Vehicle sensitive retractor with pendulum on flywheel

Claim 1

In a vehicle-sensitive, inertia operated safety belt retractor having a reel for winding a safety belt, means to lock the reel and thereby restrain an occupant of the vehicle during dangerous situations, a support structure which includes two side walls and a back wall, an inertia mechanism, a support assembly mounted on said retractor for supporting the inertia mechanism and an actuating means responsive to said inertia mechanism for operating the means for locking the reel; the improvement wherein: said inertia mechanism is a pendulum assembly which includes a pendulum head in contact with said actuating means, said pendulum assembly being actuated by forces exceeding a predetermined magnitude resulting from a sudden change in the motion or orientation of the vehicle, said actuation means operating directly on the means for locking the reel; and said support assembly for said pendulum assembly includes: a flywheel; a pendulum support having a substantially circular support edge upon which said pendulum head is disposed, said pendulum assembly requiring a force exceeding a predetermined magnitude to lift a part of the pendulum head up and off a part of said support edge before said pendulum assembly will cause said locking means to lock the reel; said pendulum support being mounted on said flywheel, said flywheel and said pendulum assembly being adapted to pivot in one plane to a variety of operable static positions to which said pendulum assembly is adjustable according to the position in which the retractor is oriented by virtue of installation in the vehicle; an axle for said flywheel adapted to allow said flywheel to pivot in one plane; and a flywheel support for said flywheel and said flywheel axle, said flywheel support being mounted on said retractor.