Energy management device for use with safety belt retractors

An energy management system for reducing the energy in a shoulder harness portion of a restraining safety belt, comprising:

• a safety belt retractor connected to said shoulder harness portion of the restraining belt and having means for locking upon rapid vehicular deceleration to prevent unwinding of the belt from the retractor;
• a strap for mounting to the vehicle and having a plurality of deflectable beams;
• a guiding and deflecting member attached to the retractor and straddling the strap, the guiding and deflecting member guiding the retractor for linear sliding movement of the retractor, together with the guiding and deflecting member along the strap;
• a beam-deflecting portion on the guiding and deflecting member disposed for contact with said beams of the strap upon sliding movement of the guiding and deflecting member along the strap, with the beam-deflecting portion deflecting at least a portion of said plurality of beams of the strap upon sliding of the retractor and guiding and deflecting member along the strap with the beam deflections dissipating a portion of the energy in the shoulder harness portion of the safety belt.

In a seat belt system having a seat belt, the combination comprising:

• a retractor to which the safety belt is attached, the retractor having a frame;
• a guiding and deflecting means attached to the retractor frame and having a beam-deflecting means;
• a strap mounted to the vehicle and extending between the retractor frame and the guiding means to maintain engagement of the retractor frame and attached deflecting member with the strap and to guide the retractor frame and attached deflecting means for linearly sliding movement along the strap;
• a row of deflectable, cantilevered beams on the strap disposed in the path of travel of the beam-deflecting means, said deflectable beams having a known size and shape and being deflected at a predetermined force, said deflecting means abutting the deflectable means and preventing the retractor and the attached deflecting means from moving past the first beam until acted upon by a force equal to or greater than said predetermined beam-deflecting force;
• the deflecting means being slidable along the strap together with the retractor housing to which it is attached to deflect said deflectable beams when the safety belt force imparted to the retractor frame is equal to or greater than said predetermined beam-deflecting force, the deflection of the beams dissipating at least a portion of the force imparted to the safety belt.