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:
Aug. 13, 1996
Filed:
Nov. 08, 1994
William J Fleming, Rochester Hills, MI (US);
Charles E Steffens, Jr, Washington, MI (US);
TRW Vehicle Safety Systems Inc., Lyndhurst, OH (US);
Abstract
A seat belt webbing retractor (22) includes a spool (72) on which a length of belt webbing (16) is wound. A stop member (100) is fixed in position on a vehicle. A crush plate (60) is secured to the retractor (22), and both the retractor (22) and the crush plate (60) are movable in a direction (132) toward the stop member (100). A crushable energy absorbing material, preferably a honeycomb (130), is disposed in the path of movement of the crush plate (60). The crushable material (130) controls movement of the crush plate (60) relative to the stop member (100), reducing the abruptness of the load on a vehicle occupant during a collision. In a second embodiment, the resistance provided by a crushable member (280) may be controlled in response to a sensed characteristic (310) of the vehicle occupant.