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. 16, 1997
Filed:
May. 17, 1996
Niels Dybro, Utica, MI (US);
Jason Raines, Harrison Township, MI (US);
AlliedSignal Inc., Morristown, NJ (US);
Abstract
An apparatus (20, 100) comprising: a driven gear (102) operatively linked to a spool of a retractor (20) to rotate the spool (24) in a direction of retraction to cause a seat belt (31) wound thereabout to retract; an arcuate tube (108) having a flat exit end (110) proximate the gear; a flexible chain link rack (130), movable within the tube, having a front end (134a) initially maintained out of engagement with the first driven means and pushed into engagement with the first driven means to cause same to rotate; a piston (140) for pushing the rack (130) into engagement with the gear thereby causing the gear to rotate and catching mechanism for retaining the rack after it has exited the exit end of the tube.