Granted Patent B2

US 6,976,708 · App. 10/440,174 · Granted Dec 20, 2005

Abstract

Claims (24)

1. A failure diagnostic system for detecting a failure of a seat belt retractor having a motor for rotating a webbing take-up spool, comprising:

state detecting means for detecting an operational state of a vehicle,

initiating means electrically connected to the state detecting means for initiating a diagnostic operation or holding the diagnostic operation based on a signal from the state detecting means,

power supplying means electrically connected to the initiating means and the motor, said power supplying means, upon receiving an initiation signal from the initiation means, supplying a driving current or voltage to the motor for a predetermined period of time,

detecting means electrically connected to the motor and the power supplying means for detecting a current or voltage in a wire winding of the motor, and

determining means electrically connected to the power supplying means and the detecting means for determining the failure based on the current or voltage detected by the detecting means.

2. A failure diagnostic system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said state detecting means detects one of a state where an ignition switch of a vehicle is turned on, a state where a tongue of a seat belt is latched to a buckle, and a state where the tongue of the seat belt is released from the buckle.

3. A failure diagnostic system as claimed in claim 2 , wherein said initiating means is arranged to hold the diagnostic operation when the state detecting means detects the state where the tongue of the seat belt is latched to the buckle.

4. A failure diagnostic system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said power supplying means supplies the driving current or voltage to the motor to rotate in a direction of unwinding a webbing on the webbing take-up spool.

5. A failure diagnostic system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said power supplying means is arranged to supply the driving current or voltage to the motor for 100 msec or less.

6. A failure diagnostic system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said power supplying means is arranged to apply brake on the motor after the determining means completes diagnosis.

7. A failure diagnostic system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein in conducting the diagnostic operation, said power supplying means supplies the driving current or voltage smaller than a current or voltage for normally rotating the webbing take-up spool.

8. A failure diagnostic system as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said state detecting means detects a state where an ignition switch of a vehicle is turned on so that the initiating means starts the diagnostic operation.

9. A failure diagnostic system for detecting a failure of a seat belt retractor having a motor for rotating a webbing take-up spool, comprising:

power supplying means electrically connected to the motor for supplying a driving current or voltage to the motor for a predetermined period of time,

detecting means electrically connected to the motor and the power supplying means for detecting a current or voltage in a wire winding of the motor, and

determining means electrically connected to the power supplying means and the detecting means for determining the failure based on the current or voltage detected by the detecting means,

wherein said power supplying means is arranged to rotate the motor in a reverse direction so that the webbing take-up spool returns to an original state after the determining means completes diagnosis.

10. A failure diagnostic system for detecting a failure of a seat belt retractor having a motor for rotating a webbing take-up spool, comprising:

power supplying means electrically connected to the motor for supplying a driving current or voltage to the motor for a predetermined period of time,

detecting means electrically connected to the motor and the power supplying means for detecting a current or voltage in a wire winding of the motor, and

determining means electrically connected to the power supplying means and the detecting means for determining the failure based on the current or voltage detected by the detecting means,

wherein said power supplying means is arranged to repeat supplying the driving current or voltage to the motor for predetermined times when the determining means initially detects an abnormal condition.

11. A failure diagnostic system as claimed in claim 10 , wherein said power supplying means is arranged to increase the driving current or voltage to the motor to increase a driving force of the motor when the power supplying means repeats supplying the driving current or voltage to the motor.

Assignments (6)