Integration of restraint systems in historic vehicles
Mr. Remon Hirsekorn completed his bachelor’s thesis for his studies in automotive engineering at the HTW Berlin in summer 2012. The topic of his work, which we advertised, is: “Integration of restraint systems in historic motor vehicles”. The protective effect of seat belts in the event of a car accident is well known, but many classic vehicles come from a time when either no seat belts were installed at all, or only static belts without a retractor mechanism whose comfort leaves a lot to be desired. Many of our customers express the wish to have three-point retractor belts installed in their classic cars at the front and rear. This wish is implemented more or less professionally by many workshops and it often remains unclear whether the desired protective effect is actually present in the event of an accident. Since our managing director, Dipl.-Ing. Roland Kayser, learned exactly what requirements are placed on restraint systems in modern vehicles and how these systems are tested in crash tests during his time as a body construction and test engineer at Ford in Cologne, he wanted to have scientifically investigated the best way to proceed when installing belts in a classic car.
Mr. Hirsekorn had already completed his practical semester in the Automobile workshop and had learned about the problem from his work in a classic car workshop. After consulting with the department, he decided on this topic for his bachelor’s thesis. In the course of his work, he first considered which belt should be installed where in which body shape. In order to find the optimum solution, he developed a system for locating the anchoring points. He then produced standardized samples for possible screwing and welding techniques with the help of our plumber Sebastian Łaguna. These samples were then subjected to tensile loads at different angles in the laboratory of the HTW Berlin on a tensile test machine until they failed. Load and extension diagrams for the individual samples were recorded by a computer. All samples were then scientifically evaluated. A catalog of requirements for the subsequent installation of seat belts was created from the installation guidelines, the various available belt systems and the evaluation of the tensile tests. Because we do not want to smash the restored vintage cars into which the belts will then be installed on the HTW crash track for testing, but still want to verify the results through a crash, the next crash tests at the HTW will be “crashed” with seat belts retrofitted by Atelier Automobile GmbH in accordance with Mr. Hirsekorn’s list of requirements. Since relatively new vehicles are being examined here, the original belt system on one side of the vehicle is compared with the belt system retrofitted on the other side of the vehicle.
In summary, we lovers of historic metal can say that Mr. Hirsekorn has succeeded in developing the most objective list of requirements for the installation of seat belts, which is very helpful to us during installation and which the Dekra assessors who inspect our vehicles really appreciate. Our vehicles, whose seat belts were installed in this way, even receive an H certificate from Dekra and our customers appreciate knowing that their seat belts were installed as professionally as possible.
If you would like, you can download the bachelor thesis here and read it at your leisure.