Belt pretensioner for vehicle safety belt systems

A belt pretensioner for a vehicle safety belt system, comprising:

• a frame for attachment to the vehicle bodywork and having a pair of parallel side walls interconnected by a base and a deflection member mounted between said side walls,
• a linear drive adapted to provide a pulling force,
• a belt retractor,
• a belt deflection fitting,
• and a bracket having a pair of parallel legs spaced from each other, a rod interconnecting said legs at a first end thereof and an engagement member connected to a second end of each leg,
• wherein said legs have an intermediate edge portion bearing on said deflection member and a section of belt webbing extends in a plane between said retractor and said deflection fitting, and extends freely through an opening defined between said legs, said rod and said deflection member, and
• wherein said linear drive is connected to said engagement member,
• said bracket, upon activation of said linear drive, moving around said deflection member, towards and along said base, engaging said webbing section and forming a loop of belt webbing by pulling said webbing against, around and past said deflection member to reduce the effective length of belt webbing.