Mexican Media Brands
Ford Patents Retractable Table for Self-Driving Cars
Ford Motor Co. has received a U.S. patent for a retractable table, complete with its own airbag system, for use in autonomous vehicles.
Share
Ford Motor Co. has received a U.S. patent for a retractable table, complete with its own airbag system, for use in autonomous vehicles.
The concept would allow passengers in swiveling seats to sit around a small table in a reconfigurable interior. Ford says the table could be designed to be attached and retracted into the floor, the roof, door pillars or other structures.
Ford says the system could be used in a vehicle built on a unibody or body-on-frame platform. The airbag could be mounted to the top of the table or to its pedestal, and inflated either radially or transversely.
The design would allow amenities that “take into account the reduced operation monitoring provided by the autonomous vehicle," Ford engineers note in the patent. The central table could serve as a conference center for co-workers, dining counter, game desk or just a common area for passengers to interact while traveling.
Ford plans to introduce a vehicle capable of Level 4 autonomy by 2021.
RELATED CONTENT
-
Plastics: The Tortoise and the Hare
Plastic may not be in the news as much as some automotive materials these days, but its gram-by-gram assimilation could accelerate dramatically.
-
on lots of electric trucks. . .Grand Highlander. . .atomically analyzing additive. . .geometric designs. . .Dodge Hornet. . .
EVs slowdown. . .Ram’s latest in electricity. . .the Grand Highlander is. . .additive at the atomic level. . .advanced—and retro—designs. . .the Dodge Hornet. . .Rimac in reverse. . .
-
When Automated Production Turning is the Low-Cost Option
For the right parts, or families of parts, an automated CNC turning cell is simply the least expensive way to produce high-quality parts. Here’s why.
