Escuela Superior Nicolás Sevilla Guemarez

Toa Alta, PR

Air Bag
Keichamary Padilla Rivera
English
Mr. Roman
12-5
The origins of the airbag go back to
World War II, when some pilots
came to have survival suits that
could be filled with air to float in the
water and some of them activated
when they were going to suffer an
impact to retain their body. The first
air bag for cars was conceived by
John W. Hetrick in 1952. He created
the idea as a result of an event that
had occured in the spring of 1952.
Hetrick and his family were involved in a car
accident. Because of the accident, he
considered how a car can protect the
passengers. Then, in 1953 he receives U.S.
Patent #2,649,311 for a set of security
cushion for automotive vehicles. It was the
first modern airbag.
The air bag module unit
consists of an inflator
assembly, a nylon bag,
and a breakaway cover.
This unit is typically
located in the steering
wheel column on the
driver's side or in the
dashboard on the
passenger's side.
The electrical current from the sensors travels
to the inflator assembly, where it causes a tiny
initiator to be fired. This inititiator creates a
spark which ignites a propellant, which in most
air bags is sodium azide. The reaction creates
nitrogen gas. Cinders are removed and the gas
is cooled through a filtration screen also inside
the assembly. The nitrogen gas is what causes
the air bag to inflate. This inflation occurs in an
average of only 30 milliseconds.
In 1971, the Ford car company built an
experimental airbag fleet. General Motors tested
airbags on the 1973 model Chevrolet automobile
that were only sold for government use. The
1973, Oldsmobile Toronado was the first car with
a passenger air bag intended for sale to the
public.
General Motors later offered an option to the
general public of driver side airbags in full-sized
Oldsmobile's and Buick's in 1975 and 1976
respectively. Cadillacs were available with driver
and passenger airbags options during those same
years. Early airbags system had design issues
resulting in fatalities caused solely by the airbags.
Airbags were offered once again as an option on
the 1984 Ford Tempo automobile.
By 1988, Chrysler became the first company to
offer air bag restraint systems as standard
equipment. In 1994, TRW began production of
the first gas-inflated airbag. They are now
mandatory in all cars since 1998.
The first airbag conceived used a balloon of
compressed air and primitive pressure sensors to
operate, in theory. As soon as Ford began his research
on the airbag as a restraint device, in 1957, realized
that it was essential to develop faster sensors and a
faster filling system. In order for the airbag to be
effective, the bag should swell between 20 and 40
milliseconds after impact. I agree with the changes
this has had. At the moment they are not only
adapted to the force of the impact, but also to the
weight of the occupants and other factors.
Different uses of air bags

Front airbags are mounted in the steering

wheel and the dashboard, and are designed
to help cushion the front-seat occupants in a
front-end collision, where speeds and crash
forces tend to be the highest.
Knee airbags are mounted on the lower
edge of the dashboard, and keep the
occupants’ legs from striking the dash or,
worse yet, the sharp bits underneath it.

Side airbags, also known as torso

airbags, are mounted in the outer edge
of the seat itself, and are designed to
protect the torso in a side collision.
Side curtain airbags are usually
mounted in the roof of the car and in
a side collision or rollover, they
deploy downward, covering the
windows like curtains.
Inflatable seatbelts have a small airbag
mounted in the seat belt shoulder
strap; the airbag inflates to spread the
load across the occupant’s chest.
 D-air Ski system from Dainese,
this wearable airbag inflates to
protect the shoulders and torso
when a skier crashes.

The SaferMoto Motorcycle Airbag

vest is a motorcycle vest with a
built in airbag to protect the rider
in the event of a crash.
In 2006 Honda introduced the first
production motorcycle airbag safety
system on its Gold Wing motorcycle.

NASA engineers test the Mars

Pathfinder airbag landing system
on simulated Martian terrain.
I chose this invention because it has been a very
valuable contribution. I confronted a bit of difficulty
because when looking at various sources of
information the important points about history tend to
vary. I could not see the world without airbags unless
something more perfect is designed. One of the
disadvantages of air bags is that they could present
faults.
Although the airbag can not always be referred to as an
expiration date - it must now last for the entire life of
the vehicle - some older models indicate this in their
instruction manual (the period ranges from 10 to 15
years). In my opinion, airbags can be improved and is an
industry in constant research. In conclusion, the air bag
has had a long and difficult journey. After repeated
failures, it has finally come to be one of the most
important safety features in automobiles today. It has
been credited with saving thousands of lives and it is
likely to be present in automobiles for decades to come.