Tangram Design Tangram Design
Projects
- Volvo Concept Center
Volvo inflatable child seat

Helping Volvo to drive innovation in child safety

Children’s car seats are bulky, hard to move, and tedious to mount. Tangram Design assisted the Volvo Monitoring and Concept Center in designing an inflatable child seat concept based on innovative drop-stitch technology.
Tangram was asked to assist the Volvo internal design team on this project based on our previous experience and technical knowledge in the design and prototyping of drop-stitch inflatable products.

Client
Volvo Concept & Monitoring Center

Services
Research
Industrial Design
Mechanical Design
Prototyping

www.volvo.com

The drop-stitch inflatable fabric technology used to create the bladder portion of the seat was originally developed for use in the military and boating industries. The fabric is characterized by 2 surfaces that are connected by a large number of threads. When the 2 sides are connected with a sidewall and inflated the threads create tension in the structure allowing for inflation to high-pressure and a much more rigid surface than a typical inflatable product. Tangram had previously worked with Walker Bay Boats on the design and development of their line of inflatable kayaks and docks.

Our previous experiences provided the Volvo design team with in-depth information and guidance regarding the opportunities for innovation and limitations of working with drop-stitch fabric.