Nippon Seiko Kabushiki Kaisha

Nsk Corporation

Tatsuo Tada

Katsuyasu Ono

Osamu Kawai

Osamu Tokugawa

Shinobu Mogi

Toshifumi Taguchi

Katsuo Takiura

Eiji Konno

Katsuhisa Tonooka

A seat belt retractor is provided with a pretensioner which comprises a wound-wire tightening mechanism and a drive means. The wound-wire tightening mechanism is composed of a pulley fixedly mounted on an end portion of a take-up spindle and a wire wound around the pulley with a small space left therebetween. The drive means comprises a piston connected to a free end of the wire, a cylinder with the piston movably received therein, a compression coil spring disposed in the cylinder to bias the piston in the pulling direction of the wire, and a trigger unit releasably holding the piston relative to the cylinder such that the piston can be maintained at a biased position against the resilient force of the compression coil spring but the holding of the piston at the biased position can be released responsive to an acceleration of at least a predetermined value.

Seat belt retractor with pretensioner

A collision sensor adapted to sense acceleration applied thereto in the event of collision of a vehicle and actuate an occupant protective system. A rotary element has an outer peripheral surface thereof provided with a predetermined curvature characteristic. A biasing device generates a biasing force for biasing the rotary element to a predetermined reference position. An inertial mass is responsive to acceleration acting thereupon for causing the rotary element to rotate from the predetermined reference position against the biasing force. A switch is operable to generate an output signal when the rotary element has rotated by a predetermined angle from the predetermined reference position. The biasing force of the biasing means is modulated in accordance with the predetermined curvature characteristic of the outer peripheral surface of the rotary element as the rotary element rotates.

Collision sensor

A webbing retractor includes a base, a take-up spindle supported rotatably on the base, a ratchet wheel mounted on the take-up spindle, a pawl engageable with the ratchet wheel, and a means supporting the pawl on the base. The supporting means includes a pawl pin having a large-diameter portion and small-diameter portion, a hole receiving the small-diameter portion of the pawl pin, a means for preventing the pawl pin from slipping off from the hole, and a bulged part pressed out in the direction of the thickness of the base. The bulged part has outer wall defining the hole and extending substantially in parallel to the base and a shoulder portion extending between the base and outer wall. The large-diameter portion of the pawl pin is arranged within the bulged part.

Webbing retractor

A retractor is provided with a detector for the amount of a webbing wound on a retractor shaft. The detector is of the type that the amount of the webbing wound on the retractor shaft is determined on the basis of the number of revolutions which the retractor shaft has undergone. The retractor includes first and second internal gears, at least one planetary gear and a switch actuator. The first and second internal gears have different numbers of teeth, and are arranged side by side in the direction of an axis of the retractor shaft. The first internal gear is fixed on the base while the second internal gear is rotatably supported on the base. The planetary gear is provided on the retractor shaft and is maintained in meshing engagement with both the first and second internal gears. A switch actuator is formed on the second internal gear and a switch is provided on the base.

Seat belt retraction and switch with peripheral internal gearing and

An acceleration sensor comprises a first sensor unit, and a second sensor unit. The first and second sensor units can be selectively assembled in a first manner that the first sensor unit is inserted from one side thereof into the second sensor unit, wherein the former is directed in a first direction with respect to the latter, and in a second manner that the first sensor unit is inserted from a side opposite to the one side thereof into the second sensor unit, wherein the former is directed in a second direction opposite to the first direction with respect to the latter. The first sensor unit assembled with the second sensor unit in the first manner is symmetrical with the first sensor unit assembled with the second sensor unit in the second manner with respect to the second sensor unit. A safety belt retractor incorporates an acceleration sensor constructed as above. The second sensor unit may be two types, one of which can be assembled with the first sensor unit only in the first manner, and the other only in the second manner.

Growing community of inventors

Fujisawa, Japan

Tatsuo Tada