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:
Oct. 13, 1998
Filed:
Feb. 06, 1997
Niels Dybro, Utica, MI (US);
Harjeet Gill, Windsor, CA;
AlliedSignal Inc., Morristown, NJ (US);
Abstract
An energy absorbing seat belt retractor comprises a frame, a spool rotatably mounted relative to the frame for protracting and retracting a seat belt wound thereabout, and a driving member (e.g., a rotatable and slidable nut) operatively coupled to the spool. A deformable energy absorbing member is disposed within a bore of the spool and functions to receive a driving force supplied by the driving member responsive to an occupant load, and to deform when the driving force exceeds a predetermined threshold to thereby absorb energy and permit a controlled rotation of the spool and a corresponding controlled protraction of the belt as the belt is loaded by the occupant. At least one stop ring is disposed in proximity to the deformable member and functions to contact the deformable member in a deformed state and control further deformation thereof to thereby limit the protraction of the seat belt.