EP0112033A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
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Safety belt emergency locking retractor
Assignee: Britax Kolb GmbH and Co
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Filing: 1983-11-10
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2003-11-10
Abstract
Abstract The main locking mechanism of an emergency locking retractor comprises teeth on the flanges (24) of the spool on which the belt is wound, the spool being mounted in bearings arranged to permit limited translational movement in a direction perpendicular to the axis of rotation, between a position in which said teeth formations engage with complementary teeth (18) on the frame (14) of the retractor. Actuating means which are arranged to cause movement of the spool into its engaged position, comprise a ratchet wheel (72) mounted on the spool for rotation and translational movement therewith, a pivotally mounted control member (74) and a pawl (76) which can be moved by a ball-in-saucer sensor (78, 92) into a position in which it couples the control member (74) to the ratchet wheel (72), so that angular movement of the ratchet wheel (72) in the belt unwinding direction causes angular movement of the control member (74) about a pivot (130), thus moving the spool so as to bring the teeth on the flanges (24) into locking engagement with the teeth (18) on the frame (14).
Inventors
- 👤 Hans-Hellmut Ernst
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-06 19:58
CPC Classifications
B; B60; B60R; B60R22/00; B60R22/34; B60R22/36; B60R22/405; B60R2022/3419
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 9
Claim 1
Independent Claim
235 words
An emergency locking retractor comprising a pair of mutually parallel frame members (14, 16), a spool (20) comprising a shaft (22) to receive the belt and a respective disc (24, 26) adjacent to each end of the shaft (22), each disc (24, 26) having teeth on its periphery, the spool being mounted on the frame member in bearings (52, 56) arranged to permit limited translational movement relative to the frame members, in a direction perpendicular to the axis of rotation, into a position in which said locking formations (118) engage with complementary locking formations (18) on the frame members to inhibit rotation of the spool (20) into its position of disengagement, and inertia responsive actuating means (43) being arranged to cause movement of the spool into its engaged position, characterised in that the actuating means comprises a ratchet wheel (72) mounted on the spool for rotation and translational movement therewith, a pivotally mounted control member (74), and inertia responsive means (76) for coupling the control member (74) to the ratchet wheel (72) so that angular movement of the ratchet wheel (72) in the belt unwinding direction causes angular movement of the control member (74), such angular movement of the control member being arranged to cause movement of the spool (20) into locking engagement with the frame members (14, 16), the control member (74) moving with the spool (20) as the latter moves into locking engagement.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
235 words
An emergency locking retractor comprising a pair of mutually parallel frame members (14, 16), a spool (20) comprising a shaft (22) to receive the belt and a respective disc (24, 26) adjacent to each end of the shaft (22), each disc (24, 26) having teeth on its periphery, the spool being mounted on the frame member in bearings (52, 56) arranged to permit limited translational movement relative to the frame members, in a direction perpendicular to the axis of rotation, into a position in which said locking formations (118) engage with complementary locking formations (18) on the frame members to inhibit rotation of the spool (20) into its position of disengagement, and inertia responsive actuating means (43) being arranged to cause movement of the spool into its engaged position, characterised in that the actuating means comprises a ratchet wheel (72) mounted on the spool for rotation and translational movement therewith, a pivotally mounted control member (74), and inertia responsive means (76) for coupling the control member (74) to the ratchet wheel (72) so that angular movement of the ratchet wheel (72) in the belt unwinding direction causes angular movement of the control member (74), such angular movement of the control member being arranged to cause movement of the spool (20) into locking engagement with the frame members (14, 16), the control member (74) moving with the spool (20) as the latter moves into locking engagement.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
86 words
A retractor according to claim 1, characterised in that the pivotal mounting for the control member (74) is formed by the shaft (28) of the spool (20) and a lever (84) is pivotally mounted on one of the frame members (14, 60) and coupled to the control member by a follower (82) engageable with a cam surface (80) so that angular movement of the control member (74) causes the lever (84) to engage with the teeth on one of the discs (24) of the spool (20).
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
79 words
A retractor according to claim 1, characterised in that the control member (74) is pivotally mounted on one of the frame members (14, 60) for angular movement about a pivot point (130) which is displaced from the spool axis in a direction perpendicular to the direction of movement of the spool (20) into locking engagement, the spool-(20) being journaled in the control member (74) whereby angular movement of the latter causes movement of the spool (20) into locking engagement.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
141 words
A retractor according to claim 3, characterised in that the inertia responsive means (43) includes an inertia disc (100) mounted for rotation about the axis of the spool (20) and coupled to the ratchet wheel (72) by a spring (108), at least two pawls (102, 152) being mounted symmetrically relative to the axis of the spool (20) between the ratchet wheel (27) and the inertia disc (100) so that, if the inertia disc (100) lags behind the ratchet wheel (72) against the action of the spring (108), as a result of sudden acceleration of the ratchet wheel (72), the pawls (102, 152) move radially outwardly into engagement with inwardly directed ratchet teeth (110) on a flange on the control member (74), such teeth (110) extending only over a sector angularly spaced from the pivot point (130) of the control member (74).
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
54 words
A retractor according to claim 4, characterised in that the pawl (76) has an abutment surface adjacent to its tip and a stop (98) is positioned on the control member (74) so as to engage with this abutment surface when the tip of the pawl (76) is in engagement with the ratchet wheel (72).
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
71 words
A retractor according to any preceding claim, characterised by hold-off means (120) arranged to engage with the pawl (76) to keep it out of engagement with the ratchet wheel when the spool (20) is rotating in the retraction direction, and means (128) for overriding said hold-off means (120) in the event that the sensor (92) of the inertia-responsive actuating means (43) is subject to a horizontal acceleration exceeding a predetermined value.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
88 words
A retractor according to any preceding claim, characterised in that the actuating means is enclosed in a pre-assembled cassette (43) which is secured to the outside of one of the frame members (38) and a retraction spring (48) is accommodated in a similar cassette (42) secured to the other frame member (16), each cassette (42, 43) incorporating sliding bearings (52, 66) for the spool (20), such bearings (52, 66) having surfaces which are inb sliding engagement with a radially extending part (44, 60) of the corresponding cassette enclosure.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
48 words
A retractor according to any preceding claim, characterised in that the control member (74) incorporates a bearing which receives a sleeve (70) formed integrally with the ratchet wheel (72), the sleeve (70) also serving to connect the ratchet wheel (72) to the shaft (28) of the spool (20).
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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