Seatbelt pretensioning retractor assembly including a piston-safety valve member
AssigneeAutoliv ASP, Inc.
InventorsKenneth Herbert Kohlndorfer, Christopher D. Hall, Richard William Koning, Bin Wang
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A seatbelt pretensioning retractor assembly for use in a passenger vehicle is provided. The pretensioning assembly includes a tube in fluid communication with a gas generator and a driving element disposed therein that travels in a first direction in response to actuation of the gas generator. The driving element includes a polymer rod. A stopper is coupled to a proximal end portion of the polymer rod. A piston-safety valve member is disposed between the gas generator and the stopper and is configured to allow gas from the gas generator to pass therethrough when the gas is at or above a predetermined pressure.
Claims20
A seatbelt pretensioning retractor assembly for use in a passenger vehicle, the seatbelt pretensioning retractor assembly comprising:
- a housing adapted for being mounted to a vehicle structure and having an interior cavity;
- a tube having an arcuate and curved shape having a first end for fluid communication with a gas generator and a second end in fluid communication with the interior cavity of the housing;
- a sprocket rotatably mounted to the housing and fixedly coupled to a spindle adapted for taking up seatbelt webbing during pretensioning;
- a driving element comprising a polymer rod having a proximal end portion that is disposed towards the gas generator and a distal end portion that is opposite the proximal end portion, and is configured to extend in a longitudinal direction from the proximal end portion to the distal end portion, wherein the polymer rod is disposed within the tube and is translatable through the tube in a first direction toward the sprocket in response to an actuation by the gas generator;
- a stopper coupled to the proximal end portion of the polymer rod;
- and
- a piston-safety valve member disposed between the gas generator and the stopper and configured to allow gas from the gas generator to pass therethrough when the gas is at or above a predetermined pressure.
A seatbelt pretensioning retractor assembly for use in a passenger vehicle, the seatbelt pretensioning retractor assembly comprising:
- a housing adapted for being mounted to a vehicle structure and having an interior cavity;
- a tube having an arcuate and curved shape having a first end for fluid communication with a gas generator and a second end in fluid communication with the interior cavity of the housing;
- a sprocket rotatably mounted to the housing and fixedly coupled to a spindle adapted for taking up seatbelt webbing during pretensioning, wherein the sprocket has a plurality of vanes;
- a driving element comprising a polymer rod having a proximal end portion that is disposed towards the gas generator and a distal end portion that is opposite the proximal end portion, and is configured to extend in a longitudinal direction from the proximal end portion to the distal end portion, wherein the polymer rod is disposed within the tube and is translatable through the tube in a first direction toward the sprocket in response to an actuation by the gas generator;
- a stopper coupled to the proximal end portion of the polymer rod;
- a piston-safety valve member disposed adjacent to the stopper on a side opposite the proximal end portion of the polymer rod, wherein the piston-safety valve member comprises a piston body and a safety valve operatively coupled to the piston body;
- and
- a seal member disposed between the gas generator and the piston-safety valve member and having a through hole in fluid communication with the safety valve, wherein the seal member and the piston-safety valve member cooperate to allow gas from the gas generator to pass therethrough when the gas is at or above a predetermined pressure.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.