Belt assembly including plus-two-point belt reminder

• Main Authors: Manoharprasad K. Rao, Robert William McCoy, Raed Essa El-Jawahri, Jialiang Le
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 09.05.2018
• Subjects: PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING; VEHICLES IN GENERAL; VEHICLES, VEHICLE FITTINGS, OR VEHICLE PARTS, NOT OTHERWISEPROVIDED FOR

A plus-two-point belt system 100 is disclosed. It includes a longitudinal webbing 105 anchored at a first end 116 to a seat and fixed at a second end to a retractor 120. The webbing is extendable from the retractor to allow an occupant to slip their arm under the webbing to provide a supplemental restraint. The webbing includes first 107 and second 109 portions where the second portion is retractably coiled on the retractor and has a conductive marker 125. A sensor 130 is provided to sense the marker and a processor is provided to set an alarm when the marker is not detected. The marker may be a continuous elongate metallic member or a conductive metal coating. The coating may be impregnated into the webbing. The sensor may be a proximity sensor such as an inductive or optical sensor. Also disclosed is a method for determining whether a plus-two-point belt system is engage by determining whether an occupant is in a seat and an ignition is in an on position, and sensing a marker in a second portion of the webbing. There may be a delay between when the marker is not sensed and when the alarm is set.