Apple may have abandoned its Apple Car project, but the tech giant continues to be granted patents for automotive technology. The latest (number US 12060033 B1) is for “Anchor Positioning Systems” for a seatbelt system.
About the patent
Existing occupant safety systems for traditional, one-two- or three-row vehicles, such as restraints including safety belts, can reduce the risk of injury during a collision. Safety belts typically include a strap, such as a shoulder strap or a lap strap, and a buckle.
The buckle typically includes a latch and a receiver. An occupant of a vehicle may sit in a vehicle seat and reach for the latch. The occupant may then pull on the latch to draw a portion of the strap away from the vehicle seat so that the occupant can insert the latch into the receiver, thereby, securing the strap around the occupant’s body.
Safety belts typically include one or more anchors that secure the safety belts to the vehicle seat and that provide directional guidance for positioning the strap on the occupant’s body as the latch is inserted into the receiver. The one or more anchors are typically stationary and disposed at predetermined positions on the vehicle seat.
Apple says that, as a result, if the safety belt secures the occupant to the vehicle seat in an undesirable manner, the occupant can’t adjust the location or position of the one or more anchors in order to adjust how the strap is positioned on the occupant’s body. Additionally, it may be difficult to locate the latch.
For example, the latch may become lodged between portions of the vehicle seat and may be difficult to locate or retrieve in order to operate the safety belt. Apple says that what’s needed are “new approaches to safety belt positioning and presentation systems.”
Summary of the patent
Here’s Apple’s abstract of the patent: “A restraint positioning system includes a first rail that extends along a first axis, and a first bracket that is coupled to the first rail such that the first bracket is selectively positionable along the first rail, the first bracket configured for attachment of an anchor thereto. The restraint positioning system also includes a second rail that extends along a second axis, and a second bracket that is coupled to the second rail such that the second bracket is selectively positionable along the second rail, the second bracket configured for attachment of an anchor thereto.”
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