Patent ID: 8291651

Claim:
An elastomeric seismic isolator bearing in contact with, but not bonded to, a structure and a foundation, said bearing comprising a plurality of elastomeric layers of total thickness t r , said elastomer layers being reinforced with and bonded to a plurality of fiber layers, said bearing including a top face, a bottom face and at least two side faces between the top and bottom faces, wherein in a first non-deformed state, in which no lateral load is applied to the structure or the foundation, the top face is completely in contact with a first surface part of the structure, the bottom face is completely in contact with a first surface part of the foundation and the side faces are not in contact with either the structure or the foundation; and in a second deformed state, in which a lateral load applied to the structure or the foundation causes a bearing displacement of about 200% t r , one side face is completely in contact with a second surface part of the structure and another side face is completely in contact with a second surface part of the foundation, said top face being substantially smaller than the entire structure surface, said bearing remaining in stable support of the structure in both states.