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:
Nov. 18, 1997
Filed:
Jun. 27, 1996
Robert D Sayles, Rochester, MI (US);
TRW Vehicle Safety Systems Inc., Lyndhurst, OH (US);
Abstract
A seat belt webbing retractor (10) includes a spool assembly (60) around which seat belt webbing (16) is wound. The spool assembly (60) is rotatable in webbing withdrawal and webbing retraction directions (A,B). A member, such as a ratchet wheel, (70) is rotatable in the withdrawal and retraction directions (A,B) with the spool assembly (60). A lock pawl, (190) is engageable with the rotatable member (70) for blocking rotation of the rotatable member (70) and the spool assembly (60) in the withdrawal direction (A). The spool assembly (60) is rotatable relative to the rotatable member (70) upon the occurrence of a tension above a predetermined amount in the webbing (16). A deformable member (78) is plastically deformed to absorb energy during rotation of the spool assembly (60) relative to the rotatable member (70). A hub (112) and a ring (140), are also rotatable upon rotation of the spool assembly (60) relative to the rotatable member (70). The deformable member (78) has a plurality of annular projections (94, 102), and the hub and ring (112, 140) deform the projections to absorb energy.