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:
Mar. 04, 1997
Filed:
Aug. 11, 1995
Niels Dybro, Utica, MI (US);
Harold J Miller, III, Troy, MI (US);
AlliedSignal Inc., Morristown, NJ (US);
Abstract
An energy absorbing seat belt retractor comprising: a frame (22); a spool (24) rotatably mounted relative to the spool including a lock wheel (212) having a plurality of lock teeth (214) associated therewith and adapted to receive a seat belt thereabout; a lock pawl (224) for engaging the spool upon sensing a one of a vehicle deceleration and seat belt extraction above certain determinable levels; and movable nut (90)located in the spool and for prohibiting relative movement between the lock wheel and spool below a threshold input force level generated in part by occupant load on the seat belt and for generating in cooperation with a deformable bushing (100) having known deformation characteristics, the characteristics of which are controlled by a movable sleeve (242) moved about the bushing, to generate a controlled energy dissipating reaction force on the seat belt.