Patent ID: 6419177
Filing Date: 2002-07-16
Classification: B60R

Abstract:
A pretensioner cooperating with a webbing reel shaft of a seatbelt retractor webbing reel, that upon activation pretensions the seatbelt webbing associated therewith, the pretensioner comprising:a housing having a first circular cylindrical passage volumetrically intersecting a second rectangular cylindrical passage, said passages formed perpendicular to each other, wherein said shaft extends through said first passage and said second passage has a first end and a second end, the second end extending across and past the diameter of the first passage; a clutch assembly fixed within the first passage wherein said webbing reel shaft axially extends through said clutch assembly; a strap having a first end fixed to said housing, a portion extending across a section of said second passage, and a second end coiled about and fixed to said clutch assembly; an actuator positioned within the first end of said second passage for tensioning said strap upon pretensioner activation; and a gas generant composition, ignitable to release sufficient force to drive the actuator through said second passage to the second end thereof, thereby effecting a tensioning of the strap and a peripheral force about the clutch assembly, and then a simultaneous rotary advancement of the clutch assembly, the webbing reel shaft, and the webbing reel, and thus winding the reel and tensioning the seatbelt webbing thereon.