Joyson Safety Systems Japan Co., Ltd., Mizuno Co., Ltd. and volunteer groups Cart!vator and SkyDrive Co., Ltd. are pleased to announce that we have jointly developed a passenger seat and have started a performance confirmation test. We are aiming for practical use in 2023.

Background to joint development

Cart!vator and SkyDrive are promoting joint development of the "flying car" and aiming to start sales in 2023. While developing the aircraft, the seat for passengers, which has a shock absorbing function to protect passengers during an emergency landing, is one of the most important components of the "flying car". The fact that ready-made products with this level performance are extremely rare and difficult to obtain, and even if they can be obtained, the ready-made products are developed for existing aircraft, so it is assumed to be a "flying car" and usage condition. The challenges so far have been the differences and the difficulty in handling.

Under these circumstances, JSSJ, a global leader in the field of automobile safety, which has been developing the safety field of automobiles for over a century by promoting the development of seat belts, airbags, child seats, etc., and Mizuno, a sports goods manufacturer, cushioned shoes, Cart!vator and SkyDrive have developed a lightweight, high-performance "seat buffer built-in seat".

We have been conducting research and development over the past year and have recently conducted a performance confirmation test. The outline and results of the Performance test summary and results

In the test for the purpose of confirming the performance of the passenger seat prototype, we used an SLED tester that can simulate a collision state for confirming the performance of automobile seat belts and airbags. As a result of the test, it was confirmed that Mizuno Wave will perform as designed, and it is possible that the load (load level) on the lumbar spine of the occupant can be suppressed to a much lower level than in general seats for aircraft.

With the characteristics of jointly developed occupant seats like the conventional Mizuno Wave, the desired impact characteristics can be given to the shock absorber by adjusting the shape of the wave plate instead of adjusting the physical properties of the material. Many development cycles can be performed in between, and the development period can be shortened. In addition, because of the characteristics of the wave plate, the contradictory functions of cushioning and stability can coexist, so some components necessary for a seat with a general shock absorber can be omitted. Therefore it is easy to reduce the weight.

In the future, we will continue to promote the development of passenger seats for "flying cars" by the four companies, with safety as our top priority, and contribute to the creation of a new mobility society.