Ford begins development of roof-mounted airbags and applies for a new patent.

Ford has filed a second patent application for a roof-mounted airbag designed to provide enhanced crash protection to vehicle occupants.

The automaker filed a patent application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in 2021 showing a roof-mounted airbag that deploys from the headliner of a vehicle and surrounds the occupants (publication is in late 2022). A second application showing a similar concept has now appeared.

This second patent application, published on January 26, 2023, focuses on an airbag that covers the space between the front seats and the dashboard. Unlike the previous application, which described an elaborate circular enclosure that drops from the headliner and covers the occupant, this version shows a simpler, curtain-like airbag that deploys in front of the driver and front seat occupants.

While this application seems to focus on the front row use case, it appears that this design could also be used in the second and third rows. Ford shows the interior of a three-row car in one of the attached drawings.

Unlike previous versions, however, this design does not appear to be specific to autonomous vehicles, something Ford mentioned in its first patent application. That patent application also depicted a vehicle with airbags on the roof and seats facing inward, but nothing like that is seen here. Ford has somewhat scaled back its autonomous driving research since the first application was published, ending its investment in Argo AI.

This second application may be an attempt to recalibrate the technology for conventional vehicles. Ford is still working on this and has also applied for a patent for an external airbag system that would deploy from behind the vehicle's grille in the event of a crash. However, it remains to be seen if any of these novel airbag systems will make it into production.