Airbag Parachute System Under Development

[Hugh Janus]

Swedish company Airbag Inside’s patent illustrations show what the parachutes would look like deployed. (Airbag Inside AB/)

Swedish company Airbag Inside has already been developing an airbag-clothing system under the brand name Mo’cycle that places airbags inside the sleeves of jackets and legs of pants. It’s launching its first products, including airbag jeans, an airbag vest, and even airbag shorts later this year, but the company’s patents show even more ambitious ideas for the future. Among them are airbag-equipped boots and a parachute system.

Swedish company Airbag Inside has already been testing airbag-equipped clothing for its brand Mo’cycle. (Airbag Inside/)

The idea might seem wild, but parachutes have been used for decades to slow top-fuel dragsters and even military aircraft where there is limited room to bring vehicles to a stop quickly. The parachutes also help keep those vehicles pointed straight as they decelerate. On racetracks in particular, crashing riders face a similar problem—they need to be slowed down or stopped before reaching a guardrail or wall, and the only thing slowing them down is the friction between their riding gear and the asphalt, or the resistance of a gravel trap.

A conventional nylon-canopy parachute attached by cords isn’t a great idea, however. That relies on passing airflow to deploy the main chute by first catching the wind with a small funnel-shaped chute called a drogue, and then pulling the main canopy from its pack. It then takes time and distance for the canopy to fully inflate and pull the cords tight before it starts to slow down the tethered object or person. In a bike crash, the chances are that a tumbling rider would get tangled with the drogue or the main chute before it could catch the necessary air to inflate and be effective.

This is what the uninflated vest would look like. (Airbag Inside/)

It might appear odd at first, but that’s where Airbag Inside’s idea comes in, and has had considerable thought applied to the theory. The concept is to use two small canopies that look like small kids wading pools with an inflatable outer edge that expands into shape immediately, without the need for a drogue or passing airflow. Similarly, the main “cords” (or attachment points) to the canopies are inflated to become relatively firm and to position them above the rider’s head. The only actual lines are stabilizing strings to stop the canopies from spinning and/or shedding the air they catch. They’re attached to points above the rider’s head to keep them away from the rider’s neck and reduce the chance of tangling. The system is inflated using conventional airbag-inflation technology—which could be either pyrotechnic or via compressed-gas canisters.

Here is the patent illustration for the inflated parachute floating above the rider’s head. (Airbag Inside/)

With the canopies above the rider, the idea is that once inflated, they’ll make sure the rider slides feet first and is quickly slowed down, pulling them away from the bike and either coming to a halt quickly or decelerating significantly before impacting any trackside obstacles.

A side view of the inflated parachute. (Airbag Inside/)

The idea appears to be oriented more toward racetrack use—where the trajectory of crashing bikes and riders is more predictable than on public roads—but it would be interesting to see the system in action. It might prove unworkable in the real world, as the canopies would need to inflate very quickly to prevent tangling, but nonetheless any idea that could contribute to safety is worth a second look.

Source

[Buckster]

[Pedro]

Picture those really high speed MotoGP offs and the guys just lifting and flying straight back to their motorhomes on momentum alone, I love it 

[Buckster]

2 minutes ago, Pedro said:

Picture those really high speed MotoGP offs and the guys just lifting and flying straight back to their motorhomes on momentum alone, I love it 

Straight up into the blades of the camera helicopter more likely.