ZF Says New Knee Airbag Module Industry’s Lightest

Automotive supplier ZF claims an industry first with its 2019 launch of a fabric-housing knee airbag with a major European automaker.

The new airbag is the lightest of its kind in the auto industry, weighing 30% less than a traditional metal-housing knee airbag, ZF says in a news release. Besides enhancing occupant safety, the module features a highly flexible design for various vehicle interior sizes and configurations, including cockpit concepts for future autonomous vehicles.

“The new ZF fabric-housing knee airbag will support a number of industry trends,” says Norbert Kagerer, senior vice president-occupant safety systems engineering. “The reduced weight leads to greater efficiency in fuel economy and reduced emissions, while the smaller and flexible packaging will help meet new interior design and safety demands for the electric- and autonomous-vehicle interiors of the future.”

The knee-airbag module will be produced using a new manufacturing process that allows for more precise module package configurations that help enhance the airbag’s quality and performance, ZF says. The fabric housing design will be configurable for all markets and light-vehicle ranges.

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