Safety Tech: Five Items of Interest

Joyson Safety Systems (JSS) specializes in airbags, seatbelts, integrated safety systems, and more. Here are five interesting developments that are addressing existing and potential automotive applications. (photographed above: Ultra-compact airbag made with a woven nylon fabric with 30 grams/square meter of silicone coating. All images: Joyson Safety Systems)

1. Addressing the Far Side

Andreas Staub, JSS vice president, airbag inflators and textiles global product line, points out that in side-impact accidents, about 26% of the injuries occur on the other side of where the impact occurs: If the collision happens on the driver’s door, then the driver being jolted to her right can result in an injury. And if there are two frontal passengers, there can be a serious knocking of skulls. So there’s the “far side” airbag that supports the head, shoulder and torso.

2. Relaxed and Safer

One of the challenges from a safety perspective is that in Level 4 or Level 5 vehicles the occupants are not necessarily going to be sitting in the orientation that vehicles have long been setup with. And even in Level 3 applications there can be a more relaxed orientation. So to address this, the Belt Attached Restraint Supplement (BARS) has been developed. Not surprisingly, it works in conjunction with a Joyson motorized seatbelt. It can operate as a stand-alone or with conventional driver/passenger bags. BARS is designed to address the kinematics of the thorax and head; the belt portion distributes force to reduce chest displacement.

3. Creating an Embrace

Many models of autonomous vehicles include swivel seats so that the occupants can position themselves facing forward or back. While where they face during a given period of time may change, what remains the same is that they are in the seat. Joyson is working on the “Embrace” airbag. This is actually two airbags that are contained in the headrest. In the event of a collision, the airbags deploy, one from either side, and nest the head and chest and connect with one another through a fastener (e.g., Velcro).

4. The Hood Goes Up and Back

Jason Lisseman, vp, JSS Integrated Safety Solutions Global Product Line, says that there is an increasing number of regulations aimed at helping address the injuries and fatalities caused by motor vehicle collisions with pedestrians. The first use of a Joyson pedestrian hood lifter was in 2006 on the Honda Legend. The latest is a four-lifter system that is being used on the Polestar 2. The actuation of this system is to lift the hood and articulate it rearward. The system is fast acting, < 25 msec.  They’ve developed the system so that it has a modular design, with available systems that offer lift lengths ranging from 35 to 105 mm.

5. Cutting the Line

One of the safety issues specifically related to electric vehicles is the fact that there are high voltages involved. In the case of an accident, it could be that the electrical system could cause the body-in-white to become electrified. . .which could electrocute the vehicle occupants or the first responders. So to address that, Joyson has developed a high-voltage electric line cutter that is actuated with pyrotechnics. The device is triggered by an ECU and it cuts the line in under 1 msec. It is small—70 mm long and 40 mm in diameter and weighs < 147 grams. The first deployment was in 2017 on the Tesla Model 3 and it has more recently been selected for use by VW.