When they do those things with crash test dummies the deceleration to a stop is not a linear function. If bumpers had a starting soft response it could reduce whiplash. So, the thing to do then is to find the nonoptimal crash test dummy decelerations, then make bumpers that match this with variable collapsibility, a custom deceleration effect.

custom deceleration effects: think of a graph that goes soft to firm to soft to minimize risk The metal tube has a variable radius core so the compressability varies with which part of the metal @ is being compressed. This causes soft firm soft response to preserve occupant well being. The @ could actually be replaced with a W V @ spring that looks kind of like stacked compression springs to create the soft firm soft response at a smaller form size.

If you tell me a stack of springs functions as one spring to an engineer, then a simpleworkaround is to have W,V,@ where each spring is bracketed at a different distance from the front of the bumper.

Image of a compression spring at [link]
-- beanangel, May 31 2017

images of compression springs http://www.directin...-spring-221734.html
[beanangel, May 31 2017]

images of some working examples appropos for the 'bakery http://www.roadkill...s-lemons-cars-time/
[normzone, May 31 2017]

or to put it another way, visualize a rubber ziggurat covered with compression springs.
-- beanangel, Jun 01 2017


Bread vans would need different springs for hard rolls and soft rolls. Maybe something you dial in as loads change. Pizza delivery ...
-- popbottle, Jun 01 2017


// visualize a rubber ziggurat //

[marked-for-tagline]
-- notexactly, Jun 03 2017


I've been thinking, recently, that _everything_ needs to be computer controlled (like it all claimed to be in the 80s), because that's probably a lot easier and more reliable than mechanical solutions to similar problems.

In this case you might have a microcontroller calculate the ideal deceleration profile for the specific situation and to actuate something (maybe a gas release valve?) in order to create the desired effect.

In reality I suspect that actuator technology is a long way away from where it needs to be for this sort of thing to work, but I assume that's easy to fix because I'm not a mechanical engineer.
-- b153b, Jun 03 2017



random, halfbakery