Seat belt retractor

A seat belt retracting apparatus comprising:

• a frame member;
• a spool mounted for rotation on said frame member and adapted to have a seat belt wound thereon;
• a retracting spring anchored at one end thereof to said spool for normally urging said spool in one direction of rotation to retract said seat belt on said spool;
• at least one locking wheel fixedly mounted on said spool and having a plurality of locking teeth on the outer periphery thereof;
• a locking plate having at least one locking portion engageable with one of said locking teeth when said seat belt is protracted and engages the body of a passenger thereby locking said seat belt against further protraction, said locking plate being supported on said frame member so as to be movable between a locking position and an unlocking position;
• lock preventing means arranged for cooperation with said locking plate for temporarily unlocking said locking wheel to allow the rotation of said locking wheel in protracting direction over a predetermined number of said locking teeth after said engaged seat belt is retracted said predetermined number of locking teeth from the engaged position driving connection means between said locking wheel and said lock preventing means for drivably connecting said lock preventing means in interlocking relation with said locking wheel;
• and holding means for holding said lock preventing means on said retracting apparatus.