According to the Federal Statistical Office, almost 11,000 children suffered accidents as car passengers in Germany in 2017. With PRE-SAFE® Child in the ESF 2019, Mercedes-Benz now shows how child safety can be further improved. With this child seat with PRE-SAFE® functions, the seat belts are preventively tensioned before a crash and side impact protection elements are extended. Monitoring of seat installation and the child’s vital signs are other functions integrated into the seat.
In 2002 Mercedes-Benz began a new era in vehicle safety with the preventive occupant protection system PRE-SAFE®, by integrating active and passive safety functions. PRE-SAFE® is able to activate preventive protection measures for car passengers. The aim is to prepare the occupants and the car for an impending impact, so that e.g. the seat belts and airbags can develop their best protective effect.
In the ESF 2019, small children now also benefit from PRE-SAFE® protection and side impact protection by elements integrated into the sides which extend automatically in a PRE-SAFE® situation.
The child seat is networked with the vehicle by radio. When the vehicle sensors recognise a manoeuvre relevant for PRE-SAFE® (for example a skid to the side), a signal is sent to the child seat which triggers the corresponding protective functions.
Within milliseconds the belts of the child seat are tensioned and the side impact protection element is extended by operating solenoid switches. A battery integrated into the child seat supplies the power.
The great advantage of this system is that thanks to the tensioned belt, the child is more firmly and accurately fixed in the seat while belt slack is reduced. The loads acting on the child during an impact are considerably reduced. The side impact protection elements also follow this approach.
The five-point belt system of the child seat is mechanically pretensioned. This is how this is done: the child seat can be rotated, so the child can be lifted in or out of the seat when facing the door. The subsequent 90° rotation to position the seat either in or against the direction of travel pretensions the system. The generated spring force is used to tension the seat-integrated belt as soon as the vehicle recognises a situation justifying PRE-SAFE® intervention. The reversible system is pretensioned again when the child seat is next used and rotated.
A similar principle is used for the side impact protection elements integrated into the sides of the seat, which extend automatically in a PRE-SAFE® situation. This always happens on the side next to the door, irrespective of whether the seat is facing forwards or backwards. The system is mechanically pretensioned by manually pressing the protective element into the seat. This also keeps them out of the way when not in use.
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SOURCE: Daimler
