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Tethering apparatus for a pedestal mounted vehicle seat

  • US 20020130528A1
  • Filed: 03/19/2001
  • Published: 09/19/2002
  • Est. Priority Date: 03/19/2001
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. An apparatus for tethering a seat to a vehicle, said apparatus comprising:

  • a retractor, adapted to be affixed to the seat, having a spool assembly, a locking mechanism, and a biasing mechanism;

    a sensing mechanism, coupled to the retractor, to sense at least one operational characteristic of the vehicle and to output a signal representative of at least one sensed operational characteristic; and

    a webbing member, having a first end attachable to the vehicle and a second end secured to the spool assembly, to tether the seat to the vehicle;

    wherein the spool assembly is rotatably supported by the retractor so as to selectively (i) rotate in a first direction to wind the webbing member about the spool assembly and retract the webbing member within the retractor and (ii) rotate in a second direction to unwind any webbing member wound about the spool assembly, wherein in response to prescribed signals output from the sensing mechanism, the locking mechanism is adapted to selectively prevent rotation of the spool assembly, and wherein when the spool assembly is in a freely rotatable state, the biasing mechanism is adapted to bias the spool assembly to rotate in the first direction with a predetermined force.

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