Patent ID: 8745934

Claim:
A method of reducing the magnitude of seismic vibrations experienced by an object, comprising the step: placing said object on an isolation platform comprising an upper plate comprising a plurality of downward-facing bearing surfaces linked by connecting members; a lower plate comprising a plurality of upward-facing bearing surfaces linked by connecting members disposed opposite said downward-facing bearing surfaces, said opposing downward and upward bearing surfaces defining a plurality of cavities between said upper and lower plates; and a plurality of rigid spherical balls interposed within said cavities; wherein said upward-facing and downward-facing bearing surfaces comprising central radial apices and radial recess perimeters connected by a flat segment comprising a segment of continuous slope; said lower plate being secured on a surface upon which the object otherwise would have rested, wherein, in response to an external vibration of sufficient magnitude, as said rigid spherical balls roll along said flat segment of at least one of the upper or lower bearing surfaces and the upper and lower plates displace laterally relative to one another, a restoring force experienced by said object is substantially constant.