Fluid-actuated support for vehicular seats

Abstract

An apparatus for preventing whiplash related injuries to a passenger in a vehicle. The apparatus includes a frame supported on a seat of the vehicle, and a head and neck restraint secured to said frame and located behind the cranium and cervical spine of a passenger on the seat. The restraint comprises one or more fluid pressurized bladders, the walls of which are a tough flexible skin. The walls define a supporting means located behind the cranium and cervical spine of the passenger and define at least one contour that interfits with the posterior contour of the passenger's cranium and cervical spine. The contour includes a first surface located behind the passenger's cranium and projecting upwardly above the approximate center of mass of the passenger's cranium and a substantially flat portion including a cranium contact zone for contacting and supporting the approximate central posterior area of the passenger's cranium, and a second surface located below the first surface and defining in vertical cross-section a substantially convex smooth curve. The maximum horizontal protrusion point of the curve projects anteriorly relative to the flat portion of the first surface a distance of 1 to 6 inches, the maximum protrusion point being about 3 to 9 inches below the cranium contact zone, so that the second surface contacts and supports the posterior portion of the passenger's cervical spine substantially simultaneously with the contact of the passenger's cranium with the first surface. This substantially simultaneously decelerates the cranium and cervical spine during a vehicle collision to prevent whiplash-related injuries to the passenger.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.