Seat belt retractor with a load limiter

A seat belt retractor for a seat belt system in a motor vehicle has a belt reel (W) for the winding and unwinding of seat belt webbing. At least one locking element (E, G) can lock the belt reel against further rotation. Forces exerted by the seat belt webbing can be introduced into a frame connected to the vehicle. The locking device has at least one infinitely variable gear and also has at least one energy-absorbing device (E).