Abstract: A seat belt device with a pretensioner which effectively transmits gas pressure to a ring gear in order to provide a large pretensioning force is provided. A piston is pushed by the pressure of gas provided by a gas generator. The force on the piston is transmitted to balls and the front-most ball exerts force on an external tooth of a ring gear. As a result, pins are sheared so as to release the ring gear. The ring gear moves because the ball exerts force on the ring gear. The internal teeth of the ring gear are meshed with the external teeth of the pinion. The ring gear and the pinion rotate together to pretension a seat belt. Lubricant is applied to the inner surface of the pipe or the outer surfaces of the balls, so that gas pressure can be effectively transmitted to the ring gear.

Abstract: A seat belt retractor has a pretensioner, which has a cover with integral projections made of aluminum. A pretensioner gear with complementary holes is attached to the cover, with the projections inserted into the holes to immobilize the pretensioner gear. A spool driving gear for driving a spool of the retractor is spaced and disengaged from the pretensioner gear so that the pretensioner gear does not interfere with normal operation of the spool. To tension the seat belt, the pretensioner gear is driven to break the projections to mobilize the pretensioner gear, engage the pretensioner gear with the spool driving gear, and drive the spool driving gear, which rotates the spool and tension the seat belt.

Abstract: A seat belt retractor with a ball type pretensioner including a pipe in which the balls are retained. A front end portion of the pipe is securely retained so that reliable operation of the pretensioner is provided. The pipe does includes a cut-out that does not extend to the front-most end of a pipe. A guide block is fitted in the front-most end of the pipe. The pipe and the guide block are fixed to the plate together by a fastener. The portion where the guide block is fitted to the pipe can provide high rigidity and is thus hardly deformed in every directions. The fastener may be hardened or the material for the fastener may be selected to obtain sufficient strength.

Abstract: A cartridge detector detects information on the color of a label tape of a cartridge which is a printing medium on the basis of the shape of the cartridge. A controller determines the color of the label tape on the basis of detected information obtained from the cartridge detector. The controller controls a display through a display control unit and displays the background of a display screen in the same color as that of the label tape determined on the basis of the detected information obtained from the cartridge detector. A key-in unit inputs to the printer printing data (for example, character, illustration data, etc.) and their print color data. The controller controls the display through the display control unit to display in the print color specified by the key-in unit the printing data input from the key-in unit in the screen background having the same color as the label tape. The input printing data is printed on the label tape by a printing unit through the print control unit.