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:
Dec. 26, 1995
Filed:
May. 04, 1994
Gary M Ray, Royal Oak, MI (US);
TRW Vehicle Safety Systems Inc., Lyndhurst, OH (US);
Abstract
A seat belt retractor (10) includes a seat belt webbing storage spool (14) that is rotatable in winding (retraction) and unwinding (withdrawal) directions. First and second springs (50 and 52) bias the spool (14) in the retraction direction and are stressed upon rotation of the spool in the belt withdrawal direction. A connector (54) interconnects the first and second springs (50 and 52). The connector has first and second portions (66 and 64) which are movable relative to each other. The first portion (66) is connected to the first spring (50), and the second portion (64) is connected to the second spring (52). An actuatable mechanism (56), when actuated, blocks rotation of the second portion (64) of the connector (54) in the belt retraction direction to block the spring force of the first spring (50) from acting through the second spring (52) and on the spool (14). The actuatable mechanism (56), when deactivated, releases the second portion (64) of the connector (54) to permit the first spring (50) to apply force through the connector (54) and the second spring (52) to the spool (14). The connector (54) includes a mechanism which acts between the first and second portions (66 and 64) for damping the force applied to the second spring (52) by the first spring (50) upon deactivation of the actuatable mechanism (56).