A Safer Small Car
The new Federal CAFE rules require that future cars get much better fuel economy. On average, cars will have to get lighter, which means less steel.
On the other hand, new Federal rule will require that cars become safer in crashes. Removing steel makes cars less safe.
The car companies have difficult design goals to meet.
I have invented a way to make cars safer in collisions. Small cars need the invention more than large cars.
However, in side collisions, even large cars deliver huge g forces onto the passengers.
The invention uses a box of energy absorbing material that is connected to bumper shafts that stick out of the box.
During an accident, the shafts compress the energy absorbing material which absorbs collision energy.
This reduces the G forces on the passengers.
The energy absorbing material is shared between side and rear bumpers.
The bumpers are deployed before driving and retracted when parking.
The bumpers are NOT deployed just before an accident is anticipated.
The side bumpers may be hidden by running boards. Click HERE to see a modern use of running boards.
Until recently, I believed that the energy absorbing material was going to be aluminum honeycomb or a metal foam.
I now believe that rigid polyurethane foam is the best material. It is much lower in cost than metal foams,
and it is already used by the auto companies in energy absorption applications.
The article (below) in WIRED Magazine Autopia blog gives cost estimates of my invention that are based on aluminum honeycomb.
I will soon place REVISED cost estimates, on this website, that are based on the use of polyurethane foam.
Click HERE to see article about the invention in WIRED Magazine Autopia blog.
Click HERE for another blog article that discusses the new NHTSA Side Impact Pole Test.
Click HERE to see a brochure from the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety called Shopping for a Safer Car 2010.
The brochure has a graph that shows that small cars have a collision death rate that is DOUBLE that of large cars.
The invention has been granted a US Patents 7,695,018 and 7,699,347.
Click HERE to see the US Patent figures on Google Patents. The figures cannot be seen on the US Patent website.
The PDF Download option does not work. Select "Read this application"
and be sure to select "Page images" and NOT "Plain Text".
Mercedes Benz has invented a new type of side bumper. They call it PRE-Safe and it is a device that expands explosively
on the side doors of a vehicle. It might require the anticipation of an impending collision to fire the device, which is a difficult task to accomplish.
PRE-Safe is described on a web site whose link is HERE. The PRE-Safe devices are the red shapes on the front and rear doors. A detailed description
is given half way down the page.
The PRE-Safe devices extend a few inches. My invention extends a foot or more. More extension is better when g force reduction is desired.
The federal government (NHTSA) has created a new crash test that makes a car crash sideways into a pole at 20 mph.
Click HERE to see a side crash into a pole.
Click HERE to see another side crash into a pole.
Click HERE to see why the invention is needed.
Click HERE to see the invention details.
Click HERE to see an "aftermarket" version of the invention.
Contact me at steve.shoap@alum.mit.edu
Click HERE to see an irrigation system that installs quickly.
Click HERE to see a system for fighting wildfires
Click HERE to see how the existing cell phone system can give emergency warnings to everyone in a particular cell.
Click HERE to see my Bio
The new Federal CAFE rules require that future cars get much better fuel economy. On average, cars will have to get lighter, which means less steel.
On the other hand, new Federal rule will require that cars become safer in crashes. Removing steel makes cars less safe.
The car companies have difficult design goals to meet.
I have invented a way to make cars safer in collisions. Small cars need the invention more than large cars.
However, in side collisions, even large cars deliver huge g forces onto the passengers.
The invention uses a box of energy absorbing material that is connected to bumper shafts that stick out of the box.
During an accident, the shafts compress the energy absorbing material which absorbs collision energy.
This reduces the G forces on the passengers.
The energy absorbing material is shared between side and rear bumpers.
The bumpers are deployed before driving and retracted when parking.
The bumpers are NOT deployed just before an accident is anticipated.
The side bumpers may be hidden by running boards. Click HERE to see a modern use of running boards.
Until recently, I believed that the energy absorbing material was going to be aluminum honeycomb or a metal foam.
I now believe that rigid polyurethane foam is the best material. It is much lower in cost than metal foams,
and it is already used by the auto companies in energy absorption applications.
The article (below) in WIRED Magazine Autopia blog gives cost estimates of my invention that are based on aluminum honeycomb.
I will soon place REVISED cost estimates, on this website, that are based on the use of polyurethane foam.
Click HERE to see article about the invention in WIRED Magazine Autopia blog.
Click HERE for another blog article that discusses the new NHTSA Side Impact Pole Test.
Click HERE to see a brochure from the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety called Shopping for a Safer Car 2010.
The brochure has a graph that shows that small cars have a collision death rate that is DOUBLE that of large cars.
The invention has been granted a US Patents 7,695,018 and 7,699,347.
Click HERE to see the US Patent figures on Google Patents. The figures cannot be seen on the US Patent website.
The PDF Download option does not work. Select "Read this application"
and be sure to select "Page images" and NOT "Plain Text".
Mercedes Benz has invented a new type of side bumper. They call it PRE-Safe and it is a device that expands explosively
on the side doors of a vehicle. It might require the anticipation of an impending collision to fire the device, which is a difficult task to accomplish.
PRE-Safe is described on a web site whose link is HERE. The PRE-Safe devices are the red shapes on the front and rear doors. A detailed description
is given half way down the page.
The PRE-Safe devices extend a few inches. My invention extends a foot or more. More extension is better when g force reduction is desired.
The federal government (NHTSA) has created a new crash test that makes a car crash sideways into a pole at 20 mph.
Click HERE to see a side crash into a pole.
Click HERE to see another side crash into a pole.
Click HERE to see why the invention is needed.
Click HERE to see the invention details.
Click HERE to see an "aftermarket" version of the invention.
Contact me at steve.shoap@alum.mit.edu
Click HERE to see an irrigation system that installs quickly.
Click HERE to see a system for fighting wildfires
Click HERE to see how the existing cell phone system can give emergency warnings to everyone in a particular cell.
Click HERE to see my Bio
