The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 06, 1988
Filed:
Nov. 21, 1986
Ronald A Willey, Port Huron, MI (US);
TRW Vehicle Safety Systems Inc., Lyndhurst, OH (US);
Abstract
A seat belt retractor includes a seat belt spool supported by a frame for rotation about an axis in belt withdrawal and belt retraction directions. A ratchet wheel is connected to and rotatable with the spool. A pawl is pivotable between a release position in which it does not engage the ratchet wheel to allow rotation of the spool in the belt withdrawal direction and a lock position in which it engages the ratchet wheel to prevent rotation of the spool in the belt withdrawal direction. The pawl pivots from the release position towards the lock position in response to rotation of the spool in the belt withdrawal direction at a rate of acceleration above a predetermined rate. A spring is coupled to the frame and the pawl to pivot the pawl to the lock position after the pawl pivots beyond a predetermined position defined by a line interconnecting the pivot point of the pawl and the point at which the spring is connected to the frame.