Mercedes Benz Unveils Safety Vehicle

German automaker Mercedes Benz unveils its first experimental safety vehicle since 1974.

Pioneers in vehicle safety

Here at LotPro.com, we realize that, for the most part, the perception of Mercedes-Benz here in the U.S. is that of a luxury car maker. Although this perception is certainly deserved, many outside the automotive industry have very little knowledge of the company’s history involving vehicle safety research.

For it was in August of 1939, nearly 20 years before Ralph Nader came on the scene, that Béla Barényi, an Austro-Hungarian engineer, began his work for Daimler-Benz by heading their pre-development department. It was a relationship that would result in the development of, among other things, the crumple zone, an innovation which entered Mercedes-Benz series production in 1959. Barényi, along with Mercedes’ in-house accident research function, also developed the concept of the non-deformable passenger cell and the collapsible steering column – things that most drivers take for granted these days.

ESF 2009

Barényi retired from Daimler in 1972, but his legacy lives on in the company’s newest Experimental Safety Vehicle, the ESF 2009. This vehicle, which will be premiered on June 15, 2009 in Stuttgart at the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles (ESV) Conference, features a number of innovations including what Mercedes calls its PRE-SAFE Structure, a Braking Bag, partial main beam, Interseat Protection and Size Adaptive Airbags.

“Safety is a central element of the Mercedes-Benz brand. In this respect we have been setting the pace in the market for almost 70 years for the benefit of our customers and for road users in general. The ESF 2009 shows that we still have plenty of ideas and the absolute will, to lead the automobile industry in this field even in future”, says Dr. Dieter Zetsche, Chairman of Daimler AG and CEO of Mercedes-Benz Cars.

PRE-SAFE Structure

We’ll let Mercedes-Benz explain its operation:

“Imagine an inflatable mattress. When it is not needed, it is rolled up flat and e.g. consigned to a shelf in the attic. When inflated, however, it has a highly resistant structure that can easily carry a man weighing 100 kilograms. Inflatable metallic structures work in the same way: when not in use, the metal section is folded together to save space. Once its protective effect is needed, a gas generator just like those used to inflate airbags builds up an internal pressure of 10 to 20 bar within fractions of a second, the metal section is unfolded and the structure has significantly greater stability.”

Current hurdles to PRE-SAFE Structure production include the irreversibility of the application as well as the need to deploy the structure before a crash requiring a highly reliable probability factor from a vehicle’s pre-crash sensor system.

Braking Bag

The Braking Bag is an airbag that is installed and positioned between the front axle carrier and the underbody paneling. Responding to a signal from the vehicle’s pre-crash sensor, the bag deploys just before the crash and supports the car against the road surface through the use of a friction coating. The vertical acceleration causes additional friction resulting in additional braking before the impact resulting in several advantages including:

•    Additional scrubbing of speed

•    Reducing the effect of brake dive improving “geometrical compatibility” with the other party in the accident

•    The vertical movement improves the effects of the vehicle’s restraint systems as the seats more toward the passengers and the pre-tensioners are able to take up more slack in the seat belts

The overall effect of the braking airbag, according to Mercedes, is to create an additional “crumple zone.”

Interseat Protection

Designed to keep passengers from injuring each other during an accident, the Interseat Protection system involves two solutions – one for front seat passengers and one for occupants sitting in the rear seat.

The front seat system involves the deployment of a lattice-like airbag between the front seats keeps both driver and front passenger apart. In the rear, a seat divider located above the center armrest is activated (as part of PRE-SAFE®) and two head supports are deployed. As an added bonus, under normal driving conditions, the pad is designed to be extended by passengers where it can also be used as a head and shoulder support for a “comfortable sleeping position”.

All images courtesy of Mercedes-Benz

Tags: bela barenyi, braking bag, collapsible steering column, crumple zone, daimler, daimler-benz, dieter zetsche, esf 2009, esv conference, mercedes, Mercedes-Benz, pre-safe, ralph nader, vehicle safety, vehicle safety research