Seat Belt Pretensioner

SEAT BELT PRETENSIONER




The driver's and front passenger's seat belt retractors contain a seat belt pretensioner.

The airbag control module controls the operation of the seat belt pretensioner. If the front sub sensor and the sensors inside the airbag control module detect an impact exceeding a specified level, the driver's seat and front passenger's seat airbags are deployed almost simultaneously. Upon receiving signals from the airbag control module the gas generator inside the pretensioners are ignited and the gas pressure retracts the seat belts in a very short time to improve the passenger restraint effect.

If the load placed on a seat belt exceeds the predetermined level, the torsion bar is twisted to allow the seat belt to be pulled out, thus lessening the load imposed on the belt wearer's chest.

Once the seat belt pretensioner has been activated, the seat belt retractor remains locked.