Door mounted seat belt retractor

摘要

A seat belt retractor adapted for mounting on a vehicle door includes an inertia sensing pendulum for moving the lock bar into engagement with a belt reel to lock the reel against belt unwinding rotation. A feeler device, such as a plunger, is mounted on the door for sensing initial movement of the door away from the closed position. A flexible element, such as a chain, is connected to the pendulum and the feeler device. The flexible element has a normal slackened link when the door is closed so that the pendulum is free for movement to move the lock bar to the reel engaging position. Upon initial door opening movement, the plunger extends and tensions the flexible element so that the flexible element restrains the pendulum against movement from the normal position by an inertia stimulus induced by door opening movement.