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Belt clamps for vehicle passenger restraint belts

  • US 4,323,204 A
  • Filed: 12/26/1979
  • Issued: 04/06/1982
  • Est. Priority Date: 05/30/1978
  • Status: Expired due to Term
First Claim
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1. A belt clamp for a vehicle occupant restraint system which includes a restraint belt and a belt retractor onto and from which the belt is selectively wound and unwound and having a pair of jaws, one on either side of the belt, mounted on a lever which is mounted to pivot about an axis spaced apart from the jaws, one of the jaws being mounted on the lever for movement toward the other jaw, in that there is a spring urging the movable jaw in a direction away from the other jaw and in that there is a fixed abutment positioned to be engaged by the movable jaw upon pivoting of the lever in response to a high pull-out force on the belt, thereby to move the movable jaw into engagement with the other jaw, at least one of the jaws having a multiplicity of closely spaced teeth lying transversely to the direction of movement of the belt, each tooth being of generally uniform cross section along its length in the transverse direction, and the other jaw having a multiplicity of recesses, each of which generally matches a corresponding tooth on the other jaw and receives such corresponding tooth and a widthwise strip of the belt upon engagement of the belt between the jaws, each such strip of the belt being formed into a smoothly curved loop by being tucked by a tooth into a corresponding recess of the other jaw and being gripped under pressure between opposed gripping surfaces of the teeth and recesses.

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