Breed Automotive Technology, Inc.

Douglas L Forsyth

H John Miller, Iii

Edward W Clancy, Iii

Lynette M Norgan-Curtiss

Michael D Wilkins

A pyrotechnic piston and cylinder assembly raises a belt guide, pulling two segments of a safety belt upwardly away from a vehicle seat. The extension of the two segments removes slack from the safety belt. After the piston is fully extended, a pair of wedges jam an inner wall of the cylinder, providing resistance to the retraction of the shaft into the cylinder. As the belt forces overcome the resistance from the wedges, the piston is pushed back into the cylinder and a portion of belt is permitted to extend, relieving tension in the safety belt. The wedges plastically deform the inner wall of the cylinder, thereby absorbing a portion of the energy of the collision.

Seatback mounted seat belt tensioner

A system for eliminating residual seat belt slack about a plurality of occupants of a vehicle, the system comprising a plurality of seat belt assemblies securable about a respective occupant, each seat belt assembly including a lap belt portion, a tongue, and a buckle, one end of the lap belt secured to a support member and an opposite end of the lap belt operatively joined to the tongue, the buckle matingly locking with the tongue, the buckle secured to one end of a connecting member, the connecting member having an opposite second end; a belt tightener is secured to the second end of each connecting member, for generally simultaneously tightening each seat belt assembly about a respective occupant.

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Sterling Heights, MI, United States of America

Douglas L Forsyth