Aircraft Seat Belts - Whether you're a seat builder, design partner, airline or play another key role in keeping travelers safe, you'll know how complex it can be to integrate passenger restraint systems into airplane seats. Such work is the focus of Schroth Safety Products ("Schroth"), whose motto is 'safety through technology'.
In this report, we will explain how we can help you develop the perfect solution for your seats, cabins and aircraft, and outline how some of the most complex and profound rules of aviation, when it comes to seat design. We'll also discuss the technical advancements in seat integration and occupant restraint systems, and how our work as a restraint system manufacturer can help seat makers certify new products faster and with less effort.
Aircraft Seat Belts
While working on this report, we also tried to make it a valuable resource for explaining the ins and outs of seat and cabin certification to non-specialist colleagues and contacts. We hope it will also be useful to you and your colleagues as a basic or introductory document.
Close Up Of A Young Woman Fastens A Seat Belt While Sitting In A Passenger Airplane Chair By The Window. The Concept Of Safety Measures For Passenger Flights In Aircraft Stock Photo, Picture
Air safety regulations and certifications are constantly changing. Either 14 CFR 121.311, CS-25, TSO-C114, CRI-A08, ETSO-C127b, SAE8049, or one of the other regulations, special conditions, similar safety findings - or other parts of this passenger wheel that protect. safe - we know it like the back of our hand.
Schroth works as part of the SAE SEAT committee to develop standards such as AS 8049, AS8043 and more, and can provide advice, suggestions and solutions at any time during the design and certification process.
Keeping passengers safe is a complex task, and regulations from civil aviation authorities such as the US FAA and Europe's EASA are the starting point. Most - but not all - of these regulations are currently harmonized, with the FAA and EASA saying the same thing. We know where they don't: for example where the FAA has been working recently on the TSO-C127c update. But, in general, the primary legislation is contained in 14 CFR Part 25 FAA or CS-25 EASA, such as section 25.785, which covers seat belts.
Certain aircraft equipment has been certified against FAA Technical Standards Order (TSO) or EASA European Technical Standards Order (ETSO), and for seat belts and restraint systems that are TSO or ETSO C22 (g) and C114. This TSO/ETSO document refers to the minimum performance standards set by SAE International, formerly the Society of Automotive Engineers and similar groups of standards for materials.
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In this case, it is SAE AS8043 and AS8049. Everything is very technical and detailed, and we know: we have been members of this organization for more than 20 years, and at that time.
But if something - say, a novel or innovative type of seat - is not covered in the TSO / ETSO document, it is a complicated place, with an individual certification demonstration
Process. The FAA calls it a Special Condition, and in the EASA it's a Certification Check Item, but both are official methods of certifying advanced technology.
Ensuring seating products can be certified and operated safely is a top priority, and successful integration and certification of occupant restraint systems is key.
Aircraft Seat Belt Seatbelt Buckle Fastened On Child / Child's Waist Hips Middle During A321 Plane / Aeroplane / Airplane Flight Stock Photo
Although there are many types of qualifications required - dynamic tests, static tests, integration tests, combustion tests, toxicity and smoke tests - one of the more complex elements of the certification process is the Head Injury Criteria, or HIC for short. Many people are familiar with the idea of automotive crash test dummies, and the system is similar - but separately complex in many ways.
At its core, the HIC is a measure of the likelihood of head injury arising from impact: in this case, forward motion and rebound motion in a typical crash scenario. HIC includes the magnitude of the head acceleration as well as the duration of the acceleration. HIC is calculated during both the forward motion and the rebound phase, the latter being especially important when the head hits a hard surface.
HIC formula: t1 and t2 are the initial and final times (in seconds) chosen to maximize the HIC function, and the acceleration a is measured in gs (standard gravitational acceleration). The time period, t2 – t1, is limited to a maximum value of 36 ms, usually 15 ms
HIC is not only about impact and front seat, it is also about acceleration, deceleration and rebound after impact. All of these factors can create problems for your chair.
Alitalia Airplane Aircraft Seatbelt Key Rack Holder Aviation
In economy class, seats in most rows use a breakaway feature that allows the back of the seat to rotate during an impact, acting as a sort of crumple zone. A standard two-point lap belt, of the type most commonly considered a normal aviation seat belt, is usually sufficient for this standard configuration.
But that can't be done in the exit row, where the seats must stay in place so as not to obstruct the transfer. You can probably add a shoulder belt there, and in some cases it is possible, but that means the seat has to be reinforced to take the high load of the shoulder belt. What's more, if the seat needs to be reinforced, that means it can't have the breakaway feature that's standard on most economy class passenger seats today. As a result, each seat in each row behind the reinforced seat must also have shoulder belts, and must be self-reinforced. Overall, this means a lot of extra weight, complexity and cost.
In bulkheads, too, either passengers must be separated far enough back to completely escape the bulkhead, or the restraint system or airbags must be deployed. This is a very complex engineering challenge, but Schroth has solved it many times for seat makers and all kinds of airlines using engineering skills and knowledge.
In premium economy, business and first class, things get more complicated, with herringbone seats angled away from the plane's centerline, seats facing the side or back, featuring privacy elements or wings that can go into the row, suite doors and more . more. And the rules are evolving and becoming stricter all the time.
Vehicleshop 2 Point Adjustable Aircraft Seat Belt Extension Buckle Strap
Whether it's 16g certification for newer aircraft, changes to Special Conditions and CRI documents, updated standards, additional areas of regulatory concern such as neck wound elements or free flails, we live and receive technical details like this.
Nij, the neck injury criteria for the cervical spine, refers to the special way we can now simulate the human body to react during an accident.
Take the airbag: in most cars, you are wearing a three-point belt and the steering wheel or dashboard is facing you at a very limited distance, and the main airbag goes out almost directly towards you, against the movement of your body. In most airline cases, the airbag is contained within the seat belt, usually the lap belt. This means, when it expands, it moves up, which creates some challenges around making sure it doesn't move the head too hard. Moreover, compared to an automotive driver or passenger airbag, the airbag contained in the passenger's seat belt inflates at a very different angle.
As a result, one of the certification challenges is to ensure that the inflation performance is consistent, and also avoid any adverse effects on the head and body of the occupants. Likewise, anything in the main aisle - an in-flight entertainment monitor, a business-class cocktail table or a surface above a stepped footwell, say - must be considered when designing seat belt and airbag solutions.
Universal Steel Aircraft Safe Seat Belt Airplane Buckle
And adding an angle to the mix, like a modern herringbone seat, means real skill and experience is needed to work towards certification.
Ensuring passenger safety in the event of an accident is very complex, with several specific and sometimes uncodified requirements. These test requirements include static testing of seats independently, seats lined up with each other, interaction with monuments in front of the seats - and that's before we ask other important questions such as fire, smoke toxicity and resistance to chemical corrosion. That last question has become even more critical during the Covid-19 pandemic, when cleaning routines have become more stringent than ever, with new products and protocols implemented by airlines and their cleaning providers.
Basically, though, when most people think of an airline seat belt, they think of a two-point belt, with an attachment to the seat on either side of the hip and a curved buckle in front. This is, in fact, the easiest way to keep passengers safe, and it is ideal for keeping them in their place during turbulence.
The two-point belt has a seat attachment on either side of the hip, and a buckle in the front
Au Compliant 1966 Gto Convertible Front 3 Point Seat Belts
As for most economy class seats, they are also suitable for passengers during critical phases of flight, including taxiing, take-off and landing. Thanks to the relatively limited space for movement, critical issues such as flail branches are minimised, while the generally sleek and streamlined appearance of modern chairs means there's little trouble around parts that prevent the seat from sticking.
But in situations where there is more space than that
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