A collapsible safety seat for a vehicle, comprising:
- a generally horizontally extending seat pan assembly having a front transverse axis and a rear transverse axis parallel to, and spaced from, said front transverse axis;
- a generally vertically extending seat back assembly;
- and
- at least one seat support assembly, which includes
- a front leg having an upper end pivotally connected to said seat pan assembly for rotation about said front transverse axis of said seat pan assembly, and a lower end which includes a first axis parallel to said front transverse axis of said seat pan assembly, said front leg being pivotally connected to a floor of the vehicle for rotation about said first axis, said front leg extending upward at an angle to said floor in the direction of travel of the vehicle,
- a rear leg having an upper end pivotally connected to said seat pan assembly for rotation about said rear transverse axis of said seat pan assembly, and a lower end which includes a second axis parallel to said first axis and said front and rear transverse axes of said seat pan assembly, said rear leg being pivotally connected to the vehicle floor for rotation about said second axis, said rear leg extending upward at approximately the same angle to said floor in the direction of vehicle travel as said front leg, and
- an energy attenuator having a first end, an opposite second end, a trolley which is movable along a predetermined path between said first and second ends of said energy attenuator, and energy absorbing means, which when said trolley is moved in one direction along its path of travel by a first force, exerts a second force on said trolley opposing said first force, said trolley being pivotally connected to said seat pan assembly for rotation about said rear transverse axis of said seat pan assembly, said trolley being positioned adjacent said first end of said energy attenuator, said second end of said energy attenuator including a third axis parallel to said first and second axes, said energy attenuator being pivotally connected to the vehicle floor for rotation about said third axis, said energy attenuator extending upward at a second angle to said vehicle floor in a direction opposite to the direction of vehicle travel;
- whereby upon the occurrence of a vehicle crash, said trolley is moved downward and in the direction of travel of the vehicle toward said second end of said energy attenuator by a crash deceleration force against the opposite force exerted on said trolley by said energy absorbing means, to move said seat downward and in the direction of vehicle travel at a rate of deceleration which is less than the rate of deceleration of the surrounding vehicle structure, said energy attenuator being disposed so that as said trolley is moved toward said second end of said energy attenuator, said first end of said energy attenuator is moved into said seat back assembly.