Acceleration sensor having inertia weight responsive to accelerations in

Abstract

An aircraft inertial webbing reel is mounted in a housing and has a ratchet wheel. A dog is mounted for spring-biased movement into engagement with the ratchet wheel teeth to lock the reel. A spring-biased blocking cam normally blocks movement of the dog. An inertia mass movable within a chamber has opposed end mounting surfaces with conical fittings which define an axis. A linkage comprising a pair of interconnected levers each having a distal end having a conical fitting. The fittings each confine a ball to mount the mass on the lever distal ends. A sliding and pivotal fitting interconnects the lever proximal ends and provides an overcenter mechanism normally biasing the lever distal ends toward each other and against the mounting surfaces to clamp the balls within the conical fittings. A predetermined acceleration of the aircraft in any direction causes the mass to shift the balls and move the lever distal ends away from each other. This moves an output member which shifts the blocking cam to unblock the dog which locks the ratchet wheel, reel and webbing. The housing is mounted with the mass axis oriented laterally of the aircraft so that the linkage provides the same output in response to movement of the mass laterally of the aircraft along the axis or in any direction forwardly and vertically of the aircraft in a plane perpendicular to the axis. In another embodiment, the levers are connected by a link.