Patent ID: 8439420

Claim:
A mine blast and slam down protective vehicle safety seat system comprising: (a) a vehicle seat; (b) a support surface supporting the vehicle seat, the vehicle seat and support surface being movable with respect to each other between a rest position, wherein the vehicle seat is located a first distance from a bottom surface of the vehicle, and an attenuated position, wherein the vehicle seat is located a second distance from the bottom surface of the vehicle, the first distance being greater than the second distance; (c) a roller assembly coupled to the support surface and including a plurality of rollers, at least one of the plurality of rollers having an adjustable position on the roller assembly with respect to the other ones of the plurality of rollers; (d) a flexible rod received by the roller assembly and routed through the plurality of rollers, the vehicle seat being connected to the rod and configured to, during a blast phase where the vehicle seat and the support surface move with respect to each other toward the attenuated position, pull the rod in a direction of motion of the vehicle seat, the roller assembly resisting respective motion of the vehicle seat and the support surface until the vehicle seat and the support surface reach the attenuated position by applying a tension to the rod as the rod is deformed over the plurality of rollers, the tension being set to a predetermined value; and (e) a sliding collet coupled to the vehicle seat and surroundingly engaging the rod, the sliding collet including a clamping surface and being configured to engage the clamping surface with the rod during the blast phase.