Patent ID: 8118287

Claim:
A shock-mitigating apparatus for mitigating vertical shocks received by a base from being passed to an object supported upon the base, comprising: a scissors linkage comprising a pair of arms pivotally joined together at an intermediate pivot point, each of the arms having an upper end attached to the object and a lower end attached to the base allowing relative vertical motion between the object and the base; a damper having a cylinder and a piston oriented horizontally at the base and directly below the scissors linkage, the damper being connected to the base at a first end by a fixed connection and pivotally connected to an articulating arm assembly at a second end for substantially horizontal reciprocating damper action; the articulated arm assembly extending upwardly over the damper and comprising a series arrangement of a shock link, first and second bell crank arms and first and second fork links, the shock link extending horizontally from the second end of the damper to the first end substantially alongside the damper and being connected to the base by a pivoting guide link at the damper second end for horizontal reciprocating movement, the second fork link being connected to the object at a point substantially in vertical alignment with the scissors intermediate pivot point.