This study was conducted to compare a new air bag folding pattern, the so-called "Petri folding" ((P-folding) PF) with the conventional folding scheme, the so-called "Leporello folding" ((L-folding) LF) under out-of-position conditions. Static out-of-position tests were carried through with driverside air bag modules mounted to a rigid test stand and folded either according to the PF or LF scheme. A Hybrid III small female dummy was placed on a seat in front of the module with two main test configurations: "chestcentered on module" and "forehead centered on module" with varying separations from the module ranging from 0 to 100 mm. For the "chest centered on module" configuration, values of all relevant injury criteria configuration, values of all relevant injury criteria for the chest and neck were significantly lower with the PF scheme. For the "forehead centered on module" configuration, neck loadings were lower with PF scheme in almost all cases except for neck tension and extension moment at separations of 0 mm and 20 mm. The geometry of the module cover tear line was found to have negative influence here. The use of a neckskin and chin insert in some of the tests had different effects on the neck loads depending on the bag folding pattern.
Abstract