Search Results

An airbag system for motorcycle applications was developed and commercially released in 2006 based on many research results on that system. In the airbag system, the bag should be supported during the period in a collision. The previously developed system employed a configuration in which the airbag was supported by the structures of the motorcycle, such as the instrument panel and the surrounding structures. These structures receive the reaction force to hold the airbag during a crash to properly absorb the rider's kinetic energy. Meanwhile, the previous system requires a larger area for these reaction structures and is applicable only to the motorcycles that can provide the area. To overcome this limitation, we propose an airbag system employing another concept. In this concept, the airbag does not use its vehicle structures as reaction structures but uses the structures of an opposing vehicle, such as doors and/or pillars.

Various examinations have been conducted on automatic hydraulic and electric motor-driven center stand systems for motorcycles. For practical application, problems, however, surfaced as to reconcile high output with small size including a backup mechanism to provide for possible failure in the system. Authors et al. have successfully developed a powerful, electric motor-driven power unit with a high-reduction gear transmission. Furthermore, by adopting high- efficiency worm gear for transmission, the unit was made both compact and lightweight. In addition, a backup mechanism was firmly established, that can be used even when the battery is discharged. As a result, it has become possible to install this automatic center stand system (auto-stand) in mass-production motorcycles.