Autoliv Development Ab

Yusuke Shinya

Ganta Hibata

Katsuhiro Ito

Jin Hayashihara

Iwata Hihata

A seatbelt retractor configured to ease the tightness of a seatbelt felt by an occupant when the occupant wearing the seatbelt reclines a seatback. An acceleration sensorincludes a sensor coverwhich tilts with a seatback, a sensor housingsupported swingably with respect to the sensor coverand having an inertial body support surfaceand an inertial bodywhich is displaced when the acceleration reaches at least a prescribed value. The sensor housingincludes an external teeth parthaving a plurality of external teethandand a gap partwithout external teeth. A lever memberis coupled to the shaftof the spindleby a friction coupling, and the lever member turns in a first direction in which an engagement partis engaged with the external teeth partwhen the spindlerotates in a seatbelt drawing-out direction and turns in a second direction in which the engagement partmoves apart from the external teeth partwhen the spindlerotates in a seatbelt winding-up direction.

Seatbelt retractor

A deviation in rotational angle caused between an adjustment gear and a sensor housing is compensated for with a profile of a cable winding groove of a pulley of an attitude control mechanism to accurately synchronize the inclination angle of a seat back and the rotational angle of the sensor housing with each other. Thus, it is possible to keep an inertial element support surface, which serves as a sensor reference surface, accurately horizontal even at any seat back inclination angle to improve the accuracy of an acceleration sensor.

Seatbelt device

A seatbelt retractor includes a rotation transfer mechanism configured to transfer rotation of an adjustment gear to a sensor housing to swing the sensor housing in the front-back direction of a vehicle. The turning axis of the adjustment gear and the swing axis of the sensor housing intersect each other at a predetermined angle with the swing axis of the sensor housing arranged in a horizontal direction with respect to the left-right direction of the vehicle. An inertial element support surface of the sensor housing is kept horizontal by swing motion of the sensor housing in the front-back direction of the vehicle, even if a seat back is tilted in the front-back direction of the vehicle.

Growing community of inventors

Yokohama, Japan

Yusuke Shinya