A real nest
Driver and passenger airbags for 6 cars on 14.80 m of 1400 mm fabric, 88% used
Round driver panels (the rear one with inflator and vent holes), heat shields, inflator rings, tethers and vent patches, and a passenger airbag's main and side panels: 78 parts. The woven fabric is the same in both directions, so panels turn in 90° steps; rings fill the gaps between the round panels, and vent patches are cut from inside the heat shields. Its first marker was 17.20 m; the search kept going and cut it to 14.80 m.
| Part | Per set | Rotation | Tilt | Mirror |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| passenger-main | 1 | 90° steps | – | no |
| passenger-side | 2 | 90° steps | – | no |
| driver-front | 1 | 90° steps | – | no |
| driver-rear · 3 cut-outs | 1 | 90° steps | – | no |
| heat-shield · 1 cut-out | 2 | free | – | no |
| tether | 2 | 90° steps | – | no |
| inflator-ring · 1 cut-out | 2 | free | – | no |
| vent-patch | 2 | free | – | no |
- parts placed
- 78
- material used
- 87.9%
- marker length
- 14.80 m
- gap between parts
- 1 mm
- search time
- 10 min
Want to see how Lescut nests your own parts? Start a free trial or send us your parts.
The problem
Round panels, high volumes and dear fabric
Circles leave gaps
Driver airbags are round, and round panels on a straight roll leave triangles between them. Small parts must fill those gaps for the marker to be efficient.
Every percent, a million times
Airbag programmes run for years at high volume. A marker that saves one percent saves it on every vehicle of the programme.
Process rules
Panels follow the weave, holes and seams sit at fixed distances, and every marker change goes through approval, so a better marker must be easy to produce and check.
Applications
Where airbag nesting software is used
Driver airbags
Round front and rear panels with inflator and vent holes, heat shields and tethers.
Passenger airbags
Large main panels and side panels, nested with the small parts of the same fabric.
Side and knee airbags
Smaller cut-and-sew bags that fill the gaps between large panels.
Motorcycle and wearable airbags
Airbag vests and jackets: many small panels, often in coated fabric that must not flip.
Seat-belt airbags and safety textiles
Narrow and odd-shaped parts nested with the programme's other parts.
Settings to start from
A starting point for airbags
Rules per part come from text in your file (NAME, QTY, GRADE, ROT, TILT, FLIP) or the parts table; the rest is saved once in a nesting profile that starts every job.
| For | Setting | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Woven panels, balanced weave | ROT:90 | the same fabric in both directions; 90° steps fill more |
| Coated fabric | FLIP:N | the coated face stays on the same side |
| Heat shields and patches | ROT:ANY | round parts turn freely and fill gaps and rings |
| Gap | 0.5–1 mm | laser kerf on airbag fabric is small |
| Time | 10+ minutes for a programme marker | a marker cut a million times deserves a long search |
Preparing your files
From your CAD to Lescut
Lescut reads DXF and SVG; each closed outline is a part and each closed outline inside it a hole.
- Draw inflator and vent holes as closed outlines inside the panel: they are cut, and small parts may be nested inside them when they fit.
- Put seam lines and positioning marks on MARK or STITCH so they are marked, not cut.
- Keep each programme's parts as one library, so markers for it are always made from the approved geometry.
Good to know
What Lescut does not do
- One-piece woven (OPW) airbags are woven to shape: their cut position is fixed by the weave, so Lescut does not nest them. It nests cut-and-sew parts.
- Lescut does not correct for fabric distortion or drive the laser; your cutting software does.
- One fabric width per job.
Savings
What better nesting is worth in airbags
The same parts need the same area of material however they are nested, so a better yield means buying less of it. Airbag fabric is a high-performance polyamide sold by the metre, and programmes run for years at high volume. The starting figures are an example for a cut-and-sew plant; enter your own.
80% today → 82.0% with nesting. This is your assumption; the trial measures it on your own files.
Engine time: how the plan is chosen
Count every lay cut from a marker; most markers need 2 to 5 minutes, and longer jobs keep shortening them. Your monthly volume divided by this gives the jobs a month, and the calculator picks the cheapest plan whose engine minutes and job length cover them.
The yield gain is your assumption; the trial measures it on your own files. More on how the fabric savings calculator works.
Pricing
Airbag nesting software plans, free for 7 days
Every plan starts with a 7-day free trial with engine minutes to nest your own parts against the rolls you would have used. Add a card when you sign up; you are charged only if you keep the plan.
Textile Starter
€29 per month
120 engine minutes, 8 vCPU per job, jobs up to 2 min
- Roll nesting: fixed width, shortest marker
- Rotation, grain and flip rules per part
- Part-in-part nesting
- DXF / SVG in, DXF / SVG out, layers kept
- Stripe and plaid matching, folded and tubular markers
- 1 user
€0 for 7 days. Card required. Cancel any time.
Extra engine minutes are €0.50 each, with up to 30% off. All fabric nesting plans.
Airbag nesting software: questions
Does Lescut nest one-piece woven (OPW) airbags?
No. OPW airbags are woven to shape and cut where the weave puts them. Lescut nests cut-and-sew airbags: panels, heat shields, tethers, reinforcements and patches cut from flat fabric.
Can small parts be cut from inside heat shields and vent holes?
Yes. A closed outline inside a part is a cut-out, and smaller parts of the job are nested inside it when they fit with the gap.
Which laser cutters can use the markers?
Any whose software imports DXF or SVG. Each marker keeps the parts' original layers and curves.
Can we automate marker making for many programmes?
Yes, through the REST API on Pro and Enterprise plans, with geometry sent with each job if you prefer nothing to be stored.