Nissan Develops World’s First Clear Paint
that Repairs Scratches on Car Surfaces With Time
TOKYO -- Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., has developed the world’s first clear
paint that repairs scratches on painted car surfaces, including scratches from
car-washing machines, off-road driving and fingernails.
“Scratch Guard Coat” contains a newly developed high elastic resin that helps prevent scratches from affecting the inner layers of a car’s painted surface. With “Scratch Guard Coat,” a car’s scratched surface will return to its original state anywhere from one day to a week, depending on temperature and the depth of the scratch.
The water-repellant paint also has a higher resistance to scratches compared with conventional clear paints. A vehicle painted with “Scratch Guard Coat” will have only one-fifth the abrasions caused by a car-washing machine compared with a car covered with conventional clear paint. Scratches from car-washing machines account for the majority of scratches to painted car surfaces.
“Scratch Guard Coat” is effective for about three years.
“Scratch Guard Coat” will be applied for the first time on an SUV model that is scheduled for a partial makeover in the near future. The paint will be applied to the car’s chassis, bumpers, door mirrors and front under mirrors.
Nissan collaborates on next generation in-car safety systems
Nissan has been collaborating in an exploratory project to develop bone-scanning technology which will maximize the protection offered to occupants in the event of a car crash.
Nissan’s Technical Centre Europe (NTCE) is one of several automotive organizations involved in the bone-scanning project, called BOSCOS (Bone Scanning for Occupant Safety). The aim of the project is to develop technology which can adjust the deployment of on-board safety systems to account for the density of the occupants’ bone structure.
In recent years, huge progress has been made in occupant protection from the introduction of seat-belt pre-tensioners, steering wheel mounted airbags, then passenger, side- and curtain airbags. The BOSCOS project is intended to take these safety devices to the next level of effectiveness.
Research taken from analysis has shown that injuries such as fractured ribs and sternum result from the deployment of airbags and the high forces that are applied when seatbelts are used in accidents. In particular, older drivers and passengers who have weaker bones or medical conditions, such as osteoporosis, can suffer from fractures as a result of the deployment of airbags and seatbelts.
The bone-scanning system works by using ultrasound technology to analyze the bone density of the occupants and it can then adjust the force of the airbag and seatbelt pre-tensioners to maximize the protection offered by those devices, and at the same time minimize the risk of injury as a direct result of their deployment.
To analyze the bone density, occupants place their finger in an aperture upon starting the car and an ultrasound reader measures their bone density. With the results recorded, the various safety devices will calculate the optimum level of deployment to protect the occupants, whilst minimizing their risk of injury.
Although the deployment of airbags and the momentary high forces exerted on the chest by the seatbelt during accidents can occasionally cause injuries, it is well known that these injuries are significantly less serious than the injury that would likely occur to the occupants without the intervention of a seatbelt and airbag.
At the moment, there is no schedule for when this technology will first be employed on a commercially available vehicle.
The consortium includes: the Cranfield Impact Centre, part of Cranfield University’s School of Industrial and Manufacturing Science and TRW Automotive. NTCE is Nissan’s engineering and development facility in Europe. With sites in Cranfield, Bedfordshire, Barcelona, Madrid, Brussels and Germany, NTCE employs 700 people who work on European projects, as well as projects for non-European markets.
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