Breed Automotive Technology, Inc.

Elizabeth Rees

Alan George Smithson

David Blackadder

Andrew John Downie

Andrew Park

John Alexander Taylor

Joe Harte

John Bell

Joseph Patrick Harte

Kenneth Williamson

Darren Laidlaw

A retractor for a vehicle safety restraint which comprises web locking wedges (,) which grip the seat belt webbing (,), under certain predetermined load conditions, so as to more securely restrain the vehicle occupant at the beginning of a crash pulse and which includes a load limiting arrangement so as to allow a limited and controlled pay out of webbing at the beginning of the crash pulse. The web locking retractor thus comprises a wedge (,) which has an inner gripping surface with a predetermined coefficient of friction relative to the seat belt webbing so that, at a predetermined loading, the webbing slips past the friction surface of the wedge. This may be achieved by using double thickness webbing along a predetermined portion of the seat belt, for example two layers of webbing, or coating the wedge or a part of the webbing with a material (,) which is erodible or deformable and which may be cut into or eroded by the friction surface of the wedge, or by teeth (,) on that surface. Alternatively or in addition, the wedge comprises a cylindrical drum shaped member of which the outer curved surface is the gripping surface, the drum having a torsion bar arranged along its axis fixed against rotation at one end to the wedge housing and fixed to the cylindrical wedge at a point spaced from the end.

Weblocker retractor

A load limiting device is used with a vehicle seat belt during a crash to allow a limited and controlled forward motion of a vehicle occupant after the retractor has locked. The load limiting device decreases the forces exerted by the seat belt on the vehicle occupant's torso. The load limiting device has a container which defines a flow path for a fluid, with a restriction in the flow path. An actuator is located within the container and is movable within the container under the action of a load transmitted to the seat belt webbing from the vehicle occupant under extreme acceleration conditions, to move the fluid through the restriction in the flow path to dissipate a predetermined portion of the load on the webbing.

Load limiting device for a seat belt

A load limiting device is used with a vehicle seat belt during a crash to allow a limited and controlled forward motion of a vehicle occupant after the retractor has locked. The load limiting device decreases the forces exerted by the seat belt on the vehicle occupant's torso. The load limiting device has a metal member and means for deforming the metal member associated with the seat belt. Excessive load on the seat belt is transferred to the metal member by deforming the metal member.

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Carlisle, United Kingdom

Elizabeth Rees