NSF Award
9261058
Passive restraint government standards have resulted in the introduction of passenger side airbags for most cars in 1993. TIP Engineering has initiated a significant amount of R&D activity in developing the next state of the art passenger airbags (PAB) deployment door without any visible cut lines. The concept is referred to as the hidden seam deployment door. The major parameter of a successful hidden seam door function is the scoring of the back surface of the skin. Present technology can only accomplish this criteria by mechanical means. TIP would cut the skin by the use of a heat/energy/pressure pyrotechnic) device to the back surface of the skin. At the time the airbag is fired, the same command signal would initiate the pyrotechnic device to ignite creating an instant cut line along the periphery of the airbag opening. The pyrotechnic devices presently being considered are used primarily in the defense industry as an initiator to an explosive device. We propose to significantly revise and redevelop these devices for application on the airbag door. The anticipated benefits are to improve safety, warranty, and obvious styling improvement at a reduced cost.
