Abstract: An assembly for retracting a seat belt having a support and an elongate shaft mounted substantially vertically thereon. The seat belt is windable about the shaft, the arrangement being such that the seat belt forms a reel about the shaft. A selectively operable device is provided to prevent withdrawal of the seat belt from the assembly. The shaft has an exposed region about which the reel may be formed, the length of this exposed region being significantly greater than the width of the seat belt so that the part of the belt emerging from the reel may be positioned vertically at any selected position along the exposed region of the shaft.

Abstract: A locking device for a band in a safety belt of a passive vehicle safety belt system comprises at least one fastening means (10) for the band (11) and a lock casing (15) into which the fastening means can be inserted and retained. The fastening means is adapted to be moved along a guide rail (13) by a traction means (16), controlled by an electric motor, and is adapted to be released from the traction means, when it engages with the lock casing, so that the traction means and the motor are not exposed to shock loads, when the fastening means engages with the lock casing. The traction means can continue its movement, when the power supply to the motor has been interrupted, so that the kinetic energy accumulated in the motor and the traction means can decay gradually. A slider (19) is attached to the traction means (16), and the fastening means (10) is releasably attached to the slider and is retained to the slider by means of pins (25.31) and a pawl (36).