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. 12, 2004
Filed:
Jul. 02, 2002
Alan George Smithson, Wetheral, GB;
David Blackadder, Corby Hill, GB;
Paul Bowman, Little Corby, GB;
David Charles Winter, Carlisle, GB;
Key Safety Systems, Inc., Sterling Heights, MI (US);
Abstract
A seat belt retractor for a vehicle safety restraint has a spool rotatably mounted in a frame. A ratchet wheel is rotatably mounted to rotate with the spool. A control member is mounted in the frame. A locking pawl is pivotally mounted in the frame to pivot into engagement with the ratchet wheel. A sensor is responsive to the spool. Upon activation of the sensor, a cam surface and a cam follower couple the locking pawl to the control member. The cam surface has a discontinuity arranged so that the cam follower loses contact with the cam at high speeds but stays in contact with the cam surface at low speeds. Preferably, the discontinuity is a raised portion providing a first ramp in one direction in one portion on one side of the discontinuity of the cam surface and a second ramp in a different direction in a second portion of the cam surface on the other side of the discontinuity.