Seat belt retractor with energy management

A seat belt webbing retractor comprising:

• a spool around which seat belt webbing is wound, said spool being rotatable about an axis in webbing withdrawal and webbing retraction directions;
• a member rotatable in the withdrawal and retraction directions;
• means for blocking rotation of said rotatable member and said spool in the withdrawal direction, said spool being rotatable relative to said rotatable member upon the occurrence of tension in the webbing above a predetermined amount;
• a deformable member fixed to said rotatable member for absorbing energy during rotation of said spool relative to said rotatable member, said deformable member having an annular projection extending axially and about the axis;
• and
• a deformation member fixed for rotation with said spool and rotatable relative to said deformable member about the axis for radially deforming said projection of said deformable member to absorb energy during rotation of said spool and said deformation member relative to said rotatable member and said deformable member.

A seat belt webbing retractor comprising:

• a spool around which seat belt webbing is wound, said spool being rotatable about an axis in webbing withdrawal and webbing retraction directions;
• a member rotatable in the withdrawal and retraction directions;
• means for blocking rotation of said rotatable member and said spool in the withdrawal direction, said spool being rotatable relative to said rotatable member upon the occurrence of tension in the webbing above a predetermined amount;
• a deformable member for absorbing energy during a plurality of rotations of said spool relative to said rotatable member, said deformable member having a plurality of annular projections;
• and
• means for deforming at least one of said projections during each rotation of said spool relative to said rotatable member to absorb energy;
• said means for deforming including a hub fixed for rotation with said spool, said hub having a deformation lobe which presses one of said projections radially outward during rotation of said hub relative to said deformable member.

A seat belt webbing retractor comprising:

• a spool around which seat belt webbing is wound, said spool being rotatable about an axis in webbing withdrawal and webbing retraction directions;
• a member rotatable in the withdrawal and retraction directions;
• means for blocking rotation of said rotatable member and said spool in the withdrawal direction, said spool being rotatable relative to said rotatable member upon the occurrence of tension in the webbing above a predetermined amount;
• a deformable member for absorbing energy during a plurality of rotations of said spool relative to said rotatable member, said deformable member having a plurality of annular projections;
• and
• means for deforming at least one of said projections during each rotation of said spool relative to said rotatable member to absorb energy;
• said means for deforming including a hub and a ring, said hub deforming one of said projections, and said ring deforming a second of said projections.

A seat belt webbing retractor comprising:

• a spool around which seat belt webbing is wound, said spool being rotatable about an axis in webbing withdrawal and webbing retraction directions;
• a member rotatable in the withdrawal and retraction directions;
• means for blocking rotation of said rotatable member and said spool in the withdrawal direction, said spool being rotatable relative to said rotatable member upon the occurrence:
• of tension in the webbing above a predetermined amount;
• a deformable member for absorbing energy during a plurality of rotations of said spool relative to said rotatable member, said deformable member having a plurality of annular projections which are concentric about the axis;
• and
• means for deforming said projections during rotation of said spool relative to said rotatable member to absorb energy;
• said means for deforming including a plurality of deformation members located adjacent to said projections.

A seat belt webbing retractor comprising:

• a spool around which seat belt webbing is wound, said spool being rotatable about an axis in webbing withdrawal and webbing retraction directions;
• a member rotatable in the withdrawal and retraction directions;
• means for blocking rotation of said rotatable member and said spool in the withdrawal direction, said spool being rotatable relative to said rotatable member upon the occurrence, of tension in the webbing above a predetermined amount;
• a deformable member for absorbing energy during a plurality of rotations of said spool relative to said rotatable member, said deformable member having a plurality of annular projections which are concentric about the axis;
• and
• means for deforming said projections during rotation of said spool relative to said rotatable member to absorb energy;
• said means for deforming including means for deforming said projections radially outward.