Volvo marks 50 years of child protection with new inflatable child seat
The best way to travel in a car, according to Volvo, is to face backwards for it minimizes the likelihood of whiplash injury in the event of a collision. The way cars are designed, however, makes such a requirement unfeasible, so we will have to rely on the strength of our necks to withstand the strain.
The weaker neck of a child may have problems, however, and it is why Volvo recommends that children travel in vehicles mounted in child seats facing rearwards until at least 3 to 4 years of age. In 1964, inspired by how astronauts travel rearwards, Bertil Aldman, medical doctor and subsequently Professor in Traffic Safety at Chalmers University of Technology, developed the first prototype of a rear-facing childseat in collaboration with Volvo.
That was 50 years ago, and since then, Volvo has ceaselessly pioneered a variety of innovations aimed at boosting the safety of children in its vehicles. The company recognizes the differences in anatomy and relative strength between children and adults, thus maintaining the need for special child restraints in moving vehicles.
In 1967, Volvo offered the option of a reversible front seat complete with a padded backrest with straps in the Volvo Amazon. Five-years later in 1972, the company offered its first rearward-facing child seat. Not satisfied with ensuring the safety of toddlers, Volvo upped its game in 1976 by introducing the booster cushion allowing children below the height of 140cm to sit higher up and be more effectively restrained by the standard three-point seat belts fitted in their cars. In 1990, the Volvo 960 debuted booster cushions integrated into the rear seats – a feature which is still found in some Volvo models of today, but enhanced to offer two seating heights.
This admirable spirit of innovation in the name of safety continues, and in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of its collaboration with Dr Aldman, Volvo rolls out revolutionary Inflatable Child Seat Concept, an innovation that makes carrying a child seat around a much more convenient affair than what parents of today go through.
Lawrence Abele, Design Manager at the Volvo Monitoring and Concept Center in Los Angeles and the designer behind the new seat, had his two children in mind while designing the concept seat: “For me child safety is always the number one priority and when we lived abroad with two toddlers we had to haul bulky child seats through airports and then into taxis. For many, traveling with young children is a challenge; any assistance to simplify the parents’ life with young children is a great thing.”
The seat has an innovative pump system that is silent and efficient in its construction. It inflates in less than 40 seconds and deflates with an integrated pump. Total weight of the seat less than 5 kg, half the weight of a contemporary seat, and it is constantly online via Bluetooth enabling a wide range of features, including remote controlled inflation. It fits into a weekend bag together with other necessities for your child.
“We used a unique material called drop-stitch fabric when creating the prototype of the seat. This fabric is very strong when inflated as it can be brought to a very high internal pressure. It is a quite common technology in the boating industry and was originally developed by the military in an effort to develop inflatable airplanes”, says Maria Hansson, Project Manager at Volvo Monitoring and Concept Center in Los Angeles.
KON
Pictures: Official Volvo release.
