Shoulder belt retractor with headrest support

Abstract

A new and improved shoulder belt retractor for mounting on a vehicle seat or on the vehicle body adjacent the seat and providing a headrest support shaft which cantilevers inboard from the housing of the shoulder belt retractor to support the headrest. In particular, the shoulder belt retractor has a belt reel rotatably supported between spaced apart sidewalls of a housing located outboard of the occupant seating position. The headrest support shaft is attached to and extends between the sidewalls of the housing vertically above the belt reel and cantilevers inboard from the housing to support a headrest. A belt routing pulley is rotatably journaled on the support shaft between the sidewalls of the housing and receives the belt to guide the belt over the shoulder of the seated occupant. The belt routing pulley is preferably conical in shape to redirect the belt from a vertical path aligned with the belt reel to an angled path directed diagonally over the occupant's shoulder. In addition, a plastic housing closes the shoulder belt retractor and has a belt guiding swivel escutcheon swivel mounted thereon to receive the belt exiting the belt routing pulley to further facilitate routing of the belt over the shoulder of the occupant.