Ford has unveiled the auto industry's first ever inflatable seat belt, which is designed to add more protection for rear seat passengers. The new inflatable seat belt is designed to inflate in a mere 40 milliseconds and when expanded the belts spread crash forces over five times more area of the body than conventional seat belts. The new seat belt inflates slower than a conventional air bag and uses cold compressed gas instead of a heat-generating chemical reaction.
"It's a very simple and logical system, but it required extensive trial and error and testing over several years to prove out the technology and ensure precise reliable performance in a crash situation," said Srini Sundararajan, safety technical leader for Ford research and advance engineering.
The new inflatable seat belt will debut first on the next-generation Ford Explorer in 2010 and then it will eventually be offered in vehicles globally.
