Takata Corporation

Tetsuya Hamaue

Muneo Nishizawa

Hiroki Takehara

Kiyotaka Miyauchi

Koji Hiramatsu

Hikaru Kameyoshi

Hideaki Yano

Masahiro Shiotani

Mitsuhiko Hiruta

Isamu Mizuno

Hiroki Takeara

Keisuke Narimatsu

Hiroaki Kandori

A seat belt retractor includes a spool for winding a seat belt; a locking mechanism having a locking member rotating with the spool in a normal state and being locked not to rotate in a direction of unwinding the seat belt in an emergency state; and an energy absorbing mechanism provided between the spool and the locking member for absorbing impact energy applied on an occupant when the spool rotates in the direction of unwinding the seat belt relative to the locking member in the emergency state. The energy absorbing mechanism includes an energy absorbing member provided in one of the spool and the locking member, and a deforming device provided in the other of the spool and the locking member for deforming the energy absorbing member. The energy absorbing member has a width partially varied.

Seat belt retractor and seat belt device equipped with the same

A seat belt retractor with a ball type pretensioner including a pipe in which the balls are retained. A front end portion of the pipe is securely retained so that reliable operation of the pretensioner is provided. The pipe does includes a cut-out that does not extend to the front-most end of a pipe. A guide block is fitted in the front-most end of the pipe. The pipe and the guide block are fixed to the plate together by a fastener. The portion where the guide block is fitted to the pipe can provide high rigidity and is thus hardly deformed in every directions. The fastener may be hardened or the material for the fastener may be selected to obtain sufficient strength.

Seat belt retractor

A seat belt retractor has a pretensioner, which has a cover with integral projections made of aluminum. A pretensioner gear with complementary holes is attached to the cover, with the projections inserted into the holes to immobilize the pretensioner gear. A spool driving gear for driving a spool of the retractor is spaced and disengaged from the pretensioner gear so that the pretensioner gear does not interfere with normal operation of the spool. To tension the seat belt, the pretensioner gear is driven to break the projections to mobilize the pretensioner gear, engage the pretensioner gear with the spool driving gear, and drive the spool driving gear, which rotates the spool and tension the seat belt.

Seatbelt retractor

An improved pretensioner which achieves more stable operation and reduction in power loss. The pretensioner includes a gas generator, a pipe containing a plurality of balls and a piston, and a clutch for connecting the pretensioner to a spool for a seat belt. A gas release hole is formed in the pipe in such a position that before the piston moves the hole is between the piston and the first ball and when the coupling of the clutch is completed by the movement of the accelerated balls and the hole is located between the gas generator and the piston.

Pretensioner

A seat belt spooling device having a ball type pretensioner. The pretensioner includes a case and a ball-receiving member formed integrally with each other. The ball receiving member includes a guide formed integrally with the ball-receiving member. The guide is positioned to guide balls entering into the ball-receiving member from the case, thereby reducing the number of components and the assembling cost.

Seat belt spooling device

A seat belt retractor 80 is attached to a seat back 14 and a cable advancing and retreating mechanism 20 is attached to a portion where a supporting arm 12 and a shaft 18 for inclining the seat back 14 are connected to each other. The supporting arm 12 projects from a seat cushion 10 for supporting the seat back 14. Corresponding to the inclination of the seat back 14, a cable 70 laid between the cable advancing and retreating mechanism 20 and the seat belt retractor 80 is advanced or retreated from/into the cable advancing and retreating mechanism 20. The attitude of the acceleration sensor 92 attached to the seat belt retractor 80 is controlled by advancing or retreating the cable 70 so that the acceleration sensor 92 always stands perpendicularly.

Seat belt device

A pre-tensioner of a seat belt device capable of securely and rapidly transmitting torque between a driven shaft and a rotational ring when the pre-tensioner is activated. The driven shaft projecting from a reel for retracting a seat belt is inserted into a housing and the rotational ring is positioned to surround a gear of the driven shaft. The rotational ring is provided with five guide faces in the inner surface thereof and pins are inserted into pocket portions of the rotational ring. Each pin is held at the both ends by an annular portion of a body and a cover. Stepped portions are formed along peripheries of both ends of each guide face to form spaces.

Pre-tensioner for seat belt device

A mechanical igniter for a gas generator has a weight, a latch lever and a firing pin as movable elements to fire a percussion cap attached to the gas generator in response to acceleration, and further has a restraint member and a controller therefor as a safety device for making the movable elements immovable. The controller can be activated by attaching the mechanical igniter to the vehicle body, or removing a belt stopper after the mechanical igniter has been attached to the vehicle body, or fastening a seat belt to the occupant's body. Thus, the restraint member is released when the mechanical igniter is attached to the vehicle body, or when the seat belt system is used, thereby automatically and safely releasing the safety device for the igniter.

Automatically releasable safety device used in mechanical igniter for

A pretensioner designed to wind tight a belt of a seatbelt system by transmitting power from a power source to a belt take-up element through a clutch mechanism. The clutch mechanism has a driving rotary member connected to the power source, a driven rotary member connected to the belt take-up element, and an engagement member interposed between the two members. The engagement member is brought into engagement with the driving and driven rotary members by a rotational phase difference between the driving and driven rotary members to transmit rotational power from the driving rotary member to the driven rotary member. A follower rotary member provided with rotational resistance is disposed in between the driving rotary member and the driven rotary member. Recesses are respectively formed on the driving rotary member and the follower rotary member to define a space for accommodating the engagement member. The engagement member is retained in the recesses so that the engagement member can be pushed out toward the driven rotary member by contraction of the accommodating space which is caused by a rotational phase difference between the driving rotary member and the follower rotary member.

Pretensioner for seatbelt system

A tongue includes a tongue base which can project therefrom. A solenoid at the forward end of a buckle attracts a tongue face plate. After the tongue base is inserted into the buckle, the tongue base is drawn deep into the buckle by the pawl portion of a hook. A latch plate is engaged with a hole at the forward end of the tongue plate, and a lock plate slides under pegs of a base, thereby latching the tongue base. The lock plate and the hook are advanced and withdrawn by a pinion which is rotated by a stepper motor, and when the pinion is reversely rotated, the tongue base is released from the latched state, and the tongue base is pushed out of the buckle by an ejector, thereby separating the tongue from the buckle.

Automatic buckling device

An automatic buckling device comprising a tongue attached to a seat belt and a buckle for latching the tongue. The tongue includes a cover case, a tongue plate which can project from the forward end of the cover case, a spring for urging the tongue plate in the direction in which the tongue plate is withdrawn into the cover case, and a recessed portion provided on the surface of the tongue plate at the forward end thereof so as to engage a ball. The buckle includes an insertion passage into which the tongue is inserted, a solenoid for drawing the tongue plate into the buckle, a ball which is engageable with the recessed portion of the tongue plate which is inserted into the insertion passage, a ball holder for holding only a part of the ball so that the ball can enter the insertion passage, a ball stopper which moves to a latch-holding position at which the ball stopper comes into close contact with the ball when a part of the ball enters the insertion passage so as to check the withdrawal of the ball from the insertion passage, and a stopper moving mechanism for moving the ball stopper to the latch-holding position when the tongue plate has completely entered the insertion passage and moving ball stopper from the latch-holding position by remote switching control in order to separate the tongue from the buckle.

A retractor shaft-rotating type seat belt pretensioner for imparting pretension to a seat belt by rotating the take-up shaft of a belt retractor comprises a driving member engageable with a driven member on the take-up shaft and a power source coupled to the driving member and adapted to rotate the driving member by applying an operating force to it at an operating point. A guide surface supports the driving member at a reaction support point against the reaction force due to a rotary moment applied to the driving member at an engaging point where the driving member engages the take-up reel, the reaction support point being on the opposite side of the engaging point from the operating point where the operating force of the power source acts on the driving member.

Retractor shaft-rotating type seat belt pretensioner

A tongue includes a tongue base which can project therefrom and a tongue face plate at the forward end thereof. A buckle includes a solenoid provided at the forward end so as to attract the tongue face plate. After the tongue base is inserted into the buckle, the tongue base is drawn deep into the buckle by the pawl portion of a long hook, rocking arms are engaged with the notched portions of the tounge base, and a latch plate comes into close contact with the claw portions of the rocking arms at the back sides of the claw portions, thereby latching the tongue base. The latch plate and the long hook are advanced and withdrawn by a pinion which is rotated by a stepper motor. When the pinion is reversely rotated, the tongue base is released from the latched state, and the tongue base is pushed out of the buckle by an ejector, thereby separating the tongue from the buckle.

A seat belt pretensioner of the type which rotates the take-up shaft of a retractor in the belt-winding direction so as to wind a length of the belt onto the retractor reel includes a driven gear connected to the retractor take-up shaft and a driving gear connected to a power source, the driving gear normally being held in clearance from the driven gear in the set condition of the pretensioner and being displaced and rotated upon operation of the power source to engage it with the driven gear and to drive the driven gear in rotation. The teeth of one of the gears have addenda that diverge from the addendum circle in the direction of the root circle and in a direction with respect to the direction of rotation of the driving gear such as to facilitate movement of the driving gear into driving engagement with the driven gear in the event of a collision of the addenda of the two gears.

Seat belt pretensioner

A seat in an automobile is provided with a spring biased, webbing guiding reach arm actuated by a driving motor so as to set the webbing and tongue of a seat belt at a used position at which they can be handled with ease, and at a retracted position where they will not impede a passenger getting in and out of the seat. Thus, handling of the webbing and tongue is facilitated and a passenger is capable of getting in and out of the seat of the vehicle easily without being impeded by the webbing and tongue.

Growing community of inventors

Shiga, Japan

Tetsuya Hamaue