The active and passive safety technology division of ZF Friedrichshafen has developed a new airbag that is designed to help OEMs improve side impact protection. The center airbag is integrated into the inner side of the seatback and deploys to help protect the head, shoulder and torso areas of occupants in the front seat.
The center airbag helps to protect occupants in far-side and near-side crashes by deploying a bag cushion between the driver and front seat passenger. In the event of a far-side impact, where an oncoming vehicle or object strikes the opposite side of the vehicle to the driver with sufficient force, the center airbag helps keep the driver in place. It can minimize side displacement of the driver and reduce the risk of interaction of the driver with the front seat passenger or surrounding structural vehicle interior parts.
Dirk Schultz, global engineering director, ZF TRW inflatable restraints systems, said, “We are experiencing rising interest in this new airbag technology and Euro NCAP is currently assessing new side impact test protocols for 2018 and beyond. If implemented, we believe that many new vehicles could require far-side airbag modules.”
December 2, 2015