Description & Operation: Notes

WARNING: This page does not describe the selected car, but rather 15 other vehicles, including the 1991 Volvo 940, 1991 Volvo 740, 1991 Volvo 240, 1990 Volvo 760, and 1990 Volvo 740. However, it is still accessible from the selected car via links, so may be relevant.

The main components of the Supplemental Restraint System (SRS) include an air bag/gas generator module, mounted to steering wheel; contact reel (clockspring), mounted in steering column; crash sensor and standby power unit, mounted under driver's seat; and SRS warning light, mounted in instrument panel light bar.

If vehicle's deceleration recorded by crash sensor is sufficiently high, crash sensor delivers a voltage charge triggering gas generator. Gas generator then produces a quantity of non-toxic nitrogen, which fills air bag in a few hundredths of a second. Immediately after air bag inflates, gas is released through a ventilation hole on rear of air bag module, causing air bag to collapse. The entire sequence of air bag inflation and collapse takes about 0.2 seconds.