Tilt locking seat belt retractor

Abstract

A seat belt retractor (10) for mounting on a vehicle seat back (22) includes a spool (110) on which seat belt webbing (32) is wound. The retractor (10) includes inertia sensing means (40) for blocking rotation of the spool (110) in a belt withdrawal direction (124) in response to vehicle deceleration above a predetermined deceleration. The inertia sensing means (40) comprises a first inertia member (222) movable from an unactuated position to an actuated position in response to vehicle deceleration above a predetermined deceleration, and sensor means (230) operable to block rotation of the spool (110) in the belt withdrawal direction (124) in response to movement of the first inertia member (222) from the unactuated position to the actuated position. The sensor means (230) is operable to block rotation of the spool (110) in the belt withdrawal direction (124) in response to tilting of the vehicle seat back (22) by an amount more than a predetermined amount when the first inertia member (222) is in the unactuated position.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.