Impact Dispersal System for Crashworthy Stowable Troop Seating for Helicopters

The seats used to carry troops in large Special Operation or Search & Rescue helicopters only provide limited protection in the event of a crash. These troop seats do not adequately attenuate the energy during a crash pulse or restrain the crewmember during impact and roll-over events. The crashworthy features of helicopter seats today incorporate some type of a mechanical device in order to absorb the energy from an impact. These energy absorbers use a pre-defined load-displacement profile in their design, which can be overly sensitive and not compatible with the wide range of troop and equipment weights. The Impact Dispersal System is a new invention that takes a different approach to reducing impact force by dispersing the force away from the point of impact. The system explodes the dispersion at the point of impact and then systematically shuts down according to the amount of force produced by the impact. Our goal is to incorporate this system into an existing helicopter troop seat in order to enhance crash protection. The lightweight and rapidly stowable/removable features of the existing troop seat will be kept with the incorporation of the Impact Dispersal System.