Chinese supplier Yanfeng has announced new passenger seat safety technology.

The supplier said the new seat was intended to reduce “injuries from collisions when occupants are seated in a large angle reclined forward seating position”.

New smart cabins have different seats than current vehicles which include large angle reclined forward positions and movements such as rotation.

Yanfeng claimed to have made “significant progress in collision protection” for such applications and has gained 60 patents.

“The company has been exploring this field for many years, attempting to reduce the serious injuries caused by road accidents with new product technologies,” said Ni Jiawen, chief technology officer of the Yanfeng Tech Centre.

A Pre-crash Seat Rapid Return system ensures that when the ADAS or SDS determines a collision is imminent the passenger seat is rapidly adjusted to a safer position.

The Follow Up Seat (FUS) system returns the seat to the appropriate backrest angle after collision if ADAS or SDS fails to detect an unavoidable collision of if there is no pre-crash function. The company said this improves “restraint protection for the occupants”.

All Belt to Seat (ABTS) allows for seat belt locking under different seat back angles.
The Buttock Airbag (BAB) in the front of the seat aims to reduce the inertial rush forward in the early stage of a collision. This is to offset the lumbar spine force, reducing spinal pressure.

The Hoodie Airbag (HAB) system is an “all-in airbag” which, when deployed, protects the occupant’s head, neck, and chest in different collision scenarios.

Yanfeng said the technology was applicable for current (Level 0 to 3) and future (Level 3 to 5) autonomous driving vehicles.