Airbag Systems
ZF produces a variety of airbag safety system technologies that help improve occupant protection.
Advantages
- ZF drives innovation for cost-efficient adaptivity features for airbags and seat belts to help enhance safety performance.
- Our sophisticated systems utilize an array of electronic sensors to gather and analyze data, which enable intelligent control units to better determine how to help protect drivers and passengers. ZF continues to develop next generation airbag technologies designed to improve protection for frontal and side impact, rollover, rear occupants as well as outside the vehicle itself.
- Adaptive restraint performance for different occupant sizes
- Standardized construction kits for design flexibility
Function
- Driver Airbags: The driver airbag module is incorporated into the steering wheel of a vehicle. ZF's compact driver airbag module offers the next step forward for styling flexibility and lower mass, due to its small size. This module can incorporate all the features of a fully functional airbag system such as ZF's snap-in guidance attachment system, active tether venting, single- or dual-stage inflators, inflator mass damper and horn function.
- Passenger Airbags: The passenger airbag is incorporated into the instrument panel or roof rail of a vehicle. ZF’s DI-10 passenger airbag module combines effective tailorable restraint performance with reduced package size and weight. This design is a cost effective solution with four major components including the airbag assembly, housing, bag retainer and inflator. Another option is ZF's bag in roof technology that is installed and deploys from the roof of a vehicle and allows greater design flexibility for the instrument panel..
- Knee Airbags: The knee airbag module is incorporated into the lower part of a vehicle’s instrument panel. ZF’s compact knee airbag module helps to provide harmonized occupant kinematics and positioning while reducing and / or balancing chest and lower limb loads.
- Side Airbags: The side airbag module is located in the seat and attached to the seat frame. It is designed to help protect the complete torso area, including the thorax, abdomen and pelvis of the occupant. ZF has developed a wide range of side impact airbag configurations to help improve occupant protection in side impact events. Further innovations include Far Side Impact Protection side airbags that deploy between the driver and passenger seat, as well as external side airbags that are mounted on the outside frame of the vehicle and inflate between the oncoming obstacle and the vehicle exterior to help reduce severity of impact.
- Side Curtain and Rollover Airbags: ZF has developed a wide range of side curtain and rollover airbag configurations to help improve occupant protection including ejection mitigation for rollover crash events..
Technical Information
Rear Seat Safety Innovations
ZF has been using a wide array of safety technologies to design systems specific to rear seating positions. These advanced safety systems address rear seat compartment specific needs such as a wider range of occupant ages and sizes, and the adjustable positions of the front seats. As with frontal safety systems, ZF has developed technologies combining airbags and seat belts in a systems approach to help protect rear seat occupants in the event of a crash.
An advanced rear airbag design is placed within the rear-facing side of the front seats to help protect rear seat occupants. Front seats that adjust in a longitudinal direction can lead to varying distances between the back of the seat and rear occupants. However, the unique shape of ZF's advanced rear airbag concept adjusts to the varying distances between the rear seat occupant and the front seat. The rear seat airbag helps to avoid high pressure loads on the occupant in order to enhance rear occupant protection.
