TRW Automotive

About: TRW Automotive is a company organization based out in Mesa, Arizona, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Steering wheel & Airbag. The organization has 1937 authors who have published 2563 publications receiving 16384 citations.

A comparison study of active head restraints for neck protection in rear-end collisions

Abstract: Neck injuries caused by rear-end collisions have become a major problem in traffic safety over the last two decades, however, surprisingly little effort has been made so far to improve car seat and head rest design. Several studies have shown, that whiplash injuries can be reduced by minimizing the gap between head and head restraint during the first phase of a rear-end impact. On the other hand, the requests for comfort from the car passengers limit the reduction of this distance. Various publications show that generally neither drivers nor passengers are aware of the necessity to adjust current head rests to their head position. The conclusion is, the head rest should either be large enough to protect all occupants or should be automatically adjusted to protect all occupant sizes. This study shows a comparison of different active head restraint concepts, which guarantee a reduction of the distance between head and head rest during a rear-end collision. In addition the size of the head rest is enlarged. Different concepts were validated by sled tests using Hybrid-III Dummies equipped with the newly developed TRID-neck. Also volunteer tests were performed to prove the effectiveness of the new concepts. (A) For the covering abstract see IRRD E102514.

Method of producing a vehicle steering wheel as well as a vehicle steering wheel

Abstract: The invention relates to a method of producing a vehicle steering wheel. The method comprises the following steps: a) a one-piece steering wheel skeleton having a hub, at least one spoke and a steering wheel rim is produced by one of casting and injection-molding, b) an intermediate layer made of soft foam is glued directly onto the steering wheel rim and c) the intermediate layer is covered with leather in that the leather is glued directly onto the intermediate layer. As an alternative working step, a cover consisting of an inner intermediate layer made of soft foam with an outer covering made of leather is glued with an inside directly onto the steering wheel rim. The invention further relates to a vehicle steering wheel produced by one of the methods.

Vehicle steering wheel

Abstract: The invention relates to a vehicle steering wheel with a steering wheel rim, the steering wheel comprising a skeleton, and a skeleton covering which is visible from the exterior and has recesses. The skeleton covering is provided in a region of the steering wheel rim. The steering wheel further comprises at least one decorative segment which supplements a part of the skeleton covering and has detent noses which engage into the recesses in the skeleton covering. The decorative segment is a half shell having an essentially clip-shaped form in cross-section and has free edges which are provided with the detent noses.

Seat belt tightener e.g. spherical tightener, for safety seat belt system, has multifunctional part moved away from drive unit against force transmission unit, and comprising valve section and sealing section engaged at tightener housing

Abstract: The tightener (10) has a tightener housing (12), and a force transmission unit (20) moved by a drive unit (24). A multifunctional part (28) is provided between the drive unit and the force transmission unit. The multifunctional part is moved away from the drive unit against the force transmission unit. The multi-functional part has a valve section and a sealing section engaged at the tightener housing. The multi-functional part has an outlet opening in a bursting unit i.e. bursting disk, in a non-activated condition. The bursting unit is arranged between a sealing body and a valve body.

Active roll control system for a vehicle suspension system

Abstract: An actuator assembly for an active chassis of a motor vehicle that includes an actuator is disclosed. The actuator includes a first rack and a second rack, and a drive pinion that is in operative engagement with the first and second racks. Substantially linear movement of the first and second racks in opposite directions causes rotational movement of the drive pinion. The assembly also includes a locking mechanism wherein the locking mechanism prevents rotation of the drive pinion and linear movement of the racks.