Google car

Google has secured a patent from the US Patent and Trademark Office for a system for pedestrian leg protection in vehicle impact for its driverless cars, which was filed on 25 September 2013.

The abstract of the patent 8,985,652 highlights a system for protecting a pedestrian during impact with a vehicle, the system having a bumper adapted for attachment to an end of the vehicle, wherein the bumper is comprised a plurality of air sacs.

"Google proposed a system for protecting a pedestrian during impact with a vehicle, comprising a bumper adapted for attachment to an end of the vehicle."

According to the patent, vehicle bumpers are generally designed to absorb energy in order to prevent injury to the vehicle itself during a collision, but they are too hard to provide cushioning to a pedestrian during a collision.

In its patent filed earlier, Google proposed a system for protecting a pedestrian during impact with a vehicle, comprising a bumper adapted for attachment to an end of the vehicle.

The bumper consists of a visco-elastic material wherein it has a horizontal thickness that extends from the end of the vehicle.

For exterior bumpers, the company offered two ideas. In one embodiment, the bumper is formed of a structure that has multiple air sacs and could be small, medium or large.

The air sacs may be made from a polymer or elastic material and filled with air or other suitable gas and/or liquid and the design would be such to minimise or eliminate spring-back that may cause the pedestrian to suffer impact with the roadway or other object.

In another one, the bumper is formed of a visco-elastic material that absorbs impact energy.

As pointed out by the patent authors, the embodiments have been designed to provide protection to a pedestrian in a collision between a pedestrian and a vehicle travelling up to 25mph.

Image: Google’s self-driving car. Photo: courtesy of Google.