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press release
Newly developed lightweight, thin cable for side airbag harnesses
August 31, 2023
Fujikura Ltd.
Fujikura Ltd. (Director, President and CEO: Okada Naoki) has developed a new, lighter and thinner harness cable for sending electrical signals to automobile side airbags, and has begun offering samples.
【point】
- While maintaining the same resistance to external damage as PVC tubes, it is 30% lighter and 10% thinner than our current products.
- Increased freedom in cable layout and also contributes to weight reduction of side airbag systems
Side airbag systems, which cushion the driver and passengers from side impacts, require cables to transmit detonation signals, and these cables are laid out in narrow spaces.
Because it is necessary to prevent wire breakage due to impact or vibration, the wires inside the cable are protected by tubes made primarily of PVC (polyvinyl chloride) (hereinafter referred to as PVC tubes). However, Furukawa Electric has traditionally used a structure in which the exterior of the wires is covered with a sheath (cable outer jacket), which is lighter and thinner than PVC tubes, and which achieves the same high resistance to external damage as protection provided by PVC tubes.
In recent years, there has been a growing need to reduce the weight of vehicles in order to improve fuel efficiency and extend the driving range of EVs, and this has resulted in demand for even lighter and thinner cables as well.
In response to this growing need, we have developed a new cable for side airbag harnesses that uses a thinner conductor material with increased strength, while at the same time improving the damage resistance of the resin material while reducing the thickness of the insulator and sheath.
As a result, this product maintains the same resistance to external damage as PVC tubes, while being 30% lighter and 10% thinner than our current products.
This allows for greater freedom in cable layout and also contributes to reducing the weight of the side airbag system.
Currently, CASE (Connectivity, Autonomous, Shared & Service, Electric) is becoming a major theme in the automobile industry, and we are entering a once-in-a-century period of innovation in which vehicles are becoming more and more multifunctional with each passing year.
In this environment, Furukawa Electric will continue to utilize its unique technologies to pursue lighter and thinner cables for side airbag harnesses, thereby contributing to the realization of a carbon-neutral society that balances the development of the automotive industry.
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Cable schematic diagram
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Left: Current product (conductor 0.3㎟) Right: Developed product (conductor 0.13㎟)
| Current product | Developed products | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Conductor Size | 0.3mm2 | 0.13mm2 | |
| Trauma resistance | Equivalent to PVC tube | Equivalent to PVC tube | |
| Product weight * | 1 | 0.7 | |
| Cable outer diameter * | Minor diameter | 1 | 0.9 |
| Major Diameter | 1 | 0.9 | |
*Compared to current products
