When a car collides, the people inside the car can often be protected by car seat belts, airbags and a strong body. But what should you do if you encounter pedestrians or animals? How to reduce the injuries suffered by pedestrians who are hit has always been an issue discussed by major automobile brands. Recently, Honda Motor has proposed a solution and applied for a new patent for airbags to protect pedestrians. If this patent can be mass-produced, it will provide some protection for motorcycles and pedestrians.
According to the patent description, the system combines sensors and airbags to measure the distance and size of people or objects that are about to collide with the vehicle before the car contacts pedestrians, thereby determining the deployment of external airbags. Depending on the deployment intensity or deployment speed, in theory adults and children should need different airbags.
In addition, the patent is also equipped with a mechanism that prevents pedestrians from sliding off the roof or hood of the car if they are hit. It also prevents pedestrians from rolling onto the front wheels of the car if they are hit. Below, causing secondary damage.
As mentioned above, external pedestrian protection has always been an issue discussed by major car brands, and has also attracted the attention of domestic consumers in recent years. For example, in the latest 2018 version of the C-NCAP crash test, pedestrian protection was also included in the test items. Detailed experimental plans and scoring standards were made for pedestrians’ head and leg protection, and the score accounted for 15 .
In fact, Honda has not just proposed solutions recently. As early as the 1970s, Honda began to research car safety, and in 1998, it specially manufactured a fake car called POLAR. People are specifically used as "pedestrians" to simulate car crash tests.
So Honda later developed a series of surface covering materials with absorbing properties, such as energy-absorbing front bumpers, hood hinged collapse structures, energy-absorbing wiper shafts, energy-absorbing fenders, front The window supports part of the energy-absorbing structure, energy-absorbing headlights, energy-absorbing hood, etc.
The example around us is on the Accord model, for which Honda is equipped with a pop-up engine cover. The Accord has an additional movable hinge installed at the end of the upward-turned engine cover. When the speed reaches 25km/h or more and a collision occurs, if the impact force reaches the preset trigger condition, the engine cover will be bounced up by the lifter at the hinge. , so that the engine cover has more space for energy absorption and collapse, providing maximum buffer space for pedestrians. Although it has improved safety, it has also caused trouble for some car owners. There will be some cases of false triggering, resulting in relatively high maintenance costs in the future.
However, there are many vehicles like the Accord that reduce pedestrian injuries by lifting the engine hood. We know of Mercedes-Benz, Lexus, Jaguar, Nissan, etc.
When it comes to the earliest mass production of external airbags, Volvo should be the first. As early as 2013, Volvo released the V40 in Australia. There were several sensors on the front bumper. When it detected After a collision, the U-shaped airbag located under the front windshield will be detonated. The airbag, which can be inflated in a few milliseconds, will also lift the hood and then be released under the entire windshield and in the A-pillar area to form a safety buffer area. The working range of this airbag is within 20-50km/h.
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It must be said that as the domestic automobile market pays more and more attention to pedestrian protection, more pedestrian safety solutions will appear in the future, and this time Honda Whether the applied patent can be mass-produced is still unknown. However, in summary, the pedestrian protection solutions currently on the market can be roughly divided into two types. One is to lift the engine hood, and the other is to add external airbags. Although the applications of these two solutions are not many, they are indeed effective for pedestrian protection. We also look forward to the emergence of more pedestrian safety technologies in the future to protect the lives and property of pedestrians and drivers.
Author
This article comes from the author of Autohome Chejiahao and does not represent the views and positions of Autohome.