Autoliv-kolb, Gmbh. & Co.

Britax-kolb Gmbh & Co.

Stephan Wentker

Josef Mayer

Walter Knabel

Walter Notar

An acceleration sensor for safety systems such as seat belt systems in motor vehicles, particularly so-called buckle-connected tighteners, comprises a sensor mass which is generally held in a position of rest but is capable of displacement in response to a predetermined critical acceleration to activate the safety system. In one embodiment, an inertial force sensor consists of a sensor lever pivoted to a part fixed in the vehicle, said sensor lever carries at its upwardly protruding free end an inertial mass, preferably in the form of an enlarged head, the sensor lever being held by a spring which urges said sensor lever toward its vertical stand-by position, and being connected by levers and/or links to a release mechanism for releasing a spring-loaded tie rod or the like or a blocking device. According to another feature, the sensor mass is journaled to a housing with the journal ends protruding from opposite housing walls and being received within hat-shaped caps which in turn are held in place by compression springs when the sensor mass is in its position of rest. The activation could be accomplished electrically by a microswitch.

Acceleration sensor for safety systems and/or seat belt systems in motor

In a device for coupling and locking a bracket, which is provided with a buckle of a seat belt, in case of danger to a retaining member, which is fixed in a vehicle, the bracket, or a housing part or the like which is connected to the bracket, is connected to a movable coupling member, which in a guide of a seat frame plate or the like is guided in such a manner or by a linkage is so connected to said seat frame plate or the like that a tension exerted on the buckle will cause the latter to be coupled to the retaining member, which is fixedly mounted in the vehicle.

Device for coupling a bracket which is provided with a buckle of a seat

A belt tightener for seat belts in vehicles comprises a device for moving the belt buckle in a belt-tightening sense and for locking the belt buckle at the end of the tightening movement, which device is activated by a so-called vehicle-sensitive system in response to an acceleration or deceleration in excess of predetermined critical values. In that belt tightener, the bracket which carries the buckle is guided for a longitudinal displacement in a housing, which is connected to the sheet metal frame of the seat or to another part of the vehicle and said housing is provided with means which permit a pull-in movment of the bracket and block its movement in the opposite direction, the belt buckle or the bracket is connected to one end of a preferably tensile element, which at its other end is connected to an energy storage device, which preferably consists of a pre-stressed spring and which in case of relaxation imparts a pull-in movement via the tensile element to the belt buckle, and a locking devie for retaining the spring in its prestressed position is controlled by the vehicle-sensitive system in such a manner that said locking device will be disabled in response to accelerations in excess of a predetermined value.

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Dachau, Germany

Stephan Wentker