TRW introduces Roof Mounted Air Bags for Citroen C4

TRW introduces Roof Mounted Air Bags for Citroen C4 cactus!

TRW automotive, a leading provider for car safety products announced about its roof mounted air bags some three years back. During that time, TRW that they had a particular production contract with an anonymous auto manufacturer. Recently, TRW announced the name of the auto manufacture who was Citroen C4 Cactus. It came up with its innovative concept for providing safety by saving a lot of space. With its successful prototype testing, TRW automobiles have started manufacturing roof mounted air bags for the very new Citroen C4 Cactus. Citroen C4 is a C segment or a small family car in Europe. It is a successor of Citroen Xsara.

The all new roof mounted air bags has taken the place of passenger airbags that is present in the instrument panel. Due to the lack of space in the dashboard, TRW decided to remove the concept of passenger air bags from the dashboard to increase storing space, flexibility in internal space etc. Roof mounted air bags gives a wide scope for improvising upon the aesthetics and interior designing of the car, space savior in instrument panel and ergonomics. TRW’s engineering director for Inflatable Restraint Systems, Dirk Schultz said, “Interior design requirements have evolved significantly over the last decade with some manufacturers looking for more instrument panel space for the latest multimedia technologies or a means of increasing storage, or are proposing more open and airy cockpit environments.”

The roof mounted air bag comprises of a cushion, gas generator inside the housing headlined above the windshield and a gas diffusion channel. In case of crash or accident, the air bag gets filled with the gas and automatically gets deployed and starts unfolding along the windshield towards the front seat. It helps in covering the front seat passengers irrespective of their shape and size. Citroen C4 Cactus will be the first car to implement and utilize roof mounted air bags for ensuring passenger safety. However, the roof mounted air bag is compatible with all the vehicle architectures.

Air bags have always been considered to be an ideal way for ensuring passenger safety. Since last two to three decades, air bags have always been relied upon for safety purposes. Airbags have proved to be a mature offering by the safety department as it is practical and has saved millions of lives of people. Dirk Schultz informed, “Occupant safety systems are becoming increasingly versatile. With the increasing focus on reducing road fatalities, we need to develop new ways to enhance the protection of occupants – one area of focus is the redesign and configuration of airbags.” This “bag in roof” technology is capable enough to protect the driver as well as the front seat passenger. The air bag system is quite beneficial over the conventional dash board air bags. This air bag saves a lot of space and reduces the production costs for dashboard. Dirk Schultz said that this concept will prove to be useful for each and every person along with those who avoid wearing their seat belts.