Safety Systems

“Win on Sunday, sell on Monday” has been a prime automotive marketing slogan for decades, but now it has been supplanted by one that is both newer and shorter – “Safety sells”.

When we are in our vehicles, we want not only to be safe, but also to feel safe. The feeling of safety comes not just from confidence that the safety systems in the vehicle will operate properly, but also from a combination of comfort, ergonomics and vehicle dynamics. Ticona’s high performance engineering resins have contributed in all of these areas.

In both active and passive safety systems, including seat belts, air bags, anti-lock brakes, traction control and the like, Ticona’s resins can play a key role in sensors and materials of construction.

For airbag covers that must resist sag, creep and deformation at high temperatures, yet remain ductile at very low temperatures, Vandar® thermoplastic alloys provide the needed performance. Seat belt inertia reel mechanisms call on the excellent frictional properties of Celcon® and Hostaform® acetal copolymers. These resins can also provide low delta-E color matches for the seat belt buckles and can help make the interior of a vehicle a visually more comfortable environment. The same is true with power seat mechanisms, where proper adjustment is not just a matter of comfort, but the passenger must be able to easily reach all-important controls. Again, the excellent friction and wear properties of Ticona’s acetal copolymers help make everything works smoothly and linearly.

With regards to the multitude of sensors that trigger air bags, seat belts, and anti-lock and stability control systems, as well as the connectors that hook these devices into the vehicle’s electrical network, designers can rely on Ticona’s resins for environmental protection, and superior insulation. Ticona offers Celanex® polybutylene terephthalate for standard duty connectors and sensors, Fortron® polyphenylene sulfide for sensors in high temperature or very aggressive chemical environments, and Vectra® liquid crystal polymers for complex thin-walled sensors needing a very high flow material.

The consistency and reliability of Ticona’s specification-approved products, made and supplied in accordance with QS-9000, are important factors in improving automotive safety, in terms of both being safe and feeling safe.