Did You Know...
...that when IBM conducted a market study of Chester Carlson's invention in 1959, the company concluded that it would take only 5000 units of his new product to saturate the market? IBM therefore declined to be part of the new product introduction. Too bad for IBM. Carlson's invention was the xerography process, and his new product was the beginning of the Xerox Corporation. It is estimated that every day, worldwide, 3,000,000,000 copies are made!!
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8136752 | Pawl assembly A pawl assembly comprising a pawl held in a floating engagement with a support structure and being operable to engage a ratchet, the support structure having an abutment portion, wherein in a first phase, on initial contact with the ratchet, the pawl remains in the ... | 03/20/2012 |
| 7210645 | Safety element retention reel A safety element retention system having a reel upon which a safety element or strap may be wound, a spring return mechanism, for rewinding the reel and retrieving the safety strap, and further having at least one locking plate, connected integrally with the reel, w... | 05/01/2007 |
| 7051969 | Belt retractor A belt retractor for a vehicle safety belt comprises a frame and a belt spool (1) which is rotatably mounted in the frame, and at least one locking toothing (2, 3) which is connected with the belt spool. A first locking catch (5) and a second lo... | 05/30/2006 |
| 6904872 | Retractable leash for animals The invention relates to a retractable leash for animals, having a housing containing a spring-biased reel in which the remaining length of leash can be taken up and which is stoppable by an actuating mechanism for adjustment of the maximum extension length of the l... | 06/14/2005 |
| 6889931 | Webbing winding device and clutch mechanism A webbing winding device in which a breadth dimension of a torque limiter is less than an axial direction dimension of an external gear. A rotation disc, the torque limiter or the like is wholly disposed, along a radial direction of the external gear, between the ex... | 05/10/2005 |
| 6550810 | Seat belt retractor A seat belt retractor (12) comprises a frame (40), a seat belt webbing spool (42) rotatably mounted in the frame (40), and an actuator (70) for locking the seat belt webbing spool (42) against rotation in at least one direction (B) in the frame (40). The ... | 04/22/2003 |
| 6527214 | Webbing retractor At a lock plate of a webbing retractor, a pair of pawls and a connecting shaft are molded integrally such that the lock plate is rotated appropriately such that the connecting shaft of the lock plate is inserted into a spool from a cut-out portion and two... | 03/04/2003 |
| 6371563 | Emergency-lock type retractor with hand-operated belt lock mechanism and child car seat incorporating same retractor An emergency-lock type retractor includes an emergency lock part for stopping the rotation of said drum to restrict the pull-out of said belt when a belt wound around a drum is pulled suddenly at a predetermined speed or higher, and a hand-operated lock p... | 04/16/2002 |
| 6364239 | Seat belt retractor with adjustable tip gap A seat belt retractor has a frame, a spool rotatably mounted to the frame, a spool locking device for preventing rotation of the spool. An actuator actuates the spool locking device and has a support carrying an inertia mass and a pawl. The inertia mass i... | 04/02/2002 |
| 6267315 | Seat belt retractor A seat belt retractor has a webbing spool fixed to a ratchet wheel having a plurality of teeth spaced about its circumference. A locking pawl has a plurality of teeth with a pitch less than the pitch of the teeth on the ratchet wheel. The pawl is arranged... | 07/31/2001 |
| 6230997 | Adjustable sensor for safety belt retractor An adjustment mechanism for a safety belt retractor locking sensor has a shaft rotatably mounted in a lock cup spade of a retractor and a cam part eccentrically mounted relative to the shaft. The cam part is received within an elliptical hole in the housi... | 05/15/2001 |
| 6164581 | Low noise self-compensating vehicle sensor and retractor A seat belt retractor (22) having an inertial sensor to initiate lockup of the retractor, the inertial sensor including a first housing portion (102) having an actuating arm mounting member (120). The retractor including a first pin (126) cantilevered fro... | 12/26/2000 |
| 5931402 | Belt winder for a vehicle safety belt A belt winder with a locking toothing and a locking catch provided with at least one locking tooth. The locking catch is able to be moved into the locking toothing in order to lock the belt spool against rotation in a direction of unwinding the safety bel... | 08/03/1999 |
| 5624087 | Seat belt retractor with cinch mechanism A vehicle seat belt retractor (10) includes a rotatable spool (170) on which seat belt webbing (16) is wound. An actuator (230) is selectively rotatable with the spool (170) to actuate a primary belt locking mechanism (270) to block withdrawal of belt web... | 04/29/1997 |
| 5544838 | Seat belt retractor A vehicle seat belt retractor (10) includes a frame (12) supporting a spool (50) on which seat belt webbing (72) is wound for rotation in belt withdrawal (76) and belt retraction (75) directions. A lever (196) for use in preventing rotation of the spool (... | 08/13/1996 |
| 5524833 | Seat belt retractor A belt retractor for vehicular seat belt restraining systems is equipped with a novel housing structure. The load-bearing part of this housing comprises a shell section (10) surrounding the locking toothings (26a, 28a) on the circumference of the flanges ... | 06/11/1996 |
| 5507449 | Seat belt retractor with noise suppression A seat belt retractor (14) includes a spool (16) supported for winding and unwinding rotation, and an emergency locking mechanism (60) which, when actuated, blocks unwinding rotation of the spool (16). The emergency locking mechanism (60) is actuated upon... | 04/16/1996 |
| 5505400 | Seat belt retractor with cinch mechanism A seat belt retractor (10) has a rotatable spool (50) on which seat belt webbing (16) is wound. Rotation of the spool (50) results in rotation of an actuator gear (170) which drives an actuator ring (200). The actuator gear (170) and actuator ring (200) c... | 04/09/1996 |
| 5484118 | Seat belt retractor A seat belt retractor in which when a lock gear (13) rotates in a direction (B) relative to a reel shaft (4), a projecting shaft (19d) moves by the action of a first cam hole (13i), causing a main pawl (19) to pivot in the direction B. Thus, teeth (20a) w... | 01/16/1996 |
| 5443224 | Emergency locking passenger safety belt mechanisms An emergency locking vehicle seat belt retractor has a locking arrangement operation of which is initiated by an inertial vehicle deceleration sensing mechanism constructed with one or more parts being a composite of at least two acoustically differing ma... | 08/22/1995 |
| 5364048 | Seat belt retractor In the seat belt retractor of the invention, the main pawl 17 turns into engagement with the teeth 23a of the lock ring 23, so that the rotational force of the reel shaft in the webbing unwinding direction is transmitted to the lock ring 23 to turn it in ... | 11/15/1994 |
| 5344095 | Safety belt retractor with a belt pretensioner device acting on the belt drum A safety belt retractor is provided with a belt pretensioner device acting via a clamping roller coupling mechanism. A torsion rod (30) is arranged in the force flow path between the coupling mechanism and the belt drum (12) of the retractor, so that afte... | 09/06/1994 |
| 5039025 | Safety belt mechanism A retainer mechanism for a safety belt includes a retraction reel on which the safety belt web is wound and first and second locking members mounted adjacent the reel and movable relative to the frame to clamp the web itself or allow the web to move. Disp... | 08/13/1991 |
| 4991874 | Webbing retractor A webbing retractor for winding a webbing which is fastened around a seat occupant of a vehicle is arranged such that a claw member is engaged with a ratchet wheel fixed to a webbing take-up shaft and rotation of the take-up shaft in a direction in which ... | 02/12/1991 |
| 4948066 | Retractor for seat belts A retractor for seat belts is provided which can fulfil the functions of both the automatic locking retractors (ALR) and the emergency locking retractors (ELR), having a spindle supporting a webbing take-up shaft and given a turning force in the direction... | 08/14/1990 |
| 4919355 | Locking pawl actuating means for emergency locking safety belt retractor An emergency locking safety belt retractor having a safety belt storage spool, a locking ratchet turnable with the spool, a locking pawl for preventing spool rotation when engaged with the locking ratchet, a programming ratchet turnable with the spool and... | 04/24/1990 |
| 4765559 | Synchronized safety belt retractor with structural control locking means A structural control locking means for a safety belt retractor having a belt storage spool rotatably mounted on a shaft, the spool having a programming ratchet and a locking ratchet, each ratchet having a respective equal plurality of teeth, and a program... | 08/23/1988 |
| 4736902 | Locking safety belt retractor A locking safety belt retractor includes an actuating mechanism which employs tension on the safety belt to shift a locking pawl into locking position in response to rapid deceleration of a vehicle accompanied by protraction of the safety belt. A clutch p... | 04/12/1988 |
| 4726539 | Dual mode seat belt retractor assembly This invention relates to a seat belt retractor for a motor vehicle which can be operated in an emergency locking mode wherein belt retraction is prevented only upon vehicle deceleration, or in an automatic locking mode where the retractor operates as a o... | 02/23/1988 |
| 4726540 | Variable sensitivity seat belt retractor A door mounted seat belt retractor includes a pendulum having a support foot which is a generally planar surface having an elongated elliptical foot print with a major dimension and a minor dimension. A pendulum support member carried by the retractor has... | 02/23/1988 |
| 4705230 | Horizontal retractor A horizontally-mounted retractor having a horizontally elongated frame with a horizontal reel rotatably mounted therein adjacent one end. The reel includes a pair of ratchet wheels thereon and carries a rolled safety belt. A locking bar pivotally mounted ... | 11/10/1987 |
| 4684077 | Inertia release for belt retractor winding prevention mechanism In a seat belt retractor winding prevention mechanism, the winding prevention pawl is mounted upon a collapsible support mechanism which is collapsed by an inertia sensor at the onset of a sensed vehicle deceleration condition. The collapsible support mec... | 08/04/1987 |
| 4632331 | Retractor assembly An improved seat belt retractor has a rotatable reel around which a safety belt may be wound. A locking pawl is movable between a disengaged condition and an engaged condition engaging ratchet wheel teeth on the reel to hold the reel against rotation. To ... | 12/30/1986 |
| 4605180 | Seat belt retractor assembly An improved seat belt retractor of the emergency locking variety is described. The primary improvement resides in providing a spur gear component which is insert molded directly onto one of the toothed sprockets of the retractor spool. By eliminating the ... | 08/12/1986 |
| 4603819 | Seat belt retractor A seat belt retractor is comprised of a minimum number of component parts which may be interchangeably and optionally assembled upon a standard frame to provide a desired combination of mechanisms which control rotation of the belt reel. The optional cont... | 08/05/1986 |
| 4573646 | Mode selection retractor A lock mode selection structure for seat belt retractors having a vehicle sensitive lock mode and an automatic lock mode in which a specific interval of withdrawal activates the automatic lock mode in a pilot pawl lock structure and thereafter the vehicle... | 03/04/1986 |
| 4570873 | Sensor sensitivity reducer for door mounted retractor A retractor mounted on the vehicle door in a passive belt system includes an inertia mass which lifts a pilot pawl into engagement with one of a plurality of gear teeth carried by the reel so that an initial unwinding rotation of the reel as the occupant ... | 02/18/1986 |
| 4522350 | Safety belt emergency locking retractor The main locking mechanism of an emergency locking retractor comprises teeth on the flanges of the spool on which the belt is wound, the spool being mounted in bearings arranged to permit limited translational movement in a direction perpendicular to the ... | 06/11/1985 |
| 4519555 | Webbing locking device for the seat belt of an automotive vehicle A webbing locking device for the seat belt of an automotive vehicle comprises a retractor base, a speed change detector, a webbing take-up reel, a brake for the reel, a rotor for winding the webbing, and rotor arms supporting the rotor for relative moveme... | 05/28/1985 |
| 4506844 | Safety belt emergency locking retractor The main locking mechanism of an emergency locking retractor for a vehicle safety belt comprises teeth on the flanges of the spool on which the belt is wound, the spool being mounted in bearings arranged to permit limited movement in a direction perpendic... | 03/26/1985 |
