Today as the technology is developing the population also increasing. In this technological developmental era the main industry that is gaining prominence and faster growth is automobile. Today every household there is a vehicle. So increasing need of vehicles has raised questions about the safety, which is very important for every customer. Most important protector in vehicle is the Airbag.
We have always heard about the airbag? But how much you know about it? Here then, come, let us know.
An airbag is a vehicle occupant-restraint system using a bag designed to inflate extremely quickly, then quickly deflate during a collision. It consists of the airbag cushion, a flexible fabric bag, an inflation module, and an impact sensor. The purpose of the airbag is to provide a vehicle occupant with soft cushioning and restraint during a collision. It can reduce injuries between the flailing occupant and the interior of the vehicle.
The airbag provides an energy-absorbing surface between the vehicle’s occupants and a steering wheel, instrument panel, body pillar, headliner, and windshield.
During a crash, the vehicle’s crash sensors provide crucial information to the airbag electronic controller unit (ECU), including collision type, angle, and severity of impact. Using this information, the airbag ECU’s crash algorithm determines if the crash event meets the criteria for deployment and triggers various firing circuits to deploy one or more airbag modules within the vehicle. Working as a supplemental restraint system to the vehicle’s seat-belt systems, airbag module deployments are triggered through a pyrotechnic process that is designed to be used once.
Front airbags reduce driver fatalities in frontal crashes by 29 percent and fatalities of front-seat passengers age 13 and older by 32 percent.
The first commercial designs were introduced in passenger automobiles during the 1970s, with limited success, and actually caused some fatalities. Broad commercial adoption of airbags occurred in many markets during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Many modern vehicles now include six or more units.
The airbag “for the covering of aeroplane and other vehicle parts” traces its origins to a United States patent, submitted in 1919 by two dentists from Birmingham, Arthur Parrott & Harold Round and approved in 1920.
Airbags for passenger cars were introduced in the United States in the 1970s. When seat-belt usage rates in the country were quite low compared to modern-day, Ford built experimental cars with airbags in 1971.
The early development of airbags coincided with international interest in automobile safety legislation. Some safety experts advocated a performance-based occupant-protection standard rather than one mandating a particular technical solution.Less emphasis was placed on other designs as countries successfully mandated seatbelt restrictions, however.
Airbags don’t typically require maintenance unless they deploy in a crash. In that case, they must be replaced at a repair shop that uses original equipment manufacturer (OEM) replacement parts to ensure that the new airbag is not counterfeit. Counterfeit airbags may fail to deploy or release metal shrapnel during deployment.
For unbelted occupants, a front airbag will typically deploy when the crash is the equivalent of an impact into a rigid wall at 10-12 mph. For belted occupants, most airbags will deploy at a higher threshold — about 16 mph — because the belts alone are likely to provide adequate protection up to these moderate speeds.