Devices, systems and methods for shock absorption
AssigneeThe Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University
InventorsMichael G. Fanton, August G. Domel, Hossein Vahid Alizadeh, David B. Camarillo
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Abstract
Devices, systems, and methods for shock absorption are provided herein. Collapsible shock absorption devices have an inner wall having at least one orifice, an outer wall, and a fluid sealed within the outer wall can mitigate sharp increases in force during loading and can better distribute loading forces. In some cases, collapsible shock absorption devices disclosed herein are used for prevention of injury to a biological tissue of a subject or damage to an inanimate object.
Claims15
A device for absorbing external impact forces, comprising:
- a collapsible elongated chamber having a first wall which resists circumferential expansion;
- a refill chamber at least partially enclosing an outer surface of the first wall of the collapsible elongated chamber, wherein said refill chamber is configured to expand in response to an internal pressure;
- a membrane disposed between the inner surface of the wall of the refill chamber and the outer surface of the first wall;
- a reservoir space disposed between an inner surface of a wall of the refill chamber and the outer surface of the first wall, wherein an interior of the collapsible elongated chamber is in bidirectional fluidic communication with the reservoir space via at least one orifice disposed through the first wall;
- and
- an incompressible fluid contained in the interior of the collapsible elongated chamber, wherein the reservoir space receives the incompressible fluid to expand the refill chamber as the incompressible fluid flows from the interior of the chamber through the at least one orifice when the chamber is compressed by the external impact forces, whereby the impact forces are absorbed or dissipated by the device.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.