Breed Automotive Technology, Inc.

James Patrickson

Andrew John Downie

Bryan Thirlwell

Stuart Bland

A pretensioner for a vehicle occupant safety restraint has an outer casing that contains a gas generant. An igniter has igniter material disposed within an igniter housing. A pair of electrodes are connected to the igniter material. A grounding path connector link electrically connects the igniter housing to a grounding path. The connector link may be formed by springs connecting the outer case to the grounding electrode and an interference fit connecting the igniter housing to the outer case. The link forms a low resistance path to short circuit undesirable static charges in the unit that would otherwise tend to cause unintentional activation of the pretensioner.

Pretensioner

A locking mechanism for a pretensioner in a vehicle safety restraint has a cylinder and a piston mounted for movement within and along the cylinder. One end of a cable is connected to the piston and the other end of the cable is connected to a safety restraint. The locking mechanism is a locking block and structure that resiliently biases the locking block away from the piston toward the inside wall of the cylinder. The locking block may be tapered as a wedge, and/or sloping surfaces may be provided on the piston or on the housing. More than one locking block may be spaced circumferentially about the piston.

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Wigton, United Kingdom

James Patrickson