Inventions to Fight Climate Change
How does it work?
The picture on the right is the chassis in the expanded position. The rear of the car and the side bumpers have expanded out of a crumple zone box located in the center of the chassis. If the rear or a side bumper is hit in a collision, the crumple zone box absorbs much of the energy of the collision. The car body parts (doors, trunk, etc.) have less energy to absorb and can be made less strong and heavy. A lighter car gives better gas economy.
The picture on the left show the chassis in the retracted position. Motors draw the rear wheels towards the crumple zone box at the center of the chassis. The side bumpers also are drawn into the crumple zone box.
It is NOT necessary to have the rear axle move. An expanding and retracting rear bumper with a fixed axle is another design option.
The crumple zone box contains an energy absorbing material like Honeycomb Aluminum from Hexcel Corp.
The link that follows gives an example on p. 15 that shows that a 9.5 in. x 9.5 in. x 43 in. block of their material will stop a 1000 lb object traveling at 30 mph with a maximum of 12 G's.
From p. 15, assume a 3000 lb. car traveling 30 mph, and the maximum G's to be 20 (which the human body can tolerate).
The required amount of ACG-1/4-4.8 honeycomb is will be approx. 40 inches long, 36 inches deep, and 5 inches high. The Honeycomb will weigh only 15 lbs. and will cost approx. $400.
The NHTSA side impact requirement is a maximum of 85 G's. This invention can reduce the G's down to 20 with only 15 lbs. of material in a small box under the vehicle.
