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Researchers Will Report on New Airbag-Safe Child Seat

21 January 1999

Researchers Will Report on New Airbag-Safe Child Seat for Automotive Front Seat at SAE Congress

    WARRENDALE, Pa., Jan. 20 -- A new infant seat that's safe to
install in front of a passenger side airbag will be introduced by Xportation
Safety Concepts, Inc. (XSCi) and The Fraser Group at the 1999 SAE
International Congress & Exposition, March 1-4, 1999 at Cobo Center in
Detroit, Michigan.
    The infant seat developers interviewed more than 85 drivers involved in
accidents in which an infant or child up to five years was a passenger.  The
survey revealed that 31 percent of the accidents were due, in part, to
distractions caused by children in the back seat.  Nearly all of the drivers
said that children riding in the back seat disturb their driving
concentration.
    The need for safer transportation for small children prompted XSCi to
develop a new Airbag Safe Infant Seat (ASIS).  The new seat, which fits in the
front passenger side of a vehicle, is composed of an infant cradle surrounded
by a frame with an elastomeric shock absorbing system.  Elastomers are
materials that return to their original shape after being stretched out of
shape by any dynamic force.
    In SAE paper 1999 01 0084, "Technological Evolution of the Airbag Safe
Infant Seat," authors David F. Clement of XSCi and Sharon Reid-Harnisch of GA
International, Inc., describe the theory and concepts behind ASIS.
    Upon impact, the ASIS frame and elastomeric system absorbs the shock of
the crash and redirects it to the vehicle's seat cushion, subjecting the
infant to very low dynamic loads.  When an airbag is present, the frame
absorbs the airbag's energy and directs the bag over the infant and cradle.
    "We've run more than 20 sled tests with and without passenger side
airbags," said Reid-Harnisch.  "ASIS actually works better when an airbag is
present because the seat belt, which secures the frame, is much tighter."
    The SAE Congress is the world's largest showcase of automotive engineering
technologies.  The event, which runs March 1-4, features more than 1,100
exhibiting companies, including 90 percent of the world's top 25 suppliers.
    Contact SAE at 1-877-SAE-CONG (723-2664) for all SAE '99 information;
outside the U.S. and Canada, call 1-724-772-4027; or visit http://www.sae.org.