Design alternatives

Initial stages of brainstorming solutions to seat belt safety improvement

Retractor belt with break pad

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 seat belt 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 with Shear Pin

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.

Tension Wires with Elastic Belt

The seat belt is embedded with cables that will tighten according to the person’s weight. There will be a spool where the seat belt 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 seat belt less comfortable due to stiffness, deterring people from wearing the seat belt. In addition, the elasticity of the seat belt will not withstand the constant tension and decompression.