Abstract: A passive/reactive device protests a Payload from injury or damage due to the shock caused by impact or explosion. When the vehicle or structure mounting the Payload receives a shock pulse, the invention limits the acceleration transmitted from the vehicle or structure to the Payload to an acceptably low, user-adjustable level which is substantially constant or is some other user-adjustable force-displacement function. The invention is capable of doing so even when the peak magnitude of the imposed shock is on the order of thousands of G's, with a rise time to peak on the order of microseconds. The invention can be embodied to operate passively, without any external source of power, sensor system, or CPU, although they can be added to improve certain usability features. The invention also absorbs or dissipates the shock energy in substantially the minimum distance possible without exceeding the user-defined acceleration limit on the Payload.

Abstract: A passive/reactive device protests a Payload from injury or damage due to the shock caused by impact or explosion. When the vehicle or structure mounting the Payload receives a shock pulse, the invention limits the acceleration transmitted from the vehicle or structure to the Payload to an acceptably low, user-adjustable level which is substantially constant or is some other user-adjustable force-displacement function. The invention is capable of doing so even when the peak magnitude of the imposed shock is on the order of thousands of G's, with a rise time to peak on the order of microseconds. The invention can be embodied to operate passively, without any external source of power, sensor system, or CPU, although they can be added to improve certain usability features. The invention also absorbs or dissipates the shock energy in substantially the minimum distance possible without exceeding the user-defined acceleration limit on the Payload.