The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.

The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.

Date of Patent:
Apr. 25, 2023

Filed:

Feb. 13, 2018
Applicant:

The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University, Stanford, CA (US);

Inventors:

Elliot W. Hawkes, Santa Barbara, CA (US);

David B. Camarillo, San Francisco, CA (US);

Srinivasan Arul Suresh, Stanford, CA (US);

Mehmet Kurt, Hoboken, NJ (US);

Michael G. Fanton, Los Altos, CA (US);

Mark R. Cutkosky, Palo Alto, CA (US);

Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
F16F 13/08 (2006.01); A42B 3/06 (2006.01); A42B 3/12 (2006.01); F16F 9/34 (2006.01); F16F 9/10 (2006.01); F16F 9/32 (2006.01); A63B 71/08 (2006.01); A63B 71/10 (2006.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
A42B 3/064 (2013.01); A42B 3/121 (2013.01); A63B 71/081 (2013.01); F16F 9/10 (2013.01); F16F 9/3207 (2013.01); F16F 9/34 (2013.01); A42B 3/125 (2013.01); A63B 71/10 (2013.01); A63B 2209/00 (2013.01); A63B 2243/007 (2013.01);
Abstract

A protective impact device is provided that produces an approximately constant force during compression. The device distinguishes several structural features. First, the cross-sectional area in between two impact surfaces increases over the stroke distance when compression takes place. Second, a compressible fluid containing vessel, held in between two impact surfaces, defines an outer shape with a positive second derivative slope defined from one impact surface towards the other impact surface. Third, orifices allow the fluid to bleed out from the compressible vessel when an impact force causes compression of the protective impact device. The resulting approximately constant force scales more or less linearly with impact energy, regardless of impact velocity caused by the impact force. Applications include athletic equipment, automotive bumpers, aircraft landing gear, and any other application that would benefit from maximum energy absorption during an impact.


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