Multimodular multistage high impact collision energy absorber

• US 20070205066A1
• Filed: 03/06/2006
• Published: 09/06/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 03/06/2006
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Ram Vairavan, Sridharan Vinayagamurthy
• Original Assignee: Ram Vairavan, Sridharan Vinayagamurthy
• Inventors: Vairavan, Ram, Vinayagamurthy, Sridharan
• Application Number:
  US11/367,344
• Publication Number:
  US 20070205066A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 188/376
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 19/34 destroyed upon impact, e.g. one-shot type
• CPC Class Codes: F16F 7/125 Units with a telescopic-like action as one member moves into, or out of a second member F16F7/124, F16F7/127, F16F7/128 take precedence

Abstract

This invention relates to a collision impact energy absorber that offers to absorb shock, impact and subsequent damage to vehicles in motion and other moving objects that require safety from impacts. This device fitted at appropriate impact zones of vehicles and crafts that move on and over land, air and water is capable of absorbing impacts of very high order and enhances the safety of lives and property. These can act in single units or in clusters where impacts of very high order are anticipated. The impact energy is directed into the hollow housing unit by a ram shaft that dislocates a series of vertically positioned sectional plates placed at intervals thereby absorbing the energy of the impacts on the host vehicle. This device is fitted as multimodular mode in tandem and also as multiple integrated modules to enhance its load dissipation efficiency.

Claims

1. A multistage collision impact absorber device in the form of a longitudinal cylindrical housing made up of two equal parts that are fitted together to form a cylindrical housing;

with concentric grooves at regular or irregular intervals at the inner wall of the cylinder to accommodate a series of metallic convex plates designated as sectional shear plates, perpendicular to the wall of the cylinder;

with a flange cover at both ends of the cylinder;

with a strip of thickened layer of the housing wall running along the length at the top and bottom in alignment with the cutter face of the axial shaft;

with fasteners that clamp the two halves of the body together and with clamps that integrate the housing with the chassis of the host body;

fixed to the inner wall grooves are a series of sectional shear plates that are placed perpendicular to the axis of the cylindrical housing that have a hole in their center, with convexities at both sides and a fragmentation facilitation grooves at the edge of plate on both sides where the plates meet the groove;

the outer rim outside the shear grooves remaining inside the inner positioning grooves of the cylindrical body;

an axial ram shaft with a outer buffer plate and an inner buffer ram head with convexity that faces the first sectional shear plate inside the housing;

the shaft of the ram rod running along the length of the housing passing through the central hole of every sectional shear plates to the rear end of the housing;

this shaft also has a cutter plate that is aligned to the thickened outer layers of the cylindrical housing;

on impact the outer buffer plate of the axial ram shaft transfers the impact load by moving inwards;

this movement causing the inner buffer head of the ram shaft colliding with the first of the sectional shear plate causing it to dislocate from the inner groove of the housing and move towards the second shear plate which in turn impacted by both the inner buffer head as well as the first of the dislocated shear plate;

the second shear plate is dislocated by this motion and moves on to the third plate and so on till the last of the shear plates are dislocated leaving behind the outer rim of the sectional shear plates to remain in the inner groove of the cylinder;

the impact load of the collision being dissipated in the process of shearing the series of sectional shear plates;

the device fitted to anticipated collision impact regions as an extension of the basic structural frame of the host vehicle and integrated with it.

2. The collision impact absorber device of claim 1 where the entire mechanism is housed inside a cylindrical metallic housing that is integrated with the host vehicle with fasteners and other methods.

3. The collision impact absorber device of claim 1 where the cylindrical metallic housing has concentric grooves at regular determined intervals at its inner wall.

4. The collision impact absorber device of claim 1 where the concentric grooves are fitted with a series of sectional shear plates where the outer rim of the plates are firmly positioned inside the grooves.

5. The collision impact absorber of claim 1 where the sectional shear plates are convex at both sides and have a shear facilitation groove at the outer rim and a hole at the center.

6. The collision impact absorber of claim 1 where the axial ram shaft that has an outer buffer plate and an inner convex buffer plate to transfer the impact load on to the sectional shear plates.

7. The collision impact absorber of claim 1 where the axial ram shaft runs along the entire length of the housing through the holes in the center of the sectional shear plates.

8. The collision impact absorber device of claim 1 where axial ram shaft has a cutter plate fitted behind the outer buffer plate facing the cylindrical housing.

9. The collision impact absorber device of claim 1 where a strip of hardened metal is implanted or forged along with the cylindrical housing aligned along with the cutter face.

10. The collision impact absorber device of claim 1 where a row of fasteners clamp together the two equal halves of the metallic cylindrical housing after the sectional shear plates and the axial ram shaft is placed inside.

11. The collision impact absorber device of claim 1 where a impact load results on the outer buffer plate the axial ram shaft transfers the load on to the series of sectional shear plates.

12. The collision impact absorber device of claim 1 where the transferred impact by the axial ram shaft on to the sectional shear plates causes them to shear along the shear facilitation grooves at their outer rim leaving the shorn outer rim to remain in the inner concentric grooves of the metallic housing.

13. The collision impact absorber device of claim 1 where the thickened layer of metallic strip is torn by the cutter face as an additional impact dissipation measure after all the sectional shear plates are shorn of their grooves.

14. The collision impact absorber device of claim 1 where the housing units can be placed in tandem along the chassis with the axial ram shafts aligned to transfer the impact loads on to more than one series of sectional shear plates to effect increased load absorption capacity.

15. The collision impact absorber device of claim 1 where the metallic cylindrical housing can be made as a extended module where more than one set of sectional shear plates are placed with inner buffer plates fitted at desired intervals in between the sets of shear plates to achieve increased load absorption capacity.