Description:FORM 2
THE PATENTS ACT, 1970
[39 OF 1970]
&
THE PATENTS RULES, 2003

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
[See Section 10, Rule 13]

A LOWER MOUNTING OF A SEAT BELT FOR A VEHICLE

BY
MAHINDRA & MAHINDRA LIMITED, A COMPANY REGISTERED UNDER THE INDIAN COMPANIES ACT, 1913, HAVING ADDRESS AT MAHINDRA RESEARCH VALLEY (MRV), MAHINDRA WORLD CITY, PLOT NO.41/1, ANJUR P.O., CHENGALPATTU, KANCHIPURAM DISTRICT, TAMILNADU – 603004, INDIA

THE FOLLOWING SPECIFICATION PARTICULARLY DESCRIBES THE INVENTION AND THE MANNER IN WHICH IT IS TO BE PERFORMED

A LOWER MOUNTING OF A SEAT BELT FOR A VEHICLE

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present disclosure relates to a lower mounting of a seat belt for a vehicle.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Seat belts also known as safety belts, spelled seatbelts, and the like, are generally used in a vehicle safety device designed to secure a driver or a passenger of the vehicle against harmful movement that may result during a collision or a sudden stop. The seat belt reduces the likelihood of death or serious injury in a traffic collision by reducing the force of secondary impacts with interior strike hazards, by keeping occupants positioned correctly for maximum effectiveness of the airbag, and by preventing occupants being ejected from the vehicle in a crash or if the vehicle rolls over.
The existing seat belt consists of a belt or a strap which is fixed at multiple locations about the vehicle seat and is wrapped around the passenger. Multiple types of seat belts can be identified based on their configuration. Most passenger vehicles have a two point or a three-point seat belt. A two-point seat belt generally consists of a lap belt which has two attachment points around the hip. Three-point seat belt is a combination of a lap belt and a shoulder belt and is mounted on the vehicle at three locations. Seat belt mountings are structural points of the vehicle through which the seat belt is secured to the vehicle structure. Traditionally the mounting locations where the seat belts are fastened to the vehicle are present on a Body In White (BIW) floor of the vehicle. One mounting is located on a pillar, and two mountings are located on the BIW floor.
All the loads acting on the seat belt are transferred and sustained by the mounting points of the seat belt. Sometimes, the BIW floor is not made strong due to space constraints and to reduce cost. Therefore, the BIW floor of the vehicle is not strong enough to carry the loads exerted by the mounting points of the seat belt. Thus, the mounting point should be designed such that they are able to sustain the loads acting on the seat belt during abrupt deceleration or collision of the vehicle.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In the present invention, a lower mounting assembly of a seat belt is firmly secured on centre bolt of the integrated compression body mount with chassis. The design consists of two ’C’ brackets welded on the circular cross member of chassis which supports body mounts aligned with the seat belt lower mounting assembly. The seat belt hook is fastened with help of a nut to the centre bolt which is passing through the cage nut assembly present on the BIW floor. The bolt acts as the anchor point for the seat belt hook and the seat belt load is distributed between the BIW floor and the crossmember of the chassis through the bolt leading to a secure anchorage of the seat belt.
In one aspect of the present invention, a lower mounting assembly of a seat belt for a vehicle is provided. The lower mounting assembly includes a belt hook fastened to a Body In White (BIW) floor of the vehicle using a cage nut assembly. The lower mounting assembly also includes a mounting bracket fixedly coupled to a cross-member of a chassis of the vehicle. The lower mounting assembly further includes a nut and centre bolt assembly to secure the belt hook and the mounting bracket in such a manner that a load acting on the seat belt is at least partially transferred to the BIW floor through the cage nut assembly and at least partially transferred to the cross-member of the chassis through the mounting brackets.
According to the present invention, the mounting bracket includes a cup fixedly coupled on an upper surface of the mounting brackets.
According to the present invention, the nut and centre bolt assembly includes an upper rubber insulator disposed between a lower surface of the BIW floor and the cup of the mounting bracket. The nut and bolt assembly also includes a lower rubber insulator disposed between a lower surface of the mounting brackets and a head of the bolt.
According to the present invention, an upper washer is disposed between the lower surface of the BIW floor and the upper rubber insulator.
According to the present invention, a lower washer is disposed between the lower rubber insulator and the head of the centre bolt.
According to the present invention, a sleeve is disposed along the centre bolt through the upper rubber insulator and the lower rubber insulator.
According to the present invention, the mounting brackets are welded to the cross-member of the chassis.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
FIG. 1 illustrates an enlarged view of a three-point seat belt mounting layout for a vehicle;
FIG. 2 illustrates an isometric view of a mounting bracket on the vehicle chassis;
FIG. 3 illustrates an isometric view of an underbody of the vehicle;
FIG. 4a illustrates a cross-sectional view of the lower mounting assembly; and
FIG. 4b illustrates an exploded view of the lower mounting assembly.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Embodiments, of the present disclosure, will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawing.
Embodiments are provided so as to thoroughly and fully convey the scope of the present disclosure to the person skilled in the art. Numerous details are set forth relating to specific components to provide a complete understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be apparent to the person skilled in the art that the details provided in the embodiments should not be construed to limit the scope of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, well-known processes, well-known apparatus structures, and well-known techniques are not described in detail.
The terminology used, in the present disclosure, is only for the purpose of explaining a particular embodiment and such terminology shall not be considered to limit the scope of the present disclosure. As used in the present disclosure, the forms “a,” “an,” and “the” may be intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly suggests otherwise. The terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “including,” and “having,” are open ended transitional phrases and therefore specify the presence of stated elements, modules, units and/or components, but do not forbid the presence or addition of one or more other elements, components, and/or groups thereof.
FIG. 1 illustrates a lower mounting assembly (100) of a seat belt (16) for a vehicle. The three-point seat belt is mounted on a Body In White (BIW) floor of the vehicle at two locations. The remaining mounting points of the three-point seat belt are located on a pillar (17) of the vehicle. At the anchorage point, the seat belts (16) are mounted to the BIW floor (4) with help of the seat belt hook (14) which is fastened to the BIW floor (4) with a nut (15) and centre bolt (5) assembly. The centre bolt (5) is projecting out from below the BIW floor (4) passing through the cage nut assembly (12).
FIG. 2 illustrates a mounting bracket (1, 2) on the chassis. The seat belt mounting bracket (1, 2) is a C-shaped sheet metal bracket with a uniform width. The two vertical face of the bracket are tapered near the joinery with the circular cross member (3) for increased weld length. Horizontal flanges are added on each vertical surface of the bracket (1, 2) for additional support due to higher loads exerted on the mounting point. One hole is provided on each of the mounting brackets (1, 2) for the compression body mount to fit through and two cups (11) with similar hole are welded on the bracket to hold the body mount top rubber insulator (6).
FIG. 3 illustrates the vehicle underbody demonstrating how the mounting brackets (1, 2) help in utilizing the chassis for the lower mounting assembly (100). The brackets (1, 2) are welded on the chassis cross member (3) which is present nearest to the mounting location on the BIW floor (4). The horizontal faces of the brackets are parallel to the BIW floor (4) and the holes are provided on the bracket (1, 2) for the nut (15) and bolt (5) assembly which is aligned concentrically to the cage nut assembly (12) present on the BIW floor (4).
FIGS 4a and 4b illustrate the lower mounting assembly (100) of the seat belt (16). The mounting bracket (1, 2) and the BIW floor (4) mounting location are aligned such that the cage nut assembly (12) and the mounting hole are concentric when the chassis and the BIW floor (4) are assembled. The mounting brackets (1, 2) and the BIW floor (4) are integrated with the help of two rubber insulators (6, 7), two washers (8, 9), and one sleeve (10). The rubber insulators (6, 7) are utilized to minimize the transfer of vibration between the chassis and the BIW floor (4). The whole assembly is fastened using the single centre bolt (5). The top rubber insulator (6) sits in the welded cup (11) between the BIW floor (4) and the mounting bracket (1, 2). The bottom insulator (7) is assembled below chassis bracket resting on the bottom of the horizontal surface of the bracket (1, 2). The two steel washers (8, 9) are placed on the exposed surface of both the insulators (6, 7) for load distribution during centre bolt (5) tightening. The lower washer (9) has a higher thickness compared to the upper washer (8) as the seat belt loads are transferred to the chassis through the lower washer (9). A steel sleeve (10) is inserted through the rubber insulators (6, 7) to restrict compression during torquing of the bolt. The centre bolt (5) is inserted from below the mounting bracket (1, 2) and passes through the sleeve (10) and the body mounts. The centre bolt (5) extends through the BIW floor (4) mating with the cage nut assembly (12) provided on the BIW floor (4). On the BIW floor (4), the cage nut assembly (12) is provided to accommodate the inherent variation between the chassis and the BIW floor (4). The centre bolt (5) is further extended above the cage nut assembly (12) where the seat belt hook (14) is coupled and fastened with the nut (15). The seat belt (16) is mounted about the hook (14) and transfers the load through the same to the lower mounting assembly (100).
When the vehicle encounters a sudden deceleration or a crash, a load (F) acting on the seat belts is transferred at the anchorage points in the direction shown in FIG 4a. The load (F) transfers the seat belt hook (14) to the centre bolt (5). As the centre bolt (5) is pulled towards the direction of the load (F), partial load is transferred to the BIW floor (4) through the cage nut assembly (12) screwed with the centre bolt (5). The remaining load is transferred through the centre bolt (5) head to the lower washer (9). The lower washer (9) transfers the load (F) to the lower rubber insulator (7) which compresses, and the load (F) is finally transferred to the chassis bracket (1). Therefore, the seat belt anchorage load is distributed between the vehicle chassis and the BIW floor (4) leading to successful integration of the chassis in the lower mounting assembly (100).
The proposed design helps in satisfying the seat belt regulatory requirements without drastically altering the vehicle structure and avoiding excessive cost impact of adding additional supporting cross members on the BIW floor for meeting the design requirements. The present invention provides a robust and economical lower mounting assembly for the three-point seat belt configuration without any modification in the existing vehicle structure. This lower mounting assembly of the seat belt is made to sustain the loads acting on the seat belt and meet the minimum government regulation. Further, this invention provides additional support to secure the lower mounting assembly of the seat belt for necessary structural rigidity.
The embodiments herein and the various features and advantageous details thereof are explained with reference to the non-limiting embodiments in the following description. Descriptions of well-known components and processing techniques are omitted so as to not unnecessarily obscure the embodiments herein. The examples used herein are intended merely to facilitate an understanding of ways in which the embodiments herein may be practiced and to further enable those of skill in the art to practice the embodiments herein. Accordingly, the examples should not be construed as limiting the scope of the embodiments herein.
Any discussion of devices, articles or the like that has been included in this specification is solely for the purpose of providing a context for the disclosure. It is not to be taken as an admission that any or all of these matters form a part of the prior art base or were common general knowledge in the field relevant to the disclosure as it existed anywhere before the priority date of this application.
, Claims:
1. A lower mounting assembly (100) of a seat belt (16) for a vehicle, the lower mounting assembly (100) comprising:
a belt hook (14) fastened to a Body In White (BIW) floor (4) of the vehicle using a cage nut assembly (12);
mounting brackets (1, 2) fixedly coupled to a cross-member (3) of a chassis of the vehicle; and
a nut (15) and a centre bolt (5) assembly to secure the belt hook (14) and the mounting brackets (1, 2) in such a manner that a load (F) acting on the seat belt (16) is at least partially transferred to the BIW floor (4) through the cage nut assembly (12) and at least partially transferred to the cross-member (3) through the mounting brackets (1, 2).
2. The lower mounting assembly (100) of the seat belt (16) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the mounting brackets (1, 2) include a cup (11) fixedly coupled on an upper surface of the mounting brackets (1, 2).
3. The lower mounting assembly (100) of the seat belt (16) as claimed in claim 2, wherein the nut (15) and the centre bolt (5) assembly include:
an upper rubber insulator (6) disposed between a lower surface of the BIW floor (4) and the cup (11) of the mounting brackets (1, 2); and
a lower rubber insulator (7) disposed between a lower surface of the mounting brackets (1, 2) and a head of the centre bolt (5).
4. The lower mounting assembly (100) of the seat belt (16) as claimed in claim 3, wherein an upper washer (8) is disposed between the lower surface of the BIW floor (4) and the upper rubber insulator (6).
5. The lower mounting assembly (100) of the seat belt (16) as claimed in claim 3, wherein a lower washer (9) is disposed between the lower rubber insulator (7) and the head of the centre bolt (5).
6. The lower mounting assembly (100) of the seat belt (16) as claimed in claim3, wherein a sleeve (10) is disposed along the centre bolt (5) through the upper rubber insulator (6) and the lower rubber insulator (7).
7. The lower mounting assembly (100) of the seat belt (16) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the mounting brackets (1, 2) are welded to the cross-member (3) of the chassis.