Nils Ivar Bohlin (17 July 1920 – 21 September 2002) was a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

mechanical engineer Mechanical may refer to: Machine * Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement * Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations of ...

and inventor who invented the three-point safety belt while working at

Volvo The Volvo Group ( sv, Volvokoncernen; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distributio ...

Biography

Born in

Härnösand Härnösand () is a locality and the seat of Härnösand Municipality in Västernorrland County, Sweden with 17,556 inhabitants in 2010. It is called "the gate to the High Coast" because of the world heritage landscape just a few miles north of H ...

, Sweden, Bohlin received a diploma in mechanical engineering from Härnösand Läroverk in 1939. In 1942 he started working for the aircraft maker

Saab Saab or SAAB may refer to: Brands and enterprises * Saab Group, a Swedish aerospace and defence company, formerly known as SAAB, and later as Saab AB ** Datasaab, a former computer company, started as spin off from Saab AB * Saab Automobile, a fo ...

as an aircraft designer and helped develop

ejection seat In aircraft, an ejection seat or ejector seat is a system designed to rescue the pilot or other crew of an aircraft (usually military) in an emergency. In most designs, the seat is propelled out of the aircraft by an explosive charge or rock ...

s. In 1958 he joined

as a safety engineer. He is credited with the invention of the modern three-point safety belt, now a standard safety feature in all cars. Bohlin worked on the seat belt for about a year, using skills in developing ejection seats for SAAB; he concentrated on keeping the driver safe in a car accident. After testing the three-point safety belt, he introduced his invention to the Volvo company in 1959 and received his first patent (number 3,043,625). Ten years later, he led the Central Research and Development Department for Volvo in 1969. In 1974, he was awarded the Ralph Isbrandt Automotive Safety Engineering Award, and in 1989 he was inducted into the Hall of Fame for Safety and Health. He received a gold medal from

Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences The Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences or ''Kungliga Ingenjörsvetenskapsakademien'' (IVA), founded on 24 October 1919 by King Gustaf V, is one of the royal academies in Sweden. The academy is an independent organisation, which prom ...

in 1995 and in 1999, was inducted into the

Automotive Hall of Fame The Automotive Hall of Fame is an American museum. It was founded in 1939 and has over 800 worldwide honorees. It is part of the MotorCities National Heritage Area. the Automotive Hall of Fame includes persons who have contributed greatly to a ...

. He retired from Volvo as Senior Engineer in 1985 and was posthumously inducted into the

National Inventors Hall of Fame The National Inventors Hall of Fame (NIHF) is an American not-for-profit organization, founded in 1973, which recognizes individual engineers and inventors who hold a U.S. patent of significant technology. Besides the Hall of Fame, it also oper ...

. Bohlin died on 21 September 2002 at the age of 82, of a heart attack and was buried at Torpa Church in Ramfall,

Ydre Municipality Ydre Municipality (''Ydre kommun'') is a municipality in Östergötland County, southeast Sweden. The municipal seat is located in the town of Österbymo. The municipality was created through the local government reform of 1952, when six former ...

, Sweden.

Personal life

During his adult life, he was married to Maj-Britt Bohlin. He was stepfather to Maj-Britt's two sons and then had two children together and thirteen grandchildren.

Effects on history

The three-point seat belt changed the world by preventing injuries during a car crash. The US

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA ) is an agency of the U.S. federal government, part of the Department of Transportation. It describes its mission as "Save lives, prevent injuries, reduce vehicle-related crashes" relat ...

says that the seat belt saves about 15,000 lives per year in the US. In addition to designing an effective three-point belt, Bohlin demonstrated its effectiveness in a study of 28,000 accidents in Sweden, and presented a paper at the 11th Stapp Car Crash Convention. Unbelted occupants sustained fatal injuries throughout the whole speed scale, whereas no belted occupants were fatally injured at accident speeds below 60 mph. No belted occupant was fatally injured if the passenger compartment remained intact. The study resulted in the U.S. Department of Transportation requiring three-point seat belts in American cars. In 1968, the new seat belt design was made free for the public to use. In most industrial countries, occupants are required by law to use seat belts.

Notes

References

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Sources

* Dredge, Richard. ''Volvo''. Haynes Publishing: Sparkford, UK, November 2003

External links

* ''Safety Belt'', filed August 1959, issued July 1962. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bohlin, Nils 1920 births 2002 deaths 20th-century Swedish inventors Automotive safety pioneers Seat belts