X-Tethers and other expansion limiters woven directly into the fabric provide an ideal way of controlling how the airbag inflates.
With our looms, we can manufacture new generations of OPW products with up to four fabric layers. The X-Tethers woven into the fabric by this means create chambers within the body of the airbag. This system determines the three-dimensional form of the inflated airbag and enables account to be taken of the vehicle design and the position of occupants.
The floating pattern incorporated into the airbag fabric makes it possible systematically and precisely to determine the shape that each section of the airbag assumes on inflation.
Systems such as X-Tethers provide means of precisely controlling which sections of the airbag cushion are inflated on deployment.
The airbag is prevented from expanding uniformly in every direction by means of the tethers woven into the fabric. These are arranged in a criss-cross pattern, hence the name X-Tethers. Airbags whose inflated form is defined by X-Tethers are able to protect vehicle occupants in a much more targeted way.