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BELT RETRACTOR WITH SPRING BIASED AUXILIARY RATCHET WHEEL

  • US 3,822,840 A
  • Filed: 01/08/1973
  • Issued: 07/09/1974
  • Est. Priority Date: 01/08/1973
  • Status: Expired due to Term
First Claim
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1. In a safety belt retractor having a rotatable reel to which a seat belt is attached, said reel having as a flange at least one first ratchet wheel having ratchet teeth including tips, and a pawl adapted to engage the first ratchet wheel to halt rotation of the reel, the improvement which comprises a second ratchet wheel mounted adjacent to the first ratchet wheel, for axial rotation relative to the first ratchet wheel the second ratchet wheel having ratchet teeth including tips for engagement with the pawl, means for limiting the relative axial rotation between the first and second ratchet wheels, biasing means acting between the first and second ratchet wheels urging the second ratchet wheel to a first rotational position with respect to the first ratchet wheel such that the tips of the teeth of the second ratchet wheel are normally maintained a circumferential distance in advance, in the belt unwinding direction, of corresponding tips of adjacent teeth on the first ratchet wheel, said advance circumferential distance being a small portion of the total circumferential distance separating the tips of successive teeth of the first ratchet wheel;

  • whereby the second ratchet wheel, when engaged by the pawl, rotates against bias provided by said biasing means to a second rotational position wherein the tips of the teeth of the second ratchet wheel are substantially in line with the tips of adjacent teeth of the first ratchet wheel.

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