Soft edge seat belt webbing
Invention relates to an improved webbing for use in automotive seat belts and more particularly provides a webbing having a flocked yarn woven into the webbing at the edges thereof to effectively soften the edge of the belt for comfort of the seat occupant. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Motor vehicle seat belt systems conventionally include a webbing woven from yarn of nylon, rayon or polyester threads. The webbing is mounted on the vehicle body in a manner which disposes the webbing across the occupant lap and diagonally across the occupant&#39;s upper torso. 
     A disadvantage of conventional seat belt webbing, particularly when employed as a shoulder belt, is that the edge of the shoulder belt may chafe upon the neck or other exposed skin of the seat occupant giving rise to occupant annoyance even though such shoulder belt systems are known to provide effective restraint of the occupant during deceleration of the vehicle. 
     Prior to my making of this invention, it had been known to flock the entire webbing of a woven seat belt webbing so that the edges and surfaces of the webbing would be concealed beneath the flocking and the flocking would provide a soft surface. However, the presence of the flocking fibers on the surface of the belt effectively increases the thickness of the belt as the belt is wound and stored upon the reel of the seat belt retractor with the result that a retractor must be larger than what would otherwise be required in order to accommodate the diameter of the wound up belt. 
     It would be desirable to provide a seat belt webbing having the comfort enhancing qualities of a flocked seat belt webbing without increasing the thickness of the belt. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     According to the invention, a woven webbing for seat belts has a plurality of warp elements extending longitudinally of the webbing and a plurality of weft elements extending transversely of the webbing and interwoven with the warp elements. At least the one or more edgemost of the plurality of warp elements are a flocked yarn so that the edge of the webbing is effectively softened for occupant comfort. 
     Accordingly, the object, feature and advantage of the invention resides in the provision of a flocked yarn woven into the seat belt webbing as the edgemost warp thereof so that the occupant comfort is enhanced by softening the edge of the webbing without increasing the thickness of the webbing. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     These and other features, objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon consideration of the specification and the appended drawings in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a plan view of a seat belt webbing according to the invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken in the direction of arrows 2--2 of FIG. 1; and 
     FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the seat belt webbing. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring to the drawings, there is shown a segment of woven seat belt webbing 10 which is comprised of a plurality of interwoven warp elements 12 which extend longitudinally of the webbing and a plurality of weft elements 14 which extend transversely of the webbing. The warp elements 12 and the weft elements 14 are preferably a yarn comprised of twisted threads of nylon, polyester, rayon or other material. 
     Referring again to the drawings, the two outer edgemost warp elements are a flocked yarn 16. The flocking is comprised of a plurality of short nylon, rayon, or polyester flock fibers 20 which are adhesively attached to a carrier warp yarn 18. The flock fibers 20 are oriented to stand perpendicular to the surface of the carrier warp yarn 18. The length of the flock fibers 20 is sufficient to project radially outwardly from the carrier warp yarn 18 and beyond the weft elements 14 so that the edge of the webbing 10 which would contact against the neck or other exposed skin of a restrained seat occupant would be the flock fibers 20 instead of the warp elements 12 or weft elements 14. 
     Thus, it will be understood that the invention provides a new and improved soft edge seat belt webbing in which the edgemost longitudinal extending warp elements are comprised of a flocked yarn in which the flock fibers have a length sufficient to extend beyond the surfaces of the weft and warp elements. Furthermore, although the drawings show a very simple weave pattern of the seat belt webbing, it will be understood that this invention is applicable to seat belt webbings of other weave patterns as well as to application of diverse webbing materials such as rayon, polyester, nylon, etc.