Safety pre-impact deceleration system for vehicles
First Claim
1. Safety pre-impact deceleration system for vehicles, said system comprising:
- a parachute structure including at least one air cell formed therein, said at least one air cell having a controllable expansion thereof, a control system operatively coupled to said at least one air cell to control the expansion thereof, a sensor system measuring predetermined operational parameters of the vehicle, and a processor unit analyzing data corresponding to said measured operational parameters and issuing a control signal once the measured operational parameters deviate from a predetermined threshold range, said control signal being coupled to said control system to control the expansion of said at least one air cell, thereby maintaining said operational parameters within said predetermined threshold range.
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Abstract
A safety pre-impact deceleration system for a variety of conveyances includes a parachute structure formed from air bags inflated with gas. Alternatively, the parachute structure includes a canopy with orifices. Air spaces in the parachute structure or orifices in the canopy have adjustable and selective dimensions to control the operational parameters of the vehicle. The system includes sensors and rapid exposure rate cameras with continuous loop recording to measure operational parameters of the vehicle and to predict possible collision. Once a collision condition is detected, audio/video images are stored on storage media. The air bags are deployed and inflated. In addition to air bags constituting the parachute structure, a plurality of air bags are provided to be deployed external the vehicle to aid in a safe landing.
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Citations
27 Claims
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1. Safety pre-impact deceleration system for vehicles, said system comprising:
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a parachute structure including at least one air cell formed therein, said at least one air cell having a controllable expansion thereof, a control system operatively coupled to said at least one air cell to control the expansion thereof, a sensor system measuring predetermined operational parameters of the vehicle, and a processor unit analyzing data corresponding to said measured operational parameters and issuing a control signal once the measured operational parameters deviate from a predetermined threshold range, said control signal being coupled to said control system to control the expansion of said at least one air cell, thereby maintaining said operational parameters within said predetermined threshold range. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method for controlling landing of a vehicle, comprising the steps of:
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attaching a parachute structure to the vehicle, forming at least one air cell in said parachute structure, operatively coupling a control system to said at least one air cell, positioning a plurality of sensing units at predetermined locations at the vehicle, measuring operational parameters of the vehicle by said sensing units, and controlling an expansion of said at least one air cell in accordance with said measured operational parameters of the vehicle, thereby keeping said operational parameters of the vehicle within a predetermined range thereof. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A safety pre-impact deceleration system for a vehicle, comprising:
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a parachute structure attached to the vehicle and deployed upon detection of a pre-collision situation, said parachute structure including a plurality of inflatable air bags interconnected in a grid-like structure and forming a plurality of air spaces therebetween;
an inflating system coupled to said plurality of the inflatable air bags; and
a control system coupled to said inflating system to control expansion of each of said plurality of the air spaces by controllably inflating said inflatable air bags to direct the motion of the vehicle in collision.
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Specification