Plastic Foam Reduces Weight Of Rear Seat-Back

JSP's Arpro energy-absorbing plastic foam has helped to reduce the weight and cost of the BMW 5 Series' rear seat-backs, by 15 and 10 per cent respectively. The design team's idea was to use a three-part structure to create a lighter seat-back, capable of passing statutory impact tests and BMW's own test schedule: at its centre is a section of energy-absorbing Arpro, with an injection-moulded carrier facing the passengers and a layer of carpet facing the luggage compartment.

All three components contribute to impact resistance. The new sandwich seat-back design offers great versatility to BMW, which has integrated its manufacture into the cockpit-production facility. 'The seat-back sandwich technology can also be extended into other models and other applications,' said Karl Niebauer, BMW's head of technology - interior section. BMW calculates that the weight saving totals 1.2kg on an already 'weight-reduced' component.

Other benefits include a reduced number of components, the elimination of numerous process steps, and improved recyclability. Manufacturing has just begun in Wackersdorf for delivery to BMW assembly plants in Germany and China. The design project began in 2005 and series development of the new sandwich seat-back started in July 2007.

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