Pretensioner housing in retractor assembly

A seatbelt pretensioner system for use in a seatbelt pretensioning retractor assembly having a spindle and a frame, the seatbelt pretensioner system comprising:

• a housing adapted for being mounted to the frame;
• a pretensioner tube having a first tube end in fluid communication with a gas generator and a second tube end in fluid communication with the housing;
• a pinion having an annular body portion and a protrusion extending longitudinally from the annular body portion along a rotational axis of the pinion, the pinion being rotatably mounted in the housing and fixedly coupled to the spindle adapted for taking up seatbelt webbing during pretensioning;
• and
• a pretensioner rod disposed inside the pretensioner tube, the pretensioner rod having a proximal end disposed towards the gas generator and a distal end disposed away from the gas generator,
• wherein the housing includes an inboard portion having the annular body portion of the pinion and an outboard portion receiving the protrusion extending from the annular body portion such that the inboard portion and the outboard portion of the housing are arranged side by side along the rotational axis of the pinion to store the pretensioner rod after pretensioning.