This thesis' work has been conducted at and made possible by Autoliv Sverige AB in Vårgårda. The aim of this thesis is to study how the occupant experience of the belt changes when it is moved from a traditional installation point in the car's B-pillar, to the seat. This shall be studied in terms of how the perceived comfort is influenced by a belt in seat in an upright and a reclined seat back position of 20 and 45 degrees, for different sizes of occupants. Also how the ability to reach a belt in seat is affected by the size and mobility of the occupant. Based on this new knowledge, an optimal outlet position for a belt in seat shall be proposed, from a comfort perspective. The work has used a cross-sectional research approach to achieve its purpose. Through the cross-sectional approach, several different qualitative and quantitative methods have been used. Initially, a literature study where subjects relevant to the forthcoming study was studied. Meanwhile, a competitive analysis of existing belt in seat installations in new cars available on the market was planned and carried out. In the main element of this work, a two-part comfort and mobility study with a belt in seat was performed. The study combined the methods interview, survey and observation. Through the interview, qualitative questions were asked as a complement to the quantitative responses given by the test subjects on scales in the survey. Observations were used to observe the subjects' behavior and difficulties regarding the belt in seat. A major limitation of the results of the study is the deficient distribution of sitting heights and genders in the group of test subjects, which founded a certain bias in the results. This has been the reason why it has not been possible to draw any certain conclusions from the results, however, some trends have been seen. The comfort study revealed several different assessments of the belt that contributed to discomfort, including the perception of the belt being too close to the neck or too far out on the shoulder. Additionally, the discomfort significantly impaired when the seat was reclined to the relaxed state. The mobility study showed that more subjects felt limited by their own bodies in the movement than by the belt. In addition did the reversed belt geometry create large discomfort issues at the neck. An important conclusion of this thesis is that the seat's design is as important to the customer experience of discomfort of the belt as the positioning of the outlet. It has also become clear that the accessibility of a belt in seat is strongly limited, as it was tested in this study.

The world is continuously moving, and so are the life on it. As our society is constantly evolving and the width of human needs are rising, do organization need to provide new solutions that can satisfy our needs. Consequently, every designer is going to meet new challenges whenever the situation calls for it. This is the situation that CEVT’s engineers have found themselves in and the reason as to why this engineering project has become relevant for their industrial development and innovation. The seatbelt designers at CEVT’s Restraints department have encountered a situation where it forces them to change their product as it can no longer be installed in the cars’ B-pillars. The company must investigate alternative positionings with regard to the car's new design criteria in order to recreate or improve the functionalities in both safety and comfort of their seatbelt system. My project objective is to investigate alternative positionings and components that are part of the classic three-point seatbelt system with an aim to ensure good user experience in the area of comfort. By the end of this thesis I ought to have answered the following Mission Statement: “Determine the most optimal positioning and components of the seatbelt system to reduce inertia for a fontal Belt-in-Seat, where the system’s performance should be comparable to the users’ experience from an installation of a seatbelt in a B-pillar.” To establish the best component combination out of the parts delivered from Autoliv AB and secure an optimal placement for the involved parts, have I followed the three-stage process described by IDEO (2015). The Inspiration phase has included a Literature study, benchmarking, analytical assessments of user needs as well as prepared and performed of a test on the seatbelt system. The Ideation phase was focusing on establishing a placement for the system's components through a brainstorming so that it could be mounted in a seat prototype prepared for the user experience tests performed. The last phase, Implementation, consisted of an analysis that was focusing on the feedback received from users of different anthropometry. But also concentrated on summarizing all data collected throughout the project to select the final concept for this assignment. / Världen och allt liv på jorden är i ständig rörelse. När samhället strävar efter utveckling uppkommer samtidigt nya behov hos människan och dess omgivning, vilket gör att olika organisationer och företag behöver leverera nya lösningar och designa artefakter för att tillfredsställa människans behov. Varje designer kommer att möta nya utmaningar när en situation tvingar dem att ändra sina produkter. Detta är en situation som CEVT:s bilbältesdesigners står inför och anledningen till att detta arbete blivit aktivt för företagets industriella utveckling inom innovation. Situationen som tvingar konstruktörerna att ändra bältessystemets design är att systemet inte längre kan monteras i passagerarbilens B-stolpar. Därför måste företaget undersöka alternativa positioneringar som överensstämmer med bilens designkriterier för att återskapa bältets funktionalitet som berör både säkerhet och komfort av deras bältessystem. Arbetets syfte är att undersöka alternativa positioneringar och de inkluderade komponenterna som utgör ett klassiskt tre-punkts bälte med målet att säkerställa en god användarupplevels inom området komfort. I slutet av projektet skall jag ha uppfyllt följande Mission Statement: “Bestäm den mest optimala positioneringen och komponenter av ett säkerhetsbältes system för att reducera krafterna från ett bältes-integrerat framsäte, en ’Belt-in-Seat’, där systemets prestandard skall vara jämförbart med användarens upplevelse av en installation av bältet i bilens B-stolpe.”   Jag har följt IDEOs (2015) tre-stegs process för att säkerställa den bästa kombinationen av komponenter som har tillhandahållits av Autoliv AB samt fastställa en optimal placering av varje komponent i systemet. Inspirationsfasen har inkluderat en litteraturstudie, benchmarking, analytiska bedömningar av användarens behov samt förberett och genomfört ett test på bältesystemets prestandard. Ideationsfasen fokuserade på att etablera en placering för systemets komponenter genom en brainstorming så att dessa kunde monteras i en sätesprototyp som förberetts inför testerna för att evaluera användarens komfortupplevelse. Den sista fasen, Implementation, bestod av en analys som fokuserade på feedbacken från testpersonerna som erhöll olika antropometri. Fasen kretsade kring att sammanfatta all data som samlats in genom hela projektet för att välja det slutliga konceptet för uppgiften.