Safety Features
Safety Features1. General
The impact absorbing structure of the '08 LS600hL minimizes cabin deformation by effectively helping to absorb the impact energy in the event of a front, side or rear collision. This provides high-performance occupant protection.
2. Impact Absorbing Structure for Front Collision
A structure that ensures collision energy absorption efficiency, dissipates impact, and minimizes cabin deformation during a frontal collision has been achieved. This construction uses highly efficient crush boxes, front side members, and No.2 members for collision, as front pillars and front door inner reinforcements made with ultra high strength sheet steel.
^ A large front bumper reinforcement is used to efficiently dissipate the impact energy to the right and left front side members.
^ Highly efficient crush boxes made of extruded aluminum are provided at the front ends of the front side members. These crush boxes reduce the impact that acts on the front side members and minimize body deformation during minor collision.
^ The front side members are constructed as shown in the A-A cross sectional diagram, realizing high proof strength and excellent impact energy absorption efficiency.
^ A No.2 member for collision, which dissipates the impact of a collision, is provided at the front suspension member to realize compatibility as well as a high level of collision performance.
^ As one of the measures to dissipate the impact during a frontal offset collision, the front door belt line reinforcements have been constructed to transmit impact, thus reducing the load that is applied to the front pillars. The front pillars and front door inner reinforcements are made of highly rigid ultra high strength sheet steel.
^ The front ends of the rockers protrude forward of the vehicle. Upon receiving the impact of a frontal offset collision from the front wheels, the front ends of the rockers absorb the energy to minimize the deformation of the body around the cabin.
3. Impact Absorbing Structure for Side Collision
The body construction has been optimized to realize an effective transmission of the collision impact to the peripheral parts, such as from the center pillar to the roof reinforcements, rocker reinforcements, and floor cross members. This ensures the integrity of the cabin space and dramatically reduces body deformation.
^ Ultra high strength sheet steel is used in the center pillar reinforcements, thus realizing a compact, lightweight, and highly rigid center pillar construction (A-A cross section).
^ A pin joint is used to join the roof side rail with the roof reinforcement. During a collision, the pin joint acts as a fulcrum when the roof side rail collapses. This applies the impact to the roof reinforcement in an efficient axial direction, which reduces the deformation of the body (B-B cross section).
^ Bulkheads that are allocated optimally in the rocker enable the effective transmission of the impact from the center pillar to the floor cross member in a lightweight manner.
^ Energy absorbing pads are used inside the doors to dampen the impact energy of a side collision. In addition, pipes are provided in the seat cushion frames and reinforcements are added above the floor tunnel so that the seats can be utilized as structural materials to minimize the body deformation during a side collision.
^ A head impact protection structure is used. With this type of construction, if the occupant's head hits against the roof side rail or pillar due to a collision, the inner panels of the roof side rail, roof area and pillar collapse to help reduce the impact.
4. Lessening Pedestrian Head Injury
^ The hood inner panel has a safety wave construction with shelves. The beads that are provided at optimal heights that suit the areas enhance the energy absorption rate, thus pedestrian protection performance has been ensured during a collision (A-A and B-B cross sections).
^ Hood reinforcements have been allocated optimally in the front and rear. When an impact is received from a pedestrian during a collision, this construction dissipates that impact into a wide area. Thus, pedestrian protection performance has been ensured (C-C and D-D cross sections).
^ Energy absorbing brackets are used in the joint portion of the front fender. Thus, a certain deformation stroke in the event of a head form collision has been ensured and reducing the impact.
^ Both body rigidity and energy absorption stroke have been achieved by optimizing the shape at the back of the cowl and providing reinforcements. Thus, pedestrian protection performance has been improved.
^ Beads to reduce deformation impact are provided at the area where the cowl louver (which has a relatively high rigidity) and the inverter cover are joined. This makes the overall rigidity of the cowl louver more uniform, and ensures the proper energy absorption stroke.