Long time ago, I attended the ARAI Helmet Workshop at ARAI Helmet Head Office, which is located near Omiya Station, Saitama Prefecture. In fact, it is a very intense workshop that is very much discussed in the helmet industry. I will report the contents thoroughly!
This photo is taken in front of ARAI headquarters. The helmet, which has fought in the world, is displayed in the window on the right.
What is the ARAI helmet philosophy?
The workshop started with greetings from President Rio Arai, the ARAI Helmet President. He explained a brief history and corporate philosophy.
President Arai, Rio is 77 years old this year, but to my surprise, he is an active rider. He is also a heavy user of his own products. The idea of making a helmet under the theme of safety and comfort was introduced to the principle of "making something a little better than other manufacturers", and the idea had a great influence on the design and the structure, which I will inform later.
"Molding Section" pursuing materials and structures
The main feature of the workshop is not only to sit in a chair and listen to the story, but to see the actual factory.
I was guided to the factory by a staff member, and I first went to the molding department. In the molding department, the outer shell of the helmet, a so-called cap is manufactured. The cap accounts for about 50% of the weight of the helmet, and it is an important part to absorb and disperse the impact.
The ARAI helmet has adopted the "cLc structure" and higher structures in most of the manufactured products. The cLc structure is simply a sandwich structure. Materials with different characteristics are laminated and solidified with plastic to produce strength. Although the material is important in its structure, the ARAI helmet is particular about the material, and various materials are adopted including the in-house development.
In order to experience the strength of the materials that are actually adopted, the instructor handed us a "test piece" to be used in the strength test of the materials. 6 types of test samples were handed. Two types of FRP using ordinary FRP, carbon, Kevlar, super fiber, and carbon developed in-house.
I bent each one, but compared to ordinary FRP, which we commonly see in the fenders of motorcycles, FRP using the "super fiber" adopted by ARAI helmet was very stiff and hard to fold. This super fiber is 6 times the price of normal glass fiber and 3 times the strength, so I also bent a material called "super fiber belt" which was processed into a belt shape to further increase the strength. This was very difficult to break even for me, with the strength of a typical adult male. I am very surprised that FRP, however, will change so far in the research of the material.
This super fiber belt is used around the shield where it is hard to produce strength. "Dyneema", which is also used for bullet-proof vests, and "Zylon", which is said to be the strongest fiber of the class, are also used for these materials. These two materials are not necessarily used throughout the cap, but used for the top of the head utilizing the anti-penetration with its fiber. In addition, various innovations were taken such as the chin guard is filled with super fiber that has been thickened to the limit in order to further increase strength.
The cutting of the cap uses the laser cut by the industrial robot, and the laser cut which does not physically hit the blade can be cut without applying stress to the cutting surface. In addition, the molds used to manufacture these caps are made in-house, and the helmet manufacturers that produce the molds in-house are the only ARAI helmets in Japan. The advantage is that it can immediately reflect and fine-tune the design during the design and test phases. The system also provides the preference of preparing 3 kinds of caps according to the size for one type of helmet. Currently, two die making machines can be operated in parallel and one die making process can be made in a day.
After the cap is completed, the whole number is thickened over several times, and also inspected for the finishing. This inspection was very strict, and when 1g deviated from the specified weight, it was rejected as a defective product, and the thinner parts were repaired using superfiber.
What is surprising is that so far, most of the processes are not automated and are done by skilled craftsmen. The complex manufacturing process with the ARAI helmet was not automated but was always made by craftsmen.
Commitment to safety
This is the testing machine. There are 3 types of iron anvils to hit the helmet: flat, hemispherical and edge. The type of iron anvils in the photo is hemispherical. Next, it is a tour of the performance test of the helmet at the test site that is connected to the head office.
What showed is the impact test, penetration test, chin strap strength test, and shield penetration test. In the ARAI helmet, not only the SNELL standard but also the original safety standards were tested according to JIS standards and some products, and all of them were stricter than the standard.
In fact, the tests were actually conducted using the company's helmet to test FIA regulations (such as F1), which are said to be the most severe in the world. The result is passed level. In addition, the SNELL standard does not have a regulation, it is subjected to a test to shock the multi-part for one of the helmet, and the test is carried out assuming the actual accident. However, the instructor explains that the test is intended for putting numbers under the same conditions, not for reproducing a real accident.
Even the SNELL test, which is said to be severe, is about 27 to 28 km/h when fixing the speed of the collision to km/h, and the actual accident is that there is a lot of possibility of a collision at 80km/h or more. A helmet that can absorb the shock can not be made realistically. There is a design principle called "R75 SHAPE" of the ARAI helmet that we often see recently. R75 shape to dodge slipping, and cap strength for smooth sliding. There is a strong commitment to safety in the design without being satisfied with only the test result.
On the left of the photo, there is a helmet that is tested where it is hard to understand at the top of the test machine surrounded by red circles. The height is about 4m. On the right, there is a penetration test result. A direct penetration test is also performed on a weak drainage hole in terms of strength.
In order to absorb the impact and reduce the damage to the brain, the strength of the cap, and also the design is important, but the inner liner which plays the role of the cushion is also an important factor.
The ARAI helmet is the only one in Japan that uses a "multi-stage foam liner" according to the strength of the cap. Multi-stage foam liner is a technique to change the hardness of the inner liner to match the part of the cap, and the front part which is soft around the top of the head with the strength and hard to put out due to shield opening made by the hard inner liner to protect the head. Of course it is integrally molded.
Some users who have read this report may have questions about why it is necessary to change the hardness or to use a soft material, but that is actually the speed at which the inner liner collapses when the helmet is subjected to impact. Even if it is too hard, the damage to the brain will occur, and even if it is too soft, it will not absorb the impact. This softness means that the hardness of the inner liner is changed according to the position of the strength distribution of the cap, and this technology is unique to the ARAI helmet, which invented a combination of styrofoam inner liner made of FRP cap for the first time in Japan.
On the left of the photo, is a shield penetration tester. It uses the air pressure to hit the shield with an iron ball that mimics the bullet of a real air gun. On the right of the photo, is a shield penetration test result. Only a slight dent is visible in the part surrounded by a red circle.
Painting and assembly process
After the tour of the molding department and the inspection process, we took a bus and visited another factory in the prefecture.
As we perform the painting there, the instructor explained that there are currently 2 main types of painting. The first is the production method using the paint used for the helmet of the solid color model and the simple graphic, and the second is the method using the water transfer seal. Many models of complex graphics have been widely released recently, but many of the helmet manufacturers using water transfer seal.
The process was also performed by skilled craftsmen. The size of the decal is not changed according to the size of the cap, so fine adjustment must be made here by the hand of the craftsmen.
By the way, the water transfer seal used here is close to that used in plastic model, but it is another thing to fix by adding heat after transferring. By doing this, it is durable and long-lasting without being dissolved in the solvent contained in the clear painted finishing.
After that, we took another bus and moved to another factory. It is a tour of the assembly line. Recently, the company also assembles helmets and about 80% are meant for export.
Looking at the assembly line while being fascinated by flashy graphic helmets that were not distributed in Japan, I was able to see the polite behavior of craftsmen there as well. At first glance, anyone would think that a jig can be used to cut the hole in the shield holder, but it will be processed with fine-tuning depending on the product. This is a place that is directly connected to comfort and convenience when using a helmet, and it seems to be a place where you cannot be ignored.
After the final inspection, it is carefully packed waiting for the shipment. It takes about 20 processes, roughly 1 month and a half of production time. Shipment undergoes such stages before the helmet reached to the user's hand.
Passion for products
Finally, I received training about the handling method of the ARAI helmet. It can be seen everywhere that ARAI is particular with the detachment convenience of the shield and inner pad. I didn't know because I am not a spectacle user, but to my surprise, the products of the ARAI helmet were mostly compatible with the glasses.
In addition, fine adjustments are made possible according to individual differences and types of glasses. Recently, it seems that the number of helmets that support glasses has increased, but the ARAI helmet which already equipped with glasses is natural.
The ARAI helmet has an in-house touring point system and a system that allows employees to converts the travel distance into points. The top employees exceed 2,000km per month, and the president himself exceeds 1,000km. The company is also working on creating a user-friendly system that "we don't want to lose control of what we're used to". The product, which maintained first place in the US Customer Satisfaction Survey for 13 consecutive years, was created by the constant efforts of employees to ensure safety and comfort.
The ARAI helmet will launch a new flagship model, the RX-6X, in June. At first glance, it may look the same as the previous RR5, but the further pursuit of safety and performance has been made in order to ensure safety and aerodynamic performance such as the shield position has been lowered, and a mechanism that allows the visor to move three-dimensionally has been newly developed.
Certainly, Webike would like to introduce this report as your reference when the RX-6X will be released. We want the users to feel the passion for making things in their hands!
Brand information
ARAI: A helmet that pursues the world's highest safety and technology. The helmet, which was manufactured by applying the manufacturing method born from ARAI's unique state-of-the-art technology and the technology cultivated by the F-1, has achieved a significant weight reduction along with high strength.
