Belt retractor for incorporating in a fold-down type backrest

Apparatus comprising:

• a vehicle seat having a fold-down backrest;
• a manually actuatable backrest lock having a locked condition locking said backrest in an upright position;
• an actuator for manually actuating said backrest lock;
• a seat belt retractor mounted within said backrest,
• said belt retractor including a belt reel rotatably mounted in a frame, said belt retractor further including a blocking mechanism which is coupled to said belt reel on said frame which is actuatable to block rotation of said belt reel relative to said frame, and;
• a connecting means coupling said lock to said blocking mechanism, said connecting means enabling said blocking mechanism to be activated when said backrest is not locked in an upright position by said lock;
• said blocking mechanism comprising an activating means responsive to inertial forces including a vehicle- sensitive inertial mass coupled to a coupling disk, said coupling disk being connected to said belt reel and having a coupling toothing, said blocking mechanism further including a coupling pawl adapted to engage said coupling toothing, and said coupling pawl comprising a control knuckle coupled with said lock by a traction means of said connecting member, so that activation of said blocking mechanism by said coupling pawl engaging said toothing of said coupling disk is obtained both by activation of said activating means and also by the latching action of said lock, said blocking mechanism further including an actuating lever for coupling said traction means to said control knuckle, said traction means engaging said actuating lever to pivot said actuating lever to move said control knuckle.