New ‘Smart Seat Belt’ By ZF Automatically Adjust Itself To An Occupant’s Size

German auto engineering firm ZF has perhaps improved upon the humble yet effective three-point seat belt by developing a self-adjusting 'Smart Seat Belt' system.

Renowned German auto engineering firm ZF recently made wave when it unveiled new seat belt tech that features built-in self-heating abilities, called the ‘Heat Belt’, thus making it rather nifty for cold climates and winter driving.

And it seems ZF has continued efforts to innovate the humble three-point seatbelt further as the firm recently developed a new ‘Smart Seat Belt’. Basically, ZF has engineered a seat belt that self-adjusts itself to the size and stature of the occupant.

Crucially, convenience wasn’t the main goal here, but enhanced collision safety instead. In fact, during a collision, the ‘Smart Seat Belt’ system uses sensors to continually measure the pressure applied at different points of the incident, and uses it to adjust the belt tension appropriately.

At the core of this tech is a Multi-Stage Load Limiter (MSLL) that adapts the restraining force of the belt accordingly in a collision. This, in turn, sees the seat belt become an intelligent, flexibly controllable component towards the concept of vehicle safety, says ZF.

In most cars today, the three-point seat belt design is designed to retract when a collision is detected, thus keeping occupants restraint in their seats instead of flailing about. The latter can cause greater injuries or worse – death.

However, the amount of force needed to restraint occupants in their seats varies according to both their weight and height. ZF’s ‘Smart Seat Belt’ system is designed to prevent further injuries caused by belt being either too tight or too loose at the wrong time.

ZF even notes that the system can offer small and light persons better adapted individual protection in the event of moderate accidents (impact speeds of up to 35 KM/H). This applies, for example, to children in the rear seat.

The form further adds that older people, who have a higher risk of injury due to age dependent changed bone structure, can also benefit from this. In addition, the system also potentially improves occupant safety for heavy people in overload accidents (with impact speeds above 56 km/h).

At the heart of ZF's Smart Seat Belt tech is a 'Multi-Stale Load Limiter' (MLSS) that continually measure the pressure applied and automatically adjust the belt tension. 

At the very least, in theory, occupants fastened in their seat with the ‘Smart Seat Belt’ should experience far less aching or sores caused by the seat belt during a collision. 

ZF didn’t get into details as to when this tech will make its way into production cars. However, given the German firm’s renowned position and history of delivering effectively good hardware and tech, we reckon it won’t be long before we see this tech appear soon in mass market cars.