Seat belt retractor apparatus

Claim 2

In a seat belt retractor; the combination of a frame having reel rotatably supported thereon; a belt wound on the reel; reel bias means urging the reel to a belt retrActed position; latching means locking the reel in a selected belt extended position; the latching means having a latched position for resisting rotation of the reel in a belt extended direction beyond the selected belt extended position and an unlatched position permitting unimpeded rotation of the reel in the belt extended direction; bias means urging the latching means to the latched position; and holding means responsive to inertia forces on the retractor for releasably holding the latching means in the unlatched position; the holding means including locking means operative in the locked position thereof to hold the latching means in the unlatched position and in the unlocked position thereof to release the latching means for movement to the latched position, the locking means having biasing means urging the locking means to the unlocked position, magnet means responsive to inertia forces acting on the retractor and having a set position and an unset position, the magnet means being arranged in the set position thereof to maintain the locking means in the locked position, the magnet means also being arranged to be moved to the unset position by the inertia forces acting thereon when in excess of a predetermined magnitude so as to permit the locking means to be returned by the biasing means to the unlocked position, and reset means operated bythe belt when moved to the retracted position thereof, the reset means being operative when operated by the belt to return the locking means to the locked position and the magnet means to the set position.

Claim 3

A seat belt retractor as described in claim 1, wherein the magnet means includes a permanent magnet.

Claim 4

A seat belt retractor as described in claim 1, wherein the holding means includes housing means mounted on the latching means and the locking means includes a plunger slidable within the housing means, the plunger having a locking rod portion arranged to engage the frame in the locked position of the locking means so as to releasably hold the latching means in the unlatched position, the biasing means being positioned within the housing means so as to urge the plunger to the unlocked position of the locking means.

Claim 5

A seat belt retractor as discussed in claim 3, wherein the reset means includes a pivotal reset lever having a plunger engaging portion extending into the housing means and a belt engaging portion extending externally of the housing means and in the path of the retracted belt so that the belt pivots the reset lever and causes the plunger engaging portion to urge the plunger from the unlocked position to the locked position of the locking means.

Claim 6

A seat belt retractor as described in claim 4, wherein the plunger includes a reset portion for pivotally supporting the reset lever and also for moving the magnet means to the set position.

Claim 7

A seat belt retractor as described in claim 3, wherein the magnet means includes a magnet positioned within the housing means and the housing means includes a metallic element formed of a magnetic material positioned between the locking means and the magnet means and the plunger includes a reset portion formed of a magnetic material and arranged in the unlocked position of the locking means to extend through the metallic element and into the magnetic field of the magnet so that when the plunger is moved to the locked position of the locking means the magnet is moved to the set position in close proximity to the metallic element thereby developing a magnetic force therebetween for overcoming the biasing means and maintain the plunger in the locked position of the locking means.

Claim 8

A seat belt retractor as described in claim 6, wherein the magnet is formed of a permanent magnetic material, the magnet having an elongated body provided with a tapered portion at one end and a centering element formed of a non-magnetic material joined to the other end of the permanent magnet and proximate the metallic element, the tapered portion facilitating movement of the magnet to The unset position when the inertia forces acting thereon in any direction exceed the force maintaining the plunger in the locked position of the locking means.

Claim 9

A seat belt retractor as described in claim 7, wherein the reset means includes a reset lever pivotally supported by the reset portion of the plunger, the reset lever having a plunger engaging portion and a belt engaging portion extending externally of the housing means and in the path of the retracted belt so that the belt pivots the reset lever and causes the plunger engaging portion to urge the plunger from the unlocked position to the locked position of the locking means.

Claim 10

A seat belt retractor as described in claim 1, wherein the locking means includes a locking means housing formed of a nonmagnetic material and having at one end a metallic ring like element formed of a magnetic material, a plunger slidable within the housing and including a locking rod portion on one end thereof arranged to extend from the other end of the housing and engage the frame in the locked position of the locking means so as to releasably hold the latching means in the unlatched position and a reset portion on the other end thereof formed of a magnetic material and arranged in the unlocked position of the locking means to extend through the metallic ring like element, the biasing means being positioned within the housing and arranged to urge the plunger to the unlocked position of the locking means; the magnet means includes a magnet means housing formed of a nonmagnetic material, the magnet means housing being secured to the latching means and having the locking means housing secured to one end thereof, the magnet means further including a permanent magnet positioned within the magnet means housing and being of a elongated shape having a centering ring positioned thereon at one end and having a tapered portion at the other end to facilitate the movement of the permanent magnet to the unset position of the magnet means; the plunger in the unlocked position of the locking means having the reset portion thereof within the magnetic field of the permanent magnet so as to move the permanent magnet, when the plunger is moved to the locked position of the locking means, to the set position of the magnet means and into engagement with the metallic ring like element so as to develop a magnetic force for overcoming the bias of the biasing means and through the reset portion maintained the plunger in the locked position of the locking means until inertia forces in any direction overcome the differential between the magnetic force and the bias force from the plunger bias means so as to move the permanent magnet to the unset position of the magnet means and allow the plunger to return to the unlocked position of the locking means thereby releasing the latching means for return to the latched position; the reset means includes a reset lever pirotally supported by the reset portion, the reset lever having a plunger engaging portion and a belt engaging portion extending externally of the locking means housing and in the path of the retracted belt so that the belt pivots the reset lever and causes the plunger engaging portion to urge the plunger from the unlocked position of the locking means to the locked position of the locking means and correspondingly the permanent magnet from the unset position of the magnet means to the set position of the magnet means.

Claim 11

In a holding mechanism for an apparatus, such as a seat belt retractor, the combination of housing means; locking means positioned at one end of the housing means; the locking means having a locked position in which the apparatus is restrained from movement and an unlocked position in which the apparatus is released, the locking means including biasing means urging the locking means to the unlocked position; magnet means positioned in the other end of the housing means, the magnet means being responsive to inertia forces acting on the mechanism and having set and unset positions, the maGnet means being arranged in the set position thereof to maintain the locking means in the locked position, the magnet means also being arranged to be moved to the unset position by the inertia forces acting thereon when in excess of a predetermined magnitude so as to permit the locking means to be urged by the biasing means to the unlocked position; and reset means for returning the locking means to the locked position and the magnet means to the set position.

Claim 12

In a holding mechanism for an apparatus, such as a seat belt retractor, the combination of housing means; locking means positioned at one end of the housing means; the locking means having a locked position in which the apparatus is restrained from movement and an unlocked position in which the apparatus is released, the locking means including biasing means urging the locking means to the unlocked position; magnet means positioned in the other end of the housing means, the magnet means being responsive to inertia forces acting on the mechanism and having set and unset positions, the maGnet means being arranged in the set position thereof to maintain the locking means in the locked position, the magnet means also being arranged to be moved to the unset position by the inertia forces acting thereon when in excess of a predetermined magnitude so as to permit the locking means to be urged by the biasing means to the unlocked position; and reset means for returning the locking means to the locked position and the magnet means to the set position.

Claim 13

A holding mechanism described in claim 10, wherein the locking means includes a plunger slidable within the housing means, the biasing means urging the plunger to the unlocked position of the locking means, the plunger having a locking rod portion arranged to engage the apparatus in the locked position of the locking means and a reset portion formed of a magnetic material and arranged in the unlocked position of the locking means to extend within the magnetic field of the magnet means so that when the plunger is moved to the locked position of the locking means by the reset means the magnet means is moved to the set position.

Claim 14

A holding mechanism means as described in claim 10, wherein the housing means includes a metallic ring like element formed of a magnetic material positioned between the locking means and the magnet means and the locking means includes a plunger slidable within the housing means, the biasing means urging the plunger to the unlocked position of the locking means, the plunger having a reset portion formed of a magnetic material and arranged in the unlocked position of the locking means to extend through the metallic ring like element and into the magnetic field of the magnet means and the magnet means includes a permanent magnet positioned, in the unset position of the magnet means, proximate to the reset portion of the plunger so that when the plunger is moved to the locked position of the locking means the magnetic attraction between the reset portion and the permanent magnet moves the permanent magnet in close proximity to the metallic ring like element thereby developing a predetermined magnetic force for holding the plunger in the locked position of the locking means until inertia forces acting in any direction on the holding mechanism exceed the predetermined magnetic holding force whereupon the permanent magnet returns to the unset position of the magnet means and the plunger is biased by the biasing means back to the unlocked position of the locking means.

Claim 15

A holding mechanism as described in claim 12, wherein the reset means includes a reset lever pivotally supported by the reset portion of the plunger, the reset lever having a plunger engaging portion and an actuated portion extending externally of the housing means, the reset lever being actuatable to cause the plunger engaging portion thereof to urge the plunger from the unlocked position to the locked position of the locking means and also the permanent magnet from the unset position to the set position of the magnet means.

Claim 16

A holding mechanism means as described in claim 10, wherein the locking means includes a locking means housing having a metallic ring like element formed of a magnetic material at one end thereof, a plunger slidable within the locking housing and having a locking portion on one end thereof arranged to extend beyond and through the other end of the locking housing and into engagement with the apparatus in the locked position of the locking means and a reset portion on the other end thereof arranged in the unlocked position of the locking means to extend through the metallic ring like element and into the magnetic field of the magnet means the biasing means urging the plunger to the unlocked position of the locking means; the magnet means including a magnet means housing formed of a nonmagnetic material and having an oepn end with the locking housing extending therein and a closed end, a permanent magnet positioned within the magnet means housing; the permanent magnet having a centering ring Formed of a nonmagnetic material joined to the end of the permanent magnet proximate the metallic element and a tapered body portion at the opposite end to facilitate movement of the permanent magnet to the unset position of the magnet means when the inertia forces acting thereon in any direction exceed a certain magnitude; the reset means includes a reset lever pivotally supported to locking means housing by the reset portion, the reset lever having a plunger engaging portion and an actuated portion extending externally of the locking means housing, the reset lever being actuatable to cause the plunger engaging portion thereof to urge the plunger from the unlocked position to the locked position of the locking means and also the permanent magnet from the unset position to the set position of the magnet means.