Automotive Safety

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Week 11 : Restraint System (Child Car Seat)

Cars

The law requires all children travelling in cars to use the correct child restraint until they are either 135 cm in height or the age of 12 (which ever they reach first) . After this they must use an adult seat belt. There are very few exceptions, and the main ones are set out below.

It is the driver's responsibility to ensure that children under the age of 14 years are restrained correctly in accordance with the law.

Children up to 3 years old

In the Front Seat

The child MUST use the correct child restraint.

It is illegal to carry a child in a rear-facing child seat in the front, which is protected by an active frontal airbag.

In the Rear Seat

The child MUST use the correct child restraint.

In a licensed taxi or licensed hire car, if a child restraint is not available then the child may travel unrestrained in the rear. This is the only exception for children under 3, and has been introduced for practical rather than safety reasons. You should always think about ways to make sure that a child seat is available.

It is the driver's legal responsibility to ensure that the child is correctly restrained.

Week 10 : Restraint System (Air Bag) part 2

Hello everyone... the entry post before this was tell about what is the air bag, the history and also the raw material that be used in air bag system.. let continue with air bag system..

The Manufacturing Process

Air bag production involves three different separate assemblies that combine to form the finished end product, the air bag module. The propellant must be manufactured, the inflator components must be assembled, and the air bag must be cut and sewn. Some manufacturers buy already-made components, such as air bags or initiators, and then just assemble the complete air bag module. The following description of the manufacturing process is for driver-side air bag module assembly. Passenger-side air bag module assemblies are produced slightly differently.

Propellant

The propellant consists of sodium azide mixed together with an oxidizer, a substance that helps the sodium azide to burn when ignited. The sodium azide is received from outside vendors and inspected to make sure it conforms to requirements. After inspection it is placed in a safe storage place until needed. At the same time, the oxidizer is received from outside vendors, inspected, and stored. Different manufacturers use different oxidizers.
From storage, the sodium azide and the oxidizer are then carefully blended under sophisticated computerized process control. Because of the possibility of explosions, the powder processing takes place in isolated bunkers. In the event safety sensors detect a spark, high speed deluge systems will douse whole rooms with water. Production occurs in several redundant smaller facilities so that if an accident does occur, production will not be shut down, only decreased.

After blending, the propellant mixture is sent to storage. Presses are then used to compress the propellant mixture into disk or pellet form.

Week 9 : Restraint System (Air Bag) part 1

The Air Bag system

An air bag is an inflatable cushion designed to protect automobile occupants from serious injury in the case of a collision. The air bag is part of an inflatable restraint system, also known as an air cushion restraint system (ACRS) or an air bag supplemental restraint system (SRS), because the air bag is designed to supplement the protection offered by seat belts. Seat belts are still needed to hold the occupant securely in place, especially in side impacts, rear impacts, and rollovers. Upon detecting a collision, air bags inflate instantly to cushion the exposed occupant with a big gas-filled pillow.

Week 8 : Restraint System (Seatbelts)

Seat Belt

A three-point seatbelt is a belt with three attachment points: one on the side pillar, and one on each side of the driver's or passenger's hips.

The three-point belt is superior to the older lap-only seatbelt for a couple of reasons.

Not only do three-point belts reduce the likelihood of the wearer hitting the steering wheel, windshield, or other interior surfaces, but they spread the crash forces over more of the body and reduce the strain of the lap belt on the lower body.

Week 7 : Automotive restraint systems

In the past 20 years, newly produced automobiles have been equipped with occupant restraint systems, such as air bags, to reduce passenger injuries and fatalities in the event of a crash. An air bag is a passive restraint system—an automatic safety system that requires no action by the occupant. Government regulations, industrial participation, and social consciousness of safety have popularized the use of occupant restraints in vehicles worldwide. Using advanced technologies, additional restraints and enhanced functionalities are being implemented.

History
Automobiles entered the market more than 100 years ago. Since then, tremendous progress in reliability, usability, and safety of roadway vehicles has been made. However, the availability of passive safety systems was slow in coming, despite the initial conception in 1950s and experimental production in 1970s. It was not until the late 1980s that air bags became standard equipment, beginning in the United States. Over the last 20 years, the automotive safety industry has gone through considerable changes.In recent years, passive restraint systems have been one of the fastest-growing sectors within the automotive industry. One reason for this growth is the inclusion of additional restraint devices on vehicles. For example, the average number of air-bag modules has increased from one to two per vehicle in the early 1990s to four to six per vehicle for the latest models, with more expected to come. Another reason for this growth is an increase in the complexity and sophistication of the safety systems' functional requirements. For example, to minimize out-of-position occupant injuries, a smart air-bag system needs to be equipped with occupant-sensing capabilities.