American Safety Equipment Corporation

Albert R Close

Cyril Henderson

William M Hollowell

A safety belt retractor is disclosed of the type adapted for mounting in the door of a vehicle and operated by movement of a high inertia mass to lock up only under the influence of high lateral forces such as imposed in an emergency condition. During periods of door opening a superceding fulcrum point about which the high inertia member must rotate to lock up the retractor is imposed whereby undesired lock-up of the retractor during rapid opening of the vehicle door is virtually eliminated. The inhibiting action is directly tied to the door locking mechanism whereby almost instantaneous inhibition is applied upon opening of the vehicle door.

Automatic retractor inhibitor

An improvement in automated passive vehicle restraint systems of the type having a power-driven upper torso restraining belt moving between stowed and wearing positions is disclosed. The upper end of the belt is attached to the driven cable by a fastener having a stiffener attached. The fastener is rotated about the longitudinal axis of the cable as the fastener moves between the stowed and wearing positions. As the fastener is rotated, the stiffener maneuvers the belt away from the head and face of an occupant in the seat with which the belt is associated and correctly positions the belt on the occupant's shoulder at the wearing position.

Cam guide for passive shoulder harness

A fail-safe lock-up inhibitor for a vehicle door-mounted passive safety belt retractor. The improved inhibitor is formed of a plurality of mutually overriding inhibiting structure such that when the vehicle door is open, each alone is capable of allowing lock-up of the safety-belt protraction mechanism during an emergency condition.

Lock-up inhibitor for door mounted retractor

An emergency locking safety belt retractor having a safety belt wound upon a reel has a dual tension single spring retraction means including reduction gear means interposed between the reel and retractor spring which is selectively operated to reduce the force of the spring means upon the reel when the safety belt is protracted to a position of use and then slightly retracted for a limited amount of retraction movement during which the safety belt is in a 'low tension zone' condition until the limited retraction movement allowed is exceeded and the full force of the spring is reapplied through the gear means to the reel.

Dual tension single spring retractor

A safety belt system includes a continuous loop of webbing which is anchored at one end to the vehicle floor and anchored at the other end to the roof or upper part of the vehicle. A buckle is mounted on the other side of the seat from the first-mentioned floor anchor, and a connector which is positionable along the webbing includes a tongue plate which mates with the buckle. The system has been improved by the provision of the combination of including limiting means on the connector for allowing the webbing to pass only in a direction to shorten the portion between the floor anchor and the buckle over the lower torso of the user and to lengthen the portion of the webbing between the retractor and the connector over the upper torso. The retractor is more powerful than a normal retractor to pull the webbing through the limiting means. The retractor may further include a tensionless feature to relieve the force from the retractor on the webbing. The system may further include override means to override the limiting means and allow the webbing to pass through the connector in both directions. The override means includes a grip which is held when the connector is held and which releases the override means when the connector is inserted in the buckle. The grip means may include a bar extending between part of the connector. The webbing passes between the bar and the part of the connector to be gripped thereby. The bar is movable to override the gripping of the webbing.

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Newhall, CA, United States of America

Albert R Close