Cover Story Seating Techniques

Safety and Seat Development

By Peter Kohstall

Autoliv produces safety components to meet the highest technical de- steel sections are suitable. Autoliv plans in
mands – whether they be seatbelts or airbags. A further field of activity is future to make the slide rails and backrest
frames for the front seats out of high-ten-
developing and manufacturing seat structures whose upholstery is added sile steel, while aluminium is favoured for
by other companies. Autoliv is thus in a position to fulfil all its customers’ the bases of the front seats and the back-
requirements for occupant protection, especially as the car manufacturers rests of the rear seats. Regardless of the ma-
terial, a well-designed modular construc-
increasingly prefer to purchase from one supplier a well-matched system
tion with the integration of various addi-
of lightweight seats with belts and sidebags. Since weight reduction is a tional elements offers further potential for
factor of growing importance, Autoliv is heavily committed to developing weight savings and optimised logistics.
lightweight seat structures which retain optimum safety. Autoliv’s experience with numerous series
of crash tests means that the company is in
liv occupies a special market position on ac- a position to optimise the seat structures to
1 Introduction count of its joint development with the withstand the deformations arising in a
Swedish manufacturers of cars and com- crash, while minimising the weight.
The Seat Subsystems Division of Autoliv mercial vehicles, in particular Volvo. How-
was created in 1996 with the acquisition of ever, co-operation with other European car
companies involved in this business. Auto- manufacturers has also reached an ad- 2 Front Seats
vanced state. The products include com-
plete seat structures, slide rails with or 2.1 Seat Shell and Backrest
You will find the figures mentioned in without height adjustment, and front and Structure
this article in the German issue of rear seats incorporating extensive safety
ATZ 12/99 beginning on page 966. equipment, Figure 1. The Safety Seat Concept (SSC) is a flexible
modular system which will be ready for se-
When it comes to optimum materials for ries production by about the year 2003. Au-
lightweight seat structures, both extruded toliv will then select the necessary modules
aluminium sections and rolled high-tensile and put together a seat to meet the individ-
Sicherheit und Sitzentwicklung

22 ATZ worldwide
 Seating Techniques Cover Story

ual requirements of each car manufacturer, ture itself can be reduced. Autoliv sees a depending on the model. These low values
Figure 2. great potential for this solution in the ac- are due mainly to the modular SSC concept
cessories market, as well as for new cars. with a mixture of materials for the struc-
The target weight of the basic version is 11 or However, it is unlikely to come onto the ture. There is considerably more potential
12 kg, while more elaborate seats with elec- market before 2002. for saving weight there than in the springs,
trical adjustment should not exceed 18 kg. the upholstery, or the covering material,
Examples of additional modules are safety 2.3 Safety Components Figure 6.
components such as the AWS (anti-whip-
lash system), weight sensors to detect whe- It is clearly in keeping with Autoliv’s corpo-
ther the seat is occupied, an integral belt sys- rate philosophy to place great importance
tem, or electrically adjustable headrests, Fig- on the safe design of car seats. The Anti-
ure 3. Whiplash System (AWS) is a good example
of this. The system was developed specially
The framework for the SSC is based on an for rear-end collisions, so as to reduce in-
aluminium seat base and a backrest struc- juries to the cervical vertebrae of front-seat
ture made of rolled high-tensile steel sec- passengers – injuries which can have long-
tions, which is still in the development term consequences. The technology in-
stage. Autoliv considers this steel construc- volves a gear mechanism in the backrest
tion to be stronger than aluminium or mag- adjustment which includes a deformation
nesium, thus providing better energy ab- component. Depending on the severity of
sorption in the event of a crash. It should the rear-end collision, a shear pin first
also achieve a considerably lower weight breaks off and then the component de-
for the backrest (1500 g, almost 25% less), forms, absorbing energy in the process. The
since light-alloy structures need a much backrest first of all moves backwards at a
greater wall thickness for the same constant angle, then rotates by up to 25°,
strength. yet still restrains the occupant if the force is
even greater, Figure 4.
Present-day seat bases usually consist of a
shallow steel trough, roughly 1 mm thick, The headrest takes on a important role in
though aluminium is becoming increasing- the AWS system, so as to ‘catch’ the head as
ly common. Even more weight can be effectively and quickly as possible. Autoliv
saved by using an aluminium framework is currently developing an active headrest.
construction with built-in spring compo- One solution for the front seat is a mechan-
nents. Such an Autoliv design weighs be- ical system in which the headrest is pre-
tween 1100 and 1200 g, considerably less tensioned by a spring. A Bowden cable,
than the sheet-steel construction. connected to the deformation component
in the backrest adjustment, releases a catch
2.2 Seat Slide Rails in the event of an accident; the headrest
moves rapidly forwards and upwards to
Autoliv slide rails, with or without height meet the head. The object is to keep the dis-
adjustment, are increasingly being made of tance between head and headrest as small
extruded aluminium sections. That allows as possible to avoid a sudden deceleration
a very low-profile design and also offers a on contact.
high tensile strength of roughly 560 N/
mm2. Admittedly they are not always The second approach, more suitable for rear
lighter than comparable steel slide rails; bench seats, is a two-part air-filled cushion
therefore it is planned to use high-tensile in the backrest and the headrest. When the
steel for the SSC, with a tensile strength of body is pressed hard against the backrest in
300 to 500 N/mm2. The mass of a pair of a rear-end collision, the additional pressure
slide rails will then fall by a third from opens a valve and admits air into the upper
about 1.8 kg to 1.2 kg, for roughly the same chamber in the headrest. This increases the
strength. impact-absorbing ability of the seat, and
also applies the headrest to the back of the
Overall weight can be saved by including head in good time, Figure 5.
an energy-absorbing deformation compo-
nent in the slide rails. This is a simpler ver- 2.4 Benchmarking
sion of the AWS, as described below for the
backrest. It consists of a plate fitted be- A benchmark study carried out by Autoliv
tween either the floor-pan and the rail or showed that current seats with manual or
the rail and the seat. In a rear-end collision, electrical height adjustment can easily
the force on the seat causes the plate to weigh over 20 kg, some as much as 34 kg.
buckle in a controlled way. Since this ab- Comparable lightweight seats made by How the Anti-Whiplash System behaves
sorbs energy, the weight of the seat struc- Autoliv will weigh between 15 and 18 kg, in a rear-end collision

ATZ Automobiltechnische Zeitschrift 101 (1999) 12 3

Cover Story Seating Techniques

3.2 Adjustable Rear Seats

An interesting new Autoliv development is

sliding bench seats for the middle row of
vans and large estate cars, or as a rear seat
for small cars. As with a front seat, they can
be moved forwards or backwards on slide
rails so as to cater for different leg lengths
or load-carrying needs. The backrests are
divided 2/3 to 1/3, the two parts folding in-
dependently or together. Additional hinges
allow the seat base to fold forward vertical-
ly against the front seat, leaving a large flat
load area, Figure 12.

The Self-Inflating Headrest (SIHR), a new safety system to avoid whiplash injuries in a rear-end collision Since the seat has several positions, and it
would not be practical to use bolts to secure
it at the sides, a structure similar to that of
the front seats must be chosen to ensure
These savings can be attributed mainly to good stability. The shoulder attachment
3 Rear Seats
the lower density of aluminium and the point for the middle three-point belt is
variable thickness which becomes possible. firmly fixed to the backrest structure made
In general, rear seats can be divided into Extrusion technology allows one to vary of rolled high-tensile steel, similar to a seat
folding and/or sliding seats in estate cars, the wall thickness in accordance with the with an integral seatbelt; the retractors for
hatchbacks, or vans, and fixed designs for load distribution, thus saving weight while the outer belts will be mounted on the side
saloon cars. The backs of fixed seats do not retaining good deformation behaviour in a pillars in the early models. An additional
usually contain structural components, but crash, Figure 9. solid backrest structure is needed to pre-
consist of an upholstered frame attached to vent luggage penetrating through the seat
the bulkhead separating the passenger The backrest is usually divided. In the up- in a crash, but with a suitable design it can
compartment from the luggage boot. per part are attachments for additional double as a load platform when the seat is
components such as active headrests (see folded down. Suitable materials are thin
3.1 Folding Rear Seats 2.3 above), the three seatbelts, child re- steel sheet or a fibre-reinforced plastic.
straints, or the bolts for locking the backrest
Autoliv is taking a careful look at rear seats in position. In addition, attachments for
with folding backrests, since the seat back heating, or a net or roller blind for the lug-
is subject to high forces even at relatively gage compartment, can be incorporated in
low speeds. Unsecured luggage behind the the hollow section. Sidebags, a central arm-
seat represents an additional load on the rest, or a hatch for long items such as skis
seat – this is unlikely to be a problem in sa- can also be integrated in the seat. This
loon cars. In order to improve the safety of modular system makes it easy to imple-
rear passengers and reduce weight at the ment basic or more luxurious versions, as
same time, Autoliv will be replacing the with the front seats. The desired additional
usual pressed steel parts with extruded alu- components are fitted before delivery, so
minium sections. that the customer need only add the uphol-
stery and covering material, Figure 10.
A frame made of high-tensile steel is less
suitable here, since an extended structure Autoliv’s preferred fastening method for
offers much better protection against ‘fly- the basic seats is clinching. For more de-
ing’ luggage. The backrest of an estate car manding applications, we shall be using
is locked in position by bolts at the side, in the “friction stir-welding” method which
which case an aluminium structure flexes we developed together with a Swedish
better under load. The individual rear seats partner company. A rapidly rotating ‘stir-
in vans, on the other hand, require a design rer’ heats the two aluminium sections
similar to the front seats. which melt locally, fuse together homoge-
neously, and quickly re-solidify without
Aluminium rear-seat backrests consist of any inclusions. The accessory modules are
between two and four extruded sections, usually fitted by conventional welding.
securely attached to one another. This rep- The ‘high-end’ rear bench seat for the Volvo
resents a weight saving of 25 to 30% com- V70 will go into series production before
pared to sheet-steel constructions, Figure 7. the end of 1999, while the low-cost low-
For small cars, Autoliv aims at a backrest weight basic seats are planned for the year
weight of only 10 kg, roughly 5 kg less than 2002, Figure 11.
at present, Figure 8.

4 ATZ worldwide