LOCKING SENSOR FOR SEAT BELT RETRACTOR

An emergency locking retractor system for storing a length of safety belt incorporates a sensor which includes a multi-directional pendulum device displaceable from its rest position by acceleration. Displacement of the pendulum is utilized to change the strength of an energy field imposed upon an electrical signal means. The output signal of the signal means responds to the change in the energy field imposed thereon and the changed signal is employed to activate solenoid switches which lock the retractor. The energy field source may be a magnet or a light source and the signal means then may include, respectively, a Hall device or a phototransistor. Movement of the pendulum from its rest position is utilized to move the magnet closer to or further from the Hall device, or to interpose a shield between the light source and the phototransistor, or to change the position of a reflector used to reflect light from the light source onto the phototransistor. The resultant change in output signal is employed to close a circuit which connects a power source to the locking medium.