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The program objective was to develop an effective inflatable occupant restraint system for unbelted rear seat occupants of motor vehicles. An extensive series of developmental and evaluative impact sled tests included variations in occupant position and size using a standard-size American sedan as the basic vehicle for incorporation of the passive restraint. The restraint system includes a crushable honeycomb knee bar to limit femur loads and to control the head and upper torso trajectory of the unbelted occupants. At speeds below which the airbag deploys, protection is provided by energy-absorbing padding on a head bar as well as on the knee bar. For high-speed crashes, the airbag deploys, and the bag loads are carried out through the head bar and the knee bar support plate. Nondeployed protection is provided for crash speed pulses up to approximately 20 mph in order to satisfy multiple impact considerations, and nonvented side bags are used for oblique impact protection.

The air bag restraint system or automatic restraint system is specifically designed to control forces and deceleration to the human body during an automobile accident. The three basic components comprising the air bag restraint system include: 1) the crash sensor(s), the diagnostic package for determining operability status, and the driver and front passenger air bag assemblies. The information presented is limited to a description and the operational features of the driver and passenger unit assemblies; parts which are located in the steering wheel and instrument panel respectively. Both assemblies consist of three basic components: 1) the inflator, 2) the module, and 3) the air bag.

The objective of this program was to design, test, evaluate, manufacture and install in 500 state highway patrol vehicles, a driver air bag retrofit system. Air bag system benefits are universally accepted. However, the costs, complexities and availabilities of these systems are widely misunderstood. This program takes much of the “mystery” out of the air bag and demonstrates to fleet operators and to the public at large that air bag technology, components and systems do presently exist and can be acquired at a reasonable cost. The following paper provides a description of the system, the tests which were conducted, the installation procedures and field experience with the 500 car fleet.

Development of an aspirator air bag has been completed at Calspan Corporation. The aspirator air bag has been developed through computer simulations and sled tests, and has been evaluated in a 41.6 MPH crash of a standard Volvo into a flat barrier. This evaluation included both out-of-position and normally seated occupants. This paper describes the aspirator system and presents results of the sled tests and the car crash. This research was conducted under U. S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Contract No. DOT-HS-5-01254.

An experimental program is discussed wherein fresh, unembalmed cadavers and anthropomorphic test dummies (ATD's) were exposed to identical crash situations. Results include tests conducted on the Calspan HYGE acceleration sled and full-scale car crash tests using belt restraint systems and air bag systems. Cadaver test data obtained include head and chest triaxial accelerations from externally mounted sensors, chest deflections and belt loads. Cadaver test data also include arterial and lung pressure measurements as well as X-ray and gross necropsy evaluations. Dummy test data include normally measured internal triaxial head and chest accelerations. High-speed movie coverage produced cadaver and dummy kinematic results. AT THIS TIME there exists some question in the automotive safety community as to the proper role cadaver experiments can play in the design, development and evaluation of safety related vehicle systems.

A front passenger passive restraint system has been developed which provides frontal impact protection under small car, high speed crash conditions. The system consists of an extended crushable dashpanel, a knee bar and a relatively small volume air bag. Computer simulations, static tests and sled tests have been used to develop this system for the range of occupant sizes from 6 yr. child to 95th percentile adult for crash speeds to 50 mph. This paper reviews these efforts and presents observations regarding not only the performance of the system but those concerned with production feasibility and consumer acceptance as well. This research was conducted under contract to the U. S. Department of Transportation, NHTSA, under Contract DOT-HS-4-00972.

The objective of this program is to design, test, evaluate, manufacture, and install in 500 state highway patrol vehicles a driver airbag retrofit system. Airbag system benefits are universally accepted. However, the costs, complexities, and availabilities of these systems are widely misunderstood. This program takes much of the mystery out of the airbag and demonstrates to fleet operators and the public at large that airbag technology, components, and systems do presently exist and can be acquired at a reasonable cost. Detailed information on system design, selection of vehicles and states to participate, as well as sled testing and full-scale crash testing are presented as SAE Paper 841216, "Driver Airbag Police Fleet Demonstration Program--A 15-Month Progress Report" by the same authors.

Investigations were performed to determine for oblique impacts the occupant kinematic protection limits afforded by full front seat air bags installed in a subcompact car. Techniques used in this investigation included three-dimensional crash victim simulation modeling (CAL-3D model), the use of the NHTSA developed passenger air cushion (DJPAC) simulation program, and the design, installation and testing of production component driver and passenger air bag systems in a compact car. The results of this program demonstrate that occupants of the subject small car can be protected by air bag restraints in 45° oblique principal direction of force (PDOF) impacts up to 30 mph barrier equivalent velocity.