Impact-injury-minimizing seat structure and methodology

• US 20060061158A1
• Filed: 07/22/2004
• Published: 03/23/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 07/22/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Old West Federal Credit Union
• Original Assignee: MJD Innovations, LLC
• Inventors: Dennis, Michael R.
• Granted Patent: US 7,354,106 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 297/216.160
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/4242 vertical
• CPC Class Codes: B60N 2/42754 of the cushion
• CPC Class Codes: B63B 2029/043 Seats; Arrangements thereof on vessels
• CPC Class Codes: B63B 29/04 Furniture peculiar to vessels floatable furniture B63C9/30
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 11/0619 with energy absorbing means specially adapted for mitigating impact loads for passenger seats, e.g. at a crash
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 11/06205 Arrangements of airbags

Abstract

A vehicle safety seat and related methodology featuring (a) an anti-spring-back seat platform having a generally upwardly facing support surface, (b) a triggerable acceleration structure disposed cooperatively relative to that support surface in a manner whereby the acceleration structure is operatively interposed that surface and any person occupying the seat, with this acceleration structure being triggerable to accelerate such a person generally upwardly away from the support surface, and (c) trigger structure responsive to the detection of a preselected downward deceleration of the seat platform to trigger the acceleration structure. A viscoelastic, acceleration-rate-sensitive cushioning structure is selectively interposed the acceleration structure and any seated occupant.

Claims

1. A vehicle safety seat comprising

a fixed-position, anti-spring-back, panel-form seat platform having a generally upwardly facing support surface, adapted to provide effective underlying support for a seat-occupant cushioning structure disposed above said surface

a triggerable acceleration structure disposed cooperatively relative to and above said support surface in a manner whereby it is operatively interposed that surface and any person occupying the seat, triggerable to accelerate such a person generally upwardly away from and relative to said support surface, thus to increase the vertical distance between such a person and the support surface, and

trigger structure responsive to a preselected downward deceleration of said seat platform to trigger said acceleration structure.

2. The seat of claim 1, wherein said acceleration structure includes fluid-extensible structure.

3. The seat of claim 2, wherein said fluid-extensible structure takes the form of an inflatable air bag.

4. The seat of claim 1 which further includes an acceleration-rate-sensitive cushioning structure operatively interposed said acceleration structure and any person occupying the seat.

5. The seat of claim 4, wherein said cushioning structure is viscoelastic.

6. Vehicle seat structure for minimizing compression spinal injury in a seated occupant on the occurrence of a defined, catastrophic, downward vehicle-deceleration event, said seat structure, in operative condition, comprising

a seat frame anchored in a non-springy manner to the frame in a vehicle,

a fixed-position, non-springy, occupant-seat-support panel anchored to said seat frame, and having a generally upwardly facing occupant support expanse which faces upwardly away from said frame,

a triggerable acceleration structure operatively disposed above, and in effective contact with, said expanse in a manner causing the acceleration structure to be vertically interposed said expanse and any seated occupant, said acceleration structure being operable, when triggered, to react against said underlying support structure and to initiate an explosive, upward acceleration for any such seated occupant, thus to produce an increased vertical separation between said seat panel and any such seated occupant, and

a catastrophic threshold sensor operatively connected to said acceleration structure, operable, on the occurrence of the mentioned, defined, catastrophic vehicle-deceleration event, to trigger the operation of said acceleration structure.

7. A vehicle-associated, seated-occupant, catastrophic-impact safety practice comprising

providing a non-springy seat panel for carrying the load of a seat occupant, detecting downward deceleration of such an occupant, and

on such detected deceleration exceeding a predetermined threshold value, and utilizing the provided seat panel as a non-moveable reaction structure, explosively upwardly accelerating the occupant relative to the seat panel thus to reduce that occupant'"'"'s downward vertical velocity.

9. The safety practice of claim 7 which further utilizes acceleration-rate-sensitivity in association with said accelerating step.

8. (canceled)