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US 5,813,649 AGranted
Energy-absorbing deformable bracket
AssigneeSimula, Inc.
InventorsLeslie D. Peterson, Charles N. Whitaker, John A. DiPalma
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A constant-load deformable bracket for protecting the occupants of vehicles and/or objects from injury or damage resulting from vertical acceleration or deceleration. The constant-load deformable bracket starts to deform when the magnitude of the vertical force on the bracket reaches a predetermined value. In vehicle applications, the deformable bracket is installed between a seat and its platform. The deformable bracket may also be used in a storage container to protect goods.
Claims40
An energy-absorbing bracket formed from a unitary metal sheet comprising:
- (a) an upper flat section, said upper flat section having a first edge;
- (b) a lower flat section parallel to the upper flat section, said lower flat section having a first edge;
- (c) a first flat slanting section having a first edge and a second edge, wherein the first edge of the first slanting section is joined to the first edge of the upper flat section forming a common edge between the upper flat section and the first flat slanting section;
- (d) a second flat slanting section having a first edge and a second edge, wherein the second edge of the first slanting section is joined to the first edge of the second slanting section, and wherein the second edge of the second slanting section is joined to the first edge of the lower flat section, forming a common edge between the first flat slanting section and the second flat slanting section and a common edge between the second flat slanting section and the lower flat section;
- (e) means for attaching the lower flat section to a mounting platform;
- and
- (f) means for attaching the upper flat section to a seat, wherein the bracket exhibits roughly constant load deformation when subjected to a load in the vertical direction above a predetermined threshold value such that, above the predetermined threshold value, the load in the vertical direction required to further deform the bracket is roughly constant until the bracket deformation is at a maximum.
4 more elements
An energy-absorbing deformable bracket formed from a unitary metal sheet comprising:
- (a) an upper flat section;
- (b) a lower flat section parallel to the upper flat section;
- (c) a first flat slanting section, wherein the first slanting section has a common edge with the upper flat section;
- (d) a second flat slanting section, wherein the second slanting section has an edge in common with the first slanting section and an edge in common with the lower flat section;
- (e) means for attaching the lower flat section to a mounting platform;
- and
- (f) means for attaching the upper flat section to a seat, wherein the bracket exhibits elastic deformation up to a predetermined load in the vertical direction, and inelastic deformation at the predetermined load, and wherein the load in the vertical direction required to continue deforming the bracket remains at roughly that predetermined load as the bracket continues to deform until the bracket deformation is at a maximum.
4 more elements
An energy-absorbing deformable bracket formed from a unitary metal sheet comprising:
- (a) an upper flat section;
- (b) a lower flat section parallel to the upper flat section;
- (c) a first flat slanting section, wherein the first slanting section has a common edge with the upper flat section, and wherein the first slanting section has a first initial moment with respect to vertical loads;
- (d) a second flat slanting section, wherein the second slanting section has an edge in common with the first slanting section and an edge in common with the lower flat section, and wherein the second slanting section has a second initial moment with respect to vertical loads;
- (e) means for attaching the lower flat section to a mounting platform;
- and
- (f) means for attaching the upper flat section to a seat, wherein the bracket exhibits elastic deformation up to a predetermined load, and inelastic deformation thereafter, wherein the upper flat section is roughly directly above the lower flat section, and wherein the load required to continue deforming the bracket remains at roughly that predetermined load as the bracket continues to deform at the predetermined load, because the decrease in the load required for continued deformation due to the increase in the moments of the first and second slanting sections as the bracket is deformed is counteracted by the increase in the load required for continued deformation due to work hardening of the metal sheet.
4 more elements
A constant-load deformable bracket comprising:
- (a) a flat rectangular upper section having mounting holes therein;
- (b) a flat rectangular lower section having mounting holes therein which is roughly parallel to the upper section;
- and
- (c) two flat rectangular slanting sections, wherein the bracket is formed from a single unitary metal sheet which is bent along three roughly parallel lines at first, second and third predetermined angles to form the upper section, the slanting sections and the lower section, and the thickness of the sheet metal and the width of the slanting sections are selected such that, as the bracket undergoes inelastic deformation in the vertical direction, the load in the vertical direction required to continue inelastically deforming the bracket does not change by more than 10% as the bracket is deformed from its initial configuration to its maximum deformation.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.