Integration of Seat-Belt Web-Guide Functionality in Trim Part

Restraint systems in automotives are inevitable for the safety of passengers. Seat belts are one such restraint system in automotives that prevent drivers and passengers from being injured during a crash by restraining them back. Seatbelt on automotives has interface with Body-in-white (henceforth called as BIW) and Trim parts in-order to serve its purpose at vehicle level. One such interface part of seat belt is the web guide, which assists and ensures the nylon web’s smooth motion at different seat track positions. Web-guides on automotives ensure the flawless motion of seat belt web at pillar trim areas. In this paper, we are discussing alternate ways of assisting the seat belt web without the web-guide as a separate part.

In-order to assist and ensure the motion of nylon web in its trajectory, we have extended the flange of the pillar trim involved. The paper throws light on the advantages of using an extended trim flange as web-guide for seat belt web instead of a separate web-guide (steel) part. A tentative ~80% saving per vehicle has been ensured by eliminating an external web guide and integrating it with pillar trim, without any compromise on the performance criteria.