Toronto, Ontario — Ford Motor Co. has recently filed a patent for a bumper-mounted inflatable device aimed at protecting civilians from potential vehicle collisions.
According to the patent, the bumper-mounted inflatable device is intended to prevent pedestrian collision fatalities by adding two inflatable devices into the front bumper, one that would deploy upward and another that would deploy downward.
Using these two airbags, the patent indicates that a pedestrian would be sandwiched and protected from blunt impacts as well as from being pulled underneath the vehicle.
This invention would exist in accordance with regulations in Europe and Japan revolving around leg-injury criteria for pedestrian protection.
As with all patents, there is no guarantee that Ford’s new invention will make it into future vehicles. However, the device is in line with other Ford ideas developed in the past such as moveable roof-supported airbag systems and seat airbag systems.
