by Ben Fouche
Safety Steering S.R.S. (SRS stands for “supplemental resistant system”). The air bag is a “European” style head and face bag, which means it is designed to protect primarily the head and face during a frontal collision.An important point to note about the Safety Steering S.R.S. is that it is designed to supplement the existing seats belts in a vehicle, not to replace them. Nor is the system designed to be a replacement for factory-installed air bags that have been deployed in the accident.
Various tests indicated that seat belts do a good job for driver body protection in a up front collision, but they do not always keep the driver’s head from colliding with other objects , normally the steering wheel, which can result in injury and in certain cases death. The air bag is designed for extra protection in addition to the original seatbelts and is adding an additional margin of safety. When the bag fills the gap between the driver and the steering wheel when it deploys. A cushion is the provided to to absorb the force of the impact and prevent the driver’s head or face from hitting the steering wheel by the inflated airbag.
The mechanical impact sensor is an impotrtant feature of the Safety Steering Airbag which is a simple but extremely reliable type of triggering mechanism. Unlike most original equipment air bag systems that rely on a complex web of crash sensors, wiring and an electronic control module, safety sensors, the mechanical impact sensor is so to say fail-safe. The crash sensor, which is self-contained within the steering wheel air bag module, consists of a steel ball within a tube. When a frontal impact of sufficient force occurs, the ball is dislodged and slides down the tube, and triggers a firing pin that ignites the inflator. The bag is ejected and air filled in 30 to 55 milliseconds which is just as fast as an original equipment air bag.
The crash sensor has to experience an impact force of about 20 G’s before the bag will deploy. That is seven times the force of gravity. This would be the equivalent of hitting a solid oobject at 20-40 km/h, for most vehicles, or hitting another vehicle moving at a speed of about 40 km/h. The crash speed at which the bag will deploy depends on many variables such as the angle of impact, the stiffness of the body and chassis, the relatives mass of the vehicle or object struck, etc., The only thing that can be said with certainty is that the air bag will activated in time of need
One of the advantages of having an air bag with a purely mechanical crash sensor is that it eliminates the need for wiring and expensive electronics. This allows the crash sensor to be packed with the inflator in the air bag module, which greatly simplifies replacement and installation. It also means the system will function independent of the vehicle’s electrical system.Because the air bag with its purely mechanical crash sensor can be packed as a self-contained unit, it can be easily installed on just about any vehicle - provided there’s a steering wheel available for the application designed to accept the air bag module - and that the required crash testing has been done to make sure the crash sensor has the correct level of sensitivity for the vehicle.
It is a simple task to replace a steering wheel and bolt but the safety steering wheel does not fit all size airbags. The bag has to fit the application. Different size inflators and crash sensors are required for different vehicle applications. When a light-weight motor vehicle is fitted with an air bag with a crash sensor that’s set for this specific vehicle, it may not ne ignited and activated at the right speed if used in a biiger vehicle such as a truck or landcruiser. Five inflator assemblies make up the air bag unit.
When colliding frontally to a solid object with a speed less than 8 km/h, the bag will not deploy. When the speed is between 8 and 25 km/h the possibility for the air bag to deploy is relatively higher. When the speed is over 25 km/h the air bag wiil deploy on impact.Remark: The speed on impact and solidness of the object, the angle of impact (not more than 30degrees with frontal collision with another vehicle) and various other factors make an influence on the deployment of the airbag.
With overturning or collision from behind, the air bag will not be activated and will not deploy. Only technicians who are properly trained and approved may do installation of the airbags and they will select the appropriate module for the specific application, remove the stock steering wheeland install a the steering wheel which includes the safety steering airbag. This product creates opportunity for our customers to comply with the regulations of the safety industry. They have the advantage to sell their products on markets which was not previously in their reach. Lives are saved and and injuries are limited by Safety Steering Airbags.