Breed Automotive Technology, Inc.

Key Safety Systems, Inc.

Paul Bowman

Alan George Smithson

David Blackadder

John Alexander Taylor

Joseph Patrick Harte

David Charles Winter

David Smith

George Brotherson Routledge

Terry Nichol

Nigel Mitchinson

A U-shaped frame for a seat belt retractor has two spaced arms made from a material of a predetermined thickness and having a cutout in the material of each arm for receiving a lockbar. Each cutout has an edge comprising a land portion for supporting the lockbar, which land portion is of a reduced thickness compared to the thickness of the material of the arms, to present a reduced surface area to the lockbar. The frame may be of pressed steel and the lockbar of die-cast non-ferrous material.

Seat belt retractor

A seat belt retractor for a vehicle safety restraint has a spool rotatably mounted in a frame. A ratchet wheel is rotatably mounted to rotate with the spool. A control member is mounted in the frame. A locking pawl is pivotally mounted in the frame to pivot into engagement with the ratchet wheel. A sensor is responsive to the spool. Upon activation of the sensor, a cam surface and a cam follower couple the locking pawl to the control member. The cam surface has a discontinuity arranged so that the cam follower loses contact with the cam at high speeds but stays in contact with the cam surface at low speeds. Preferably, the discontinuity is a raised portion providing a first ramp in one direction in one portion on one side of the discontinuity of the cam surface and a second ramp in a different direction in a second portion of the cam surface on the other side of the discontinuity.

A seat belt retractor has a web sensor with an inertia member, a locking pawl and a lock cup. The inertia member is eccentrically pivotally mounted to the lock cup. The locking pawl is integrally formed with the inertia member. The lock cup has a set of radially inwardly pointing teeth for engaging with the locking pawl. The shape and profile of the locking pawl complements the shape of the teeth. The web sensor aids in resisting jamming of the seat belt retractor.

Seat belt retractor with a web sensor

A seat belt retractor has a frame with sidewalls and a rotatable spool extending between said sidewalls. The rotatable spool has seat belt webbing wound thereon. A locking pawl engages ratchet teeth on the outer periphery of the spool for arresting rotation of the spool. A secondary locking mechanism locks the spool against rotation.

Two parts of a seat belt retractor spool sub-assembly are fixed together in an arrangement with plastically deformable formations on a first ratchet wheel and one end of a spool and corresponding deforming formations on a second ratchet wheel and said one end of the spool. A spool for a seat belt retractor is assembled with a ratchet wheel by: mounting a retractor frame on an assembly jig which has a spring loaded stop; mounting a spool in the frame by aligning the spool axis with the spring loaded stop; and pushing a ratchet wheel onto the end of the spool opposite to that contacting the stop until the ratchet wheel abuts the frame.

A lockbar for a seatbelt retractor has an elongate joining member and two end pieces joined to the joining member at opposite ends therefore. The end pieces are made of a higher strength material than the joining member. The joining member may be made by extrusion and may be tubular or may be formed as a hollow member. The end pieces may be produced as forgings, die casting or plastic injection moldings or by other suitable methods. They can be produced from different materials and to different designs to suit the specification of the seatbelt retractor. Hence a single basic seatbelt retractor design can be employed for a variety of strength requirements by selecting appropriate end pieces and an appropriate joining member.

Growing community of inventors

Little Corby, United Kingdom

Paul Bowman