Other

Mike Hill

David Smith

David J Burke

Andrew John Downie

A pretensioner for a vehicle safety restraint, for rapidly reducing slack in a safety restraint belt in the event of a crash situation, the pretensioner comprising a cable (,) connected at one end to a piston (,) at its other end to a belt rewinding mechanism, the piston (,) being slidably moveable in a cylinder (,) under action of pressure from a gas generator (,) sensitive to a crash indicator, wherein means (,) are provided for controlling the rate of acceleration of the cable (,) in the pretensioning direction, in dependence upon the condition of tension in the safety restraint belt which is to be pretensioned. This can be effected by blocking holes in a dividing plate or by using a continuously variable throttle arrangement such as a profiled throttle pin or a hollow space in the piston with a restrictable opening. The invention allows pretensioning forces to be automatically tailored to the requirements at the time of the crash and as a result provides more comfort to the vehicle occupant while maintaining the required strict safety standards.

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Brampton, United Kingdom

Mike Hill