Automobile manufacturers, designers, and cockpit systems integrators are in constant search for solutions in instrument panel designs that reduce the number of interruptions across styled interior contours. Eliminating the breaks across surfaces caused by functional seams or styling lines in traditional passenger airbag doors provides cleaner, more desirable interior aesthetics. Engineers require that this solution be efficient in terms of reliability, parts complexity, packaging space, and cost.
The purpose of this paper is to describe the design and development of a cost effective, simplified-architecture seamless passenger airbag door system for instrument panels. Through engineering thermoplastic material property advantages and scoring designs, this solution has a construction which may meet both styling and performance criteria while eliminating component parts such as hinges, tethers, brackets, inserts, fabrics, and fasteners. The system exhibits reliable and repeatable test performance under stringent environmental testing while remaining cost effective, efficient for manufacturing, and reducing mass.