A thrust bearing configuration for rotary applications includes a shaft having an external surface and a housing having an internal surface. The protection device includes a front portion that has a panel presented towards the vehicle seat, a rear portion adjacent the instrument panel, and top and bottom portions interconnecting the front portion and the rear portion to define an inflatable volume. The supporting bearings are movable in such a way that the bearing points move along lines that have a fixed position relative to the supporting frame, which lines intersect each other at a fixed reference point lying on the same common circle and in the operating state lying in a plane that is defined by the contact line and the center point of the common circle. The interlocked end piece halves are then secured with a weld. The cooling jacket may be formed of a ceramic material and may be of a monolithic construction. The semiconductor structure has an Al metal layer on the topmost interconnect plane for providing Al bonding pads.