Abstract: A child seat adapted for use in a vehicle, the child seat comprising: a shell portion; a harness for securing a child to the child seat, the harness comprising adjustable harness tether(s) secured to the shell portion at one end and having a latch plate at the other, the latch plate being configured to releasably engage a buckle of the harness; a tension sensor(s) for providing a signal indicative of a tension of the adjustable harness tether(s); and an electronic control unit secured to the shell portion, the electronic control unit being operably coupled to the tension sensor(s) to receive the signal, the electronic control unit being capable of processing the signal to compare the signal to a signal indicative of a predetermined range of acceptable tension, wherein the electronic control unit provides an output indicating whether the tension of the adjustable harness tether(s) is(are) within the predetermined range.

Abstract: A retraction mechanism comprising: a winding housing having a wedge pusher member; a spool rotationally supported in the winding housing having webbing wound thereon; a rewind spring for rewinding webbing onto the spool; a sensor responsive to one of vehicle deceleration or web acceleration in excess of a determinable limit for pre-blocking the rotation of the spool prior to the initiation of web clamping; a support frame for rotationally supporting the winding housing, and a web clamping device supported in the support frame, in a deactivated condition, for clamping the webbing, wherein after the pre-blocking of the spool and in response to a continued force on the web the winding housing rotates urging the web pusher into engagement with the web clamping device to clamp the web therebetween.