THE DEVELOPMENT OF ANY FRONT-SEAT PASSENGER INFLATABLE RESTRAINT SYSTEM SHOULD CONSIDER THE ADDED DEPLOYMENT FORCES APPLIED TO OCCUPANTS WHO MAY BE CLOSE TO THE INSTRUMENT PANEL AT THE TIME OF DEPLOYMENT. A MAJOR FACTOR INFLUENCING OCCUPANT POSITION AND POSTURE IS THE EFFECT OF PREIMPACT BRAKING WHICH OFTEN OCCURS PRIOR TO THE COLLISION. MOST SUSCEPTIBLE TO PREIMPACT BRAKING ARE SMALL, UNRESTRAINED CHILDREN WHO CAN MOVE OFF THE FRONT EDGE OF THE SEAT DURING HARD BRAKING AND BE NEAR OR AGAINST THE INSTRUMENT PANEL IN A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT POSITIONS AND POSTURES AT THE INSTANT OF COLLISION. BASED ON AN ANALYSIS OF HARD-BRAKING TESTS CONDUCTED WITH ANESTHETIZED BABOONS AND CHILD DUMMIES, 13 POSITIONS ARE IDENTIFIED AS BEING REPRESENTATIVE OF THE EXPECTED CHILD POSITIONS. AN ESTIMATE IS GIVEN THAT, OF THE 149 SMALL CHILDREN (INFANTS THROUGH FOUR YEARS OLD) EXPECTED TO BE UNRESTRAINED FRONT-SEAT OCCUPANTS IN COLLISIONS OF SUFFICIENT SEVERITY TO DEPLOY AN INFLATABLE RESTRAINT SYSTEM PER MILLION CAR-YEARS OF EXPOSURE, 51 OF THEM WILL BE IN ONE OF THESE 13 POSITIONS NEAR THE INSTRUMENT PANEL AT THE INSTANT OF COLLISION.(A) FOR THE COVERING ABSTRACT OF THE CONFERENCE SEE IRRD 802816.
Abstract