Seat belt retractor including pretensioner and slack remover

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9643568-B2
Application number	US-201414560145-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 4, 2014
Priority date	Dec 4, 2014
Publication date	May 9, 2017
Grant date	May 9, 2017

Abstract

A seat belt retractor includes a housing and a spool supported by the housing. Webbing is wound around the spool. A webbing engagement member is supported by the housing and is movable to a locked position engaged with the webbing for preventing movement of the webbing relative to webbing engagement member. An activating device is slideably supported by the housing and is slideably engageable with the webbing engagement member for moving the webbing locking device to the locked position. In the locked position, the webbing locking device prevents the webbing from being fed from the spool, thus preventing any slack in the webbing on the spool from being fed out when the webbing locking device is in the locked position.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A seat belt retractor comprising:
a housing;
a spool supported by the housing;
webbing coupled to the spool;
a webbing engagement member supported by the housing and movable to a locked position engaged with the webbing for preventing movement of the webbing relative to webbing engagement member; and
an activating device slideably supported by the housing and slideably engageable with the webbing engagement member for moving the webbing engagement member to the locked position;
wherein the spool includes teeth and the activating device includes teeth configured to engage the teeth of the spool; and
wherein the webbing engagement member includes teeth configured to engage the teeth of the spool.

2. The seat belt retractor as set forth in claim 1 further comprising a pyrotechnic actuator connected to the activating device.

3. The seat belt retractor as set forth in claim 1 wherein the webbing engagement member includes an arm coupled to the housing and a roller coupled to the arm.

4. The seat belt retractor as set forth in claim 3 wherein the roller includes the teeth of the webbing engagement member.

5. The seat belt retractor as set forth in claim 3 wherein the roller includes protrusions for engaging the webbing.

6. The seat belt retractor as set forth in claim 3 further comprising a second roller coupled to the arm with the webbing disposed between the roller and the second roller.

7. The seat belt retractor as set forth in claim 1 further comprising a lock for locking the webbing engagement member in the locked position.

8. The seat belt retractor as set forth in claim 7 wherein the lock is pivotally supported by the housing.

9. The seat belt retractor as set forth in claim 7 wherein the lock includes a lever pivotally supported by the housing and a plunger coupled to the lever, and wherein the activating device includes a boss engageable with the lever.

10. The seat belt retractor as set forth in claim 9 wherein the webbing engagement member includes a keeper engageable with the boss and the plunger.

11. The seat belt retractor as set forth in claim 1 wherein the housing defines an elongated slot and the activating device includes a pin slideably engaged with the slot.

12. The seat belt retractor as set forth in claim 1 wherein the housing defines a slot and the webbing engagement member includes a pin engaged with the slot.

13. The seat belt retractor as set forth in claim 1 wherein the activating device includes a gear rack and a pin slideably engaged with the housing.

14. The seat belt retractor as set forth in claim 13 wherein the teeth of the spool are engageable with the gear rack.

15. The seat belt retractor as set forth in claim 14 further comprising a pyrotechnic actuator connected to the activating device for sliding the pin along the housing and engaging the gear rack with the teeth of the spool.

16. The seat belt retractor as set forth in claim 15 wherein the activating device includes a boss on the gear rack slideably engageable with the webbing engagement member.

17. A seat belt retractor comprising:
a housing;
a spool supported by the housing;
webbing coupled to the spool;
a webbing engagement member supported by the housing and movable to a locked position engaged with the webbing for preventing movement of the webbing relative to webbing engagement member; and
an activating device slideably supported by the housing and slideably engageable with the webbing engagement member for moving the webbing engagement member to the locked position;
wherein the webbing engagement member includes an arm coupled to the housing and a roller coupled to the arm; and
wherein the roller includes protrusions for engaging the webbing.

18. The seat belt retractor as set forth in claim 17 further comprising a pyrotechnic actuator connected to the activating device.

19. A seat belt retractor comprising:
a housing;
a spool supported by the housing;
webbing coupled to the spool;
a webbing engagement member supported by the housing and movable to a locked position engaged with the webbing for preventing movement of the webbing relative to webbing engagement member;
an activating device slideably supported by the housing and slideably engageable with the webbing engagement member for moving the webbing engagement member to the locked position; and
a lock for locking the webbing engagement member in the locked position;
wherein the lock includes a lever pivotally supported by the housing and a plunger coupled to the lever, and wherein the activating device includes a boss engageable with the lever.

20. The seat belt retractor as set forth in claim 19 wherein the lock includes a lever pivotally supported by the housing and a plunger coupled to the lever, and wherein the activating device includes a boss engageable with the lever.

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Jayasuriya Mangala A
• Weerappuli Parakrama V
• Barbat Saeed David

Classifications

• B60R2022/3475

  having means for acting directly upon the belt, e.g. by clamping or friction · CPC title

• B60R22/36 Primary

  self-locking in an emergency ({B60R22/3405} , B60R22/343 take precedence) · CPC title

• B60R22/46 Primary

  {Reels} with means to tension the belt in an emergency {by forced winding up}(electrical circuits for triggering safety arrangements B60R21/01 {; tensioners using reels only guiding the belt during normal use, e.g. splitted reels B60R22/195}) · CPC title

• B60R22/347 Primary

  with means for permanently locking the retractor during the wearing of the belt ({B60R22/3405} , B60R22/343, B60R22/415 take precedence) · CPC title