Patent ID: 6851715

Claim:
An apparatus comprising: seat belt webbing; an elongated member connected with the seat belt webbing, tension in the seat belt webbing being transmitted to the elongated member; a support; an arm associated with the elongated member, the arm having an axial length and first and second parts, the first part of the arm being connected to the support and the second part of the arm receiving a force from the elongated member when tension in the seat belt webbing increases, the first and second parts of the arm being spaced apart from one another so that the force acts on the arm through a moment arm to move at least a portion of the arm relative to the support; and a device responsive to movement of the at least a portion of the arm due to the torsion force to provide an output signal indicative of the tension in the seat belt webbing, the first and second parts of the arm being spaced apart from one another by a distance that is at least one half of the axial length of the arm.