The present invention provides an igniter assembly in which reliability in operation is enhanced. An igniter assembly includes an igniter main body, a resin portion enclosing a periphery of the igniter main body, a metallic collar being arranged on a periphery of the resin portion and integrated with the resin portion, a cup-like shaped igniter housing filled therein with a gas generating agent or a transfer charge. The metallic collar includes a combination of a cylindrical collar and an annular collar, and the cup-like shaped igniter housing abuts against a portion with a reduced diameter on the side of a first end portion of the cylindrical collar, thereby being fixed from the outside.

A vehicle occupant protection apparatus has a strap configured to extend across the front of a body of an occupant sitting on a seat of a vehicle, a pre-tensioner configured to retract the strap, a vehicle orientation sensor configured to detect either one of a change in the orientation of the vehicle and an operation for changing the orientation, and a controller configured to cause the pre-tensioner to start retracting the strap prior to a collision or when a collision occurs. After the retracting of the strap starts, the controller temporarily stops or eases the retracting of the strap in accordance with the change in the orientation of the vehicle.

A seat belt pretensioner for a seat belt device in a vehicle, the pretensioner including a frame, a ball housing attached to the frame and a drive wheel located within the ball housing. A spool is connected to the drive wheel and is fixed to one end of a seat belt webbing so that the webbing may be wound around the spool. The pretensioner further includes a pipe connected to the ball housing and a gas generator connected to the pipe. At least one power transmission element is carried in the pipe and is driven by gas provided from the gas generator to contact the drive wheel and rotate the spool to retract the seat belt. A seal member is located between the at least one power transmission element and the gas generator. The seal member is sized to plug the pipe at an inlet to the ball housing.

A seatback portion has a tether passageway defined therein from proximate an upper section to proximate a lower section thereof. A seatbelt tether includes a tensioning mechanism, a tether ring and a connecting portion that extends from the tether ring to the tensioning mechanism. The connecting portion extends through the tether passageway with the tether ring located at the upper section outside the seatback portion. The tether ring is shaped and dimension to slide-ably receive a seatbelt. The tensioning mechanism selectively applies tension to the tether ring. In a non-tensioned state the tether ring is movable to an upper outboard side of the seatback portion. In a tensioned state the tether ring is pulled toward a headrest supporting section of the seatback portion inboard and away from the upper outboard side of the seatback portion.

A seat belt device includes a spindle (11) for retracting a seat belt (13), an electric actuator (55), a pre-tensioner (14) and a power transmission mechanism (20), wherein the power transmission mechanism (20) can reversibly switch the connection and disconnection between the electric actuator (55) and the spindle (11) before the pre-tensioner (14) is activated, while when the pre-tensioner (14) is activated. The power transmission mechanism (20) non-reversibly interrupts the connection between the electric actuator (55) and the spindle (11) via an elastic piece (60) when a torque difference between an actuator-side gear (80) and a spindle-side gear (82) becomes larger than a predetermined value.

The invention relates to a load-bearing seatbelt retractor for a seat structure of a vehicle seat, the seatbelt retractor having two housing halves between which functional modules of the seatbelt retractor are disposed. One functional module is a belt reel having a winding axis. The two housing halves form two mutually parallel receptacles in the seatbelt retractor, which are oriented perpendicular to the winding axis. Two seat bars can be inserted into the receptacles. The two housing halves are in contact at least on two contact lines above and below the functional modules with respect to an insertion direction of the receptacles. The lower contact line splits open on both sides along the winding axis such that respective intermediate spaces open toward the receptacles are formed.

A seat belt retractor includes a housing including a pair of side walls facing each other, a winding drum configured to wind up a webbing, a locking base prevented from being rotated in the pull-out direction, in an emergency of a vehicle, an impact energy absorbing member including a first end side coupled to the winding drum and a second end side coupled to the locking base, the impact energy absorbing member connecting the winding drum and the locking base so as to be integrally rotatable, in a normal state, at least one impact energy absorbing wire housed in at least one slot that is provided in the winding drum, and a stopper member configured to define an allowable amount of relative rotation between the winding drum and the locking base in a case where the impact energy absorbing member absorbs the impact energy.

A seat belt retractor includes a housing including a first side wall and a second side wall facing each other, a winding drum configured to wind up a webbing, a locking base, a torsion bar including one end side, which is opposite to the locking base, coupled to the winding drum without being rotatable relative to the winding drum, and the other end side coupled to the locking base without being rotatable relative to the locking base, a pretensioner including: a pretensioner casing attached to the first side wall; and a drive wheel attached to the locking base, a lock member located in the locking base, and a stopper member being screwed onto a male screw of the locking base.

A seatbelt pretensioning retractor assembly for use in a passenger vehicle is provided. The pretensioning assembly includes a tube in fluid communication with a gas generator and a driving element disposed therein that travels in a first direction in response to actuation of the gas generator. The driving element includes a polymer rod. A stopper is coupled to a proximal end portion of the polymer rod. A piston-safety valve member is disposed between the gas generator and the stopper and is configured to allow gas from the gas generator to pass therethrough when the gas is at or above a predetermined pressure.

A seatbelt pretensioning retractor assembly for use in a passenger vehicle is provided. The pretensioning assembly includes a tube in fluid communication with a gas generator and a driving element disposed therein that travels in a first direction in response to actuation of the gas generator. The driving element includes a polymer rod with a recessed portion. A stopper is coupled to an end portion of the polymer rod. The tube includes a projection extending within the tube adjacent to the exit to define a constriction portion. The constriction portion is sized to permit the recessed portion of the polymer rod to pass therethrough while preventing the stopper from passing therethrough. The polymer rod has a retention feature for releasably engaging the projection.