Brake Pad on Seatbelt
The seat belt will be altered where the belt revolves around an axle. The axle will move freely, but upon impact a brake pad will engage to slow down the seat belt thus slowing down the person. The brake pad will have a varying increase in length because the distance for the brake pad to stop someone depends on mass and velocity. If the length is not constant, calculations will become more complex. We also feel that we will run into sizing issues with the seatbelt retractor. We will have to work with a limited spot on the car’s pillar between the doors. In addition, the locking mechanism currently engages often. This will constantly trigger the break pad which will make it less ergonomic.
Hydraulic Piston and Shear Pin
This design changes the 3 point seat belt system into a dynamic mechanism. The buckle will be attached to the shock absorber. Inside the shock absorber there is a hydraulic fluid that will move form the inner to the outer barrel through a series of variable flow control ports. The way this design will reduce G forces on the body, is when the seat belt locks and the bodies momentum is still moving, the strain on the seat belt will engage the shock absorber by breaking the shear pin.
Tension Wires In Belt
The seat belt is embedded with cables that will tighten according to the person’s weight. There will be a spool where the seatbelt retracts that tightens or loosens the cables. We did not choose this idea, because we do not believe we will have the technical know-how to implement this. Without extensive materials knowledge, we didn’t know how to go about changing the material that has been used for decades. We also believe that it will make the seatbelt less comfortable due to stiffness, deterring people from wearing the seatbelt. In addition, the elasticity of the seatbelt will not withstand the constant tension and decompression.
Foam In Airbag
It would be beneficial to have foam in between the airbag and the person. The foam will act as a shock absorber to slow down the person and will protect the person from the heat of the chemical reaction that inflates the airbag. The foam will be in the airbag and will ignite when the airbag inflates. This idea may be plausible, but we feel that this more of a chemical and materials engineering idea. This only solves one type of injury – chemical burns and we want a more wholistic multiapplication product. In addition, we feel there will not be enough shock absorption to make a difference. The issue with whiplash will also still be present.
Alternating Material of Seatbelt
The seatbelt will have intermittent changes between an elastic material and standard seatbelt material. This will keep the strength but have a tensional pull to it. Similar to our problem with the tension wires in the seatbelt, we do not have a lot of knowledge on materials. We also feel that it would be difficult to select an elastic material that will easily retract and still do his job. Changing the material would have to go significant testing for fatigue and strength. This design might not be appealing to car manufacturers because seatbelts are already a sustainable material. Additionally, we feel that when the seatbelt retracts will roll up too big to fit behind the paneling.
Plastic Encasing
This design has extra belt that is folded and encased in a plastic sleeve. The plastic will rip gradually slowing down the person in the event of a collision. The reason we stray from this design option, because it needs an ample amount of time to engage. Also the ripping of plastic only happens when a certain amount of strain happens and the plastic cannot adjust to different weights and sizes of the passenger. The amount of added length from the serpentine material would probably be too long to stop the passenger a safe distance from the airbags. Also the plastic may not rip correctly due to it being close to the center console.
