Restraint belt retractor with pendulum actuated locking

Claim 1

A restraint belt retractor for a vehicle comprising, a metallic retractor housing adaptable to be mounted on the vehicle and including a pair of spaced generally parallel opposed walls, each wall defining an attachment surface and a notch that are spaced from each other, a corrugated cover including a pair of ears and a pair of tangs, the ears of the cover being respectively received by the notches of the walls so that the cover may be rotated to an assembled position where the tangs of the cover respectively snap into engagement with the attachment surfaces of the walls to hold the cover in position and where the corrugations of the cover are located between and extend normal to the planes of the walls so as to engage these walls and thereby prevent movement of the walls toward each other, belt reel means rotatably mounted between the opposed walls of the retractor housing for movement about a generally horizontal axis and receiving a restraint belt that is wound and unwound relative thereto during such rotation, the belt reel means including annular ratchet means generated about the axis of its rotation at each of its ends so as to define upper and lower sides of the reel means, the ratchet means having locking surfaces facing in the belt unwinding direction of rotation, spring means biasing the reel means in a belt winding direction, a locking member having a generally fork-like configuration with spaced tine portions having locking surfaces at the ends thereof and with an elongated handle portion extending in an opposite direction to the tine portions, means mounting the locking member between the opposed walls of the retractor housing so as to extend generally horizontally adjacent the upper side of the reel means and so as to be pivotally movable between locked and unlocked positions about an axis parallel to the rotational axis of the reel means and extending transversely of the longitudinal axis of the handle portion adjacent the end thereof in proximity to the tine portions, this axis of locking member movement being generally in vertical alignment with the upper side of the reel means, the locking surfaces of the tine portions being engageable with the locking surfaces of the ratchet means at the upper side of the reel means at each end thereof when the locking member is in locked position so as to prevent belt unwinding movement of the reel means, the handle portion of the locking member having a lower side that faces downwardly and this handle portion normally providing a gravity bias that positions the locking member in unlocked position where the handle portion is located downwardly from the locked position and where the tine portions of the locking member are located upwardly from the locked position so as to disengage the upper side of the reel means and to thereby allow belt unwinding movement of the reel means, pendulum support means extending between the opposed walls of the retractor housing and including a fixed horizontally extending annular support portion of a plastic construction that defines an aperture below the handle portion of the locking member in horizontally spaced relationship to the reel means and in vertical alignment therewith, a pendulum with a lower weight and an arm whose lower end is secured to the weight and whose upper end extends upwardly through the aperture in the pendulum support means, the pendulum being in vertically aligned relationship with the reel means so as not to substantially increase the vertical thickness of the retractor, the upper portion of the pendulum including an annular portion seating against the annular plastic support portion of the pendulum support means so as to position the pendulum in a depending vertical orientation, and a control portion on the upper end of the pendulum arm which engages the lower side of the handle portion of the locking member during swinging pendulum movement from its vertical orientation in response to abrupt vehicle acceleration or deceleration in any horizontal direction such that the handle portion is moved upwardly against its gravity bias to position the locking member in locked position so that belt unwinding movement of the reel means is thereby prevented.