
Grant date	Aug 2, 2016

Abstract

A vehicle having seat belt system is provided. The vehicle includes a D-ring having a light source, a belt strap passing through the D-ring, a tongue connected to the belt strap, a buckle, and a controller programmed to illuminate the light source in response to a detected trigger condition.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A seat belt system for a vehicle seat comprising:
a D-ring assembly including a visible-light source;
a tongue;
an anchor;
a retractable belt strap passing through the D-ring and tongue, and terminating at the anchor;
a buckle configured to receive the tongue; and
a controller programmed to, in response to a detected trigger condition requiring a vehicle occupant to locate the position of the D-ring, illuminate the visible-light source.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the buckle includes a light source.

3. The seat belt system for a vehicle seat of claim 1 , wherein the trigger condition is a door of a vehicle being opened.

4. The seat belt system for a vehicle seat of claim 1 , wherein the trigger condition is an ignition of a vehicle being activated.

5. A vehicle comprising:
a D-ring having a visible-light source;
a belt strap passing through the D-ring;
a tongue connected to the belt strap;
a buckle; and
a controller programmed to, in response to either a door of the vehicle being opened or an ignition of the vehicle being activated, illuminate the visible-light source.

6. The vehicle of claim 5 , wherein the controller is further programmed to illuminate the light source of the D-ring only if ambient light conditions fall below a predetermined threshold.

7. The vehicle of claim 6 , wherein the controller is further programmed to illuminate the light source of the D-ring for a predetermined period of time after either the door of the vehicle is opened or the ignition of the vehicle is activated.

8. The vehicle of claim 7 , wherein the controller is further programmed to illuminate the light source of the D-ring after the predetermined period of time if a seat of the vehicle is occupied.

9. The vehicle of claim 8 , wherein the controller is further programmed to terminate the illumination of the light source of the D-ring if the belt strap is pulled from a stationary position and the tongue and buckle are engaged.

10. The vehicle of claim 5 , wherein the buckle has a light source.

11. The vehicle of claim 10 , wherein the controller is further programmed to illuminate the light source of the buckle if ambient light conditions fall below a predetermined threshold.

12. The vehicle of claim 11 , wherein the controller is further programmed to illuminate the light source of the buckle if the belt strap is pulled from a stationary position and the tongue and buckle are not engaged.

13. The vehicle of claim 12 , wherein the controller is further programmed to terminate the illumination of the light source of the buckle if the tongue and buckle are engaged.

14. The vehicle of claim 10 , wherein the controller is further programmed to, in response to vehicle movement and an unbuckled condition of the tongue and buckle, trigger a flashing of the light source of the D-ring and the light source of the buckle.

15. The vehicle of claim 10 , wherein the controller is further programmed to illuminate the light source of the D-ring and the light source of the buckle for a predetermined period of time after the ignition of the vehicle is deactivated.

16. The vehicle of claim 10 , wherein the controller is further programmed to illuminate the light source of the D-ring and the light source of the buckle for a predetermined period of time after the ignition of the vehicle is deactivated and the door of the vehicle has been opened.

17. The vehicle of claim 5 further comprising a sensing device in communication with the controller and configured to relay an occupancy status of a seat of the vehicle to the controller.

18. The vehicle of claim 5 further comprising a sensing device in communication with the controller and configured to relay ambient light conditions to the controller.

19. The vehicle of claim 5 further comprising a sensing device in communication with the controller and configured to relay an open/closed condition of the door of the vehicle.

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Ghannam Mahmoud Yousef
• Pappas Bill
• Philip Abraham G
• Ho Helinda

Classifications

• B60Q3/0209

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic

• A44B11/2565

  Illuminated buckles · CPC title

• B60R2022/1818

  Belt guides · CPC title

• B60Q3/0293

  Operations & Transport · mapped topic

• B60R2022/4866

  Displaying or indicating arrangements thereof · CPC title