Controlling Airbag Inflation with a Solenoid
Customer Problem
Modern vehicle airbag systems deploy the airbag based on a number of criteria, including whether or not a seat is occupied, the weight of the occupant, and the speed of vehicle travel. An airbag that inflates too forcefully can injure a passenger. To properly control the force of inflation, an airbag system OEM needed a solenoid that would open a pressure relief valve to vent unwanted pressure when maximum inflation pressure was not needed.
The TLX Solution
TLX Technologies designed a miniature manual reset latching solenoid for the OEM. The solenoid’s armature was held in the latched, or ready, position by a permanent magnet without drawing any current. When the airbag inflation system needed to vent unwanted pressure, a short current pulse would cancel the magnetic field of the permanent magnet and release the armature, opening the pressure relief valve. To prevent the solenoid from accidentally re-latching during airbag deployment, a technician needed to manually reset the solenoid.
Miniature Manual Reset Latching Solenoid
- Stroke
- 2.5 mm
- Latching force
- > 28 N
- Supply voltage
- 6 to 16 Vdc
- Response time
- > 3 ms
- Coil resistance at 20°C
- 16.5 Ω ± 10%
- Spring load
- 5 N
- Current
- 0.7 A
All TLX components are customized to fit system requirements, meaning technical specifications are unique to each customer and design. Examples given on our website are for illustration purposes only.
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