Autoliv-kolb, Gmbh. & Co.

Walter Notar

Josef Mayer

Walter Knabel

Stephan Wentker

Edmund Lochbihler

A belt clamping apparatus is provided for a seat belt system comprising a belt retractor and a device which is controlled by at least one acceleration sensor and serves to lock gears which are connected to the reel shaft of the belt retractor. The clamping apparatus comprises a clamping wedge, which is guided on a sliding surface that is fixed to a housing to move parallel to a back-pressure plate which is fixed to the housing, and together with the clamping wedge defines a gap for the passage of the belt, and an actuating member, which is movable by the locking device and displaces the clamping wedge to its clamping position. The actuating member is rotatably connected at one end to the housing and is pivoted at its other end to the clamping wedge, when the belt is being extracted further after the gears have been blocked by the actuating member in response to the movement of the reel shaft and imparts a translational movement to the clamping wedge. A spring element is provided between the clamping wedge and a stop which is fixed to the housing. The clamping wedge consists of one arm of a two-armed lever, the other arm of which constituted a spring abutment, and the spring-loaded arm holds the clamping wedge in engagement with the sliding surface which is fixed to the housing.

Belt retractor apparatus for a seat belt system comprising a belt

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.

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Unterschleissheim, Germany

Walter Notar