Welding & Gases Today Editor’s Blog 
  

Cool compressed oxygen released from under-seat gas cylinders

Ford Motor Company is bringing to market the world’s first automotive inflatable seat belts, combining attributes of traditional seat belts and air bags to provide an added level of crash safety protection for rear seat occupants.

The advanced restraint system is designed to help reduce head, neck and chest injuries for rear seat passengers—often children and older passengers who can be more vulnerable to such injuries.

Vehicle safety sensors determine the severity of the collision in the blink of an eye and deploy the inflatable belts’ air bags.  Each belt’s tubular air bag inflates with cold compressed oxygen, which flows through a specially designed buckle from a cylinder housed below the seat.

The inflatable belt’s accordion-folded bag breaks through the belt fabric as it fills with air, expanding sideways across the occupant’s body in about the same amount of time it takes a car traveling at highway speed to cover a yard of distance.

The use of cold compressed gas instead of a heat-generating chemical reaction—which is typical of traditional air bag systems—means the inflated belts feel no warmer on the wearer’s body than the ambient temperature. The inflatable belt also fills at a lower pressure and a slower rate than traditional air bags because the device does not need to close a gap between the belt and the occupant.

The inflated belt helps distribute crash force energy across five times more of the occupant’s torso than a traditional belt, which expands its range of protection and reduces risk of injury by diffusing crash pressure over a larger area, while providing additional support to the head and neck. After deployment, the belt remains inflated for several seconds before dispersing its air through the pores of the air bag.

Ford is introducing inflatable rear seat belts on the new Ford Explorer, which goes into production this year for the North American market. Ford eventually plans to offer the technology in vehicles globally.

A major problem captains of merchant ships face in dealing with piracy is that they are restricted by international law as to what force they can use to protect their vessels, particularly in the use of lethal firearms. In addition, using firearms could encourage pirates to fire back—a dangerous scenario for tankers carrying flammable oil or similar cargo.

In response to this problem, BCB International has created the Buccaneer Ship-Borne Shore Launcher, a cannon device that provides ships at sea with a means of at-sea rescue or a deterrent against attacks by pirates.

Using either compressed gas from cylinders or a ship’s compressed air system, the Buccaneer can deploy anything from single-man life rafts, lines or netting to solid projectiles up to a range of 350 yards.

In the case of piracy, the idea is that if an unwelcomed vessel approaches, a length of rope or netting can be fired from the Buccaneer into the boat’s path. A parachute attached to the rope allows it to land on to the surface of the water.

With little time to react, the pirate vessel speeds over the rope and entangles its propellers, rendering the boat powerless. With the pirate craft incapacitated, the target ship is able to escape the threat unharmed.

Are you looking for ideas to draw attention to your gases and welding distributorship?

A great way to do that is through community projects—teaming with local schools, your gases and welding customers, city agencies and others to create activities and events that benefit the community while demonstrating your pride at being part of it.

A great example of this recently took place in Battle Creek, Michigan, where Cutler Enterprises and the Arts and Industry Council of Battle Creek Unlimited—the city’s economic development organization—created a competition for local students who were asked to create artwork representing their ideas of Battle Creek.

Shouldice Brothers, a Battle Creek metal fabrication shop, then took the artwork and reproduced it in steel panels that will hang in large arches at the entrance to the city as part of a downtown revitalization plan.

The steel images include Sojourner Truth, a man with a healthy heart, a Battle Creek Central High School girls’ basketball player and a cityscape featuring a giant bowl of cereal.

Dave Van Middlesworth, one of the owners of Shouldice Brothers, said he thought the project was a good chance to give back to the community. “It’s kind of neat that we’re doing something for the entry to the city,” he told the Battle Creek Enquirer, “and trying to give back a little bit along the way, work with the kids and promote them along the way.” Van Middlesworth said the combined supplies and labor cost about $23,000.

The student artists were invited to the fabrication shop to see the steel panels being made. A Shouldice Brothers employee showed them how the artwork was scanned and sent to fabrication. The demonstration quickly moved over to the high-definition plasma cutter, which used electricity and compressed gas to slice through steel plates and make the artwork.