FORD Patents External Vehicle Front Airbags, Better Occupant and Pedestrian Safety Insight

Ford filed a patent application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in March 2021 which was published on September 1st 2022 for an external airbag system that would deploy from a vehicle's front grille in an event of a collision. 

This airbag would basically function like a normal airbag which is now commonly found on most cars supplementing the vehicles seat belts to restrain and protect occupants. Just like a normal airbag, this external airbag would be deployed in an event the vehicle's sensors detect an impending collision to the vehicle's front. The grille mounted airbags would then deploy to cover pretty much all vital areas especially the vehicle's front hood.

Stated in the patent application, Ford has plans for this system to be used in most passenger vehicles which includes cars, SUVs, crossovers, pickup trucks, and vans, taxis and even buses. It is also indicated that this external airbags system is to be employed in future autonomous vehicles.

However, to put into perspective, Ford wasn't the only company toying with the external airbag idea. Back in 2019, ZF, a German auto parts supplier had demonstrated prototypes of an external airbag system for side-impact crashes. It was said to be able to provide an additional crumple zone and help absorb the energy of impacts resulting in a 40% reduction in injuries. 

Now, with both Ford and ZF having proved with data on the usefulness of the external airbag system, the race is on on who would actually be able to one day successfully outfit it to a mass production vehicles which would mean the sensors need to be able to work perfectly in deciding an impending collision vs a near miss avoidance. Similar external airbag tech can be found in the bike world where riding apparel brands managed to outfit airbags into their riding suits.