Current Aeromedical Issues in Rotary Wing Operations. (Problemes actuels de medecine aeronautique poses par les operations utilisant des voilures tournantes)

DTIC Science & Technology

1999-08-01

harness design faults. the backache by examining and improving the design of aircraft cockpits and aircraft seats. The introduction of armoured seats...upwards and Much effort has gone into improving the lumbar support forwards. The weight of anterior body armour increases and comfort of ejection seats...point compartments require restraint straps be draped over flight restraint, crash attenuating pilot and aircrew seats jackets, survival vests

Factors Associated with Delayed Ejection in Mishaps Between 1993 and 2013.

PubMed

Miles, John E

2015-09-01

The purpose of this investigation was to identify factors associated with Air Force aviators delaying ejection during in-flight emergencies. The investigator reviewed all reports within the Air Force Safety Automated System describing mishaps that resulted in the destruction of Air Force ejection-seat equipped aircraft between 1993 and 2013. Crewmembers were classified as either timely or delayed ejectors based on altitude at onset of emergency, altitude at ejection, and a determination regarding whether or not the aircraft was controlled during the mishap sequence. Univariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression were used to explore the association between delayed ejection and multiple potential risk factors. In total, 366 crewmembers were involved in in-flight emergencies in ejection-seat-equipped aircraft that resulted in the loss of the aircraft; 201 (54.9%) of these crewmembers delayed ejection until their aircraft had descended below recommended minimum ejection altitudes. Multivariate analysis indicated that independent risk factors for delayed ejection included increased crewmember flight hours and a mechanical or human-factors related cause of the emergency versus bird strike or midair collision. This investigation provided quantitative assessments of factors associated with aviators delaying ejection during in-flight emergencies. Increased odds of delay among crewmembers with greater than 1500 total flight hours suggests that complacency and overconfidence may adversely influence the ejection decision to at least as great a degree as inexperience. Increased odds of delay during mechanical and human factors mishaps confirms previously reported hypotheses and reaffirms the importance of targeting these areas to reduce aviator injuries and fatalities.

Seat Integrated and Conventional Restraints: A Study of Crash Injury/Fatality Rates in Rollovers

PubMed Central

Padmanaban, Jeya; Burnett, Roger A.

2008-01-01

This study used police-reported motor vehicle crash data from eleven states to determine ejection, fatality, and fatal/serious injury risks for belted drivers in vehicles with conventional seatbelts compared to belted drivers in vehicles with seat integrated restraint systems (SIRS). Risks were compared for 11,159 belted drivers involved in single- or multiple-vehicle rollover crashes. Simple driver ejection (partial and complete), fatality, and injury rates were derived, and logistic regression analyses were used to determine relative contribution of factors (including event calendar year, vehicle age, driver age/gender/alcohol use) that significantly influence the likelihood of fatality and fatal/serious injury to belted drivers in rollovers. Results show no statistically significant difference in driver ejection, fatality, or fatal/serious injury rates between vehicles with conventional belts and vehicles with SIRS. PMID:19026243

A MAG for the Twenty First Century: Lethal, Lighter, Energy Efficient, and Cheaper

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-04-14

well as an advanced trainer. 40 25. Zero altitude-zero airspeed ejection seats . 26. Common multi-function display (MFD) cockpit configuration for...front cockpit, with seat belts/shoulder harnesses fastened. b. Aft cockpit capable of being reconfigured for flight control including conducting...Capability to carry two wounded Marines via internal litters. 24. Dual seat with dual controls to facilitate dual use as light attack/armed reconnaissance as

Studies of limb-dislodging forces acting on an ejection seat occupant.

PubMed

Schneck, D J

1980-03-01

A mathematical theory is being developed in order to calculate the aerodynamic loading to which a pilot is exposed during high-speed ejections. Neglecting the initial effects of flow separation, results thus far indicate that a pilot's musculoskeletal system is not likely to withstand the tendency for limb-flailing if he is ejecting at Mach numbers in excess of about 0.7. This tendency depends very strongly upon the angle at which the pilot's limbs intercept a high-speed flow; the forces that cause limb dislodgement increase dramatically with speed of ejection. Examining the time-course of limb-dislodging forces after the initial onset of windblast, the theory further predicts the generation of a double vortex street pattern on the downstream side of the limbs of an ejection seat occupant. This results in the corresponding appearance of oscillating forces tending to cause lateral motion (vibration) of the limbs. The amplitude and frequency of these oscillating forces are also very dependent on the Mach number of ejection and the angle at which the pilot's limbs intercept the flow. However, even at moderate Mach numbers, the frequency can be as high as 100 cycles per second, and the amplitude rapidly exceeds a pilot's musculo-skeletal resistive powers for Mach numbers above 0.7.

Computer Code for the Determination of Ejection Seat/Man Aerodynamic Parameters.

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-08-28

ARMS, and LES (computer code -- .,. ,... ,, ..,.., .: . .. ... ,-." . ;.’ -- I- ta names) and Seat consisted of 4 panels SEAT, BACK, PADD , and SIDE. An... general application of Eq. (I) is for blunt bodies at hypersonic speed, because accuracy of this equation becomes better at higher Mach number. Therefore...pressure coefficient is set equal to zero on those portions of the body that are invisible to a distant observer who views the body from the direction

Quantification of the Design Relationship Between Ground Vehicle Weight and Occupant Safety Under Blast Loading

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-04-01

particular, we examine the opportunity to tune the seating system design parameters with a prescribed vehicle mass and blast pulse to minimize the...behavior of the physical vertical drop tower tests used to study aircraft seat ejection and ground vehicle blast events. This model was created and...driver’s seat , though it is expected that passengers should experience a comparable range of acceleration pulses given that the blast positioning is uniform

Comparative Assessment of Torso and Seat Mounted Restraint Systems using Manikins on the Vertical Deceleration Tower

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-03-01

experimental effort involving a series of +z-axis impact tests was conducted on the 711th Human Performance Wing’s Vertical Deceleration Tower (VDT...parameters) and a JSF-styled ejection seat configuration (combined non -baseline test parameters) produced similar biodynamic response parameters for the LOIS...Photography .............................................................................. 12 6.0 EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN

Light weight escape capsule for fighter aircraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Robert, James A.

1988-01-01

Emergency crew escape capabilities have been less than adequate for fighter aircraft since before WW II. From the over-the-side bailout of those days through the current ejection seat with a rocket catapult, escaping from a disabled aircraft has been risky at best. Current efforts are underway toward developing a high-tech, smart ejection seat that will give fighter pilots more room to live in the sky, but an escape capsule is needed to meet current and future fighter envelopes. Escape capsules have a bad reputation due to past examples of high weight, poor performance and great complexity. However, the advantages available demand that a capsule be developed. This capsule concept will minimize the inherent disavantages and incorporate the benefits while integrating all aspects of crew station design. The resulting design is appropriate for a crew station of the year 2010 and includes improved combat acceleration protection, chemical or biological combat capability, improved aircraft to escape system interaction, and the highest level of escape performance achievable. The capsule is compact, which can allow a reduced aircraft size and weighs only 1200 lb. The escape system weight penalty is only 120 lb higher than that for the next ejection seat and the capsule has a corresponding increase in performance.

Technical evaluation of the Aerospace Medical Panel Specialists Meeting on Escape Problems and Manoeuvres in Combat Aircraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jones, W. L.

1974-01-01

A technical evaluation of the papers presented at a conference on escape systems for helicopters and V/STOL aircraft was made. The subjects discussed include the following: (1) bioengineering aspects of spinal injury during ejection, (2) aerodynamic forces acting on crewman during escape, (3) operational practicality of fly away ejection seats, (4) helicopter survivability requirements, (5) ejection experience from V/STOL aircraft, and (6) research projects involving escape and retrieval systems.

Analysis of Ejection Seat Stability Using Easy Program. Volume I.

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-09-01

BODY AXiS FURCE COMPONENT. L ACTING ON THE AiRPLANc FROM THE CATAPULT (Ld) C ILA1(3) - PORT ONE X,Y,L AIRPLANE BODY AXIS TORQUE COMPONENTS C ACrINu...THE AIRPLANE (FT) C EAPI3) - EARTH TO AIRPLANc . EULER ANGLES (DEG) C SKPt3) - XtYZ EARTh POSITIGN VECTOR OF THE SEAT REFERENCE L POINT (FT) f- LST(3

ASCAN Susan J. Helms participates in ejection seat training at Vance AFB

NASA Image and Video Library

1990-08-14

S90-45852 (29-31 July 1990) --- Susan J. Helms, one of 23 astronaut candidates who began a year's training and evaluation in July, participates in one of may sessions at a survival training course at Vance Air Force Base. This portion of the course is designed to familiarize the trainee with the "feel" of emergency ejection from a jet aircraft.

On Retaining the Seat Pack After Ejection when Landing in Trees

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-11-01

défense Canada – CARO; Novembre 2010. Introduction : la formation actuelle des membres de la force aérienne prévoit que les membres d’équipage qui...pack status on tree landing injuries ...................................................... 13 3.3.1 Causal relationships between seat pack status and...tree landing injuries....... 13 3.3.2 Significance of tree landing injury severity distributions ............................. 14 3.4 Discussion

Underutilization of occupant restraint systems in motor vehicle injury crashes: A quantitative analysis from Qatar.

PubMed

El-Menyar, Ayman; Consunji, Rafael; Asim, Mohammad; Abdelrahman, Husham; Zarour, Ahmad; Parchani, Ashok; Peralta, Ruben; Al-Thani, Hassan

2016-01-01

Restraint systems (seat belts and airbags) are important tools that improve vehicle occupant safety during motor vehicle crashes (MVCs). We aimed to identify the pattern and impact of the utilization of passenger restraint systems on the outcomes of MVC victims in Qatar. A retrospective study was conducted for all admitted patients who sustained MVC-related injuries between March 2011 and March 2014 inclusive. Out of 2,730 road traffic injury cases, 1,830 (67%) sustained MVC-related injuries, of whom 88% were young males, 70% were expatriates, and 53% were drivers. The use of seat belts and airbags was documented in 26 and 2.5% of cases, respectively. Unrestrained passengers had greater injury severity scores, longer hospital stays, and higher rates of pneumonia and mortality compared to restrained passengers (P = .001 for all). There were 311 (17%) ejected cases. Seat belt use was significantly lower and the mortality rate was 3-fold higher in the ejected group compared to the nonejected group (P = .001). The overall mortality was 8.3%. On multivariate regression analysis, predictors of not using a seat belt were being a front seat passenger, driver, or Qatari national and young age. Unrestrained males had a 3-fold increase in mortality in comparison to unrestrained females. The risk of severe injury (relative risk [RR] = 1.82, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.49-2.26, P = .001) and death (RR = 4.13, 95% CI, 2.31-7.38, P = .001) was significantly greater among unrestrained passengers. The nonuse of seat belts is associated with worse outcomes during MVCs in Qatar. Our study highlights the lower rate of seat belt compliance in young car occupants that results in more severe injuries, longer hospital stays, and higher mortality rates. Therefore, we recommend more effective seat belt awareness and education campaigns, the enforcement of current seat belt laws, their extension to all vehicle occupants, and the adoption of proven interventions that will assure sustained behavioral changes toward improvements in seat belt use in Qatar.

Quantitative Methods for Determining U.S. Air Force Crew Cushion Comfort

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-09-01

Directorate Biosciences and Protection Division Biomechanics Branch Wright Patterson AFB OH 45433-7947 Form Approved REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE OMB No...Division Biomechanics Branch Wright-Patterson AFB OH 45433-7947 9. SPONSORING I MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 10. SPONSOR/MONITOR’S...workstations were constructed utilizing ejection seat long-term flight. mockups and foot pedal assemblies modified to simulate the ACES II seat in the F-16

Evolution of Occupant Survivability Simulation Framework Using FEM-SPH Coupling

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-08-01

SPH Coupling, Dooge and Thyagarajan. UNCLASSIFIED: Dist A. Approved for public release Page 2 of 14 works outward in the chain: soldier  seats ...reduced degree of freedom (DOF) system, evaluation of occupant seating independent of the vehicle environment, or using a substructure approach to...the ejected material covering the charge imposes most of the loading onto the structure above. The properties of the material in the "soil cap" are

Helmet-Mounted Display Design Guide

DTIC Science & Technology

1997-11-03

flight conditions ( Plaga , 1991). The system need not function during ejection; the criteria should be avoiding further injury. In the past, some...34 Optical En- gineering: 29, 1990, 883-892 E. Peli, "Real Vision and Virtual Reality," Optics and Photonics News, July 1995, pp. 28-34 J. A. Plaga , I...landings. For ejection-seat-equipped aircraft, the cg requirements are based on the I-NIGHTS studies ( Plaga , 1991, and Stickly and Wiley, 1992). The

Multiple Ejection Effects Analysis

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-08-01

in future designs . Accession For * I N’IS CRA&I PTIV TAB\\ U:,zmnounced Ja St if ic ft IonL- 1) i tributIon/ Availability Codes Avail and/or )Ibt...between aircraft separation and drogue line stretch. In the case I of the crew module, design changes were eventually adopted to provide a stable...system, and the attitude excursions are very mild. The ejection seat system underwent an important design change because of high-speed aerodynamic

Design and testing of an energy-absorbing crewseat for the F/FB-111 aircraft. Volume 2: Data from seat testing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shane, S. J.

1985-01-01

The unacceptably high injury rate during the escape sequence (including the ejection and ground impact) of the crew module for F/FB-111 aircraft is reviewed. A program to determine if the injury potential could be reduced by replacing the existing crewseats with energy absorbing crewseats is presented. An energy absorbing test seat is designed using much of the existing seat hardware. An extensive dynamic seat test series, designed to duplicate various crew module ground impact conditions is conducted at a sled test facility. Comparative tests with operational F-111 crewseats are also conducted. After successful dynamic testing of the seat, more testing is conducted with the seats mounted in an F-111 crew module. Both swing tests and vertical drop tests are conducted. The vertical drop tests are used to obtain comparative data between the energy absorbing and operational seats. Volume 1 describes the energy absorbing test seat and testing conducted, and evaluates the data from both test series. Volume 2 presents the data obtained during the seat test series, while Volume 3 presents the data from the crew module test series.

Investigation of Aircrew Protection During Emergency Escape at Dynamic Pressures up to 1600 Q.

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-05-01

Speed Ejections 14 4 Torso Airflow Stagnation Fence Arm Restraints 16 5 Upper Torso Support Restraint Garment 21 6 Multiaxial Pelvis Restraint 22 7...aircraft. Designs, such as the pelvis and leg elevating (PALE) seats, fixed reclined seats, or pressurized vests, are viable concepts for high sustained...final comment on direct energy transfer from the lower legs to the ai rmass involves aerodynamic asymmetry of the booted foot. Such asymmetry could lead

An Efficient Optimal Design Methodology for Nonlinear Multibody Dynamics Systems with Application to Vehicle Occupant Restraint Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-04-01

Lai, W., Carhart, M., Richards, D., Brown, J. and Raasch, C., (2006), Modeling the Effects of Seat Belt Pretensioners on Occupant Kinematics During...from being ejected from the vehicle but also be able to assist rapid entry into the vehicle during a rollover or other accidents to avoid injury or...vehicles, such as gunner restraint systems, blast-protective seating systems and other restraint systems, and commercial applications, such as

Design and testing of an energy-absorbing crewseat for the F/FB-111 aircraft. Volume 3: Data from crew module testing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shane, S. J.

1985-01-01

Over the past years, several papers and reports have documented the unacceptably high injury rate during the escape sequence (including the ejection and ground impact) of the crew module for F/FB-111 aircraft. This report documents a program to determine if the injury potential could be reduced by replacing the existing crewseats with energy absorbing crewseats. An energy absorbing test seat was designed using much of the existing seat hardware. An extensive dynamic seat test series, designed to duplicate various crew module ground impact conditions, was conducted at a sled test facility. Comparative tests with operational F-111 crewseats were also conducted. After successful dynamic testing of the seat, more testing was conducted with the seats mounted in an F-111 crew module. Both swing tests and vertical drop tests werre conducted. The vertical drop tests were used to obtain comparative data between the energy absorbing and operational seats.

Forensic epidemiologic and biomechanical analysis of a pelvic cavity blowout injury associated with ejection from a personal watercraft (jet-ski).

PubMed

Freeman, Michael D; Everson, Todd M; Kohles, Sean S

2013-01-01

Jet-propelled personal watercraft (PWC) or jet-skis have become increasingly popular. The means of propulsion of PWC, which is a jet of water forced out of small nozzle at the rear of the craft, combined with a high risk of falling off of the seat and into close proximity with the water jet stream, raise the potential for a unique type of injury mechanism. The most serious injuries associated with PWC falls are those that occur when the perineum passes in close proximity to the jet nozzle and the high-pressure water stream enters the vaginal or rectal orifice. We describe the forensic investigation into a case of an anovaginal "blowout" injury in a passenger who was ejected from the rear seat position of a PWC and subsequently suffered life-threatening injuries to the pelvic organs. The investigation included a biomechanical analysis of the injury mechanism, a summary of prior published reports of internal pelvic injuries resulting from PWC falls as well as other water sports and activities, and a comparison of the severity of the injuries resulting from differing mechanisms using the New Injury Severity Score (NISS). The mean (± standard deviation [SD]) NISS values for reported PWC injuries [not including the NISS of 38 in this case study] were 11.2 (± 9.5), while the mean value for reported water-skiing falls was half that of the PWC group at 5.6 (± 5.2). It was concluded that the analyzed injuries were unique to a PWC ejection versus other previously described non-PWC-associated water sport injuries. It is recommended that PWC manufacturers help consumers understand the potential risks to passengers with highly visible warnings and reduce injury risk with revised seat design, and/or passenger seat "deadman" switches. © 2012 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

Spin ejector

DOEpatents

Andersen, John A.; Flanigan, John J.; Kindley, Robert J.

1978-01-01

The disclosure relates to an apparatus for spin ejecting a body having a flat plate base containing bosses. The apparatus has a base plate and a main ejection shaft extending perpendicularly from the base plate. A compressible cylindrical spring is disposed about the shaft. Bearings are located between the shaft and the spring. A housing containing a helical aperture releasably engages the base plate and surrounds the shaft bearings and the spring. A piston having an aperture follower disposed in the housing aperture is seated on the spring and is guided by the shaft and the aperture. The spring is compressed and when released causes the piston to spin eject the body.

Ejection injury to the spine in small aviators: sled tests of manikins vs. post mortem specimens.

PubMed

Salzar, Robert S; Bolton, James R; Crandall, Jeff R; Paskoff, Glenn R; Shender, Barry S

2009-07-01

This study presents the results of seven aerospace manikin and three post mortem human surrogate (PMHS) horizontal deceleration sled tests. The objective of this study was to establish a body of baseline data that examines the ability of small (fifth percentile) manikins to predict whole-body kinematics associated with aircraft ejection, and whether currently available head and neck injury criteria are applicable in these situations. Subjects were exposed to a short-duration local z-axis sled pulse while horizontally seated and restrained in an ejection seat. Test subjects included instrumented fifth percentile female and male manikins, and two small (163.8 cm, 48.3 kg; 143.5 cm, 48.6 kg) female and one small (166.2 cm, 54.3 kg) male PMHS. The anterior (local x-axis) translations of the PMHS heads were less than those observed in the manikin tests, but the local z-axis translations of the PMHS heads were greater than those of the manikins. Z-axis translations of the manikins' T1 were generally similar to those of the PMHS T1, but the anterior x-axis translations of T1 were greater in the PMHS. The neck injury criterion (Nij) tended to under-predict observed injury (primarily ruptures of the posterior ligaments at C4-5, T2-3), and the Beam Criterion (BC) tended to over-predict observed injury for small occupants. The USN/USAF neck injury criteria (NIC) performed best in predicting the observed injuries. Present manikin designs do not predict the kinematics of PMHS in ejection tests. Further refinement of existing injury criteria is required to accurately predict location and severity of ejection-induced injuries.

An Evaluation of High Velocity Wear

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-03-01

171 lb/yrd) performing tests investigating hypersonic environments, aircraft ejection seats and munitions and aerodynamic related effects. The...John Wiley and Sons. 22. Ryder, J. T., Wittenauer, J. P., & Mendez, D. J. (1996). Physical Characterization of SiO2 Aerogel Phase II Final Report

Development of an Inflatable Head/Neck Restraint System for Ejection Seats

DTIC Science & Technology

1977-02-28

crewman’s head . It has been observed that low pressures, about 2 psi (1.38 nt/cm2 ) to 4 psi (2.76 nt/cm2 ), create some "spring back" or trampoline ...neck ring Neck injury Head rotation 210 ABSTRACT (Continue on rev’erse side If necessary end identify by block number) 4A ringý-shaped inflatable head ...injuries due to violent forward head rotation at the time of ejection thrust and parachute opening shock. Inflation of the neck ring will,’ be conducted by a

Ejection of a rear facing, golf cart passenger.

PubMed

Schau, Kyle; Masory, Oren

2013-10-01

The following report details the findings of a series of experiments and simulations performed on a commercially available, shuttle style golf cart during several maneuvers involving rapid accelerations of the vehicle. It is determined that the current set of passive restraints on these types of golf carts are not adequate in preventing ejection of a rear facing passenger during rapid accelerations in the forward and lateral directions. Experimental data and simulations show that a hip restraint must be a minimum of 13 in. above the seat in order to secure a rear facing passenger during sharp turns, compared to the current restraint height of 5 in. Furthermore, it is determined that a restraint directly in front of the rear facing passenger is necessary to prevent ejection. In addressing these issues, golf cart manufacturers could greatly reduce the likelihood of injury due to ejection of a rear facing, golf cart passenger. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Vertebral fracture after aircraft ejection during Operation Desert Storm.

PubMed

Osborne, R G; Cook, A A

1997-04-01

During Operation Desert Storm, 21 United States and 2 Italian military personnel were held in Iraq as prisoners of war. Of these, 18 had ejected from fixed-wing, ejection seat-equipped, combat aircraft prior to their capture. Of the 18, 6 (33%) had sustained vertebral fractures; 4 of these were compression fractures. This fracture rate is comparable to that of previously studied groups. Fractures were noted to be at several different vertebral sites and after ejecting from a variety of aircraft. Apart from contusions and abrasions, vertebral fractures were the most common injuries discovered in this repatriated population. None of the vertebral fractures produced recognizable neurological disability. The development of vertebral fractures was neither associated with the use of any particular ejection system or aircraft nor did the development of vertebral fractures appear dependent on the age, height or length of service of the affected personnel. Ejected aircrew with low altitude mission profiles seemed more predisposed to vertebral fracture than those at high altitudes, but with a small sample population, this relationship was not statistically significant (p > 0.25). Reliable data were unavailable on aircrew positioning and preparation time for ejection.

Next-Generation Long-Range Strike: Combating the Tyranny of Distance

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-02-16

and other subsystems such as fuel, hydraulics, ejection seats , etc. from proven and fielded systems. To enable the optionally manned capability...weapon is a very difficult target to engage. Surface-to- air missile kinematics simply cannot match that of a hypersonic weapon enabling more targets to

Pilot Fullerton points Hasselblad camera out forward flight deck window W6

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1982-01-01

Pilot Fullerton, wearing communications kit assembly (ASSY) mini headset (HDST), points Hasselblad camera out forward flight deck pilots station window W6. Forward flight deck control panels F4, F8, and R1, flight mirror assy, Volume R5 Kit, and pilots ejection seat (S2) headrest appear in view.

[Mathematical modeling of the kinematics of a pilot's head while catapulting into an air stream].

PubMed

Kharchenko, V I; Golovleva, N V; Konakhevich, Iu G; Liapin, V A; Mar'in, A V

1987-01-01

The trajectories of head movements in the helmet and velocities of impact contact with the seat and anterior of the cockpit were calculated as applied to every stage of the catapulting process and mass-inertia parameters of helmets taken into account. Kinematic models were used to describe biomechanic parameters of the head-neck system. Special attention was given to the case of catapulting to the air flow. The effect upon the nod of aerodynamic forces acting on the human body and the catapult ejection seat at air flow velocities of 700-800 and 1300 km/hr was calculated.

Thoracolumbar junction injuries after rollover crashes: difference between belted and unbelted front seat occupants.

PubMed

Inamasu, Joji; Guiot, Bernard H

2009-10-01

Motor vehicle collision (MVC) is one of the most common causes of thoracolumbar junction (TLJ) injury. Although it is of no doubt that the use of seatbelt reduces the incidence and severity of MVC-induced TLJ injury, how it is protective for front-seat occupants of an automobile after rollover crashes is unclear. Among 200 consecutive patients with a major TLJ (Th11-L2) injury due to high-energy trauma admitted from 2000 to 2004, 22 patients were identified as front-seat occupants of a four-wheel vehicle when a rollover crash occurred. The 22 patients were divided into two groups: 10 who were belted, and 12 who were unbelted. Patients' demographics including the mean Injury Severity Score (ISS), incidence of neurologic deficit, level of TLJ injury, and type of TLJ injury according to the AO fracture classification were compared between the two groups. Neurologic deficit was present exclusively in the unbelted group, and the difference in the incidence was statistically significant (P = 0.04). Similarly, AO type B/C injury was present exclusively in the unbelted group. The belted group had a significantly lower mean ISS than the unbelted group (P < 0.01). Comparison between the ejected and non-ejected victims within the unbelted group revealed no statistical difference in the incidence of neurologic deficit or type of injury. It is likely that the high incidence of neurologic deficit in the unbelted group was due to the high incidence of AO type B/C injury. This study indirectly proves the efficacy of seatbelt in reducing the severity of rollover-induced TLJ injury. Because of the limited number of cases, it is uncertain whether ejection from vehicle, which occurs exclusively in the unbelted victims, is a crucial factor in determining the severity or type of injury after rollover crashes.

Thoracolumbar junction injuries after rollover crashes: difference between belted and unbelted front seat occupants

PubMed Central

Guiot, Bernard H.

2009-01-01

Motor vehicle collision (MVC) is one of the most common causes of thoracolumbar junction (TLJ) injury. Although it is of no doubt that the use of seatbelt reduces the incidence and severity of MVC-induced TLJ injury, how it is protective for front-seat occupants of an automobile after rollover crashes is unclear. Among 200 consecutive patients with a major TLJ (Th11-L2) injury due to high-energy trauma admitted from 2000 to 2004, 22 patients were identified as front-seat occupants of a four-wheel vehicle when a rollover crash occurred. The 22 patients were divided into two groups: 10 who were belted, and 12 who were unbelted. Patients’ demographics including the mean Injury Severity Score (ISS), incidence of neurologic deficit, level of TLJ injury, and type of TLJ injury according to the AO fracture classification were compared between the two groups. Neurologic deficit was present exclusively in the unbelted group, and the difference in the incidence was statistically significant (P = 0.04). Similarly, AO type B/C injury was present exclusively in the unbelted group. The belted group had a significantly lower mean ISS than the unbelted group (P < 0.01). Comparison between the ejected and non-ejected victims within the unbelted group revealed no statistical difference in the incidence of neurologic deficit or type of injury. It is likely that the high incidence of neurologic deficit in the unbelted group was due to the high incidence of AO type B/C injury. This study indirectly proves the efficacy of seatbelt in reducing the severity of rollover-induced TLJ injury. Because of the limited number of cases, it is uncertain whether ejection from vehicle, which occurs exclusively in the unbelted victims, is a crucial factor in determining the severity or type of injury after rollover crashes. PMID:19688353

Biomechanical investigation of thoracolumbar spine in different postures during ejection using a combined finite element and multi-body approach.

PubMed

Du, Chengfei; Mo, Zhongjun; Tian, Shan; Wang, Lizhen; Fan, Jie; Liu, Songyang; Fan, Yubo

2014-11-01

The aim of this study is to investigate the dynamic response of a multi-segment model of the thoracolumbar spine and determine how the sitting posture affects the response under the impact of ejection. A nonlinear finite element model of the thoracolumbar-pelvis complex (T9-S1) was developed and validated. A multi-body dynamic model of a pilot was also constructed so an ejection seat restraint system could be incorporated into the finite element model. The distribution of trunk mass on each vertebra was also considered in the model. Dynamics analysis showed that ejection impact induced obvious axial compression and anterior flexion of the spine, which may contribute to spinal injuries. Compared with a normal posture, the relaxed posture led to an increase in stress on the cortical wall, endplate, and intradiscal pressure of 43%, 10%, 13%, respectively, and accordingly increased the risk of inducing spinal injuries. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

78 FR 70415 - Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Occupant Crash Protection

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-11-25

...Completing the first initiative of NHTSA's 2007 ``NHTSA's Approach to Motorcoach Safety'' plan and one of the principal undertakings of DOT's 2009 Motorcoach Safety Action Plan, and fulfilling a statutory mandate of the Motorcoach Enhanced Safety Act of 2012, incorporated into the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act, this final rule amends the Federal motor vehicle safety standard (FMVSS) on occupant crash protection to require lap/shoulder seat belts for each passenger seating position in all new over-the-road buses, and in new buses other than over-the-road buses with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) greater than 11,793 kilograms (kg) (26,000 pounds (lb), with certain exclusions. By requiring the passenger lap/ shoulder seat belts, this final rule significantly reduces the risk of fatality and serious injury in frontal crashes and the risk of occupant ejection in rollovers, thus considerably enhancing the safety of these vehicles.

Pilot Fullerton reviews FDF and TAGS printout on forward flight deck

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1982-01-01

Pilot Fullerton, wearing communications kit assembly (ASSY) mini headset (HDST), reviews flight data file (FDF) checklist and text and graphics system (TAGS) printout (ticker tape) while in pilots ejection seat (S2). Pilot Station control panels F4, F7, F8, O3, window shade, and portable oxygen system (POS) assy appear in view.

Kinematic response of the spine during simulated aircraft ejections.

PubMed

Damon, Andrew M; Lessley, David J; Salzar, Robert S; Bass, Cameron R; Shen, Francis H; Paskoff, Glenn R; Shender, Barry S

2010-05-01

Military aviators are susceptible to spinal injuries during high-speed ejection scenarios. These injuries commonly arise as a result of strains induced by extreme flexion or compression of the spinal column. This study characterizes the vertebral motion of two postmortem human surrogates (PMHS) during a simulated catapult phase of ejection on a horizontal decelerator sled. During testing, the PMHS were restrained supinely to a mock ejection seat and subjected to a horizontal deceleration profile directed along the local z-axis. Two midsized males (175.3 cm, 77.1 kg; 185.4 cm, 72.6 kg) were tested. High-rate motion capture equipment was used to measure the three-dimensional displacement of the head, vertebrae, and pelvis during the ejection event. The two PMHS showed generally similar kinematic motion. Head injury criterion (HIC) results were well below injury threshold levels for both specimens. The specimens both showed compression of the spine, with a reduction in length of 23.9 mm and 45.7 mm. Post-test autopsies revealed fractures in the C5, T1, and L1 vertebrae. This paper provides an analysis of spinal motion during an aircraft ejection.The injuries observed in the test subjects were consistent with those seen in epidemiological studies. Future studies should examine the effects of gender, muscle tensing, out-of-position (of head from neutral position) occupants, and external forces (e.g., windblast) on spinal kinematics during aircraft ejection.

The Effects of Ejection Seat Cushion Design on Physical Fatigue and Cognitive Performance

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-11-01

Protection Division Biomechanics Branch Wright-Patterson AFB Ohio 45433-7947 Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. NOTICE...ADDRESS(ES *Air Force Materiel Command Air Force Research Laboratory Human Effectiveness Directorate Biosciences & Protection Division Biomechanics ...Dayton, Ohio. Analyses of the data were accomplished by the Biomechanics Branch, Human Effectiveness Directorate of the Air Force Research Laboratory

M2-F1 ejection seat test at South Edwards

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1963-01-01

The M2-F1 was fitted with an ejection seat before the airtow flights began. The project selected the seat used in the T-37 as modified by the Weber Company to use a rocket rather than a ballistic charge for ejection. To test the ejection seat, the Flight Research Center's Dick Klein constructed a plywood mockup of the M2-F1's top deck and canopy. On the first firings, the test was unsuccessful, but on the final test the dummy in the seat landed safely. The M2-F1 ejection seat was later used in the two Lunar Landing Research Vehicles and the three Lunar Landing Training Vehicles. Three of them crashed, but in each case the pilot ejected from the vehicle successfully. The wingless, lifting body aircraft design was initially conceived as a means of landing an aircraft horizontally after atmospheric reentry. The absence of wings would make the extreme heat of re-entry less damaging to the vehicle. In 1962, Dryden management approved a program to build a lightweight, unpowered lifting body as a prototype to flight test the wingless concept. It would look like a 'flying bathtub,' and was designated the M2-F1, the 'M' referring to 'manned' and 'F' referring to 'flight' version. It featured a plywood shell placed over a tubular steel frame crafted at Dryden. Construction was completed in 1963. The first flight tests of the M2-F1 were over Rogers Dry Lake at the end of a tow rope attached to a hopped-up Pontiac convertible driven at speeds up to about 120 mph. This vehicle needed to be able to tow the M2-F1 on the Rogers Dry Lakebed adjacent to NASA's Flight Research Center (FRC) at a minimum speed of 100 miles per hour. To do that, it had to handle the 400-pound pull of the M2-F1. Walter 'Whitey' Whiteside, who was a retired Air Force maintenance officer working in the FRC's Flight Operations Division, was a dirt-bike rider and hot-rodder. Together with Boyden 'Bud' Bearce in the Procurement and Supply Branch of the FRC, Whitey acquired a Pontiac Catalina convertible with the largest engine available. He took the car to Bill Straup's renowned hot-rod shop near Long Beach for modification. With a special gearbox and racing slicks, the Pontiac could tow the 1,000-pound M2-F1 110 miles per hour in 30 seconds. It proved adequate for the roughly 400 car tows that got the M2-F1 airborne to prove it could fly safely and to train pilots before they were towed behind a C-47 aircraft and released. These initial car-tow tests produced enough flight data about the M2-F1 to proceed with flights behind the C-47 tow plane at greater altitudes. The C-47 took the craft to an altitude of 12,000 where free flights back to Rogers Dry Lake began. Pilot for the first series of flights of the M2-F1 was NASA research pilot Milt Thompson. Typical glide flights with the M2-F1 lasted about two minutes and reached speeds of 110 to l20 mph. A small solid landing rocket, referred to as the 'instant L/D rocket,' was installed in the rear base of the M2-F1. This rocket, which could be ignited by the pilot, provided about 250 pounds of thrust for about 10 seconds. The rocket could be used to extend the flight time near landing if needed. More than 400 ground tows and 77 aircraft tow flights were carried out with the M2-F1. The success of Dryden's M2-F1 program led to NASA's development and construction of two heavyweight lifting bodies based on studies at NASA's Ames and Langley research centers--the M2-F2 and the HL-10, both built by the Northrop Corporation, and the U.S. Air Force's X-24 program, with an X-24A and -B built by Martin. The Lifting Body program also heavily influenced the Space Shuttle program. The M2-F1 program demonstrated the feasibility of the lifting body concept for horizontal landings of atmospheric entry vehicles. It also demonstrated a procurement and management concept for prototype flight test vehicles that produced rapid results at very low cost (approximately $50,000, excluding salaries of government employees assigned to the project).

Using the GPS to Collect Trajectory Data for Ejection Seat Design, Validation, and Testing

DTIC Science & Technology

2002-03-01

Performing Organization Report Number AFIT/GE/ENG/02M-27 Sponsoring/Monitoring Agency Name(s) and Address(es) AFRL/HEPA ATT: Mr. John Plaga Q...APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE; DISTRIBUTION UNLIMITED. i Acknowledgments I would like to start by thanking Mr. John Plaga from the Air...Human Effectiveness division, especially Mr. John Plaga for his contributions during the hardware acquisition and configuration. In addition the

Turning Desirements into Requirements

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-09-01

a Mustang would do much better. (The author wanted the Aston Martin from the movie “Goldfinger.” You know: The one with the ejection seat, automated ...with the systems engineers to develop specifica- tions for the contractors. Then industry can develop, produce and support the equipment the warfighter...dau.mil. MDAP/MAIS Program Manager Changes With the assistance of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Defense AT&L magazine publishes the names of

Explosive Fracturing of an F-16 Canopy for Through-Canopy Crew Egress

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bement, Laurence J.

2000-01-01

Through-canopy crew egress, such as in the Harrier (AV-8B) aircraft, expands escape envelopes by reducing seat ejection delays in waiting for canopy jettison. Adverse aircraft attitude and reduced forward flight speed can further increase the times for canopy jettison. However, the advent of heavy, high-strength polycarbonate canopies for bird-strike resistance has not only increased jettison times, but has made seat penetration impossible. The goal of the effort described in this paper was to demonstrate a method of explosively fracturing the F-16 polycarbonate canopy to allow through-canopy crew ejection. The objectives of this effort were to: 1. Mount the explosive materials on the exterior of the canopy within the mold line, 2. Minimize visual obstructions, 3. Minimize internal debris on explosive activation, 4. Operate within less than 10 ms, 5. Maintain the shape of the canopy after functioning to prevent major pieces from entering the cockpit, and 6. Minimize the resistance of the canopy to seat penetration. All goals and objectives were met in a full-scale test demonstration. In addition to expanding crew escape envelopes, this canopy fracture approach offers the potential for reducing system complexity, weight and cost, while increasing overall reliability, compared to current canopy jettison approaches. To comply with International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and permit public disclosure, this document addresses only the principles of explosive fracturing of the F-16 canopy materials and the end result. ITAR regulations restrict information on improving the performance of weapon systems. Therefore, details on the explosive loads and final assembly of this canopy fracture approach, necessary to assure functional performance, are not included.

On the Aerodynamics of Windblast.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-11-13

streamline pattern that characterizes the cross-flow over two circular-cylindrical body segments in line contact with one another at time t = 0. That is, at...over the limbs of the ejection seat occupant. Note that MC may vary over different portions of the body that intercept the flow at different angles a...dimensional, rectilinear situation, one may estimate the kinematics of the ensuing motion of a body segment of mass Ms, subjected to the force

Design and Development of Anthropometrically Correct Head Forms for Joint Strike Fighter Ejection Seat Testing

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-02-01

Testing John A. Plaga Air Force Research Laboratory Chris Albery Mark Boehmer Chuck Goodyear Glenn Thomas Advanced...PROJECT NUMBER 7184 5e. TASK NUMBER 02 6. AUTHOR(S) John A. Plaga *Chris Albery *Mark Boehmer *Chuck Goodyear *Glenn Thomas 5f. WORKUNIT...laser scan 16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: 19a. NAME OF RESPONSIBLE PERSON: John A. Plaga a. REPORT U b. ABSTRACT U c. THIS PAGE U 17

Effects of Variable Helmet Weight on Human Response to -Gx Impact

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-02-01

may increase the potential for aircrew neck injury during aircraft ejection due to the increase in dynamic loads generated in the cervical spine as a...began experiencing discomfort and pain when wearing 3.5 lb helmets at 10 G seat accelerations. While overall neck loads demonstrated little or no... cervical spine as a result of the change in helmet inertial properties including weight, center-of-gravity (CG), and moments-of-inertia (MOI

Pilot Fullerton sleeps on aft flight deck

NASA Image and Video Library

1982-03-30

STS003-22-113 (24 March 1982) --- Astronaut Gordon Fullerton, STS-3 pilot, wearing communication kit assembly mini-headset (HDST), sleeps on aft flight deck resting his back against the floor and his feet against commander's ejection seat (S1) back. On-orbit station control panel A8 and payload station panel L15 appear above Fullerton. Special clips for holding notebooks open and beverage containers are velcroed on various panels. Photo credit: NASA

Pilot Fullerton reviews FDF and TAGS printout on forward flight deck

NASA Image and Video Library

1982-03-30

STS003-23-180 (22-30 March 1982) --- Astronaut Gordon Fullerton, STS-3 pilot, wearing communications kit assembly (ASSY) mini-headset (HDST), reviews flight data file (FDF) checklist and text and graphics system (TAGS) printout (ticker tape) while in pilots ejection seat (S2). Pilot station control panels F4, F7, F8, O3, window shade, and portable oxygen system (POS) assy appear in view. Photo credit: NASA

Programmatic Environmental Assessment High Speed Test Track (HSTT) Operations Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-09-01

include a machine shop, a welding shop, carpenter and wood shop, metal heat treatment shop, bead blast shop, paint shop, non-destructive inspection...annually. In 2005, 227 motors were fired. Sled operation can involve activities such as carrying explosives, testing ejection seats, shooting lasers ...Cinetheodolite-type metric cameras and/or laser tracking equipment are used for aircraft flight trajectories exceeding 500 feet above ground level

Dimensional Analysis of Impulse Loading Resulting from Detonation of Shallow-Buried Charges

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-01-01

lines running along the floor, floor-bolted seats , ammunition storage racks, power-train lines, etc.). MMMS 9,3 368 Traditionally, the floor-rupture...The power of dimensional analysis is that the functional relations offered are generalized, i.e. the effect of geometrical, kinematic , ambient, loading... ejected vdet Explosive detonation velocity L/T A new quantity added which controls the time of sand-overburden bubble burst Charge/plate positioning

[The contribution of biomechanics to the safety of children inside motor vehicles].

PubMed

Brun-Cassan, F; Cailleret, M C; Tarrière, C

1992-03-01

Because laws mandating use of seat belts by motor vehicle drivers and front seat passengers have been passed throughout the developed world, it is becoming increasingly common to see parents protected from injuries whereas their children are abandoned to the tragic effects of chance and biomechanics. In France, the situation is especially critical. The law passed in 1975 requiring that all children use the back seat has reduced the risk of death and severe injury but nevertheless affords inadequate protection: each year, among children aged 0 to 10 years, several hundred are killed and nearly 10,000 injured in car accidents. This situation can be decisively improved, as shown by the figures in the United States and most European countries where use of child restraint devices (CRD) is mandatory. CRDs are designed to protect the child in the event of an accident by reducing the risk of injury due to ejection or projection against the inside of the vehicle: they play the same role as the seat belt for adults. France is the European country with the lowest rate of use of CRDs and the highest rate of child deaths due to motor vehicle occupant injuries. To improve this situation, regulations are being developed by the French government; use of appropriate CRDs will be mandatory for all children aged 0 to 10 years starting on January 1 st, 1992.

Using the GPS to Improve Trajectory Position and Velocity Determination During Real-Time Ejection Seat Test and Evaluation

DTIC Science & Technology

2003-02-01

Without their encouragement and support, this journey would not have taken off. My sponsor, Mr. John Plaga , and the folks from at the Air Force...authors would like to thank the Air Force Research Laboratory, Human Effectiveness division, especially Mr. John Plaga and Mr. Doug Coppess for their...Technology, Wright-Patterson AFB OH, Winter 2002. [26] Plaga , John. “RE: ENU Files from HMTT” Electronic Message. 12 December 2002. [27] Raquet

Physiopathologie et Pathologie des Affections du Rachis en Medecine Aerospatiale (Physiopathology and Pathology of Affections of the Spine in Aerospace Medicine),

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-04-01

Nous sommes conscients de 11holfeur de cette designation qui s base essentiellement sur is valeur reconnue des travaux prdsentds aux diff~rentes sessions... Comparativement l’avion eat beaucoup mieux adaptl au crash :conposante horizantale du chac plus Impartante, nombreuses structures ddfavorables, pour le pilate...Ejection Seat Design and Vertebral fractures. Aerospace Yed. 1nr4, _-; (6), 549-50. 165. Liu Y.K., Pontius U.P., Hoseyr R. : The effects of initi.l

A Method to Develop Neck Injury Criteria to Aid Design and Test of Escape Systems Incorporating Helmet Mounted Displays

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-09-01

The military aviation community began designing and building ejection seats for high speed aircraft after World War II. As pilot safety became...AFIT-ENV-DS-14-S-22 A METHOD TO DEVELOP NECK INJURY CRITERIA TO AID DESIGN AND TEST OF ESCAPE SYSTEMS...protection in the United States. AFIT-ENV-DS-14-S-22 A METHOD TO DEVELOP NECK INJURY CRITERIA TO AID DESIGN AND TEST OF ESCAPE SYSTEMS

Design Loads for Future Aircraft (Les Charges de Calcul Pour de Futurs Aeronefs)

DTIC Science & Technology

2002-02-01

brake attachment bolt you first have to remove both ejection seats and the actuator cover that is located between the right position rudder pedals . Since...continuous turbulence and inclusion of FCS failure cases and nonlinearities such as control surface angles is extremely important. There was a long way...FCS) et des non-linéarités, tels que les angles de gouverne, sont extrêmement importantes. Un long chemin sépare les hypothèses de charge

Theory and application of a three-dimensional model of the human spine.

PubMed

Belytschko, T; Schwer, L; Privitzer, E

1978-01-01

A three-dimensional, discrete model of the human spine, torso, and head was developed for the purpose of evaluating mechanical response in pilot ejection. However, it was developed in sufficient generality to be applicable to other body response problems, such as occupant response in aircraft crash and arbitrary loads on the head-spine system. The anatomy is modelled by a collection of rigid bodies, which represent skeletal segments such as the vertebrae, pelvis, head, and ribs, interconnected by deformable elements, which represent ligaments, cargilagenous joints, viscera and connective tissues. Results are presented for several conditions: different rates of onset, ejection at angles, preejection alignment, and eccentric head loadings. It is shown that slow rates of onset and angling the seat reduce both the peak axial loads and bending moments. In the presence of eccentric head masses, such as helmet-mounted devices, the reflected flexural wave is shown to be the key injury mechanism.

The continued burden of spine fractures after motor vehicle crashes.

PubMed

Wang, Marjorie C; Pintar, Frank; Yoganandan, Narayan; Maiman, Dennis J

2009-02-01

Spine fractures are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality after motor vehicle crashes (MVCs). Public health interventions, such as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, have led to an increase in automobiles with air bags and the increased use of seat belts to lessen injuries sustained from MVCs. The purpose of this study was to evaluate secular trends in the occurrence of spine fractures associated with MVCs and evaluate the association between air bag and seat belt use with spine fractures. Using the Crash Outcome Data Evaluation System, a database of the police reports of all MVCs in Wisconsin linked to hospital records, the authors studied the occurrence of spine fractures and seat belt and air bag use from 1994 to 2002. Demographic information and crash characteristics were obtained from the police reports. Injury characteristics were determined using International Classification of Disease, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) hospital discharge codes. From 1994 to 2002, there were 29,860 hospital admissions associated with automobile or truck crashes. There were 20,276 drivers or front-seat passengers 16 years of age and older who were not missing ICD-9-CM discharge codes, seat belt or air bag data, and who had not been ejected from the vehicle. Of these, 2530 (12.5%) sustained a spine fracture. The occurrence of spine fractures increased over the study period, and the use of a seat belt plus air bag, and of air bags alone also increased during this period. However, the occurrence of severe spine fractures (Abbreviated Injury Scale Score > or =3) did not significantly increase over the study period. The use of both seat belt and air bag was associated with decreased odds of a spine fracture. Use of an air bag alone was associated with increased odds of a severe thoracic, but not cervical spine fracture. Among drivers and front-seat passengers admitted to the hospital after MVCs, the occurrence of spine fractures increased from 1994 to 2002 despite concomitant increases in seat belt and air bag use. However, the occurrence of severe spine fractures did not increase over the study period. The use of both seat belt and air bag is protective against spine fractures. Although the overall increased occurrence of spine fractures may appear contrary to the increased use of seat belts and air bags in general, it is possible that improved imaging technology may be associated with an increase in the diagnosis of relatively minor fractures. However, given the significant protective effects of both seat belt and air bag use against spine fractures, resources should continue to be dedicated toward increasing their use to mitigate the effects of MVCs.

Quantifying and Reducing Posture-Dependent Distortion in Ballistocardiogram Measurements

PubMed Central

Javaid, Abdul Q.; Wiens, Andrew D.; Fesmire, N. Forrest; Weitnauer, Mary A.; Inan, Omer T.

2015-01-01

Ballistocardiography is a non-invasive measurement of the mechanical movement of the body caused by cardiac ejection of blood. Recent studies have demonstrated that ballistocardiogram (BCG) signals can be measured using a modified home weighing scale, and used to track changes in myocardial contractility and cardiac output. With this approach, the BCG can potentially be used both for preventive screening and for chronic disease management applications. However, for achieving high signal quality, subjects are required to stand still on the scale in an upright position for the measurement; the effects of intentional (for user comfort) or unintentional (due to user error) modifications in the position or posture of the subject during the measurement have not been investigated in the existing literature. In this study, we quantified the effects of different standing and seated postures on the measured BCG signals, and on the most salient BCG-derived features compared to reference standard measurements (e.g., impedance cardiography). We determined that the standing upright posture led to the least distorted signals as hypothesized, and that the correlation between BCG-derived timing interval features (R-J interval) and the pre-ejection period, PEP (measured using ICG), decreased significantly with impaired posture or sitting position. We further implemented two novel approaches to improve the PEP estimates from other standing and sitting postures, using system identification and improved J-wave detection methods. These approaches can improve the usability of standing BCG measurements in unsupervised settings (i.e. the home), by improving the robustness to non-ideal posture, as well as enabling high quality seated BCG measurements. PMID:26058064

Neck injury criteria formulation and injury risk curves for the ejection environment: a pilot study.

PubMed

Parr, Jeffrey C; Miller, Michael E; Pellettiere, Joseph A; Erich, Roger A

2013-12-01

Helmet mounted displays provide increased pilot capability, but can also increase the risk of injury during ejection. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration's (NHTSA's) neck injury criteria (Nij) metric is evaluated for understanding the impact of helmet mass on the risk of injury and modified risk curves are developed which are compatible with the needs of the aviation community. Existent human subject data collected under various accelerative and head loading conditions were applied to understand the sensitivity of the Nij construct to changes in acceleration and helmet mass, as well as its stability with respect to gender, body mass, neck circumference, and sitting height. A portion of this data was combined with data from an earlier postmortem human subject study to create pilot study modified risk curves. These curves were compared and contrasted with the NHTSA risk curves. A statistically significant difference in the peak mean Nij was observed when seat acceleration increased by 2 G, but not when helmet mass was varied from 1.6 kg to 2 kg at a constant seat acceleration of 8 G. Although NHTSA risk curves predict a 13% risk of AIS 2+ injury for the 8-G, 2-kg helmet condition mean Nij of 0.138, no AIS 2+ injuries were observed. Modified risk curves were produced which predict a 0.91% risk of AIS 2+ injury under these conditions. The Nij was shown to be sensitive to changes in acceleration and generally robust to anthropometric differences between individuals. Modified risk curves are proposed which improve risk prediction at lower Nij values.

Correlates of front-seat passengers' non-use of seatbelts at night.

PubMed

Boakye, Kwaku F; Khattak, Asad; Everett, Jerry; Nambisan, Shashi

2018-04-18

When properly worn, seatbelts can save lives. They are designed to prevent occupants from hitting objects inside their vehicle and from being ejected out of their vehicle in the event of a crash. Despite their proven effectiveness in reducing the severity of injuries, seatbelt non-use among passengers still remains a problem, especially at night. Although the factors associated with not using a seatbelt have been widely studied, research studies documenting this behavior at night are limited in the literature. The primary objective of this paper is to explore the factors related to front-seat passengers' seatbelt non-use at night using a 2015-2016 longitudinal observation survey conducted in five counties in East Tennessee. The Generalized Estimating Equation, a rigorous modeling technique, is employed for the data analysis. The findings show that front-seat passengers who are most likely to not wear seatbelts at night are males, traveling in passenger cars and pickup trucks, traveling during the first half of the year (January to June), traveling late at night (after 10 p.m) and on local streets. The findings also indicate that drivers may have the greatest influence on their accompanying passengers' seatbelt use. That is, when drivers fail to wear seatbelts at night, their accompanying front-seat passengers are more likely to fail as well. The model results show that there are many consistent correlations between the non-use of seatbelts and personal, vehicle and environmental characteristics. Accounting for these factors may be important when developing intervention strategies that promote nighttime seatbelt use. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Computer Simulation of Ejection Seat Performance and Preliminary Correlation with Empirical Data

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-04-01

L. . .. . 3 I r AFFDL-TR-79-31 50 TABLE OF CONTENTS SECTION PAGE I INTRODUCTION 1 1I SAFEST COMPUTER PROGRAM DESCRIPTION 8 III HITECH ...ZEARTH vs TIME 49E-I1A 53 34 ZEARTH vs XEARTH 49E-IIA 54 AFFDL-TR-79-3150 LIST OF TABLES TABLE PAGE 1 ACES II EVENT-TIME SEQUENCE 3 2 HITECH 49E-JlF...Initial Conditions 13 3 HITECH 49E-I1A Initial Conditions 14 4 HITECH Program Test Data Summary 15 5 SAFEST 49E-JIF Initial Conditions 20 6 SAFEST 49E-IIA

Method of producing complex aluminum alloy parts of high temper, and products thereof

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wilson, I. J. (Inventor)

1978-01-01

Fully annealed aluminum sheet is first stretch formed to the complex, doubly compound shape of a previously prepared forming die, e.g., an ejection seat blowout panel of a shuttlecraft. The part is then marked with a series of grid lines for monitoring later elongation. Thereafter it is solution heat treated and refrigerated to retard hardening. While still soft, it is stretched a second time on the same die to induce a modicum of work hardening, after which it is aged to the desired stress corrosion resistant temper, preferably the T8 level, to provide the desired hardness and stress corrosion resistance.

Dual manifold system and method for fluid transfer

DOEpatents

Doktycz, Mitchel J [Knoxville, TN; Bryan, William Louis [Knoxville, TN; Kress, Reid [Oak Ridge, TN

2003-05-27

A dual-manifold assembly is provided for the rapid, parallel transfer of liquid reagents from a microtiter plate to a solid state microelectronic device having biological sensors integrated thereon. The assembly includes aspiration and dispense manifolds connected by a plurality of conduits. In operation, the aspiration manifold is actuated such that the aspiration manifold is seated onto an array of reagent-filled wells of the microtiter plate. The wells are pressurized to force reagent through conduits toward the dispense manifold. A pressure pulse provided by a standard ink-jet printhead ejects nanoliter-to-picoliter droplets of reagent through an array of printhead orifices and onto test sites on the surface of the microelectronic device.

Dual manifold system and method for fluid transfer

DOEpatents

Doktycz, Mitchel J.; Bryan, William Louis; Kress, Reid

2003-09-30

A dual-manifold assembly is provided for the rapid, parallel transfer of liquid reagents from a microtiter plate to a solid state microelectronic device having biological sensors integrated thereon. The assembly includes aspiration and dispense manifolds connected by a plurality of conduits. In operation, the aspiration manifold is actuated such that the aspiration manifold is seated onto an array of reagent-filled wells of the microtiter plate. The wells are pressurized to force reagent through conduits toward the dispense manifold. A pressure pulse provided by a standard ink-jet printhead ejects nanoliter-to-picoliter droplets of reagent through an array of printhead orifices and onto test sites on the surface of the microelectronic device.

Locomotor problems of supersonic aviation and astronautics.

PubMed

Remes, P

1989-04-01

Modern high-speed aviation and space flight are fraught with many problems and require a high standard of health and fitness. Those responsible for the health of pilots must appreciate the importance of early diagnosis even before symptoms appear. This is particularly true in terms of preventing spinal injuries where even a single Schmorl's node may make a pilot unfit for high-speed flying. Spinal fractures are frequent during emergency ejection and landing. Helicopter crews are particularly prone to spinal disc degeneration due to vibration. By effective lowering of vibration by changes in the seats, a reduction in such lesions is possible. The osteoporosis and muscle atrophy occurring among astronauts subjected to prolonged weightlessness can be prevented by regular physical exercises.

Severe soft tissue injuries of the upper extremity in motor vehicle crashes involving partial ejection: the protective role of side curtain airbags.

PubMed

Kaufman, Robert; Fraade-Blanar, Laura; Lipira, Angelo; Friedrich, Jeffrey; Bulger, Eileen

2017-05-01

Partial ejection (PE) of the upper extremity (UE) can occur in a motor vehicle crash (MVC) resulting in complex and severe soft tissue injuries (SSTI). This study evaluated the relationship between partial ejection and UE injuries, notably SSTIs, in MVCs focusing on crash types and characteristics, and further examined the role of side curtain airbags (SCABs) in the prevention of partial ejection and reducing SSTI of the UE. Weighted data was analyzed from the National Automotive Sampling System Crashworthiness Data System (NASS-CDS) from 1993 to 2012. Logistic regression models were used to assess the relationship of PE with SSTI of the UE and the effect of SCABs in both nearside impacts and rollover collisions. Crash Injury Research and Engineering Network (CIREN) case studies illustrated PE involving SSTI of the UE, and long term treatment. Rollover and nearside impact collisions had the highest percentages of partial ejection, with over half occurring in rollover collisions. Annually over 800 SSTIs of the UE occurred in all MVCs. For nearside lateral force impacts, a multivariable analysis adjusting for belt use and delta V showed a 15 times (OR 15.35, 95% CI 4.30, 54.79) greater odds of PE for occupants without SCABs compared to those with a SCAB deployment. No occupants (0 of 51,000) sustained a SSTI of the UE when a SCAB deployed in nearside impacts, compared to 0.01% (114 of 430,000) when SCABs were unavailable or did not deploy. In rollover collisions, a multivariable analysis adjusted for number of quarter turns and belt use showed 3 times the odds (OR 3.02, 95% CI 1.22, 7.47) of PE for occupants without SCABs compared to those with a SCAB deployment. Just 0.17% (32 of 19,000) of the occupants sustained a SSTI of the UE in rollovers with a SCAB deployment, compared to 0.53% (2294 of 431,000) of the occupants when SCABs were unavailable or did not deploy. CIREN case studies illustrated the injury causation of SSTI of the UE due to partial ejection, and the long term treatment and medical costs associated with a SSTI to the UE. The majority of severe soft tissue injuries (SSTI) of the upper extremity (UE) involved partial ejection out the nearside window of outboard seated occupants in nearside impacts and rollover collisions. Real world case studies showed that SSTIs of the upper extremity require extensive treatment, extended hospitalization and are costly. Occupants without a side curtain airbag (SCAB) deployment had an increase in the odds of partial ejection. SCAB deployments provided protection against partial ejection and prevented SSTIs of the UE, with none occurring in nearside impacts, and a small percentage and reduction occurring in rollover collisions compared to those where SCABs were unavailable or did not deploy. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Human factors issues in the development of helmet-mounted displays for tactical fixed-wing aircraft

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barnaba, James M.

1997-06-01

There are many human factors issues that should be considered when designing a helmet mounted display for use in high speed aircraft with ejection seats. The Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing System Program Office, with support from the Armstrong Laboratory and the Naval Air Warfare Center, has been studying many of these issues and is able to report several findings in the areas of anthropometry, limitations in head movement, helmet stability under high gravity forces and mass properties. This paper serves to summarize the findings of the program office in these areas. The paper will include highlights of several studies that have involved anthropometric data manipulation, 3D head scans, and testing of manikin and human subjects in static and dynamic cockpit environment simulations.

Tubing and cable cutting tool

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mcsmith, D. D.; Richardson, J. I. (Inventor)

1984-01-01

A hand held hydraulic cutting tool was developed which is particularly useful in deactivating ejection seats in military aircraft rescue operations. The tool consists primarily of a hydraulic system composed of a fluid reservoir, a pumping piston, and an actuator piston. Mechanical cutting jaws are attached to the actuator piston rod. The hydraulic system is controlled by a pump handle. As the pump handle is operated the actuator piston rod is forced outward and thus the cutting jaws are forced together. The frame of the device is a flexible metal tubing which permits easy positioning of the tool cutting jaws in remote and normally inaccessible locations. Bifurcated cutting edges ensure removal of a section of the tubing or cable to thereby reduce the possibility of accidental reactivation of the tubing or cable being severed.

Over-and-Out Coronal Mass Ejections: Blowouts of Magnetic Arches by Ejective Flares in One Foot

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moore, Ronald L.; Sterling, Alphonse C.

2006-01-01

Streamer puffs from compact ejective flares in the foot of an outer loop of the magnetic arcade under a streamer were recently identified as a new variety of coronal mass ejection (CME) (Bemporad, Sterling, Moore, & Poletto 2006, ApJ Letters, in press). In the reported examples, the compact flares produced only weak to moderate soft X-ray bursts having peak intensities no stronger than GOES class C3. Here, we present two examples of this type of CME in which the compact flare in the flank of the steamer base is much stronger (one M-class, the other X-class in GOES X-rays) and the resulting streamer puff is wider and brighter than in the discovery examples. Coronal dimming observed in SOHOBIT Fe XII images in the launching of each of these two CMEs M e r supports the view that these CMEs are produced by a high loop of the steamer arcade being blown out by magnetoplasma ejecta exploding up the leg of the loop from the flare. In addition, we present evidence that this same type of CME occurs on larger scales than in the above examples. We examine a sequence of flare eruptions seated on the north side of AR 8210 as it rotated across the southern hemisphere in late April and early May 1998. Each flare occurs in synchrony with the launching of a large CME centered on the equator. Coronal dimming in EIT Fe XII images shows the trans-equatorial footprints of these CMEs extending north from the flare site. The set of flare-with-CME events includes the trans-equatorial loop eruptions reported by Khan & Hudson (1998, GRL, 27, 1083). Our observations indicate that these CMEs were not driven by the self-eruption of the transequatorial loops, but that these loops were part of a trans-equatorial magnetic arch that was blown open by ejecta from the flares on the north side of AR 8210. Thus, a relatively compact ejective flare can be the driver of a CME that is much larger in lateral extent than the flare and is laterally far offset from the flare. It has previously been thought that such spatial disparities between the flare and the CME prohibited the flare explosion from being the driver of the CME (e.g., Kahler 1992, ARA&A, 30, 113).

Driver injury in near- and far-side impacts: Update on the effect of front passenger belt use.

PubMed

Parenteau, Chantal S; Viano, David C

2018-04-03

This is a study that updates earlier research on the influence of a front passenger on the risk for severe driver injury in near-side and far-side impacts. It includes the effects of belt use by the driver and passenger, identifies body regions involved in driver injury, and identifies the sources for severe driver head injury. 1997-2015 NASS-CDS data were used to investigate the risk for Maximum Abbreviated Injury Scale (MAIS) 4 + F driver injury in near-side and far-side impacts by front passenger belt use and as a sole occupant in the driver seat. Side impacts were identified with GAD1 = L or R without rollover (rollover ≤ 0). Front-outboard occupants were included without ejection (ejection = 0). Injury severity was defined by MAIS and fatality (F) by TREATMNT = 1 or INJSEV = 4. Weighted data were determined. The risk for MAIS 4 + F was determined using the number of occupants with known injury status MAIS 0 + F. Standard errors were determined. Overall, belted drivers had greater risks for severe injury in near-side than far-side impacts. As a sole driver, the risk was 0.969 ± 0.212% for near-side and 0.313 ± 0.069% for far-side impacts (P < .005). The driver's risk was 0.933 ± 0.430% with an unbelted passenger and 0.596 ± 0.144% with a belted passenger in near-side impacts. The risk was 2.17 times greater with an unbelted passenger (NS). The driver's risk was 0.782 ± 0.431% with an unbelted passenger and 0.361% ± 0.114% with a belted passenger in far-side impacts. The risk was 1.57 times greater with an unbelted passenger (P < .10). Seat belt use was 66 to 95% effective in preventing MAIS 4 + F injury in the driver. For belted drivers, the head and thorax were the leading body regions for Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) 4+ injury. For near-side impacts, the leading sources for AIS 4+ head injury were the left B-pillar, roof, and other vehicle. For far-side impacts, the leading sources were the other occupant, right interior, and roof (8.5%). Seat belt use by a passenger lowered the risk of severe driver injury in side impacts. The reduction was 54% in near-side impacts and 36% in far-side impacts. Belted drivers experienced mostly head and thoracic AIS 4+ injuries. Head injuries in the belted drivers were from contact with the side interior and the other occupant, even with a belted passenger.

Crash characteristics and injury patterns of restrained front seat occupants in far-side impacts.

PubMed

Yoganandan, Narayan; Arun, Mike W J; Halloway, Dale E; Pintar, Frank A; Maiman, Dennis J; Szabo, Aniko; Rudd, Rodney W

2014-01-01

The study was conducted to determine the association between vehicle-, crash-, and demographic-related factors and injuries to front seat far-side occupants in modern environments. Field data were obtained from the NASS-CDS database for the years 2009-2012. Inclusion factors included the following: adult restrained front outboard-seated occupants, no ejection or rollovers, and vehicle model years less than 10 years old at the time of crash. Far-side crashes were determined by using collision deformation classification. Injuries were scored using the Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS). Injuries (MAIS 2+, MAIS 3+, M denotes maximum score) were examined based on demographics, change in velocity, vehicle type, direction of force, extent zone, collision partner, and presence of another occupant in the front seat. Only weighted data were used in the analysis. Injuries to the head and face, thorax, abdomen, pelvis, and upper and lower extremity regions were studied. Odds ratios and upper and lower confidence intervals were estimated from multivariate analysis. Out of 519,195 far-side occupants, 17,715 were MAIS 2+ and 4,387 were MAIS 3+ level injured occupants. The mean age, stature, total body mass, and body mass index (BMI) were 40.7 years, 1.7 m, 77.2 kg, and 26.8 kg/m2, respectively. Of occupants with MAIS 2+ injuries, 51% had head and 19% had thorax injuries. Of occupants with MAIS 3+ injuries, 50% had head and 69% had thorax injuries. The cumulative distribution of changes in velocities at the 50th percentile for the struck vehicle for all occupants and occupants with MAIS 2+ and MAIS 3+ injuries were 19, 34, and 42 km/h, respectively. Furthermore, 73% of MAIS 2+ injuries and 86% of MAIS 3+ injuries occurred at a change in velocity of 24 km/h or greater. Odds of sustaining MAIS 2+ and MAIS 3+ injuries increased with each unit increase in change in velocity, stature, and age, with one exception. Odds of sustaining injuries were higher with the presence of an occupant in the front seat at the MAIS 3+ level, although it was reversed at the lower level. The extent zone of 3+ increased the odds compared to the extent zones of 1 to 2 at both MAIS 2+ and MAIS 3+ injuries. Odds ratios and confidence intervals are given. The findings are as follows: head and thorax are the more frequently injured body regions, and the prevalence of cranium injuries is similar at both injury severities; thoracic injuries are more prevalent at the MAIS 3+ level; the presence of another front seat occupant plays a role in MAIS 3+ trauma; injuries continue to occur at changes in velocity representative of side impact environments; and mean demographic factors are close to mid-size automotive anthropometry, indicating the need to pursue this line of study. Because data were gathered from only 4 years, it would be important to include additional NASS-CDS database years, rescore injuries from previous years, and analyze other international databases to reinforce these findings for advancing safety for far-side occupants.

Crash characteristics and injury patterns of restrained front seat occupants in far-side impacts

PubMed Central

Yoganandan, Narayan; Arun, Mike W. J.; Halloway, Dale E.; Pintar, Frank A.; Maiman, Dennis J.; Szabo, Aniko; Rudd, Rodney W.

2015-01-01

STRUCTURED ABSTRACT Objective The study was conducted to determine the association between vehicle-, crash- and demographic-related factors and injuries to front seat far-side occupants in modern environments. Methods Field data were obtained from the United States (US) National Automotive Sampling System – Crashworthiness Data System (NASS-CDS) database, for the years 2009–2012. Inclusion factors: adult restrained front outboard seated occupants, no ejection or rollovers, and vehicle model years less than 10 years old at the time of crash. Far-side crashes were determined by using collision deformation classification. Injuries were scored using the Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS). Injuries (MAIS2+, MAIS3+, M denotes maximum score) were examined based on demographics, change in velocity, vehicle type, direction of force, extent zone, collision partner and presence of another occupant in the front seat. Only weighted data were used in the analysis. Injuries to the head and face, thorax, abdomen, pelvis, upper extremity and lower extremity regions were studied. Odds ratios and upper and lower confidence intervals were estimated from multivariate analysis. Results Out of 519,195 far-side occupants, 17,715 were MAIS2+ and 4,387 were MAIS3+ level injured occupants. The mean age, stature, total body mass, and BMI were 40.7 years, 1.7 m, 77.2 kg, and 26.8 kg/m2, respectively. Of occupants with MAIS2+ injuries, 51% had head and 19% had thorax injuries. Of occupants with MAIS 3+ injuries, 50% had head and 69% had thorax injuries. The cumulative distribution of changes in velocities at the 50th percent level for the struck vehicle for all occupants and, MAIS2+ and MAIS3+ occupants were 19, 34 and 42 km/h, respectively. Furthermore, 73% of MAIS2+ injuries and 86% of MAIS3+ injuries occurred at a change in velocity of 24 km/h or greater. Odds of sustaining MAIS2+ and MAIS3+ injuries increased with unit increase in change in velocity, stature and age, with one exception. Odds of sustaining injuries were higher with the presence of an occupant in the front seat at the MAIS3+ level, although it was reversed at the lower level. The extent zone of 3+ increased the odds compared to the extent zones of 1 to 2 at both MAIS2+ and MAIS3+ injuries. Odds ratios and confidence interval are given. Conclusions Findings that head and thorax are more frequently injured body regions, prevalence of cranium injuries are similar at both injury severities; thoracic injuries are more prevalent at the MAIS3+ level; presence of another front seat occupant plays a role in MAIS3+ trauma; injuries continue to occur at change in velocities representative of side impact environments; mean demographic factors are close to mid-size automotive anthropometry, indicate the need to pursue this line of study. Because data were gathered from only four years, it would be important to include additional NASS-CDS database years, rescore injuries from previous years and/or analyze other international databases to reinforce these findings for advancing safety for far-side occupants. PMID:25307394

49 CFR 393.93 - Seats, seat belt assemblies, and seat belt assembly anchorages.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 49 Transportation 5 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Seats, seat belt assemblies, and seat belt assembly anchorages. 393.93 Section 393.93 Transportation Other Regulations Relating to Transportation... § 393.93 Seats, seat belt assemblies, and seat belt assembly anchorages. (a) Buses—(1) Buses...

49 CFR 393.93 - Seats, seat belt assemblies, and seat belt assembly anchorages.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 49 Transportation 5 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Seats, seat belt assemblies, and seat belt assembly anchorages. 393.93 Section 393.93 Transportation Other Regulations Relating to Transportation... § 393.93 Seats, seat belt assemblies, and seat belt assembly anchorages. (a) Buses—(1) Buses...

49 CFR 393.93 - Seats, seat belt assemblies, and seat belt assembly anchorages.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 49 Transportation 5 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Seats, seat belt assemblies, and seat belt assembly anchorages. 393.93 Section 393.93 Transportation Other Regulations Relating to Transportation... § 393.93 Seats, seat belt assemblies, and seat belt assembly anchorages. (a) Buses—(1) Buses...

49 CFR 393.93 - Seats, seat belt assemblies, and seat belt assembly anchorages.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 49 Transportation 5 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Seats, seat belt assemblies, and seat belt assembly anchorages. 393.93 Section 393.93 Transportation Other Regulations Relating to Transportation... § 393.93 Seats, seat belt assemblies, and seat belt assembly anchorages. (a) Buses—(1) Buses...

49 CFR 393.93 - Seats, seat belt assemblies, and seat belt assembly anchorages.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 49 Transportation 5 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Seats, seat belt assemblies, and seat belt assembly anchorages. 393.93 Section 393.93 Transportation Other Regulations Relating to Transportation... § 393.93 Seats, seat belt assemblies, and seat belt assembly anchorages. (a) Buses—(1) Buses...

The application of SEAT values for predicting how compliant seats with backrests influence vibration discomfort.

PubMed

Basri, Bazil; Griffin, Michael J

2014-11-01

The extent to which a seat can provide useful attenuation of vehicle vibration depends on three factors: the characteristics of the vehicle motion, the vibration transmissibility of the seat, and the sensitivity of the body to vibration. The 'seat effective amplitude transmissibility' (i.e., SEAT value) reflects how these three factors vary with the frequency and the direction of vibration so as to predict the vibration isolation efficiency of a seat. The SEAT value is mostly used to select seat cushions or seat suspensions based on the transmission of vertical vibration to the principal supporting surface of a seat. This study investigated the accuracy of SEAT values in predicting how seats with backrests influence the discomfort caused by multiple-input vibration. Twelve male subjects participated in a four-part experiment to determine equivalent comfort contours, the relative discomfort, the location of discomfort, and seat transmissibility with three foam seats and a rigid reference seat at 14 frequencies of vibration in the range 1-20 Hz at magnitudes of vibration from 0.2 to 1.6 ms(-2) r.m.s. The 'measured seat dynamic discomfort' (MSDD) was calculated for each foam seat from the ratio of the vibration acceleration required to cause similar discomfort with the foam seat and with the rigid reference seat. Using the frequency weightings in current standards, the SEAT values of each seat were calculated from the ratio of overall ride values with the foam seat to the overall ride values with the rigid reference seat, and compared to the corresponding MSDD at each frequency. The SEAT values provided good predictions of how the foam seats increased vibration discomfort at frequencies around the 4-Hz resonance but reduced vibration discomfort at frequencies greater than about 6.3 Hz, with discrepancies explained by a known limitation of the frequency weightings. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

Environmental and psychosocial factors affecting seat belt use among Turkish front-seat occupants in Ankara: two observation studies.

PubMed

Simşekoğlu, Ozlem; Lajunen, Timo

2008-01-01

Low seat belt use rate among car occupants is one of the main problems contributing to low driver and passenger safety in Turkey, where injury and fatality rates of car occupants are very high in traffic crashes. The present article consists of two observation studies, which were conducted in Ankara. The first study aimed at investigating environmental factors and occupant characteristics affecting seat belt use among front-seat occupants, and the objective of the second study was to investigate the relationship between driver and front-seat passenger seat belt use. In the first study, 4, 227 front-seat occupants (drivers or front seat passengers) were observed on four different road sides and, in the second study 1, 398 front seat occupants were observed in car parks of five different shopping centers in Ankara. In both observations, front-seat occupants' seat bet use (yes, no), sex (male, female), and age (< 30 years, 30-50 years, > 50 years) were recorded. The data were analyzed using chi-square statistics and binary logistic regression techniques. Results of the first study showed that seat belt use proportion among observed front seat occupants was very low (25%). Being female and traveling on intercity roads were two main factors positively related to use a seat belt among front-seat occupants. High correlations between seat belt use of the drivers and front-seat passengers were found in the second study. Overall, low seat belt use rate (25%) among the front-seat occupants should be increased urgently for an improved driver and passenger safety in Turkey. Seat belt campaigns especially tailored for male front-seat occupants and for the front-seat occupants traveling on city roads are needed to increase seat belt use rates among them. Also, both drivers and passengers may have an important role in enforcing seat belt use among themselves.

Effect of Seating on Exposures to Whole-Body Vibration in Vehicles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

PADDAN, G. S.; GRIFFIN, M. J.

2002-05-01

The vibration isolation efficiency of seating has been evaluated in 100 work vehicles in 14 categories (cars, vans, lift trucks, lorries, tractors, buses, dumpers, excavators, helicopters, armoured vehicles, mobile cranes, grass rollers, mowers and milk floats). Seat isolation efficiency, expressed by the SEAT value, was determined for all seats (67 conventional seats and 33 suspension seats) from the vertical acceleration measured on the floors and on the seats of the vehicles.For most categories of vehicle, the average SEAT value was less than 100%, indicating that the average seat provided some attenuation of vibration. However, there were large variations in SEAT values between vehicles within categories. Two alternative vibration frequency weightings (Wb from BS 6841, 1987; Wk from ISO 2631, 1997) yielded SEAT values that differed by less than 6%. Overall, the SEAT values determined by two alternative methods (the ratio of r.m.s. values and the ratio of vibration dose values) differed by less than 4·5% when using weighting Wb, although larger differences may be expected in some situations. The median SEAT value for the suspension seats was 84·6%; the median SEAT value for the conventional seats was 86·9% (based on weighting Wb and the ratio of r.m.s. values).Predicted SEAT values were obtained assuming that each seat could be interchanged between vehicles without altering its transmissibility. The calculations suggest that 94% of the vehicles investigated might benefit from changing the current seat to a seat from one of the other vehicles investigated. Although the predictions are based on assumptions that will not always apply, it is concluded that the severity of whole-body vibration exposures in many work environments can be lessened by improvements to seating dynamics.

16 CFR 1512.15 - Requirements for seat.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

....) above the top of the seat surface at the point where the seat surface is intersected by the seat post axis. (b) Seat post. The seat post shall contain a permanent mark or ring that clearly indicates the... integrity of the seat post. This mark shall be located no less than two seat-post diameters from the lowest...

16 CFR 1512.15 - Requirements for seat.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

....) above the top of the seat surface at the point where the seat surface is intersected by the seat post axis. (b) Seat post. The seat post shall contain a permanent mark or ring that clearly indicates the... integrity of the seat post. This mark shall be located no less than two seat-post diameters from the lowest...

Seat belt and child seat use in Lipetskaya Oblast, Russia: frequencies, attitudes, and perceptions.

PubMed

Ma, Sai; Tran, Nhan; Klyavin, Vladimir E; Zambon, Francesco; Hatcher, Kristin W; Hyder, Adnan A

2012-01-01

Despite the importance of understanding seat belt use patterns among drivers and passengers for the purpose of direct interventions or monitoring improvements, no study has described wearing rates for all seat positions in Russia. This study describes observed seat belt use and knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions of seat belt use in Lipetskaya Oblast, Russia. An observational study on the use of seat belts and child restraints in the Lipetskaya region conducted during October 2010 collected data in 6 districts and on 3 different road types. A roadside survey gathered information on knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions toward the use of seat belts from randomly selected drivers. Frequencies of seat belt use by seat position, gender, and road type were calculated. A multivariable logit model disclosed the associations between seat belt use and sociodemographic factors. The study design permitted comparison of observed seat belt use to self-reported seat belt use. A total of 25,795 vehicles and 39,833 drivers and passengers contributed observations. Overall, 55 percent of drivers were observed to be using seat belts. More than half (58%) of front seat passengers wore seat belts and only 9 percent of back seat passengers were observed to be wearing seat belts; 11 percent of cars with children had any type of child safety measure. Drivers on urban roads were less likely to wear seat belts compared to those on main highways and rural roads. Nearly 60 percent of survey respondents mentioned "seat belts save lives," and more than half mentioned law requirements and fines. Although the observed seat belt use in Lipetskaya Oblast is much higher than previous estimates in Russia, overall wearing rates remain far from universal. Rear seat passengers and children are particularly at risk. Because combined education and enforcement has proven to be effective elsewhere, such interventions are needed to improve seat belt use.

A comparison of self-report and direct observation of booster seat use in Latino families.

PubMed

Quistberg, D Alex; Lozano, Paula; Mack, Christopher D; Schwartz, Rachel; Ebel, Beth E

2010-08-01

To develop a reliable self-report tool for measuring child booster seat use among Latino families. Cross-sectional and observational survey of a convenience sample. Five retail stores in King County, Washington. 50 parents of children 4-8 years old that self-identified as Latino or Hispanic. Parent-reported measures of how often the child uses a booster seat, if the child used a booster seat on the last trip, how often the child complains about using a booster seat, how often the child asks to not use a booster seat, and how often other families they know use a booster seat. Observed booster seat use by child. 26 children (52%) were observed using a booster seat. Parent-reported booster seat use was a poor predictor of observed booster seat use. Although 34 parents reported that their child 'always' uses a booster seat, 8 (24%) of these children were not using a booster seat. A logistic model to predict booster seat use had a sensitivity of 81% and a specificity of 71%, and misclassified 24% of the participants' observed use. Reliance on parent-reported booster seat use significantly overstated observed booster seat use in the study. Among this study population, accurate determination of booster seat use required direct observation.

Seat strength in rear body block tests.

PubMed

Viano, David C; White, Samuel D

2016-07-03

This study collected and analyzed available testing of motor vehicle seat strength in rearward loading by a body block simulating the torso of an occupant. The data were grouped by single recliner, dual recliner, and all belts to seat (ABTS) seats. The strength of seats to rearward loading has been evaluated with body block testing from 1964 to 2008. The database of available tests includes 217 single recliner, 65 dual recliner, and 18 ABTS seats. The trends in seat strength were determined by linear regression and differences between seat types were evaluated by Student's t-test. The average peak moment and force supported by the seat was determined by decade of vehicle model year (MY). Single recliner seats were used in motor vehicles in the 1960s to 1970s. The average strength was 918 ± 224 Nm (n = 26) in the 1960s and 1,069 ± 293 Nm (n = 65) in the 1980s. There has been a gradual increase in strength over time. Dual recliner seats started to phase into vehicles in the late 1980s. By the 2000s, the average strength of single recliner seats increased to 1,501 ± 335 Nm (n = 14) and dual recliner seats to 2,302 ± 699 Nm (n = 26). Dual recliner seats are significantly stronger than single recliner seats for each decade of comparison (P < .001). The average strength of ABTS seats was 4,395 ± 1,185 in-lb for 1989-2004 MY seats (n = 18). ABTS seats are significantly stronger than single or dual recliner seats (P < .001). The trend in ABTS strength is decreasing with time and converging toward that of dual recliner seats. Body block testing is an quantitative means of evaluating the strength of seats for occupant loading in rear impacts. There has been an increase in conventional seat strength over the past 50 years. By the 2000s, most seats are 1,700-3,400 Nm moment strength. However, the safety of a seat is more complex than its strength and depends on many other factors.

Seating Considerations for Spaceflight: The Human to Machine Interface

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gohmert, Dustin M.

2011-01-01

Seating is one of the most critical components to be considered during design of a spacecraft. Since seats are the final interface between the occupant and the vehicle wherein all launch and landing operations are performed, significant effort must be spent to ensure proper integration of the human to the spacecraft. The importance of seating can be divided into two categories: seat layout and seat design. The layout of the seats drives the overall cabin configuration - from displays and controls, to windows, to stowage, to egress paths. Since the layout of the seats is such a critical design parameter within the crew compartment, it is one of the first design challenges that must be completed in the critical path of the spacecraft design. In consideration of seat layout in the vehicle, it is important for the designers to account for often intangible factors such as safety, operability, contingency performance, crew rescue. Seat layout will lead to definition of the quantity, shape, and posture of the seats. The seats of the craft must restrain and protect the occupant in all seated phases of flight, while allowing for nominal mission performance. In design of a spacecraft seat, the general posture of the occupant and the landing loads to be encountered are the greatest drivers of overall design. Variances, such as upright versus recumbent postures will dictate fit of the seat to the occupant and drive the total envelope of the seat around the occupant. Seat design revolves around applying sound principles of seated occupant protection coupled with the unique environments driven by the seat layout, landing loads, and operational and emergency scenarios.

16 CFR 1512.15 - Requirements for seat.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

...) above the top of the seat surface at the point where the seat surface is intersected by the seat post axis. This requirement does not apply to recumbent bicycles. (b) Seat post. The seat post shall contain... adjustment); the mark shall not affect the structural integrity of the seat post. This mark shall be located...

16 CFR § 1512.15 - Requirements for seat.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

...) above the top of the seat surface at the point where the seat surface is intersected by the seat post axis. This requirement does not apply to recumbent bicycles. (b) Seat post. The seat post shall contain... adjustment); the mark shall not affect the structural integrity of the seat post. This mark shall be located...

16 CFR 1512.15 - Requirements for seat.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

...) above the top of the seat surface at the point where the seat surface is intersected by the seat post axis. This requirement does not apply to recumbent bicycles. (b) Seat post. The seat post shall contain... adjustment); the mark shall not affect the structural integrity of the seat post. This mark shall be located...

76 FR 64795 - Airworthiness Directives; Sicma Aero Seat Passenger Seat Assemblies Installed on Various...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-10-19

... Airworthiness Directives; Sicma Aero Seat Passenger Seat Assemblies Installed on Various Transport Category..., 91xx, 92xx, 93xx, 95xx, and 96xx series passenger seat assemblies, installed on various transport... seat assemblies identified in Annex 1, Issue 2, dated March 19, 2004, of Sicma Aero Seat Service...

Lateral bias in theatre-seat choice.

PubMed

Harms, Victoria; Reese, Miriam; Elias, Lorin J

2014-01-01

Examples of behavioural asymmetries are common in the range of human behaviour; even when faced with a symmetrical environment people demonstrate reliable asymmetries in behaviours like gesturing, cradling, and even seating. One such asymmetry is the observation that participants tend to choose seats to the right of the screen when asked to select their preferred seating location in a movie theatre. However, these results are based on seat selection using a seating chart rather than examining real seat choice behaviour in the theatre context. This study investigated the real-world seating patterns of theatre patrons during actual film screenings. Analysis of bias scores calculated using photographs of theatre patrons revealed a significant bias to choose seats on the right side of the theatre. These findings are consistent with the prior research in the area and confirm that the seating bias observed when seats are selected from a chart accurately reflects real-world seating behaviour.

Compliance with seat belt use in Benin City, Nigeria.

PubMed

Iribhogbe, Pius Ehiawaguan; Osime, Clement Odigie

2008-01-01

Trauma is a major cause of death and disability worldwide. A quarter of all fatalities due to injury occur due to road traffic crashes with 90% of the fatalities occurring in low- and medium-income countries. Poor compliance with the use of seat belts is a problem in many developing countries. The aim of this study was to evaluate the level of seatbelt compliance in motor vehicles in Benin City, Nigeria. A five-day, observational study was conducted in strategic locations in Benin City. The compliance rates of drivers, front seat passengers, and rear seat passengers in the various categories of vehicles were evaluated, and the data were subjected to statistical processing using the Program for Epidemiology. A total of 369 vehicles were observed. This consisted of 172 private cars, 64 taxis, 114 buses, 15 trucks, and four other vehicles. The seat belt compliance rate for drivers was 52.3%, front seat passengers 18.4%, and rear seat passengers 6.1%. Drivers of all categories of vehicles were more likely to use the seat belt compared to front seat passengers (p = 0.000) and rear seat passengers (p = 0.000). Drivers of private cars were more likely to use seat belts compared to taxi drivers (p = 0.000) and bus drivers (p = 0.000). Front seat passengers in private cars were more likely to use the seat belt compared to front seat passengers in taxis (p = 0.000) and buses (p = 0.000). Rear seat passengers in private cars also were more likely to use seat belts compared to rear seat passengers in taxis (p = 0.000) and buses (p = 0.000). Compliance with seat belt use in Benin City is low. Legislation, educational campaigns, and enforcement of seat belt use are needed.

Seating Considerations for Spaceflight: The Human to Machine Interface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gohmert, D. M.

2012-01-01

Seating is one of the most critical components to be considered during design of a spacecraft. Since seats are the final interface between the occupant and the vehicle wherein all launch and landing operations are performed, significant effort must be spent to ensure proper integration of the human to the spacecraft. The importance of seating can be divided into two categories: seat layout and seat design. The layout of the seats drives the overall cabin configuration - from displays and controls, to windows, to stowage, to egress paths. Since the layout of the seats is such a critical design parameter within the crew compartment, it is one of the first design challenges that must be completed in the critical path of the spacecraft design. In consideration of seat layout in the vehicle, it is important for the designers to account for often intangible factors such as safety, operability, contingency performance, and crew rescue. Seat layout will lead to definition of the quantity, shape, and posture of the seats. The seats of the craft must restrain and protect the occupant in all seated phases of flight, while allowing for nominal mission performance. In design of a spacecraft seat, the general posture of the occupant and the landing loads to be encountered are the greatest drivers of overall design. Variances, such as upright versus recumbent postures will dictate fit of the seat to the occupant and drive the total envelope of the seat around the occupant. Seat design revolves around applying sound principles of seated occupant protection coupled with the unique environments driven by the seat layout, landing loads, and operational and emergency scenarios.

X-2 on Transportation Dolly

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1952-01-01

This 1952 photograph shows the X-2 #2 aircraft mounted on a special transportation dolly at Edwards Air Force Base, California. The dolly was steerable and was used for transporting the X-2 around and for towing it off the lakebed at Edwards Air Force Base after a landing. This was the number 2 airplane (46-675), which was lost on May 12, 1953, on a captive flight over Lake Ontario when the airplane exploded during a liquid-oxygen topoff test, killing the pilot, Jean Ziegler, and EB-50A crewman Frank Wolko. Almost no debris was recovered from Lake Ontario, so no cause for the explosion could be determined. Later, however, investigations of similar explosions in the X-1 #3, X-1A, and X-1D traced the problem to Ulmer leather gaskets, which exuded tricresyl phosphate. This substance caused detonations in the supercold atmosphere of the airplanes' liquid oxygen tanks. As the X-2 #2 also had these gaskets, they were probably the cause of the explosion in that aircraft as well. The X-2 was a swept-wing, rocket-powered aircraft designed to fly faster than Mach 3 (three times the speed of sound). It was built for the U.S. Air Force by the Bell Aircraft Company, Buffalo, New York. The X-2 was flown to investigate the problems of aerodynamic heating as well as stability and control effectiveness at high altitudes and high speeds (in excess of Mach 3). Bell aircraft built two X-2 aircraft. These were constructed of K-monel (a copper and nickel alloy) for the fuselage and stainless steel for the swept wings and control surfaces. The aircraft had ejectable nose capsules instead of ejection seats because the development of ejection seats had not reached maturity at the time the X-2 was conceived. The X-2 ejection canopy was successfully tested using a German V-2 rocket. The X-2 used a skid-type landing gear to make room for more fuel. The airplane was air launched from a modified Boeing B-50 Superfortress Bomber. X-2 Number 1 made its first unpowered glide flight on Aug. 5, 1954, and made a total of 17 (4 glide and 13 powered) flights before it was lost Sept. 27, 1956. The pilot on Flight 17, Capt. Milburn Apt, had flown the aircraft to a record speed of Mach 3.2 (2,094 mph), thus becoming the first person to exceed Mach 3. During that last flight, inertial coupling occurred and the pilot was killed. The aircraft suffered little damage in the crash, resulting in proposals (never implemented) from the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory, Hampton, Virginia, to rebuild it for use in a hypersonic (Mach 5+) test program. In 1953, X-2 Number 2 was lost in an in-flight explosion while at the Bell Aircraft Company during captive flight trials and was jettisoned into Lake Ontario. The Air Force had previously flown the aircraft on three glide flights at Edwards Air Force Base, California, in 1952. Although the NACA's High-Speed Flight Station, Edwards, California, (predecessor of NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center) never actually flew the X-2 aircraft, the NACA did support the program primarily through Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory wind-tunnel tests and Wallops Island, Virginia, rocket-model tests. The NACA High-Speed Flight Station also provided stability-and-control recording instrumentation and simulator support for the Air Force flights. In the latter regard, the NACA worked with the Air Force in using a special computer to extrapolate and predict aircraft behavior from flight data.

X-2 on ramp with B-50 mothership and support crew

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1956-01-01

Air Force test pilot Capt. Iven Kincheloe stands in front of the Bell X-2 (46-674) on the ramp at Edwards Air Force Base, California. Behind the X-2 are ground support personnel, the B-50 launch aircraft and crew, chase planes, and support vehicles. Kincheloe had flown nearly 100 combat missions in Korea in an F-86 and was credited with shooting down 10 enemy aircraft. He then graduated from the Empire Test Pilot's School in Great Britain in December 1954, whereupon he was assigned to Edwards Air Force Base. He made four powered flights in the X-2. On September 7, 1956, he reached an altitude of 126,200 feet. After the death of Capt. Mel Apt and the loss of the X-2 #1 on September 27, 1956, in the first Mach 3 flight, Kincheloe was assigned as the Air Force project pilot for the X-15. Before he had a chance to fly that rocket-powered aircraft, Kincheloe himself lost his life on July 26, 1958, in an F-104 accident. The X-2 was a swept-wing, rocket-powered aircraft designed to fly faster than Mach 3 (three times the speed of sound). It was built for the U.S. Air Force by the Bell Aircraft Company, Buffalo, New York. The X-2 was flown to investigate the problems of aerodynamic heating as well as stability and control effectiveness at high altitudes and high speeds (in excess of Mach 3). Bell aircraft built two X-2 aircraft. These were constructed of K-monel (a copper and nickel alloy) for the fuselage and stainless steel for the swept wings and control surfaces. The aircraft had ejectable nose capsules instead of ejection seats because the development of ejection seats had not reached maturity at the time the X-2 was conceived. The X-2 ejection canopy was successfully tested using a German V-2 rocket. The X-2 used a skid-type landing gear to make room for more fuel. The airplane was air launched from a modified Boeing B-50 Superfortress Bomber. X-2 Number 1 made its first unpowered glide flight on Aug. 5, 1954, and made a total of 17 (4 glide and 13 powered) flights before it was lost Sept. 27, 1956. The pilot on Flight 17, Capt. Milburn Apt, had flown the aircraft to a record speed of Mach 3.2 (2,094 mph), thus becoming the first person to exceed Mach 3. During that last flight, inertial coupling occurred and the pilot was killed. The aircraft suffered little damage in the crash, resulting in proposals (never implemented) from the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory, Hampton, Virginia, to rebuild it for use in a hypersonic (Mach 5+) test program. In 1953, X-2 Number 2 was lost in an in-flight explosion while at the Bell Aircraft Company during captive flight trials and was jettisoned into Lake Ontario. The Air Force had previously flown the aircraft on three glide flights at Edwards Air Force Base, California, in 1952. Although the NACA's High-Speed Flight Station, Edwards, California, (predecessor of NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center) never actually flew the X-2 aircraft, the NACA did support the program primarily through Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory wind-tunnel tests and Wallops Island, Virginia, rocket-model tests. The NACA High-Speed Flight Station also provided stability and control recording instrumentation and simulator support for the Air Force flights. In the latter regard, the NACA worked with the Air Force in using a special computer to extrapolate and predict aircraft behavior from flight data.

Effects of elastic seats on seated body apparent mass responses to vertical whole body vibration.

PubMed

Dewangan, K N; Rakheja, S; Marcotte, Pierre; Shahmir, A

2015-01-01

Apparent mass (AM) responses of the body seated with and without a back support on three different elastic seats (flat and contoured polyurethane foam (PUF) and air cushion) and a rigid seat were measured under three levels of vertical vibration (overall rms acceleration: 0.25, 0.50 and 0.75 m/s(2)) in the 0.5 to 20 Hz range. A pressure-sensing system was used to capture biodynamic force at the occupant-seat interface. The results revealed strong effects of visco-elastic and vibration transmissibility characteristics of seats on AM. The response magnitudes with the relatively stiff air seat were generally higher than those with the PUF seats except at low frequencies. The peak magnitude decreased when sitting condition was changed from no back support to a vertical support; the reduction however was more pronounced with the air seat. Further, a relatively higher frequency shift was evident with soft seat compared with stiff elastic seat with increasing excitation. The effects of visco-elastic properties of the body-seat interface on the apparent mass responses of the seated body are measured under vertical vibration. The results show considerable effects of the coupling stiffness on the seated body apparent mass, apart from those of excitation magnitude and back support.

Occupant responses in conventional and ABTS seats in high-speed rear sled tests.

PubMed

Viano, David C; Parenteau, Chantal S; Burnett, Roger; Prasad, Priya

2018-01-02

This study compared biomechanical responses of a normally seated Hybrid III dummy on conventional and all belts to seat (ABTS) seats in 40.2 km/h (25 mph) rear sled tests. It determined the difference in performance with modern (≥2000 MY) seats compared to older (<2000 MY) seats and ABTS seats. The seats were fixed in a sled buck subjected to a 40.2 km/h (25 mph) rear sled test. The pulse was a 15 g double-peak acceleration with 150 ms duration. The 50th percentile Hybrid III was lap-shoulder belted in the FMVSS 208 design position. The testing included 11 <2000 MY, 8 ≥2000 MY, and 7 ABTS seats. The dummy was fully instrumented, including head accelerations, upper and lower neck 6-axis load cells, chest acceleration, thoracic and lumbar spine load cells, and pelvis accelerations. The peak responses were normalized by injury assessment reference values (IARVs) to assess injury risks. Statistical analysis was conducted using Student's t test. High-speed video documented occupant kinematics. Biomechanical responses were lower with modern (≥2000 MY) seats than older (<2000 MY) designs. The lower neck extension moment was 32.5 ± 9.7% of IARV in modern seats compared to 62.8 ± 31.6% in older seats (P =.01). Overall, there was a 34% reduction in the comparable biomechanical responses with modern seats. Biomechanical responses were lower with modern seats than ABTS seats. The lower neck extension moment was 41.4 ± 7.8% with all MY ABTS seats compared to 32.5 ± 9.7% in modern seats (P =.07). Overall, the ABTS seats had 13% higher biomechanical responses than the modern seats. Modern (≥2000 MY) design seats have lower biomechanical responses in 40.2 km/h rear sled tests than older (<2000 MY) designs and ABTS designs. The improved performance is consistent with an increase in seat strength combined with improved occupant kinematics through pocketing of the occupant into the seatback, higher and more forward head restraint, and other design changes. The methods and data presented here provide a basis for standardized testing of seats. However, a complete understanding of seat safety requires consideration of out-of-position (OOP) occupants in high-speed impacts and consideration of the much more common, low-speed rear impacts.

76 FR 291 - Special Conditions: Gulfstream Model GVI Airplane; Single-Occupant Side-Facing Seats

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-01-04

...-occupant side-facing seat installations. Dynamic testing of all seats approved for occupancy during takeoff.... 25.562, ``Emergency landing dynamic conditions,'' requires dynamic testing of all seats occupied... seats, or seats equipped with conventional restraint systems. [[Page 292

Selecting seats for steel industry mobile machines based on seat effective amplitude transmissibility and comfort.

PubMed

Conrad, Leanne F; Oliver, Michele L; Jack, Robert J; Dickey, James P; Eger, Tammy R

2014-01-01

The purpose of this work was to help a steel industry partner select the most appropriate of three high end heavy equipment seats to retrofit a number of their heavy mobile machines used in the steel making process. The participants included 8 males (22.3 ± 2.0 yrs.) and 8 females (23.5 ± 1.8 yrs.) with no experience operating heavy mobile equipment. Previously recorded 6-DOF chassis acceleration data from a Pot Hauler (a machine which picks up and transports pots of slag) were used to extract six, 20 second representative profiles for implementation on a lab-based heavy machine simulator (6-DOF Parallel Robotics System Corporation robot). Subjects sat on three heavy equipment seats (BeGe7150, Grammar MSG 95G1721, and a 6801 Isringhausen with the seat pan cushion retrofitted with a Skydex cushion) mounted on the simulator. Each subject completed three trials for each combination of seat (n=3) and vibration profile (n=6). Chassis and operator/seat interface vibration were measured by 2, 6-DOF vibration transducers. Variables included Seat Effective Amplitude Transmissibility (SEAT) (X,Y,Z,Roll,Pitch,Yaw,6DOF Vector Sum) to determine if the seat was attenuating or amplifying the vibration, 6-degree of freedom (DOF) vibration total value weighted predicted comfort (Avc) (according to ISO 2631-1) and operator reported comfort (ORC). Factorial ANOVAs revealed significant differences (p < or = 0.05) between seats for all SEAT variables but different seats performed better than others depending on the axis. Significant differences between males and females were observed for SEAT in X,Y, and Pitch as well as for Avs. As expected there were significant differences between vibration profiles for all assessed variables. A number of interaction effects were observed, the most frequently occurring of which was between seat and vibration profile. Based upon the number of seat and vibration profile interactions, results suggest that a single seat is not suited for all tested conditions. However, SEAT values for all of the seats tested were extremely low (e.g., 6-DOF SEAT < 30%) indicating that all of the seats were capable of providing good vibration attenuation.

An Ergonomic Evaluation of Aircraft Pilot Seats

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Andrade, Yolanda Nicole

Seat comfort has become increasingly important in today's society as we spend more time at consoles, instrument panels, or just online. However, seat comfort is hard to define and difficult to measure. Several measures both objective and subjective were used to evaluate seat comfort in commercially available average pilot seats. Three pilot seats, which had the same material and similar adjustments but different physical attributes, and a universal classroom seat, with different material and no adjustments, were compared by 20 volunteers using subjective and objective measures in a Latin square controlled repeated measures design. A Friedman's test was used to determine that both the comfort questionnaire and the body-map rating results were able to discriminate objective comfort levels between the seats. One-way repeated measures ANOVA tests were used to analyze both the objective tests, actigraph and pressure pad data. All results indicated that one seat was clearly the most comfortable and another, the classroom seat was clearly the most uncomfortable seat. Furthermore, the overall comments per seat were compiled and compared to Fazlollahtabar's 2010) predictive automobile seat comfort theory to determine which factors influence comfort perception. The use of both subjective and objective data can better distinguish comfort from one seat over the other. These results have implications for future tests of seats that will be used for long durations. Limitations and future recommendations are discussed later in the paper. An interesting finding may explain why pressure pad data are typically seemingly at odds with subjective measures of seat comfort.

Characterisation of the human-seat coupling in response to vibration.

PubMed

Kim, Eunyeong; Fard, Mohammad; Kato, Kazuhito

2017-08-01

Characterising the coupling between the occupant and vehicle seat is necessary to understand the transmission of vehicle seat vibration to the human body. In this study, the vibration characteristics of the human body coupled with a vehicle seat were identified in frequencies up to 100 Hz. Transmissibilities of three volunteers seated on two different vehicle seats were measured under multi-axial random vibration excitation. The results revealed that the human-seat system vibration was dominated by the human body and foam below 10 Hz. Major coupling between the human body and the vehicle seat-structure was observed in the frequency range of 10-60 Hz. There was local coupling of the system dominated by local resonances of seat frame and seat surface above 60 Hz. Moreover, the transmissibility measured on the seat surface between the human and seat foam is suggested to be a good method of capturing human-seat system resonances rather than that measured on the human body in high frequencies above 10 Hz.Practitioner Summary: The coupling characteristics of the combined human body and vehicle seat system has not yet been fully understood in frequencies of 0.5-100 Hz. This study shows the human-seat system has distinctive dynamic coupling characteristics in three different frequency regions: below 10 Hz, 10-60 Hz, and above 60 Hz.

The seating mechanics of head-neck modular tapers in vitro: Load-displacement measurements, moisture, and rate effects.

PubMed

Ouellette, Eric S; Shenoy, Aarti A; Gilbert, Jeremy L

2018-04-01

The mechanically assisted crevice corrosion performance of head-neck modular tapers is a significant concern in orthopedic biomaterials. Fretting crevice corrosion processes in modular tapers are thought to be influenced by a wide array of factors including seating mechanics of the junction, hence there is a need for in vitro test methods that can assess their performance. This study presented a test method to directly measure the load-displacement seating mechanics of modular tapers and used this method to compare the seating mechanics for different tapers, moisture, seating loads and seating rates. Seating mechanics were explored whereby the instantaneous load-displacement behavior of the head seating onto the neck is captured and used to define the mechanics of seating. Two distinct taper design/material combinations were assembled wet or dry using axially applied loads (500, 1,000, 2,000, and 4,000 N) at two loading rates of 100 and 10 4  N/s (n = 5 for each condition) using a servohydraulic test frame. The results showed that pull-off strength scaled with seating load and ranged between 43% and 68% of seating load depending on sample and wetness. Tapers seated wet had higher pull-off strengths (2,200 ± 300 N) than those seated dry (1,800 ± 200 N, p < 0.05). Seating mechanics (load-displacement plots) varied due to sample type and due to wetness with differences in seating energy, seating stiffness, and seating displacement. These results show the detailed mechanics of seating during assembly and provide significant insight into the complex interplay of factors associated with even "ideal" seating (axial, quasistatic) loading. © 2017 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 36:1164-1172, 2018. © 2017 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Assessing factors causing severe injuries in crashes of high-deck buses in long-distance driving on freeways.

PubMed

Chu, Hsing-Chung

2014-01-01

High-deck buses that have a higher center of gravity traveling at an excessive speed have a higher likelihood of causing serious and fatal accidents when drivers lose control of the vehicle. In addition, drivers who suffer from fatigue in long-distance driving increase the likelihood of serious accident. This paper examines the effects of risk factors contributing to severe crashes associated with high-deck buses used for long-distance driving on freeways. An ordered logit and latent class models are used to examine significant factors on the severity of injuries in crashes related to high-deck buses. Driver fatigue, drivers or passengers not wearing a seat belt, reckless driving, drunk driving, crashes occurred between midnight and dawn, and crashes occurred at interchange ramps were found to significantly affect the severity of injuries in crashes involving high-deck buses. Safety policies to prevent severe injuries in crashes involving high deck buses used for long-distance runs on freeways include: (1) restricting drivers from exceeding the limit of daily driving hours and mandating sufficient rest breaks; (2) installing an automatic sleep-warning device in the vehicle; (3) drivers with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome or sleep disorders should be tested and treated before they are allowed to perform long hours of driving tasks; (4) educating the public or even amending the seatbelt legislation to require all passengers to wear a seat belt and thus reduce the chance of ejection from a high-deck bus and prevent serious injuries in a crash while traveling at a higher speed on freeways. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

ANTHROPOMETRIC CHARACTERISTICS OF FLIGHT PERSONNEL FOR DESIGNING DAMPERS FOR SHOCKPROOF SEATS OF HELICOPTER CREWS.

PubMed

Moiseev, Yu B; Ignatovich, S N; Strakhov, A Yu

The article discusses anthropometric design of shockproof pilot seats for state-of-the-art helicopters. Object of the investigation was anthropometric parameters of the helicopter aviation personnel of the Russian interior troops. It was stated that the body parameters essential for designing helicopter seat dampers are mass of the body part that presses against the seat in the seating position, and eye level above the seat surface. An uncontrolled seat damper ensuring shockproof safety to 95 % helicopter crews must be designed for the body mass contacting the seat of 99.7 kg and eye level above the seat of 78.6 cm. To absorb.shock effectively, future dampers should be adjustable to pilot's body parameters. The optimal approach to anthropometric design of a helicopter seat is development of type pilot' body models with due account of pilot's the flight outfit and seat geometry. Principle criteria of type models are body mass and eye level. The authors propose a system of type body models facilitating specification of anthropometric data helicopter seat developers.

Normative Misperceptions of Peer Seat Belt Use Among High School Students and Their Relationship to Personal Seat Belt Use

PubMed Central

LITT, DANA M.; LEWIS, MELISSA A.; LINKENBACH, JEFFREY W.; LANDE, GARY; NEIGHBORS, CLAYTON

2016-01-01

Objectives This research examined gender-specific perceptions of peer seat belt use norms among high school students and their relationship with one’s own seat belt use. We expected that students would underestimate the seat belt use of their peers and that these perceptions would be positively associated with their own seat belt use. Methods High school students from 4 schools (N = 3348; 52% male) completed measures assessing perceived seat belt use and personal seat belt use. Results Findings demonstrated that students perceived that others engaged in less seat belt use than they do and that perceived norms were positively associated with one’s own seat belt use. Conclusions Peer influences are a strong predictor of behavior, especially among adolescents. Ironically, adolescents’ behaviors are often influenced by inaccurate perceptions of their peers. This research establishes the presence of a misperception related to seat belt use and suggests that misperception is associated with own behaviors. This research provides a foundation for social norms–based interventions designed to increase seat belt use by correcting normative misperceptions among adolescents. PMID:24628560

Car Seat Safety

MedlinePlus

... Staying Safe Videos for Educators Search English Español Car Seat Safety KidsHealth / For Parents / Car Seat Safety ... certified child passenger safety technician.) Guidelines for Choosing Car Seats Choose a seat with a label that ...

75 FR 30775 - Availability of Seats for the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-06-02

... to fill existing seats for the following vacant seats: Heritage Tourism seat, Citizen-at-Large seat... stakeholders, including: Citizen-at-Large, Conservation, Economic Development, Education, Heritage Tourism...

Exploring the design of a lightweight, sustainable and comfortable aircraft seat.

PubMed

Kokorikou, A; Vink, P; de Pauw, I C; Braca, A

2016-07-19

Making a lightweight seat that is also comfortable can be contradictory because usually comfort improvement means adding a feature (e.g. headrest, adjustable lumbar support, movable armrests, integrated massage systems, etc.), which makes seats heavier. This paper explores the design of an economy class aircraft seat that aims to be lightweight, comfortable and sustainable. Theory about comfort in seats, ergonomics, lightweight design, Biomimicry and Cradle to cradle was studied and resulted in a list of requirements that the new seat should satisfy. The design process resulted in a new seat that is 36% lighter than the reference seat, which showed that a significant weight reduction can be achieved. This was completed by re-designing the backrest and seat pan and integrating their functions into a reduced number of parts. Apart from the weight reduction that helps in reducing the airplane's environmental impact, the seat also satisfies most of the other sustainability requirements such as the use of recyclable materials, design for disassembly, easy to repair. A user test compared the new seat with a premium economy class aircraft seat and the level of comfort was similar. Strong points of the new design were identified such as the lumbar support and the cushioning material, as well as shortcomings on which the seat needs to be improved, like the seat pan length and the first impression. Long term comfort tests are still needed as the seat is meant for long-haul flights.

Seat belt use to save face: impact on drivers' body region and nature of injury in motor vehicle crashes.

PubMed

Han, Guang-Ming; Newmyer, Ashley; Qu, Ming

2015-01-01

Seat belt use is the single most effective way to save lives and reduce injuries in motor vehicle crashes. However, some case reports described seat belt use as a double-edged sword because some injuries are related to seat belt use in motor vehicle crashes. To comprehensively understand the effects of seat belt use, we systemically investigated the association between seat belt use and injuries based on anatomic body region and type of injury in drivers involved in motor vehicle crashes. The injury information was obtained by linking crash reports with hospital discharge data and categorized by using the diagnosis codes based on the Barell injury diagnosis matrix. A total of 10,479 drivers (≥15 years) in passenger vehicles involved in motor vehicle crashes from 2006 to 2011 were included in this study. Seat belt use significantly reduced the proportions of traumatic brain injury (10.4% non-seat belt; 4.1% seat belt) and other head, face, and neck injury (29.3% non-seat belt; 16.6% seat belt) but increased the proportion of spine: thoracic to coccyx injury (17.9% non-seat belt; 35.5% seat belt). Although the proportion of spine: thoracic to coccyx injury was increased in drivers with seat belt use, the severity of injury was decreased, such as fracture (4.2% with seat belt use; 22.0% without seat belt use). Furthermore, the total medical charges decreased due to the change of injury profiles in drivers with seat belt use from a higher percentage of fractures (average cost for per case $26,352) to a higher percentage of sprains and/or strains ($1,897) with spine: thoracic to coccyx injury. This study provide a comprehensive picture for understanding the protective effect of seat belt use on injuries based on anatomic body region and type of injury in drivers involved in motor vehicle crashes.

Sitting biomechanics, part II: optimal car driver's seat and optimal driver's spinal model.

PubMed

Harrison, D D; Harrison, S O; Croft, A C; Harrison, D E; Troyanovich, S J

2000-01-01

Driving has been associated with signs and symptoms caused by vibrations. Sitting causes the pelvis to rotate backwards and the lumbar lordosis to reduce. Lumbar support and armrests reduce disc pressure and electromyographically recorded values. However, the ideal driver's seat and an optimal seated spinal model have not been described. To determine an optimal automobile seat and an ideal spinal model of a driver. Information was obtained from peer-reviewed scientific journals and texts, automotive engineering reports, and the National Library of Medicine. Driving predisposes vehicle operators to low-back pain and degeneration. The optimal seat would have an adjustable seat back incline of 100 degrees from horizontal, a changeable depth of seat back to front edge of seat bottom, adjustable height, an adjustable seat bottom incline, firm (dense) foam in the seat bottom cushion, horizontally and vertically adjustable lumbar support, adjustable bilateral arm rests, adjustable head restraint with lordosis pad, seat shock absorbers to dampen frequencies in the 1 to 20 Hz range, and linear front-back travel of the seat enabling drivers of all sizes to reach the pedals. The lumbar support should be pulsating in depth to reduce static load. The seat back should be damped to reduce rebounding of the torso in rear-end impacts. The optimal driver's spinal model would be the average Harrison model in a 10 degrees posterior inclining seat back angle.

Car Seats for Growing Children: Guidelines for Counselling Parents on Which Type of Car Seat To Use.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Illinois State Dept. of Transportation, Springfield. Div. of Traffic Safety.

Children's car seats provide protection from the types of injury with the worst consequences. This document presents guidelines for selecting and installing child car seats, booster seats, and seat belts. The document includes suggestions for identifying when a child's safety restraint system should be changed, for determining if the restraint…

76 FR 13620 - Opportunity to Partner; Testing of Patient Compartment Seating and Restraints to Proposed Test...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-03-14

... current or comparable pre-test or pre-standard seat, seat retention device, and occupant restraint and its... Partner; Testing of Patient Compartment Seating and Restraints to Proposed Test Standard Authority: 29 U.S... proposed ambulance component test standards. One such standard, AMD STANDARD 026--Seat, Seat Mount and...

Seat belt use among rear passengers: validity of self-reported versus observational measures

PubMed Central

Zambon, Francesco; Fedeli, Ugo; Marchesan, Maria; Schievano, Elena; Ferro, Antonio; Spolaore, Paolo

2008-01-01

Background The effects of seat belt laws and public education campaigns on seat belt use are assessed on the basis of observational or self-reported data on seat belt use. Previous studies focusing on front seat occupants have shown that self-reports indicate a greater seat belt usage than observational findings. Whether this over-reporting in self reports applies to rear seat belt usage, and to what extent, have yet to be investigated. We aimed to evaluate the over-reporting factor for rear seat passengers and whether this varies by gender and under different compulsory seat belt use conditions. Methods The study was conducted in the Veneto Region, an area in the North-East of Italy with a population of 4.7 million. The prevalence of seat belt use among rear seat passengers was determined by means of a cross-sectional self-report survey and an observational study. Both investigations were performed in two time periods: in 2003, when rear seat belt use was not enforced by primary legislation, and in 2005, after rear seat belt use had become compulsory (June 2003). Overall, 8138 observations and 7902 interviews were recorded. Gender differences in the prevalence of rear seat belt use were examined using the chi-square test. The over-reporting factor, defined as the ratio of the self-reported to the observed prevalence of rear seat belt use, was calculated by gender before and after the rear seat belt legislation came into effect. Results Among rear seat passengers, self-reported rates were always higher than the observational findings, with an overall over-reporting factor of 1.4. We registered no statistically significant changes over time in the over-reporting factor, nor any major differences between genders. Conclusion Self-reported seat belt usage by rear passengers represents an efficient alternative to observational studies for tracking changes in actual behavior, although the reported figures need to be adjusted using an appropriate over-reporting factor in order to gain an idea of genuine seat belt use. PMID:18613955

RF Loading Effects of Aircraft Seats in an Electromagnetic Reverberating Environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nguyen, Truong

2000-01-01

Loading effects of aircraft seats in an electromagnetic reverberating environment are investigated. The effects are determined by comparing the reverberation chamber s insertion losses with and without the seats. The average per-seat absorption cross-sections are derived for coach and first class seats, and the results are compared for several seat configurations. An example is given for how the seat absorption cross-sections can be used to estimate the loading effects on the RF environment in an aircraft passenger cabin.

RF Loading Effects of Aircraft Seats in an Electromagnetic Reverberating Environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nguyen, Truong X.

2000-01-01

Loading effects of aircraft seats in an electromagnetic reverberating environment are investigated. The effects are determined by comparing the reverberation chamber's insertion losses with and without the seats. The average per-seat absorption cross-sections are derived for coach and first class seats, and the results are compared for several seat configurations. An example is given for how the seat absorption cross-sections can be used to estimate the loading effects on the RF environment in an aircraft passenger cabin.

NASA space shuttle lightweight seat

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hansen, Chris; Jermstad, Wayne; Lewis, James; Colangelo, Todd

1996-01-01

The Space Shuttle Lightweight Seat-Mission Specialist (LWS-MS) is a crew seat for the mission specialists who fly aboard the Space Shuttle. The LWS-MS is a lightweight replacement for the mission specialist seats currently flown on the Shuttle. Using state-of-the-art analysis techniques, a team of NASA and Lockheed engineers from the Johnson Space Center (JSC) designed a seat that met the most stringent requirements demanded of the new seats by the Shuttle program, and reduced the weight of the seats by 52%.

Nonlinearity in the vertical transmissibility of seating: the role of the human body apparent mass and seat dynamic stiffness

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tufano, Saverio; Griffin, Michael J.

2013-01-01

The efficiency of a seat in reducing vibration depends on the characteristics of the vibration, the dynamic characteristics of the seat, and the dynamic characteristics of the person sitting on the seat. However, it is not known whether seat cushions influence the dynamic response of the human body, whether the human body influences the dynamic response of seat cushions, or the relative importance of human body nonlinearity and seat nonlinearity in causing nonlinearity in measures of seat transmissibility. This study was designed to investigate the nonlinearity of the coupled seat and human body systems and to compare the apparent mass of the human body supported on rigid and foam seats. A frequency domain model was used to identify the dynamic parameters of seat foams and investigate their dependence on the subject-sitting weight and hip breadth. With 15 subjects, the force and acceleration at the seat base and acceleration at the subject interface were measured during random vertical vibration excitation (0.25-25 Hz) at each of five vibration magnitudes, (0.25-1.6 ms-2 r.m.s.) with four seating conditions (rigid flat seat and three foam cushions). The measurements are presented in terms of the subject's apparent mass on the rigid and foam seat surfaces, and the transmissibility and dynamic stiffness of each of the foam cushions. Both the human body and the foams showed nonlinear softening behaviour, which resulted in nonlinear cushion transmissibility. The apparent masses of subjects sitting on the rigid seat and on foam cushions were similar, but with an apparent increase in damping when sitting on the foams. The foam dynamic stiffness showed complex correlations with characteristics of the human body, which differed between foams. The nonlinearities in cushion transmissibilities, expressed in terms of changes in resonance frequencies and moduli, were more dependent on human body nonlinearity than on cushion nonlinearity.

Whole-body Vibration Exposure Intervention among Professional Bus and Truck Drivers: A Laboratory Evaluation of Seat-suspension Designs.

PubMed

Blood, Ryan P; Yost, Michael G; Camp, Janice E; Ching, Randal P

2015-01-01

Long-term exposure to seated whole-body vibration (WBV) is one of the leading risk factors for the development of low back disorders. Professional bus and truck drivers are regularly exposed to continuous WBV, since they spend the majority of their working hours driving heavy vehicles. This study measured WBV exposures among professional bus and truck drivers and evaluated the effects of seat-suspension designs using simulated field-collected data on a vibration table. WBV exposures were measured and compared across three different seat designs: an air-ride bus seat, an air-ride truck seat, and an electromagnetically active (EM-active) seat. Air-ride seats use a compressed-air bladder to attenuate vibrations, and they have been in operation throughout the transportation industry for many years. The EM-active seat is a relatively new design that incorporates a microprocessor-controlled actuator to dampen vibration. The vibration table simulated seven WBV exposure scenarios: four segments of vertical vibration and three scenarios that used field-collected driving data on different road surfaces-a city street, a freeway, and a section of rough roadway. The field scenarios used tri-axial WBV data that had been collected at the seat pan and at the driver's sternum, in accordance with ISO 2631-1 and 2631-5. This study found that WBV was significantly greater in the vertical direction (z-axis) than in the lateral directions (x-and y-axes) for each of the three road types and each of the three types of seats. Quantitative comparisons of the results showed that the floor-to-seat-pan transmissibility was significantly lower for the EM-active seat than for either the air-ride bus seat or the air-ride truck seat, across all three road types. This study also demonstrated that seat-suspension designs have a significant effect on the vibrations transmitted to vehicle operators, and the study's results may prove useful in designing future seat suspensions.

Onset of a Large Ejective Solar Eruption from a Typical Coronal-jet-base Field Configuration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Joshi, Navin Chandra; Sterling, Alphonse C.; Moore, Ronald L.; Magara, Tetsuya; Moon, Yong-Jae

2017-08-01

Utilizing multiwavelength observations and magnetic field data from the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO)/Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA), SDO/Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI), the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES), and RHESSI, we investigate a large-scale ejective solar eruption of 2014 December 18 from active region NOAA 12241. This event produced a distinctive “three-ribbon” flare, having two parallel ribbons corresponding to the ribbons of a standard two-ribbon flare, and a larger-scale third quasi-circular ribbon offset from the other two. There are two components to this eruptive event. First, a flux rope forms above a strong-field polarity inversion line and erupts and grows as the parallel ribbons turn on, grow, and spread apart from that polarity inversion line; this evolution is consistent with the mechanism of tether-cutting reconnection for eruptions. Second, the eruption of the arcade that has the erupting flux rope in its core undergoes magnetic reconnection at the null point of a fan dome that envelops the erupting arcade, resulting in formation of the quasi-circular ribbon; this is consistent with the breakout reconnection mechanism for eruptions. We find that the parallel ribbons begin well before (˜12 minutes) the onset of the circular ribbon, indicating that tether-cutting reconnection (or a non-ideal MHD instability) initiated this event, rather than breakout reconnection. The overall setup for this large-scale eruption (diameter of the circular ribbon ˜105 km) is analogous to that of coronal jets (base size ˜104 km), many of which, according to recent findings, result from eruptions of small-scale “minifilaments.” Thus these findings confirm that eruptions of sheared-core magnetic arcades seated in fan-spine null-point magnetic topology happen on a wide range of size scales on the Sun.

49 CFR 571.202a - Standard No. 202a; Head restraints; Mandatory applicability begins on September 1, 2009.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... restraints in rear outboard seats. Measure the height of the top of a rear seat back or the top of any independently adjustable seat component attached to or adjacent to the rear seat back in its highest position of... seat back inclination position less than the design seat back angle. (a)(1) For head restraints in...

Development of a crashworthy seat for commuter aircraft.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1990-09-01

A series of dynamic impact tests were conducted using a prototype seat with an energy absorbing mechanism as part of the seat pan. The seat frame was designed to represent a typical commuter aircraft passenger seat. Tests were conducted in an orienta...

Preventive Effects of Seat Belt on Clinical Outcomes for Road Traffic Injuries

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

Proper seat belt use saves lives; however, the use rate decreased in Korea. This study aimed to measure the magnitude of the preventive effect of seat belt on case-fatality across drivers and passengers. We used the Emergency Department based Injury In-depth Surveillance (EDIIS) database from 17 EDs between 2011 and 2012. All of adult injured patients from road traffic injuries (RTI) in-vehicle of less than 10-seat van were eligible, excluding cases with unknown seat belt use and outcomes. Primary and secondary endpoints were in-hospital mortality and intracranial injury. We calculated adjusted odds ratios (AORs) of seat belt use and driving status for study outcomes adjusting for potential confounders. Among 23,698 eligible patients, 15,304 (64.6%) wore seat belts. Driver, middle aged (30-44 yr), male, daytime injured patients were more likely to use seat belts (all P < 0.001). In terms of clinical outcome, no seat belt group had higher proportions of case-fatality and intracranial injury compared to seat belt group (both P < 0.001). Compared to seat belt group, AORs (95% CIs) of no seat belt group were 10.43 (7.75-14.04) for case-fatality and 2.68 (2.25-3.19) for intracranial injury respectively. In the interaction model, AORs (95% CIs) of no seat belt use for case-fatality were 11.71 (8.45-16.22) in drivers and 5.52 (2.83-14.76) in non-driving passengers, respectively. Wearing seat belt has significantly preventive effects on case-fatality and intracranial injury. Public health efforts to increase seat belt use are needed to reduce health burden from RTIs. PMID:26713066

Design and evaluation of a suspension seat to reduce vibration exposure of subway operators: a case study.

PubMed

Marcotte, Pierre; Beaugrand, Sylvie; Boutin, Jérôme; Larue, Christian

2010-01-01

Subway operators have complained about discomfort caused by whole-body vibration. To address this problem, a suspension seat with extensive ergonomic features has been adapted to the confined space of the subway operator cab. The suspension was modified from an existing suspension in order to reduce the dominant frequency of the subway vertical vibration (2.4 Hz). The suspension seat has been extensively tested on a vertical hydraulic shaker. These tests have shown that the SEAT value was lower for a higher vibration level, for higher subject weight, and for the suspension adjusted at median height. The seat also produces a lower SEAT value when there was a predominance of the 6 Hz vibration component. The horizontal seat adjustments had no influence on the suspension SEAT value. Removing the suspension damper also decreases the SEAT value for all the tested configurations. The final version of the suspension seat prototype was validated during normal subway operation with 19 different operators having weight in the 5th, 50th and 95th percentile of the operator population. Accelerations were measured with triaxial accelerometers at the seat cushion, above the suspension and on the floor. In addition to the vibration measurements, each operator was asked about his perceived discomfort from vibration exposure. Globally, the suspension seat attenuated the vertical vibration (SEAT values from 0.86 to 0.99), but discomfort due to amplification of the 2.4 Hz component occurred when the suspension height was adjusted at the minimum, even when the global weighted acceleration was lower (SEAT value < 1). These results suggest that in order to reduce the discomfort caused by whole-body vibration, the transmissibility of the seat should also be considered, in particular when there is a dominant frequency in the vibration spectra.

76 FR 66274 - Availability of Seats for the Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-10-26

...The ONMS is seeking applications for the following vacant seats on the Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council: Education, Primary and Alternate seats; Fishing, Primary and Alternate seats; Research, Alternate seat; Community-at-Large Mann County, Alternate seat; Community-at-Large Sonoma County, Alternate seat. Applicants are chosen based upon their particular expertise and experience in relation to the seat for which they are applying; community and professional affiliations; philosophy regarding the protection and management of marine resources; and possibly the length of residence in the area affected by the sanctuary. Applicants who are chosen as members should expect to serve three-year terms, pursuant to the council's Charter.

Motor Vehicle Crashes, Medical Outcomes, and Hospital Charges Among Children Aged 1-12 Years - Crash Outcome Data Evaluation System, 11 States, 2005-2008.

PubMed

Sauber-Schatz, Erin K; Thomas, Andrea M; Cook, Lawrence J

2015-10-02

Motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death among children. Age- and size-appropriate restraint use is an effective way to prevent motor vehicle-related injuries and deaths. However, children are not always properly restrained while riding in a motor vehicle, and some are not restrained at all, which increases their risk for injury and death in a crash. 2005-2008. The Crash Outcome Data Evaluation System (CODES) is a multistate program facilitated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to probabilistically link police crash reports and hospital databases for traffic safety analyses. Eleven participating states (Connecticut, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, South Carolina, and Utah) submitted data to CODES during the reporting period. Descriptive analysis was used to describe drivers and child passengers involved in motor vehicle crashes and to summarize crash and medical outcomes. Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were used to compare a child passenger's likelihood of sustaining specific types of injuries by restraint status (optimal, suboptimal, or unrestrained) and seating location (front or back seat). Because of data constraints, optimal restraint use was defined as a car seat or booster seat use for children aged 1-7 years and seat belt use for children aged 8-12 years. Suboptimal restraint use was defined as seat belt use for children aged 1-7 years. Unrestrained was defined as no use of car seat, booster seat, or seat belt for children aged 1-12 years. Optimal restraint use in the back seat declined with child's age (1 year: 95.9%, 5 years: 95.4%, 7 years: 94.7%, 8 years: 77.4%, 10 years: 67.5%, 12 years: 54.7%). Child restraint use was associated with driver restraint use; 41.3% of children riding with unrestrained drivers also were unrestrained compared with 2.2% of children riding with restrained drivers. Child restraint use also was associated with impaired driving due to alcohol or drug use; 16.4% children riding with drivers suspected of alcohol or drug use were unrestrained compared with 2.9% of children riding with drivers not suspected of such use. Optimally restrained and suboptimally restrained children were less likely to sustain a traumatic brain injury than unrestrained children. The 90th percentile hospital charges for children aged 4-7 years who were in motor vehicle crashes were $1,630.00 and $1,958.00 for those optimally restrained in a back seat and front seat, respectively; $2,035.91 and $3,696.00 for those suboptimally restrained in a back seat and front seat, respectively; and $9,956.60 and $11,143.85 for those unrestrained in a back seat and front seat, respectively. Proper car seat, booster seat, and seat belt use among children in the back seat prevents injuries and deaths, as well as averts hospital charges. However, the number, severity, and cost of injuries among children in crashes who were not optimally restrained or who were seated in a front seat indicates the need for improvements in proper use of age- and size-appropriate car seats, booster seats, and seat belts in the back seat. Effective interventions for increasing proper child restraint use could be universally implemented by states and communities to prevent motor vehicle-related injuries among children and their resulting costs.

Effect of crash pulse shape on seat stroke requirements for limiting loads on occupants of aircraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carden, Huey D.

1992-01-01

An analytical study was made to provide comparative information on various crash pulse shapes that potentially could be used to test seats under conditions included in Federal Regulations Part 23 Paragraph 23.562(b)(1) for dynamic testing of general aviation seats, show the effects that crash pulse shape can have on the seat stroke requirements necessary to maintain a specified limit loading on the seat/occupant during crash pulse loadings, compare results from certain analytical model pulses with approximations of actual crash pulses, and compare analytical seat results with experimental airplace crash data. Structural and seat/occupant displacement equations in terms of the maximum deceleration, velocity change, limit seat pan load, and pulse time for five potentially useful pulse shapes were derived; from these, analytical seat stroke data were obtained for conditions as specified in Federal Regulations Part 23 Paragraph 23.562(b)(1) for dynamic testing of general aviation seats.

The influence of car-seat design on its character experience.

PubMed

Kamp, Irene

2012-03-01

Producing higher efficiency cars with less and lighter materials but without compromising safety, comfort and driving pleasure might give a competitive advantage. In this light, at BMW a new light weight car-seat concept was developed based on the human body contour. A possibility to increase the comfort is using a seat which elicits positive tactile experiences. However, limited information is available on seat characteristics and tactile experiences. Therefore, this study describes the contour of three different car-seat designs, including a light weight seat, and the recorded corresponding emotion and tactile experience of 21 persons sitting in the seats. Results show that the new light weight car-seat concept rated well on experienced relaxedness, even with the lack of a side support. The most important findings are that hard seats with rather high side supports are rated sporty and seats that are softer are rated more luxurious. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

Discomfort during lateral acceleration: influence of seat cushion and backrest.

PubMed

Beard, George F; Griffin, Michael J

2013-07-01

Lateral acceleration causes discomfort but how the discomfort depends on the frequency of acceleration or characteristics of seating is poorly understood. Using magnitude estimation, twelve male subjects rated the discomfort caused by lateral oscillation at eight frequencies (0.2-1.0 Hz) across four seating conditions (a rigid seat and a train seat, both with and without backrests). Discomfort increased with increasing frequency of lateral acceleration in a similar manner for all four seating conditions. However, at all frequencies and with both seats there was less discomfort when sitting with backrest support than without. Least discomfort occurred on the train seat with backrest and greatest discomfort on the rigid seat without backrest. Current standards predict an additive effect of backrest on vibration discomfort, but the findings show that low frequency lateral acceleration can cause less discomfort when sitting with a backrest than when sitting on the same seat without a backrest. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

Functional seating for school-age children with cerebral palsy: an evidence-based tutorial.

PubMed

Costigan, F Aileen; Light, Janice

2011-04-01

This tutorial is designed to teach speech-language pathologists (SLPs) best practices to support functional seating of children with cerebral palsy (CP) in the classroom and in school-based therapy sessions. This tutorial teaches SLPs to (a) recognize the positive effects of seating intervention, (b) identify the characteristics of functional seating that may produce these positive effects, and (c) realize their role in supporting functional seating for school-age children with CP. The research reporting positive effects of seating intervention for school-age children with CP is presented according to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (World Health Organization, 2001). Recommended guidelines for functional seating for school-age children with CP are gleaned from the research evidence. The specific role of the SLP in providing functional seating for children with CP is then discussed. Seating intervention may produce positive body structure and function, activities, and participation effects for school-age children with CP when appropriate equipment is provided for weight bearing, the pelvis is positioned for stability and mobility, and the body is properly aligned. SLPs can support functional seating for school-age children with CP by communicating with professionals with seating expertise and by invoking and monitoring recommended guidelines for children with basic and complex seating needs, respectively.

Promoting booster seat use for young children: A school-based intervention pilot study.

PubMed

Bruce, Beth S; Mundle, Kim; Cramm, Camille F; Williams, Devon P

2017-05-01

Misuse and/or lack of booster seat use are often associated with high rates of injury and death among school-aged children. This pilot study examined the efficacy and the potential effectiveness of a booster seat intervention in the classroom. Two elementary schools participated (randomly assigned as one intervention school and one control school). At the intervention school, a certified car seat specialist and a police officer held an interactive booster seat session. The height and age for each child were recorded. Children received a certificate indicating whether they met the requirements for booster seat use and a postcard with car seat restraint specifications. Children in the control school received a brochure on car seat safety. Pre- and post-intervention self-reports were collected and booster seat use was observed. Observational findings showed a decline in booster seat use at the control school and an increase in use at the intervention school. Self-reports of booster seat use indicated a decline at both schools; however, cell sizes were too small to permit statistical analyses. Anecdotally researchers found the sessions were easy to conduct and were well received by the children and could be easily integrated into programming in schools. Classroom sessions may have the potential to positively influence booster seat use among 6- to 8-year-olds.

Teens and seat belt use: What makes them click?

PubMed

Shults, Ruth A; Haegerich, Tamara M; Bhat, Geeta; Zhang, Xinjian

2016-06-01

Motor vehicle crashes kill more adolescents in the United States than any other cause, and often the teen is not wearing a seat belt. Using data from the 2011 Youth Risk Behavior Surveys from 38 states, we examined teens' self-reported seat belt use while riding as a passenger and identified individual characteristics and environmental factors associated with always wearing a seat belt. Only 51% of high school students living in 38 states reported always wearing a seat belt when riding as a passenger; prevalence varied from 32% in South Dakota to 65% in Delaware. Seat belt use was 11 percentage points lower in states with secondary enforcement seat belt laws compared to states with primary enforcement laws. Racial/ethnic minorities, teens living in states with secondary enforcement seat belt laws, and those engaged in substance use were least likely to always wear their seat belts. The likelihood of always being belted declined steadily as the number of substance use behaviors increased. Seat belt use among teens in the United States remains unacceptably low. Results suggest that environmental influences can compound individual risk factors, contributing to even lower seat belt use among some subgroups. This study provides the most comprehensive state-level estimates to date of seat belt use among U.S. teens. This information can be useful when considering policy options to increase seat belt use and for targeting injury prevention interventions to high-risk teens. States can best increase teen seat belt use by making evidence-informed decisions about state policy options and prevention strategies. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Car Seat Inspection Among Children Older Than Three: Using Data to Drive Practice in Child Passenger Safety

PubMed Central

Kroeker, Amber M.; Teddy, Amy J.; Macy, Michelle L.

2015-01-01

Background Motor vehicle crashes (MVCs) are a leading cause of unintentional death and disability among children ages 4-12 in the United States. Despite this high risk of injury from MVCs in this age group, parental awareness, and child passenger safety programs in particular may lack focus on this age group. Methods Retrospective cross-sectional analysis of child passenger safety seat checklist forms from two Safe Kids coalitions in Michigan (2013) to identify restraint type upon arrival to car seat inspections. Other variables included, if the coalition provided a new child safety seat and if the child had a sibling who underwent a car seat inspection. Chi-square statistics were used to compare change in restraint use upon arrival and at departure, the proportion of children attending a car seat inspection event by age, the age category of children by site, the proportion of children with siblings also undergoing a car seat inspection by age, and the distribution of a new child safety seat by age. Results Data were available from 1,316 Safe Kids Huron Valley and 3,215 Safe Kids Greater Grand Rapids car seat inspections. Just 10.8% of total seats inspected were booster seats. Child safety seats for infant and young children were more commonly inspected [rear-facing carrier (40.3%), rear-facing convertible (10.2%), and forward-facing (19.3%) car seats]. Few children at inspections used a seat belt only (5.4%) or had no restraint (13.8%). Children age 4 and above were found to be in a sub-optimal restraint at least 30% of the time. Conclusion Low proportions of parents use car seat inspections for children in the booster seat age group. The proportion of children departing the inspection in a more protective restraint increased with increasing age. This highlights an area of weakness in child passenger safety programs and signals an opportunity to strengthen efforts on The Forgotten Child. Level of Evidence Level III PMID:26308122

Ingress clearance requirements and seat positioning for automatic belt systems

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1981-06-01

The purposes of this study were (1) to determine how much clearance between a seat belt and seat cushion is needed for a driver to enter the front seat of an automobile equipped with automatic seat belts---without his/her having to lift the webbing, ...

49 CFR 571.207 - Standard No. 207; Seating systems.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... standard establishes requirements for seats, their attachment assemblies, and their installation to... longitudinal direction; (c) For a seat belt assembly attached to the seat—the force specified in paragraph (a... applied simultaneously with the forces imposed on the seat by the seat belt assembly when it is loaded in...

28 CFR 36.308 - Seating in assembly areas.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 28 Judicial Administration 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Seating in assembly areas. 36.308 Section... PUBLIC ACCOMMODATIONS AND IN COMMERCIAL FACILITIES Specific Requirements § 36.308 Seating in assembly... in assembly areas shall— (i) Provide a reasonable number of wheelchair seating spaces and seats with...

14 CFR 125.317 - Inspector's credentials: Admission to pilots' compartment: Forward observer's seat.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... pilots' compartment: Forward observer's seat. 125.317 Section 125.317 Aeronautics and Space FEDERAL... pilots' compartment: Forward observer's seat. (a) Whenever, in performing the duties of conducting an... of safety. (b) A forward observer's seat on the flight deck, or forward passenger seat with headset...

14 CFR 135.75 - Inspectors credentials: Admission to pilots' compartment: Forward observer's seat.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

...' compartment: Forward observer's seat. 135.75 Section 135.75 Aeronautics and Space FEDERAL AVIATION...' compartment: Forward observer's seat. (a) Whenever, in performing the duties of conducting an inspection, an.... (b) A forward observer's seat on the flight deck, or forward passenger seat with headset or speaker...

Alternative seating for young children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: effects on classroom behavior.

PubMed

Schilling, Denise Lynn; Schwartz, Ilene S

2004-08-01

A single subject, withdrawal design was used to investigate the effects of therapy balls as seating on engagement and in-seat behavior of young children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). In addition, social validity was assessed to evaluate teachers' opinions regarding the intervention. During baseline and withdrawal (A phases) participants used their typical classroom seating device (chair, bench or carpet square). During the intervention (B phases) participants sat on therapy balls. Results indicated substantial improvements in engagement and in-seat behavior when participants were seated on therapy balls. Social validity findings indicated that the teachers' preferred the therapy balls. This study suggests therapy balls as classroom seating may facilitate engagement and in-seat behavior and create opportunities to provide effective instruction.

Active vibration attenuating seat suspension for an armored helicopter crew seat

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sztein, Pablo Javier

An Active Vibration Attenuating Seat Suspension (AVASS) for an MH-60S helicopter crew seat is designed to protect the occupants from harmful whole-body vibration (WBV). Magnetorheological (MR) suspension units are designed, fabricated and installed in a helicopter crew seat. These MR isolators are built to work in series with existing Variable Load Energy Absorbers (VLEAs), have minimal increase in weight, and maintain crashworthiness for the seat system. Refinements are discussed, based on testing, to minimize friction observed in the system. These refinements include the addition of roller bearings to replace friction bearings in the existing seat. Additionally, semi-active control of the MR dampers is achieved using special purpose built custom electronics integrated into the seat system. Experimental testing shows that an MH-60S retrofitted with AVASS provides up to 70.65% more vibration attenuation than the existing seat configuration as well as up to 81.1% reduction in vibration from the floor.

Car seat safety: literature review.

PubMed

Lincoln, Michelle

2005-01-01

After staggering numbers of infants were killed in automotive crashes in the 1970s, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommended in 1974 universal use of car seats for all infants. However, positional problems were reported when car seats are used with premature infants less than 37 weeks gestational age as a result of head slouching and its sequelae. In 1990, the AAP responded with another policy statement introducing car seat testing. It recommended that any infant at or under 37 weeks gestational age be observed in a car seat prior to discharge from the hospital. The AAP did not give specific guidelines on type of car seat, length of testing, equipment, or personnel proficiency, however. Few nurseries have standard policies to evaluate car seats, to teach parents about car seats, or to position newborns in them, and not all hospitals actually conduct car seat challenges or have common standards for testing that is performed.

Development of an MR seat suspension with self-powered generation capability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, S. S.; Ning, D. H.; Yang, J.; Du, H.; Zhang, S. W.; Li, W. H.; Nakano, M.

2017-08-01

This paper proposes a self-powered magnetorheological (MR) seat suspension on the basis of a rotary MR damper and an electromagnetic induction device. By applying the self-powering component to the MR seat suspension, the operation cost of the semi-active seat is much cheaper because no external energy is required to control the MR damper. In this paper, the structure, design and analysis of the seat suspension were presented following the introduction section. The property tests of the self-powered seat suspension were conducted using an MTS machine. A robust control algorithm was developed to control the self-powered MR seat suspension and the vibration attenuation performance of the seat suspension was tested under two different vibration excitations, i.e. harmonic excitation and random excitation. The testing result verifies that the self-powered MR seat suspension under proper control can improve the ride comfort for passengers and drivers.

The effect of rear-seat overloading in a car crash: pathological and kinematics evidences.

PubMed

Luchini, Duccio; Sammicheli, Michele; Cortucci, Cristiano

2013-09-01

Seat belts have been shown to decrease the incidence of lethal lesions to the head, chest, and abdomen. Since the introduction of seat belts, it is reported that the incidence of traumatic lesions in these body parts is reduced. In the meantime, the characteristic lesions to the chest and abdomen caused by the use of seat belts are described (J Trauma. 2007;62(6):1473-1480).Reported is a peculiar case of an oblique front-to-rear car collision, in which overloading of the rear seat with packages pushed forward the passenger front seat in an abnormal way, causing fatal thoracic and abdominal lesions.The authors underline that the seat belt protection device is defeated if front seats are damaged by heavy unanchored bags on the rear seat or on the rear parcel shelf of a motor vehicle.

Patterns of correlation between vehicle occupant seat pressure and anthropometry.

PubMed

Paul, Gunther; Daniell, Nathan; Fraysse, François

2012-01-01

Seat pressure is known as a major factor of seat comfort in vehicles. In passenger vehicles, there is lacking research into the seat comfort of rear seat occupants. As accurate seat pressure measurement requires significant effort, simulation of seat pressure is evolving as a preferred method. However, analytic methods are based on complex finite element modeling and therefore are time consuming and involve high investment. Based on accurate anthropometric measurements of 64 male subjects and outboard rear seat pressure measurements in three different passenger vehicles, this study investigates if a set of parameters derived from seat pressure mapping are sensitive enough to differentiate between different seats and whether they correlate with anthropometry in linear models. In addition to the pressure map analysis, H-Points were measured with a coordinate measurement system based on palpated body landmarks and the range of H-Point locations in the three seats is provided. It was found that for the cushion, cushion contact area and cushion front area/force could be modeled by subject anthropometry, while only seatback contact area could be modeled based on anthropometry for all three vehicles. Major differences were found between the vehicles for other parameters.

Carpooling and booster seats: a national survey of parents.

PubMed

Macy, Michelle L; Clark, Sarah J; Freed, Gary L; Butchart, Amy T; Singer, Dianne C; Sasson, Comilla; Meurer, William J; Davis, Matthew M

2012-02-01

Booster seat use among school-aged children has been consistently lower than national goals. In this study, we sought to explore associations between parental experiences with booster seats and carpooling. We conducted a cross-sectional Web-based survey of a nationally representative panel of US parents in January 2010. As part of a larger survey, parents of 4- to 8-year-old children responded to 12 questions related to booster seats and carpooling. Of 1612 parents responding to the full survey (response rate = 71%), 706 had a 4- to 8-year-old child and 681 met inclusion rules. Most parents (76%) reported their child used a safety seat when riding in the family car. Of children reported to use seat belts, 74% did so in accordance with their state law. Parent report of child safety seat use was associated with younger child age and with the presence of state booster seat laws. Sixty-four percent of parents carpool. Among parents who carpool and whose children use a child safety seat: 79% indicated they would always ask another driver to use a booster seat for their child and 55% reported they always have their child use their booster seat when driving friends who do not have boosters. Carpooling is a common driving situation during which booster seat use is inconsistent. Social norms and self-efficacy are associated with booster seat use. Clinicians who care for children should increase efforts to convey the importance of using the size-appropriate restraint for every child on every trip.

Quantification method analysis of the relationship between occupant injury and environmental factors in traffic accidents.

PubMed

Ju, Yong Han; Sohn, So Young

2011-01-01

Injury analysis following a vehicle crash is one of the most important research areas. However, most injury analyses have focused on one-dimensional injury variables, such as the AIS (Abbreviated Injury Scale) or the IIS (Injury Impairment Scale), at a time in relation to various traffic accident factors. However, these studies cannot reflect the various injury phenomena that appear simultaneously. In this paper, we apply quantification method II to the NASS (National Automotive Sampling System) CDS (Crashworthiness Data System) to find the relationship between the categorical injury phenomena, such as the injury scale, injury position, and injury type, and the various traffic accident condition factors, such as speed, collision direction, vehicle type, and seat position. Our empirical analysis indicated the importance of safety devices, such as restraint equipment and airbags. In addition, we found that narrow impact, ejection, air bag deployment, and higher speed are associated with more severe than minor injury to the thigh, ankle, and leg in terms of dislocation, abrasion, or laceration. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[The physical examination - a vanishing art?

PubMed

Tönnesmann, Ernst; Goltz, Diane; Lewalter, Thorsten; Welz, Armin

2016-10-01

This report describes the case of a 63-year-old female patient who presented with progressive dyspnea to a specialized internal medicine practice. Prior consultations with her primary care physician and a cardiologist followed by hospitalizations in an acute care hospital and in a specialist clinic for cardiology had not yielded a conclusive diagnosis. During the physical examination, significant bilateral lower extremity edema, as well as pronounced jugular venous distention was noted while in a seated position. This prompted further targeted diagnostic examination and testing and resulted in the final diagnosis of constrictive pericarditis of tuberculous origin.The establishment of the diagnosis is discussed in the context of increasingly technologized medical practice, where clinical skills and the significance of the patient history and physical examination are declining. In addition, we discuss the problem of less common diseases of the myo- and pericardium with primarily diastolic (constrictive or restrictive) dysfunction being overlooked in routine cardiological diagnostic procedures, with a focus on coronary heart disease, valve disorders and the impairment of systolic ventricular function ("ejection fraction"). © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Energy-absorbing car seat designs for reducing whiplash.

PubMed

Himmetoglu, S; Acar, M; Bouazza-Marouf, K; Taylor, A J

2008-12-01

This study presents an investigation of anti-whiplash features that can be implemented in a car seat to reduce whiplash injuries in the case of a rear impact. The main emphasis is on achieving a seat design with good energy absorption properties. A biofidelic 50th percentile male multi-body human model for rear impact is developed to evaluate the performance of car seat design concepts. The model is validated using the responses of 7 volunteers from the Japanese Automobile Research Institute (JARI) sled tests, which were performed at an impact speed of 8 kph with a rigid seat and without head restraint and seatbelt. A generic multi-body car seat model is also developed to implement various seatback and recliner properties, anti-whiplash devices, and head restraints. Using the same driving posture and the rigid seat in the JARI sled tests as the basic configuration, several anti-whiplash seats are designed to allow different types of motion for the seatback and seat-pan. The anti-whiplash car seat design concepts limit neck internal motion successfully until the head-to-head restraint contact occurs and they exhibit low NIC(max) values (7 m(2)/s(2) on average). They are also effective in reducing neck compression forces and T1 forward accelerations. In principle, these car seat design concepts employ controlled recliner rotation and seat-pan displacement to limit the formation of S-shape. This is accomplished by using anti-whiplash devices that absorb the crash energy in such a way that an optimum protection is provided at different severities. The results indicate that the energy absorbing car seat design concepts all demonstrate good whiplash-reducing performances at the IIWPG standard pulse. Especially in higher severity rear impacts, two of the car seat design concepts reduce the ramping of the occupant considerably.

Biomechanical considerations for assessing interactions of children and small occupants with inflatable seat belts.

PubMed

Rouhana, Stephen W; Sundararajan, Srinivasan; Board, Derek; Prasad, Priya; Rupp, Jonathan D; Miller, Carl S; Jeffreys, Thomas A; Schneider, Lawrence W

2013-11-01

NHTSA estimates that more than half of the lives saved (168,524) in car crashes between 1960 and 2002 were due to the use of seat belts. Nevertheless, while seat belts are vital to occupant crash protection, safety researchers continue efforts to further enhance the capability of seat belts in reducing injury and fatality risk in automotive crashes. Examples of seat belt design concepts that have been investigated by researchers include inflatable, 4-point, and reverse geometry seat belts. In 2011, Ford Motor Company introduced the first rear seat inflatable seat belts into production vehicles. A series of tests with child and small female-sized Anthropomorphic Test Devices (ATD) and small, elderly female Post Mortem Human Subjects (PMHS) was performed to evaluate interactions of prototype inflatable seat belts with the chest, upper torso, head and neck of children and small occupants, from infants to young adolescents. Tests simulating a 6-year-old child asleep in a booster seat, with its head lying directly on its shoulder on top of the inflatable seat belt, were considered by engineering judgment, to represent a worst case scenario for interaction of an inflating seat belt with the head and neck of a child and/or small occupant. All evaluations resulted in ATD responses below Injury Assessment Reference Values reported by Mertz et al. (2003). In addition, the tests of the PMHS subjects resulted in no injuries from interaction of the inflating seat belt with the heads, necks, and chests of the subjects. Given the results from the ATD and PMHS tests, it was concluded that the injury risk to children and small occupants from deployment of inflatable seat belt systems is low.

Assessment of dental student posture in two seating conditions using RULA methodology - a pilot study.

PubMed

Gandavadi, A; Ramsay, J R E; Burke, F J T

2007-11-24

To assess dental students' posture on two different seats in order to determine if one seat predisposes to a difference in working posture. A between-subject experimental design was selected. The study was undertaken at the University of Birmingham School of Dentistry in 2006. Subjects (materials) and methods Sixty second year dental students at the University of Birmingham who were attending their fi rst classes in the phantom head laboratory were randomly selected and allocated to two different seats (30 Bambach Saddle Seats and 30 conventional seats). Students were trained in the use of the seats. After ten weeks, the students were observed, photographs were taken by the researcher and these were assessed using Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA). The posture of the students was assessed using the RULA. Each student was given a risk score. A Mann Whitney test was used for statistical analysis. The results indicated that the students using the conventional seat recorded significantly higher risk scores (p <0.05) when compared with the students using Bambach Saddle Seat, suggesting an improvement in posture when using the Bambach Saddle Seat. RULA has identified that dental students using a Bambach Saddle Seat were able to maintain an acceptable working posture during simulated dental treatment and this seating may reduce the development of work-related musculoskeletal disorders.

Promoting booster seat use for young children: A school-based intervention pilot study

PubMed Central

Mundle, Kim; Cramm, Camille F.; Williams, Devon P.

2017-01-01

Abstract Purpose: Misuse and/or lack of booster seat use are often associated with high rates of injury and death among school-aged children. This pilot study examined the efficacy and the potential effectiveness of a booster seat intervention in the classroom. Methods: Two elementary schools participated (randomly assigned as one intervention school and one control school). At the intervention school, a certified car seat specialist and a police officer held an interactive booster seat session. The height and age for each child were recorded. Children received a certificate indicating whether they met the requirements for booster seat use and a postcard with car seat restraint specifications. Children in the control school received a brochure on car seat safety. Pre- and post-intervention self-reports were collected and booster seat use was observed. Results: Observational findings showed a decline in booster seat use at the control school and an increase in use at the intervention school. Self-reports of booster seat use indicated a decline at both schools; however, cell sizes were too small to permit statistical analyses. Conclusion: Anecdotally researchers found the sessions were easy to conduct and were well received by the children and could be easily integrated into programming in schools. Classroom sessions may have the potential to positively influence booster seat use among 6- to 8-year-olds. PMID:29479188

Evaluation of an Energy Absorbing Truck Seat for Increased Protection from Landmine Blasts.

DTIC Science & Technology

1996-01-01

acceleration (top curve, Figure 4) reveals the wire bending action of the passenger seat as it absorbs energy. No data from the standard (driver) seat...Vertical accelerations were limited by the wire bending action. 17 Passenger seat velocities 120894 Demo (8 Dec 94) - center blast, EA passenger seat

Multiposition Seat

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Macconochie, Ian O.

1994-01-01

Back of seat pivots about either of two axes: one axis for folding back to form bed and second, higher axis for folding forward to form compact ottoman, even when seat thickly padded. Long and short links used to adjust back of seat to variety of positions. Multiposition seat designed for use in spacecraft also adapted to airplanes and land vehicles.

14 CFR 135.113 - Passenger occupancy of pilot seat.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 3 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Passenger occupancy of pilot seat. 135.113... Operations § 135.113 Passenger occupancy of pilot seat. No certificate holder may operate an aircraft type certificated after October 15, 1971, that has a passenger seating configuration, excluding any pilot seat, of...

14 CFR 135.113 - Passenger occupancy of pilot seat.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Passenger occupancy of pilot seat. 135.113... Operations § 135.113 Passenger occupancy of pilot seat. No certificate holder may operate an aircraft type certificated after October 15, 1971, that has a passenger seating configuration, excluding any pilot seat, of...

Marketing Classroom Spaces: Is It Really Better at the Front?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vander Schee, Brian A.

2011-01-01

Students spend much of their time in college seated in a classroom. Their seating choice can indicate something about students' general perceptions regarding seat selection and academic achievement. However, actual seat location may also play a role in student performance. This preliminary research focused on the seating choices of 373…

36 CFR 1192.27 - Priority seating signs.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Priority seating signs. 1192... Buses, Vans and Systems § 1192.27 Priority seating signs. (a) Each vehicle shall contain sign(s) which indicate that seats in the front of the vehicle are priority seats for persons with disabilities, and that...

49 CFR 38.27 - Priority seating signs.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 49 Transportation 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Priority seating signs. 38.27 Section 38.27... SPECIFICATIONS FOR TRANSPORTATION VEHICLES Buses, Vans and Systems § 38.27 Priority seating signs. (a) Each vehicle shall contain sign(s) which indicate that seats in the front of the vehicle are priority seats for...

Seating position, seat belt wearing, and the consequences in facial fractures in car occupants.

PubMed

Fonseca, Alexandre Siqueira Franco; Goldenberg, Dov; Alonso, Nivaldo; Bastos, Endrigo; Stocchero, Guilherme; Ferreira, Marcus Castro

2007-06-01

Trauma caused by traffic accidents is among the main etiologies involved in the occurrence of facial fractures throughout the world. However, the trauma mechanisms involved are different according to the location where the study was performed, due to different conditions of development, legislation, and culture. A retrospective study was done between February 2001 and July 2006, with the purpose of determining the epidemiology and the mechanisms involved in the occurrence of facial fractures among car occupants in the metropolitan area of São Paulo. Data were collected from 297 patients admitted with facial fractures to the emergency room of the Hospital das Clínicas, São Paulo University Medical School. Within this period, 151 individuals had been involved in traffic accidents, among which 56 (37.08%) were inside passenger cars. These were grouped based on the seating position that they were occupying at the time of the accident and the wearing of seat belts. Data concerning the number and location of fracture lines were obtained from the different groups, and a fracture/patient index (F/P I) was calculated to compare and make reference to the impact energy among these groups, for subsequent analysis and discussion. 323 fracture lines occurred among 56 patients who were car occupants. By applying the F/P I, we obtained higher values in the group of rear-seat passengers who were not wearing seat belts (7.23 fractures per patient), followed by the group of drivers not wearing seat belts (6.33 fractures per patient), the group of front-seat passengers not wearing seat belts (5.58 fractures per patient), the group of drivers wearing seat belts (5.54 fractures per patient) and, finally, the group of front-seat passengers wearing seat belts (4.00 fractures per patient). None of the rear-seat passengers was wearing seat belts. The data collected indicate that the driver position shows a high incidence of facial fractures, not being effectively protected by the seat belt, although the wearing of seat belts seems to have a protective role against the occurrence of facial fractures in front-seat passengers. It was not possible to evaluate the wearing of seat belts among rear-seat passengers, even though the high incidence of fractures in this group showed its high susceptibility to the occurrence of facial fractures, which highlights the need of taking protective measures against this situation.

76 FR 9551 - Availability of Seats for the Monitor National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-02-18

... (2) Recreational/Commercial Fishing seats, Heritage Tourism seat, and Economic Development seat...-at-Large, Conservation, Economic Development, Education, Heritage Tourism, Maritime Archaeological...

Auto Safety

MedlinePlus

... certified child passenger safety technician to assist you.) Guidelines for Choosing a Safety Seat Choose a seat ... and are between 8 and 12 years old. Guidelines for Choosing a Booster Seat Choose a seat ...

Integrated seat frame and back support

DOEpatents

Martin, Leo

1999-01-01

An integrated seating device comprises a seat frame having a front end and a rear end. The seat frame has a double wall defining an exterior wall and an interior wall. The rear end of the seat frame has a slot cut therethrough both the exterior wall and the interior wall. The front end of the seat frame has a slot cut through just the interior wall thereof. A back support comprising a generally L shape has a horizontal member, and a generally vertical member which is substantially perpendicular to the horizontal member. The horizontal member is sized to be threaded through the rear slot and is fitted into the front slot. Welded slat means secures the back support to the seat frame to result in an integrated seating device.

Qualitative models of seat discomfort including static and dynamic factors.

PubMed

Ebe, K; Griffin, M J

2000-06-01

Judgements of overall seating comfort in dynamic conditions sometimes correlate better with the static characteristics of a seat than with measures of the dynamic environment. This study developed qualitative models of overall seat discomfort to include both static and dynamic seat characteristics. A dynamic factor that reflected how vibration discomfort increased as vibration magnitude increased was combined with a static seat factor which reflected seating comfort without vibration. The ability of the model to predict the relative and overall importance of dynamic and static seat characteristics on comfort was tested in two experiments. A paired comparison experiment, using four polyurethane foam cushions (50, 70, 100, 120 mm thick), provided different static and dynamic comfort when 12 subjects were exposed to one-third octave band random vertical vibration with centre frequencies of 2.5 and 5.5 Hz, at magnitudes of 0.00, 0.25 and 0.50 m x s(-2) rms measured beneath the foam samples. Subject judgements of the relative discomfort of the different conditions depended on both static and dynamic characteristics in a manner consistent with the model. The effect of static and dynamic seat factors on overall seat discomfort was investigated by magnitude estimation using three foam cushions (of different hardness) and a rigid wooden seat at six vibration magnitudes with 20 subjects. Static seat factors (i.e. cushion stiffness) affected the manner in which vibration influenced the overall discomfort: cushions with lower stiffness were more comfortable and more sensitive to changes in vibration magnitude than those with higher stiffness. The experiments confirm that judgements of overall seat discomfort can be affected by both the static and dynamic characteristics of a seat, with the effect depending on vibration magnitude: when vibration magnitude was low, discomfort was dominated by static seat factors; as the vibration magnitude increased, discomfort became dominated by dynamic factors.

The transmission of vertical vibration through seats: Influence of the characteristics of the human body

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Toward, Martin G. R.; Griffin, Michael J.

2011-12-01

The transmission of vibration through a seat depends on the impedance of the seat and the apparent mass of the seat occupant. This study was designed to determine how factors affecting the apparent mass of the body (age, gender, physical characteristics, backrest contact, and magnitude of vibration) affect seat transmissibility. The transmission of vertical vibration through a car seat was measured with 80 adults (41 males and 39 females aged 18-65) at frequencies between 0.6 and 20 Hz with two backrest conditions (no backrest and backrest), and with three magnitudes of random vibration (0.5, 1.0, and 1.5 m s -2 rms). Linear regression models were used to study the effects of subject physical characteristics (age, gender, and anthropometry) and features of their apparent mass (resonance frequency, apparent mass at resonance and at 12 Hz) on the measured seat transmissibility. The strongest predictor of both the frequency of the principal resonance in seat transmissibility and the seat transmissibility at resonance was subject age, with other factors having only marginal effects. The transmissibility of the seat at 12 Hz depended on subject age, body mass index, and gender. Although subject weight was strongly associated with apparent mass, weight was not strongly associated with seat transmissibility. The resonance frequency of the seat decreased with increases in the magnitude of the vibration excitation and increased when subjects made contact with the backrest. Inter-subject variability in the resonance frequency and transmissibility at resonance was less with greater vibration excitation, but was largely unaffected by backrest contact. A lumped parameter seat-person model showed that changes in seat transmissibility with age can be predicted from changes in apparent mass with age, and that the dynamic stiffness of the seat appeared to increase with increased loading so as to compensate for increases in subject apparent mass associated with increased sitting weight.

Possible causes of socioeconomic and ethnic differences in seat belt use among high school students.

PubMed

Shin, D; Hong, L; Waldron, I

1999-09-01

This study has assessed seat belt use and factors which may influence seat belt use among high school students from three types of schools. The inner city schools had high proportions of African American and Hispanic American students from low income families, whereas the middle class school and private schools had high proportions of non-Hispanic white students from middle class families with college educated parents. Students from the inner city schools reported less seat belt use than students from the middle class school or private schools. Our analyses evaluated several hypotheses concerning possible reasons why inner city youth had lower rates of seat belt use. In accord with the social influences hypothesis, inner city youth reported lower rates of parental seat belt use and less often being told by parents to use their seat belts, and our regression results indicate that less parental modeling and encouragement of seat belt use was an important cause of inner city youth's lower rates of seat belt use. Our other hypotheses received weaker support, but we did find evidence for two hypothesized differences in attitudes which influence seat belt use. Specifically, inner city youth were more likely to agree with the statement, 'there is no point in wearing seat belts since you have no control over your fate or destiny', and inner city youth attributed less importance to safety concerns as a motivation for seat belt use. These attitudes appeared to contribute to lower rates of seat belt use by inner city youth.

Impact Test of a NACA-Designed Pilot Seat and Harness

NASA Image and Video Library

1955-02-21

This time-lapse photograph shows the test of a pilot seat and restraint designed by researchers at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory. The laboratory had undertaken a multi-year investigation into the causes and preventative measures for fires resulting from low altitude aircraft crashes. The program was expanded in the mid-1950s to include the study of crash impact on passengers, new types of types of seat restraints, and better seat designs. The impact program began by purposely wrecking surplus transport Fairchild C-82 Packet and Piper Cub aircraft into barricades at the end of a test runway. Instrumented dummies and cameras were installed in the pilot and passenger areas. After determining the different loads experienced during a crash and the effects on the passengers, the NACA researchers began designing new types of seats and restraints. The result was an elastic seat that flexed upon impact, absorbing 75 percent of the loads before it slowly recoiled. This photograph shows the seats mounted on a pendulum with a large spring behind the platform to provide the jolt that mimicked the forces of a crash. The seat was constructed without any potentially damaging metal parts and included rubber-like material, an inflated back and arms, and a seat cushion. After the pendulum tests, the researchers compared the flexible seats to the rigid seats during a crash of a transport aircraft. They found the passengers in the rigid seats received 66 percent higher g-forces than the NACA-designed seats.

NACA Researcher Sets up a Test of a New Seat Design

NASA Image and Video Library

1954-05-21

A researcher at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory prepares for a test of an NACA-designed aircraft seat. The laboratory had undertaken a multi-year investigation into the causes and prevention of fires on low altitude aircraft crashes. The program was expanded in the mid-1950s to include the study of impact on passengers, types of seat restraints, and seat design. The crash impact portion of the program began by purposely wrecking surplus Fairchild C-82 Packet and Piper Cub aircraft into barricades at the end of a test runway at the Ravenna Arsenal, located approximately 40 miles south of the Lewis lab in Cleveland. Instrumented dummies and cameras were installed in the pilot and passenger areas. After determining the different loads and their effects on the passengers, the NACA researchers began designing new types of seats and restraints. The result was an elastic seat that flexed upon impact, absorbing 75 percent of the loads before it slowly recoiled. This photograph shows the seats mounted on a pendulum with a large spring behind the platform to provide the jolt that mimicked the forces of a crash. The seat was constructed without any potentially damaging metal parts and included rubber-like material, an inflated back and arms, and a seat cushion. After the pendulum tests, the researchers compared the flexible seats to the rigid seats during a crash of a transport aircraft. They found the passengers in the rigid seats received 66 percent higher g-forces than the NACA-designed seats.

Pattern of seat belt use by drivers in Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background In Trinidad and Tobago, the law on the mandatory use of seat belts was passed in 1995, but this law is hardly enforced. The objective of this study was to determine the frequency and predictors of seat belt use by motor vehicle drivers in the country. Findings A cross-sectional study of 959 motor vehicle drivers using a self-administered questionnaire. Data analysis included Pearson Chi square test and multinomial logistic regression analysis in order to determine the possible predictors of seat belt use by the drivers in Trinidad and Tobago. A majority of the drivers sometimes (51.8%) or always (31.6%) use a seat belt. About 16.7%, 29% and 54.2% of the drivers perceived that the other drivers use their seat belts more frequently, with the same frequency and less frequently respectively compared to themselves. The main reason for not using seat belt by the drivers was given as frequent stops (40.7%) and the main motivation to use seat belt by the drivers was given as stiffer penalties for non-compliance with the seat belt law (44.5%). The predictors of seat belt use were male driver, no formal or lower level of education, driving for less than 10 years, and the perception that the other drivers use seat belts with the same or higher frequency compared to the respondents. Conclusion Only a small proportion of the drivers in Trinidad and Tobago always use a seat belt when driving. There is the need to enforce the seat belt legislation in the country. PMID:21679410

Comfort and pressure distribution in a human contour shaped aircraft seat (developed with 3D scans of the human body).

PubMed

Smulders, M; Berghman, K; Koenraads, M; Kane, J A; Krishna, K; Carter, T K; Schultheis, U

2016-08-12

The concept of comfort is one way for the growing airline market to differentiate and build customer loyalty. This work follows the idea that increasing the contact area between human and seat can have a positive effect on comfort [5, 6, 7]. To improve comfort, reduce weight and optimise space used, a human contour shaped seat shell and cushioning was developed. First the most common activities, the corresponding postures and seat inclination angles were defined. The imprints of these postures on a rescue mat were 3D scanned and an average human contour curve was defined. The outcome was transferred to a prototype seat that was used to test the effect on perceived comfort/discomfort and pressure distribution. The resulting human contour based prototype seat has comfort and discomfort scores comparable to a traditional seat. The prototype seat had a significantly lower average pressure between subjects' buttocks and the seat pan over a traditional seat. This study shows that it is possible to design a seat pan and backrest based on the different contours of study subjects using 3D scan technology. However, translating the 3D scans into a prototype seat also showed that this can only be seen as a first step; additionally biomechanical information and calculations are needed to create ergonomic seats. Furthermore, it is not possible to capture all different human shapes and postures and translate these into one human contour shape that fits all activities and all human sizes.

Car seat inspection among children older than 3 years: Using data to drive practice in child passenger safety.

PubMed

Kroeker, Amber M; Teddy, Amy J; Macy, Michelle L

2015-09-01

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of unintentional death and disability among children 4 years to 12 years of age in the United States. Despite the high risk of injury from motor vehicle crashes in this age group, parental awareness and child passenger safety programs in particular may lack focus on this age group. This is a retrospective cross-sectional analysis of child passenger safety seat checklist forms from two Safe Kids coalitions in Michigan (2013) to identify restraint type upon arrival to car seat inspections. Other variables were included if the coalition provided a new child safety seat and if the child had a sibling who underwent a car seat inspection. χ statistics were used to compare change in restraint use on arrival and at departure, the proportion of children attending a car seat inspection event by age, the age category of children by site, the proportion of children with siblings also undergoing a car seat inspection by age, and the distribution of a new child safety seat by age. Data were available from 1,316 Safe Kids Huron Valley and 3,215 Safe Kids Greater Grand Rapids car seat inspections. Just 10.8% of the total seats inspected were booster seats. Child safety seats for infant and young children were more commonly inspected (rear-facing carrier [40.3%], rear-facing convertible [10.2%], and forward-facing [19.3%] car seats). Few children at inspections used a seat belt only (5.4%) or had no restraint (13.8%). Children 4 years and older were found to be in a suboptimal restraint at least 30% of the time. Low proportions of parents use car seat inspections for children in the booster seat age group. The proportion of children departing the inspection in a more protective restraint increased with increasing age. This highlights an area of weakness in child passenger safety programs and signals an opportunity to strengthen efforts on The Booster Age Child. Epidemiologic/prognostic study, level III.

An energy-absorbing sliding seat for reducing neck injury risks in rear impact--analysis for prototype built.

PubMed

Zhang, Xiaowei; Zhou, Qing

2016-01-01

This study investigated overall performance of an energy-absorbing sliding seat concept for whiplash neck injury prevention. The sliding seat allows its seat pan to slide backward for some distance under certain restraint force to absorb crash energy in rear impacts. A numerical model that consisted of vehicle interior, seat, seat belt, and BioRID II dummy was built in MADYMO to evaluate whiplash neck injury in rear impact. A parametric study of the effects of sliding seat parameters, including position and cushion stiffness of head restraint, seatback cushion stiffness, recliner characteristics, and especially sliding energy-absorbing (EA) restraint force, on neck injury criteria was conducted in order to compare the effectiveness of the sliding seat concept with that of other existing anti-whiplash mechanisms. Optimal sliding seat design configurations in rear crashes of different severities were obtained. A sliding seat prototype with bending of a steel strip as an EA mechanism was fabricated and tested in a sled test environment to validate the concept. The performance of the sliding seat under frontal and rollover impacts was checked to make sure the sliding mechanism did not result in any negative effects. The protective effect of the sliding seat with EA restraint force is comparable to that of head restraint-based and recliner stiffness-based anti-whiplash mechanisms. EA restraint force levels of 3 kN in rear impacts of low and medium severities and 6 kN in impacts of high severity were obtained from optimization. In frontal collision and rollover, compared to the nonsliding seat, the sliding seat does not result in any negative effects on occupant protection. The sled test results of the sliding seat prototype have shown the effectiveness of the concept for reducing neck injury risks. As a countermeasure, the sliding seat with appropriate restraint forces can significantly reduce whiplash neck injury risk in rear impacts of low, medium, and high severities with no negative effects on other crash load cases.

49 CFR 571.10 - Designation of seating positions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... positions (N) for any seat location with a seating surface width greater than 330 mm (13 inches) is as... 1400 mm (55.2 inches): N = [Seating surface width (in mm)/350] round down to the nearest whole number... equal to 1400 mm (55.2 inches): N = [Seating surface width (in mm)/450] round down to the nearest whole...

49 CFR 571.10 - Designation of seating positions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... positions (N) for any seat location with a seating surface width greater than 330 mm (13 inches) is as... 1400 mm (55.2 inches): N = [Seating surface width (in mm)/350] round down to the nearest whole number... equal to 1400 mm (55.2 inches): N = [Seating surface width (in mm)/450] round down to the nearest whole...

Evaluation of wheelchair seating system crashworthiness: "drop hook"-type seat attachment hardware.

PubMed

Bertocci, G; Ha, D; Deemer, E; Karg, P

2001-04-01

To evaluate the crashworthiness of commercially available hardware that attaches seat surfaces to the wheelchair frame. A low cost static crashworthiness test procedure that simulates a frontal impact motor vehicle crash. Safety testing laboratory. Eleven unique sets of drop-hook hardware made of carbon steel (4), stainless steel (4), and aluminum (3). Replicated seat-loading conditions associated with a 20g/48 kph frontal impact. Test criterion for seat loading was 16,680 N (3750 lb). Failure load and deflection of seat surface. None of the hardware sets tested met the crashworthiness test criterion. All failed at less than 50% of the load that seating hardware could be exposed to in a 20g/48 kph frontal impact. The primary failure mode was excessive deformation, leading to an unstable seat support surface. Results suggest that commercially available seating drop hooks may be unable to withstand loading associated with a frontal crash and may not be the best option for use with transport wheelchairs.

Do parental decision-making patterns predict compliance with use of child booster seats?

PubMed

Shimony-Kanat, Sarit; Gofin, Rosa; Kienski Woloski Wruble, Anna C; Mann, Leon

2018-03-01

Booster seat use for 4-9 year olds remains the lowest of all age groups in many countries. The objective of this study is to examine whether parents' decision-making patterns, as measured by the Melbourne Decision Making Questionnaire, relate to car booster seat use. Israeli parents of 4-7 years old children (n = 398) answered a questionnaire about car safety and decision-making habits. Ninety per cent of parents reported having a booster seat; 70.5% reported consistent booster seat use in general and on short drives during the last month (booster seat use compliance index). Greater compliance index was positively related to a vigilant decision-making pattern, passenger compliance with rear seat belts and families with fewer children. Lower booster seat use compliance index was associated with buck-passing decision-making pattern. Health professionals and policy-makers should take into account parents' habitual decision-making patterns when designing interventions for car booster seat compliance.

Structural loads preliminary results

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Alfaro-Bou, E.

1986-01-01

From a total of 351 instrumentation channels, 341 channels (97%) were in operation during the initial impact of the airplane. Both NASA seats, the energy absorbing seat and the standard seat, maintained their integrity during the impact. The floor accelerations at the seat locations were lower than the accelerations required for the energy absorbers to stroke; consequently, the energy absorbing seat did not stroke. The two seats remained firm in place during the crash and no seat attachment failures were observed. Due to the low accelerations experienced during the crash, both seats performed as standard seats. In the airplane structure, the accelerations were higher at both the point of impact in the left wing and at the forward end of the fuselage. The accelerations on the floor were higher toward the front than toward the rear and the floor accelerations on the left side were higher than on the right side at the front of the fuselage, but toward the rear they evened out.

High levels of incorrect use of car seat belts and child restraints in Fife--an important and under-recognised road safety issue.

PubMed

Campbell, H; Macdonald, S; Richardson, P

1997-03-01

To pilot data collection instruments and to make a preliminary estimate of the level of incorrect use of car seat belts and child restraints in Fife, Scotland. Cross sectional survey of cars containing adults and children at a number of public sites across Fife in 1995 to assess use of car occupant restraints. Trained road safety officers assessed whether seat restraints were appropriate for the age of the passengers and whether restraints were used correctly. These assessments were based on standards published by the Child Accident Prevention Trust. The survey gathered data from 596 occupants in 180 cars: 327 adults and 269 children. Ten per cent of drivers who were approached refused to participate. Car occupant restraint was assessed in 180 drivers, 151 front seat passengers, and 265 rear seat passengers. Three hundred and sixty one occupants wore seat belts, 68 were restrained by a seat belt and booster cushion, 63 in toddler seats, 25 in two way seats, and 18 in rear facing infant carriers. Ninety seven per cent of drivers, 95% of front seat passengers, and 77% of rear seat passengers were restrained. However, in 98 (52%) vehicles at least one passenger was restrained by a device that was used incorrectly. Seven per cent of adults and 28% of children were secured incorrectly. The commonest errors were loose seat belts and restraint devices not adequately secured to the seat. Rates of incorrect use were highest in child seat restraints, reaching 60% with two way seats and 44% with rear facing infant seats. The incorrect use of car occupant restraints is an under-recognised problem, both by health professionals, and the general public. Incorrect use has been shown to reduce the effectiveness of restraints, can itself result in injury, and is likely to be an important factor in child passenger injuries. The correct use of car seat restraints merits greater attention in strategies aiming to reduce road traffic casualties. Areas of intervention that could be considered include raising public awareness of this problem, improving information and instruction given to those who purchase child restraints, and encouraging increased collaboration between manufacturers of cars and child restraints, in considering safety issues.

High levels of incorrect use of car seat belts and child restraints in Fife--an important and under-recognised road safety issue.

PubMed Central

Campbell, H.; Macdonald, S.; Richardson, P.

1997-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To pilot data collection instruments and to make a preliminary estimate of the level of incorrect use of car seat belts and child restraints in Fife, Scotland. DESIGN: Cross sectional survey of cars containing adults and children at a number of public sites across Fife in 1995 to assess use of car occupant restraints. Trained road safety officers assessed whether seat restraints were appropriate for the age of the passengers and whether restraints were used correctly. These assessments were based on standards published by the Child Accident Prevention Trust. PARTICIPANTS: The survey gathered data from 596 occupants in 180 cars: 327 adults and 269 children. Ten per cent of drivers who were approached refused to participate. Car occupant restraint was assessed in 180 drivers, 151 front seat passengers, and 265 rear seat passengers. MAIN RESULTS: Three hundred and sixty one occupants wore seat belts, 68 were restrained by a seat belt and booster cushion, 63 in toddler seats, 25 in two way seats, and 18 in rear facing infant carriers. Ninety seven per cent of drivers, 95% of front seat passengers, and 77% of rear seat passengers were restrained. However, in 98 (52%) vehicles at least one passenger was restrained by a device that was used incorrectly. Seven per cent of adults and 28% of children were secured incorrectly. The commonest errors were loose seat belts and restraint devices not adequately secured to the seat. Rates of incorrect use were highest in child seat restraints, reaching 60% with two way seats and 44% with rear facing infant seats. CONCLUSIONS: The incorrect use of car occupant restraints is an under-recognised problem, both by health professionals, and the general public. Incorrect use has been shown to reduce the effectiveness of restraints, can itself result in injury, and is likely to be an important factor in child passenger injuries. The correct use of car seat restraints merits greater attention in strategies aiming to reduce road traffic casualties. Areas of intervention that could be considered include raising public awareness of this problem, improving information and instruction given to those who purchase child restraints, and encouraging increased collaboration between manufacturers of cars and child restraints, in considering safety issues. PMID:9113842

Conical Seat Shut-Off Valve

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Farner, Bruce

2013-01-01

A moveable valve for controlling flow of a pressurized working fluid was designed. This valve consists of a hollow, moveable floating piston pressed against a stationary solid seat, and can use the working fluid to seal the valve. This open/closed, novel valve is able to use metal-to-metal seats, without requiring seat sliding action; therefore there are no associated damaging effects. During use, existing standard high-pressure ball valve seats tend to become damaged during rotation of the ball. Additionally, forces acting on the ball and stem create large amounts of friction. The combination of these effects can lead to system failure. In an attempt to reduce damaging effects and seat failures, soft seats in the ball valve have been eliminated; however, the sliding action of the ball across the highly loaded seat still tends to scratch the seat, causing failure. Also, in order to operate, ball valves require the use of large actuators. Positioning the metal-to-metal seats requires more loading, which tends to increase the size of the required actuator, and can also lead to other failures in other areas such as the stem and bearing mechanisms, thus increasing cost and maintenance. This novel non-sliding seat surface valve allows metal-to-metal seats without the damaging effects that can lead to failure, and enables large seating forces without damaging the valve. Additionally, this valve design, even when used with large, high-pressure applications, does not require large conventional valve actuators and the valve stem itself is eliminated. Actuation is achieved with the use of a small, simple solenoid valve. This design also eliminates the need for many seals used with existing ball valve and globe valve designs, which commonly cause failure, too. This, coupled with the elimination of the valve stem and conventional valve actuator, improves valve reliability and seat life. Other mechanical liftoff seats have been designed; however, they have only resulted in increased cost, and incurred other reliability issues. With this novel design, the seat is lifted by simply removing the working fluid pressure that presses it against the seat and no external force is required. By eliminating variables associated with existing ball and globe configurations that can have damaging effects upon a valve, this novel design reduces downtime in rocket engine test schedules and maintenance costs.

AAP Updates Recommendations on Car Seats

MedlinePlus

... Size Email Print Share AAP Updates Recommendations on Car Seats Page Content Article Body Children should ride ... of approved car safety seats. Healthy Children Radio: Car Seat Safety Dennis Durbin, MD, FAAP, lead author ...

CDC Vital Signs: Motor Vehicle Crash Deaths

MedlinePlus

... those that address: Primary enforcement of seat belt laws that cover everyone in every seat. Police officers ... seat belt use with primary enforcement seat belt laws that cover everyone in the vehicle. www.cdc. ...

14 CFR 135.155 - Fire extinguishers: Passenger-carrying aircraft.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... OPERATING REQUIREMENTS: COMMUTER AND ON DEMAND OPERATIONS AND RULES GOVERNING PERSONS ON BOARD SUCH AIRCRAFT... passenger seating configuration, excluding any pilot seat, of at least 10 seats but less than 31 seats. ...

14 CFR 135.155 - Fire extinguishers: Passenger-carrying aircraft.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... OPERATING REQUIREMENTS: COMMUTER AND ON DEMAND OPERATIONS AND RULES GOVERNING PERSONS ON BOARD SUCH AIRCRAFT... passenger seating configuration, excluding any pilot seat, of at least 10 seats but less than 31 seats. ...

Evaluation of wheelchair drop seat crashworthiness.

PubMed

Bertocci, G; Ha, D; van Roosmalen, L; Karg, P; Deemer, E

2001-05-01

Wheelchair seating crash performance is critical to protecting wheelchair users who remain seated in their wheelchairs during transportation. Relying upon computer simulation and sled testing seat loads associated with a 20 g/48 kph (20 g/30 mph) frontal impact and 50th percentile male occupant were estimated to develop test criteria. Using a static test setup we evaluated the performance of various types of commercially available drop seats against the loading test criteria. Five different types of drop seats (two specimens each) constructed of various materials (i.e. plastics, plywood, metal) were evaluated. Two types of drop seats (three of the total 10 specimens) met the 16650 N (3750 lb) frontal impact test criteria. While additional validation of the test protocol is necessary, this study suggests that some drop seat designs may be incapable of withstanding crash level loads.

Vibration control of an energy regenerative seat suspension with variable external resistance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ning, Donghong; Sun, Shuaishuai; Du, Haiping; Li, Weihua; Zhang, Nong

2018-06-01

In this paper, an energy regenerative seat suspension with a variable external resistance is proposed and built, and a semi-active controller for its vibration control is also designed and validated. The energy regenerative seat suspension is built with a three-phase generator and a gear reducer, which are installed in the scissors structure centre of the seat suspension, and the vibration energy is directly harvested from the rotary movement of suspension's scissors structure. The electromagnetic torque of the semi-active seat suspension actuator is controlled by an external variable resistor. An integrated model including the seat suspension's kinematics and the generator is built and proven to match the test result very well. A simplified experimental phenomenon model is also built based on the test results for the controller design. A state feedback H∞ controller is proposed for the regenerative seat suspension's semi-active vibration control. The proposed regenerative seat suspension and its controller are validated with both simulations and experiments. A well-tuned passive seat suspension is applied to evaluate the regenerative seat's performance. Based on ISO 2631-1, the frequency-weighted root mean square (FW-RMS) acceleration of the proposed seat suspension has a 22.84% reduction when compared with the passive one, which indicates the improvement of ride comfort. At the same time, the generated RMS power is 1.21 W. The proposed regenerative seat suspension can greatly improve the driver's ride comfort and has the potential to be developed to a self-powered semi-active system.

Effectiveness of media and enforcement campaigns in increasing seat belt usage rates in a state with a secondary seat belt law.

PubMed

Vasudevan, Vinod; Nambisan, Shashi S; Singh, Ashok K; Pearl, Traci

2009-08-01

In 2005, in terms of seat belt usage rates, Nevada ranked third nationally and first among states with secondary seat belt use enforcement laws in the United States. An effective combination of a media-based education and enforcement campaign helped in this regard. The objective of this article is to document the effectiveness of enforcement and media-based education and outreach campaigns on the seat belt usage rates in Nevada, a state with a secondary seat belt usage law. Observational data on seat belt usage and passenger fatality data are used to evaluate the effectiveness of enforcement campaigns and media-based education and outreach campaigns. Data based on observations of about 40,000 vehicles in each of the years 2003 to 2005 were analyzed. Statistical analyses show that a significant increase in seat belt usage rates among both drivers and passengers for both genders resulted from the accompanying the media and enforcement campaigns. The results from this study indicate that effective and well-planned media/enforcement campaigns can have a significant impact on seat belt usage rates even in a state where the enforcement of seat belt laws can only be as a secondary violation. They validate and expand on findings from other efforts documented in the literature. These results demonstrate that, if coordinated properly, media and enforcement campaigns work very effectively in increasing seat belt usage rates even in states with secondary seat belt laws.

Thermal comfort of aeroplane seats: influence of different seat materials and the use of laboratory test methods.

PubMed

Bartels, Volkmar T

2003-07-01

This study determined the influence of different cover and cushion materials on the thermal comfort of aeroplane seats. Different materials as well as ready made seats were investigated by the physiological laboratory test methods Skin Model and seat comfort tester. Additionally, seat trials with human test subjects were performed in a climatic chamber. Results show that a fabric cover produces a considerably higher sweat transport than leather. A three-dimensional knitted spacer fabric turns out to be the better cushion alternative in comparison to a moulded foam pad. Results from the physiological laboratory test methods nicely correspond to the seat trials with human test subjects.

49 CFR 571.207 - Standard No. 207; Seating systems.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... means the part of the seat that provides forward and rearward positioning of the seat bench and back... than a school bus; a passenger seat on a school bus with a GVWR greater than 4,536 kilograms (10,000 pounds); and, a passenger seat on a school bus with a GVWR less than or equal to 4,536 kg manufactured...

49 CFR 571.207 - Standard No. 207; Seating systems.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... means the part of the seat that provides forward and rearward positioning of the seat bench and back... than a school bus; a passenger seat on a school bus with a GVWR greater than 4,536 kilograms (10,000 pounds); and, a passenger seat on a school bus with a GVWR less than or equal to 4,536 kg manufactured...

49 CFR 571.207 - Standard No. 207; Seating systems.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... means the part of the seat that provides forward and rearward positioning of the seat bench and back... than a school bus; a passenger seat on a school bus with a GVWR greater than 4,536 kilograms (10,000 pounds); and, a passenger seat on a school bus with a GVWR less than or equal to 4,536 kg manufactured...

49 CFR 571.222 - Standard No. 222; School bus passenger seating and crash protection.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

..., comprised of at least a frame, seat, and wheels. Wheelchair occupant restraint anchorage means the provision... passenger seat that has another seat behind it is subjected to the application of force as specified in S5.1.3.1 and S5.1.3.2, and subsequently, the application of additional force to the seat back as...

49 CFR 571.222 - Standard No. 222; School bus passenger seating and crash protection.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

..., comprised of at least a frame, seat, and wheels. Wheelchair occupant restraint anchorage means the provision... passenger seat that has another seat behind it is subjected to the application of force as specified in S5.1.3.1 and S5.1.3.2, and subsequently, the application of additional force to the seat back as...

49 CFR 571.222 - Standard No. 222; School bus passenger seating and crash protection.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

..., comprised of at least a frame, seat, and wheels. Wheelchair occupant restraint anchorage means the provision... passenger seat that has another seat behind it is subjected to the application of force as specified in S5.1.3.1 and S5.1.3.2, and subsequently, the application of additional force to the seat back as...

49 CFR 571.222 - Standard No. 222; School bus passenger seating and crash protection.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

..., comprised of at least a frame, seat, and wheels. Wheelchair occupant restraint anchorage means the provision... passenger seat that has another seat behind it is subjected to the application of force as specified in S5.1.3.1 and S5.1.3.2, and subsequently, the application of additional force to the seat back as...

Car Safety Seat Usage and Selection Among Families Attending University Hospital Limerick.

PubMed

Scully, P; Finner, N; Letshwiti, J B; O'Gorman, C

2016-05-10

The safest way for children to travel within a car is by provision of a weight-appropriate safety-seat. To investigate this, we conducted a cross-sectional study of adult parents who had children under 12 years, and collected information related to: car use, safety-seat legislation, and type of safety-seat employed. Data were reviewed on 120 children from 60 respondents. Ninety-eight (81.7%) children were transported daily by car. Forty-eight (81.4%) respondents were aware that current safety-seat legislation is based on the weight of the child. One hundred and seven (89.9%) children were restrained during travel using a car safety-seat. One hundred and two (96.2%) safety seats were newly purchased, installed in 82.3% (88) cases by family members with installation instructions fully read in 58 (55.2%) cases. Ninety-nine (83.2%) children were restrained using an appropriate safety-seat for their weight. The results show that four out of five families are employing the most appropriate safety-seat for their child, so providing an effective mechanism to reduce car-related injury. However, the majority of safety-seats are installed by family members, which may have child safety consequences.

The scope and nature of injuries to rear seat passengers in NSW using linked hospital admission and police data.

PubMed

Brown, Julie; Bilston, Lynne E

2014-01-01

To compare the pattern of injuries to front and rear seat occupants and test the hypothesis that rear seat passengers of different ages sustain different patterns of injury. Patients admitted to a hospital following involvement in a crash in New South Wales (NSW) Australia between 2005 and 2007 were identified using International Classification of Diseases (10th edition [ICD10]) codes. Hospital admissions data were linked with NSW police crash data using probabilistic techniques. The profiles and patterns of injury of front and rear seat passengers were compared. Logistic regression was used to examine how age influenced the pattern of injury among rear seat passengers. Sixty-three percent of hospital admissions were linked with police records. One in 5 passengers were rear seat passengers. There were more unrestrained occupants in the rear (7%) compared to drivers (3%) and front seat passengers (2%). Younger (9-15 years) injured passengers were seated in the rear more often than in the front passenger position and older injured passengers (>50 years) were seated more often in the front passenger position than in the rear (15% rear compared to 5% front aged 9-15 years; 22% rear compared to 37% front aged >50 years; χ(2), P < .001). There were proportionally more fatal injuries among rear seat passengers (10%) than among drivers (5%) and front seat passengers (6%), and the pattern of injury between front and rear passengers also varied. Rear seat passengers had more head and abdominal injuries and fewer thoracic and knee/lower leg injuries than front seat passengers. After adjusting for vehicle age, restraint status, travel speed, and whether or not a fatality occurred in the crash, older (>50 years) rear passengers had 6.3 times the odds of sustaining thoracic injuries (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.6-15.0) and lower odds (odds ratio [OR] = 0.4, 95% CI, 0.2-0.9) of sustaining abdominal/lumbar injuries than the youngest occupants (9-15 years).The odds of sustaining a head injury did not vary with age, and the odds of sustaining thoracic, abdominal, or lower extremity injuries did not differ significantly between rear seat passengers aged 16-50 years and 9-15 years. The findings suggest that there is a need for enhanced protection for rear seat passengers, because they have proportionally more fatal injuries than front-seated occupants. The frequency of abdominal injury and the differences between injury patterns observed in front seat passengers suggests a potential benefit from adding abdominal injury risk assessment to rear seat occupant protection test protocols. There is also scope to improve chest protection for older rear seat passengers.

A seat cushion to provide realistic acceleration cues for aircraft simulators

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ashworth, B. R.

1976-01-01

A seat cushion to provide acceleration cues for aircraft simulator pilots was built, performance tested, and evaluated. The four cell seat, using a thin air cushion with highly responsive pressure control, attempts to reproduce the same events which occur in an aircraft seat under acceleration loading. The pressure controller provides seat cushion responses which are considered adequate for current high performance aircraft simulations. The initial tests of the seat cushions have resulted in excellent pilot opinion of the cushion's ability to provide realistic and useful cues to the simulator pilot.

Pattern of seat belt wearing in Nanjing, China

PubMed Central

Routley, V; Ozanne‐Smith, J; Li, D; Hu, X; Wang, P; Qin, Y

2007-01-01

Objective To describe the patterns of seat belt wearing in Nanjing, China for drivers, front seat passengers, and rear occupants of motor vehicles. Design Roadside observational study. Setting Four sites in central and northern Nanjing during daylight hours over 1 week in April 2005. Subjects Drivers and passengers of 17 147 cars, taxis, goods vans, and pickups, which traveled in the inside traffic lane. Main outcome measures Percentage seat belt wearing for each of seating position, age/sex, time of day, vehicle type, day of week. Results The rate of seat belt wearing was significantly higher in drivers (67.3%, 95% CI 66.6 to 68.0) than front seat passengers (18.9%, 95% CI, 18.0 to 19.8). It was negligible for second front seat passengers (2.6%, 95% CI 0.3 to 4.9) and rear seat passengers (0.5%, 95% CI 0.3 to 0.7). Belt tampering, such that protection would be reduced in the event of a crash, was observed for 18.5% of taxi drivers. Drivers were most likely to wear seat belts in cars and vans and at a city roundabout; front seat passengers were most likely to wear seat belts in non‐taxi vehicles, during the evening rush hour, if the driver was wearing a belt, and on the local north road. Drivers were least likely to wear a belt in the early morning, in pickups and taxis, on Tuesday (or the following week), and on the local north road; front seat passengers were least likely to wear a belt in taxis and if the driver was not wearing a belt. Conclusions Rates of seat belt wearing by passengers were low despite national legislation and provincial regulations coming into effect several months before the survey. Combined education and enforcement are necessary accompaniments to legislation. PMID:18056315

Effectiveness of Booster Seats Compared With No Restraint or Seat Belt Alone for Crash Injury Prevention

PubMed Central

Ma, Xiaoguang; Griffin, Russell; McGwin, Gerald; Allison, David B.; Heymsfield, Steven B.; He, Wei; Zhu, Shankuan

2013-01-01

Objectives The objective was to evaluate the effectiveness of belt-positioning booster seats, compared with no restraint use and with seat belt use only, during motor vehicle crashes among U.S. children. Methods This was a retrospective matched cohort study with data from the 1998 through 2009 National Automotive Sampling System (NASS) Crashworthiness Data System (CDS). The study sample consisted of children aged 0 to 10 years who were not seated in the front seat of the vehicle. We used Cox proportional hazards models to estimate the risk of overall, fatal, and regional body injury. Results Children using seat belts in belt-positioning booster seats experienced less overall injury (Injury Severity Score [ISS] > 0, adjusted risk ratio [RR] = 0.73, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.55 to 0.96; Abbreviated Injury Scale [AIS] score of 2 or higher, adjusted RR = 0.30, 95% CI = 0.16 to 0.58; ISS > 8, adjusted RR = 0.19, 95% CI = 0.06 to 0.56), and less injury in most body regions except the neck (adjusted RR = 4.79, 95% CI = 1.43 to 16.00) than did children with no restraint use. Children using seat belts in belt-positioning booster seats had an equal risk of injury but higher risks of neck (adjusted RR = 1.86, 95% CI = 1.02 to 3.40) and thorax (adjusted RR = 2.86, 95% CI = 1.33 to 6.15) injury than did children restrained by seat belts only. Conclusions Children using belt-positioning booster seats appear to experience a higher risk of AIS > 0 injury to the neck and thorax than do children using seat belts only. Future research should examine whether the observed increase in neck and thorax injuries can be attributed to improper use of booster seats. PMID:24050794

The Effects of Microgravity on Seated Height (Spinal Elongation)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Young, K. S.; Rajulu, S.

2011-01-01

ABSTRACT Many physiological factors, such as spinal elongation, fluid shifts, bone atrophy, and muscle loss, occur during an exposure to a microgravity environment. Spinal elongation is just one of the factors that can also affect the safety and performance of a crewmember while in space. Spinal elongation occurs due to the lack of gravity/compression on the spinal column. This allows for the straightening of the natural spinal curve. There is a possible fluid shift in the inter-vertebral disks that may also result in changes in height. This study aims at collecting the overall change in seated height for crewmembers exposed to a microgravity environment. During previous Programs, Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) and Skylab, spinal elongation data was collected from a small number of subjects in a standing posture but were limited in scope. Data from these studies indicated a quick increase in stature during the first few days of weightlessness, after which stature growth reached a plateau resulting in up to a 3% increase of the original measurement [1-5]. However, this data was collected only for crewmembers in standing posture and not in a seated posture. Seated height may have a different effect than standing height due to a change in posture as well as due to a compounded effect of wearing restraints and a potential compression of the gluteal area. Seated height was deemed as a critical measurement in the design of the Constellation Program s (CxP) Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV), called Orion which is now the point-of-departure vehicle for the Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) Program; therefore a better understanding of the effects of microgravity on seated height is necessary. Potential changes in seated height that may not have impacted crew accommodation in previous Programs will have significant effects on crew accommodation due to the layout of seats in the Orion.. The current and existing configuration is such that the four crewmembers are stacked two by two with the commander and pilot seats on the top and the two remaining seats underneath, thereby limiting the amount of clearance for the crewmembers seated in the bottom seat. The inner mold line of these types of vehicles are fixed due to other design constraints; therefore, it is essential that all seats incorporate additional clearance to account for adequate spinal growth thereby ensuring that the crew can safely ingress the seat and be strapped in prior to its return to earth. If there is not enough clearance to account for spinal growth deltas between seats then there is the potential that crewmembers will not be able to comfortably and safely fit into their seats. The crewmember in the bottom stacked seat may even have negative clearance with the seat above him or her which could lead to potential ingress/egress issues or potentially injury of the crewmember during landing. These impacts are specific to these types of vehicles with stacked seat configuration. Without proper knowledge of the amount of spinal elongation, or growth, which occurs due to microgravity and space flight, the design of future vehicle(s) or suits may cause injury, discomfort, and limit crew accommodation and crew complements. The experiment primarily aimed to collect seated height data for subjects exposed to microgravity environments, and feed new information regarding the effect of elongation of the spine forward into the design of the Orion. The data collected during the experiment included, two seated height measurement and two digital pictures of seated height pre-, in-, and post-flight. In addition to seated height, crewmembers had an optional task of collecting stature , standing height. Seated height data was obtained from 29 crewmembers that included 8 ISS increment crew (2 females and 6 males) and 21 Shuttle crew (1 female, 20 males), and whose mean age was 48 years ( 4 years). This study utilized the last six Shuttle flights, STS-128 to STS-134. The results show that partipating crewmembers experienced growth up to 6% in seated height and up to 3% in stature. Based on the worst case statistical analysis of the subject data, the recommended seated height growth of 6% will be provided to the designers as the necessary seated height adjustment.

Using haptic feedback to increase seat belt use : traffic tech.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2011-07-01

The legacy of research on increasing seat belt use has : focused on enactment of seat belt legislation, public education, : high-visibility police enforcement, and seat belt : reminder systems. Several behavioral programs have : produced large, susta...

Factors Affecting Booster Seat Use.

PubMed

Aita-Levy, Jerussa; Henderson, Lauren

2016-10-01

Objective To identify general awareness of booster seats as well as reasons for use and nonuse in an urban pediatric emergency room. Methods A total of 100 questionnaires were completed consisting of 24 questions each. Questions included knowledge of booster seat guidelines, source of knowledge, awareness of risks, and confidence in booster seats. Afterward, participants were provided an educational handout. Results Majority of parents reported currently using or having used a booster seat. The most popular reason was to protect from injury (78%), and reason for nonuse was size (44%). Majority of parents agreed that motor vehicle crashes were the leading cause of death in children. However, 56% of parents prematurely transitioned child out of a booster seat. Only 20% reported learning about booster seats from their pediatrician. Conclusion Parents continue to transition their children prematurely from booster seats. Current state laws need revision as well as further education using simplified illustrated guidelines. © The Author(s) 2015.

Determination of crash test pulses and their application to aircraft seat analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Alfaro-Bou, E.; Williams, M. S.; Fasanella, E. L.

1981-01-01

Deceleration time histories (crash pulses) from a series of twelve light aircraft crash tests conducted at NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) were analyzed to provide data for seat and airframe design for crashworthiness. Two vertical drop tests at 12.8 m/s (42 ft/s) and 36 G peak deceleration (simulating one of the vertical light aircraft crash pulses) were made using an energy absorbing light aircraft seat prototype. Vertical pelvis acceleration measured in a 50 percentile dummy in the energy absorbing seat were found to be 45% lower than those obtained from the same dummy in a typical light aircraft seat. A hybrid mathematical seat-occupant model was developed using the DYCAST nonlinear finite element computer code and was used to analyze a vertical drop test of the energy absorbing seat. Seat and occupant accelerations predicted by the DYCAST model compared quite favorably with experimental values.

Seat Experiment Results of Full-Scale Transport Aircraft Controlled Impact Demonstration.

DTIC Science & Technology

1986-07-01

31 CONCLUSIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. .. .... 31 APPENDIX A - FLOOR, SEAT, AND PELVIS VERTICAL...ACCELERATIONS . ... A-1 APPENDIX B - FLOOR, SEAT, AND PELVIS LONGITUDINAL ACCELERATIONS .B-1 APPENDIX C - FLOOR, SEAT, AND PELVIS LATERAL ACCELERATIONS ... . C...The current asymmetry of the tracks in the 8720 and 727 causes the window-side legs of the triple- passenger seat to support twice as much load as the

The Seated Soldier Study: Posture and Body Shape in Vehicle Seats

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-10-31

ergonomics and safety assessments. UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED 3 INTRODUCTION The design of seats and interiors for a wide variety of...DHMs) began to be used for ergonomic assessments and design of vehicle interiors and seats , particularly for driver workstation layout (Chaffin 2001...in a vehicle mockup by varying the steering wheel position relative to the pedals. The participants adjusted the seat to obtain a comfortable

Contact dermatitis to training toilet seat (potty seat dermatitis).

PubMed

Dorfman, Claire O; Barros, Mark A; Zaenglein, Andrea L

2018-05-29

Allergic contact dermatitis from various components of toilet seats has been well described. We report a case of a young boy presenting with an atypical pattern of dermatitis who was found to be allergic to his training toilet seat. This case highlights the importance of recognizing this diagnosis and the role of potty seats as the causative factor. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Injury risk for matched front and rear seat car passengers by injury severity and crash type: An exploratory study.

PubMed

Mitchell, R J; Bambach, M R; Toson, Barbara

2015-09-01

The risk of serious injury or death has been found to be reduced for some front compared to rear seat car passengers in newer vehicles. However, differences in injury severity between car occupants by seating position has not been examined. This study examines the injury severity risk for rear compared to front seat car passengers. A retrospective matched-cohort analysis was conducted of vehicle crashes involving injured rear vs front seat car passengers identified in linked police-reported, hospitalisation and emergency department (ED) presentation records during 2001-2011 in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Odds ratios were estimated using an ordinal logistic mixed model and logistic mixed models. There were 5419 front and 4588 rear seat passengers in 3681 vehicles. There was a higher odds of sustaining a higher injury severity as a rear-compared to a front seat car passenger, with a higher odds of rear seat passengers sustaining serious injuries compared to minimal injuries. Where the vehicle occupant was older, travelling in a vehicle manufactured between 1990 and 1996 or after 1997, where the airbag deployed, and where the vehicle was driven where the speed limit was ≥70km/h there was a higher odds of the rear passenger sustaining a higher injury severity then a front seated occupant. Rear seat car passengers are sustaining injuries of a higher severity compared to front seat passengers travelling in the same vehicle, as well as when travelling in newer vehicles and where the front seat occupant is shielded by an airbag deployed in the crash. Rear seat occupant protective mechanisms should be examined. Pre-hospital trauma management policies could influence whether an individual is transported to a hospital ED, thus it would be beneficial to have an objective measure of injury severity routinely available in ED records. Further examination of injury severity between rear and front seat passengers is warranted to examine less severe non-fatal injuries by car seating position and vehicle intrusion. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Association between exposure/non-exposure to the mandatory seat belt law with regards to compliance in vehicle accident victims--a hospital review.

PubMed

Williams, E W; Reid, M; Lindo, J L M; Williams-Johnson, J; French, S; Singh, P; McDonald, A H

2007-06-01

Injuries sustained in motor vehicle accidents (MVAs) are a major challenge to the Jamaican healthcare system. In November 1999, Jamaica enacted legislation to make seat belt usage in motor vehicles compulsory. The effect of this policy change on seat belt usage is unclear. This study therefore sought to determine the prevalence of seat belt usage and to determine the association between exposure/non-exposure to the mandatory seat belt law and seat belt use in subjects who presented to the Accident and Emergency Department (A&E) of the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) as a result of motor vehicle accidents. Subjects were recruited from June to November 2003, post-seat belt law (POBL) period, and May to October 1999, pre-seat belt law (PRBL) period. Data collected included demographic variables, seat belt use and position of the occupants in the vehicle. Of the 277 patients who were eligible for inclusion, data were complete in 258 subjects, 87 in the PRBL period and 171 in the POBL period. The prevalence of seat belt use was 47% (PRBL) and 63% (POBL) respectively. There was no significant gender difference at each period. The odds of wearing seat belt in the rear of a motor vehicle were significantly lower than that of a driver (Table 3, OR 0.19, 95% CI 0.07, 0.48). Adjusting for age, gender and position in vehicle exposure, there was about 100% increase in the odds of seat belt use during the post seat belt law era (OR = 2.09, 95% CI 1.21, 3.61). It is concluded from this hospital-based study that the mandatory seat belt law legislature was associated with increased seat belt use in motor vehicle accident victims. However, current data from the Road Traffic Agency indicate that there is still an alarming number of fatalities. This clearly suggests that additional public health measures are needed to address the epidemic of motor vehicle trauma in Jamaica.

Effect of Booster Seat Design on Children’s Choice of Seating Positions During Naturalistic Riding

PubMed Central

Andersson, Marianne; Bohman, Katarina; Osvalder, Anna-Lisa

2010-01-01

The purpose of this naturalistic study was to investigate the effect of booster seat design on the choice of children’s seating positions during naturalistic riding. Data was collected through observations of children during in-vehicle riding by means of a film camera. The children were positioned in high back boosters in the rear seat while a parent drove the car. The study included two different booster designs: one with large head and torso side supports, and one with small head side supports and no torso side supports. Six children between three and six years of age participated in the study. Each child was observed in both boosters. The duration of the seating positions that each child assumed was quantified. The design with large side head supports resulted more often in seating positions without head and shoulder contact with the booster’s back. There was shoulder-to-booster back contact during an average of 45% of riding time in the seat with the large head side supports compared to 75% in the seat with the small head supports. The children in the study were seated with the head in front of the front edge of the head side supports more than half the time, in both boosters. Laterally, the children were almost constantly positioned between the side supports of the booster in both seats. The observed seating positions probably reduce the desired protective effect by the side supports in side impact, and may increase the probability of head impact with the vehicle interior in frontal impact. PMID:21050601

A program to increase seat belt use along the Texas-Mexico border.

PubMed

Cohn, Lawrence D; Hernandez, Delia; Byrd, Theresa; Cortes, Miguel

2002-12-01

A school-based, bilingual intervention was developed to increase seat belt use among families living along the Texas-Mexico border. The intervention sought to increase seat belt use by changing perceived norms within the community (i.e., making the nonuse of seat belts less socially acceptable). The intervention was implemented in more than 110 classrooms and involved more than 2100 children. Blind coding, validity checks, and reliability estimates contributed to a rigorous program evaluation. Seat belt use increased by 10% among children riding in the front seat of motor vehicles in the intervention community, as compared with a small but nonsignificant decline in use among control community children. Seat belt use among drivers did not increase.

75 FR 34172 - Lordstown Seating Systems, a Subsidiary of Magna Seating, Including Workers Whose Unemployment...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-06-16

... certification for workers of the subject firm. The workers produce seating for automobiles. New information... secondarily affected as a supplier of seating for automobiles to a TAA certified firm. The amended notice...

Guidelines for observing child safety seat use

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1987-06-01

This manual provides guidelines for collecting observational data needed to assess the use of child safety seats. Specific directions are included for (a) observing child safety seat use, (b) child seats, and (c) instructing observers on how to use s...

Stadium seating--a market analysis.

Treesearch

Jerry A. Sesco; Edwin Kallio

1967-01-01

This report describes the characteristics of stadiums and seating in six North Central States; summarizes the purchasing methods for stadium seats; presents estimates of the present and future market; and points out the increasing competition to wood stadium seating form substitute materials.

76 FR 23793 - Extension of Application Period for Seats for the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-04-28

... seats on the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council: (1) Research Member seat and (2... relation to the seat for which they are applying; community and professional affiliations; philosophy...

Seat-belt use still low in Kuwait: self-reported driving behaviours among adult drivers.

PubMed

Raman, Sudha R; Ottensmeyer, C Andrea; Landry, Michel D; Alfadhli, Jarrah; Procter, Steven; Jacob, Susan; Hamdan, Elham; Bouhaimed, Manal

2014-01-01

Kuwait mandated seat-belt use by drivers in 1976 and by front seat passengers in 1994. The study objectives were to identify and estimate current factors associated with seat-belt use and levels of potentially unsafe driving behaviours in Kuwait. In 2010, 741 adults were surveyed regarding driving habits and history. Only 41.6% of drivers reported always using a seat belt. Front seat passenger belt use was more common (30.5%) than rear seat belt use (6.5%). Distracted driving behaviours were common, including mobile phone use ('always' or 'almost always': 51.1%) and texting/SMS (32.4%). Logistic regression indicated that drivers who were young (18-19 years), male, Kuwaiti nationals or non-Kuwaiti Arabs, drove over the speed limit, had traffic violation tickets or >1 car crashes in the last year, were less likely to use seat belts. Targeted initiatives to increase public awareness and to enforce car-safety legislation, including use of seat belts, are necessary to decrease the health burden of car crashes in Kuwait.

Seat belt use-inducing system effectiveness

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1975-04-01

Seat belt use inducing system effectiveness was measured in fleet automobiles of a private business and in rental automobiles at a large airport. There were three parts to the activity: 1. Seat belt use inducing systems and seat belt use counting sys...

Restraint use (seat belt and child passenger seat) survey

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2008-12-01

In Arizona, lack of restraint usage (seat belts and child passenger seats) was a contributing factor to an average of 687 fatalities per year which is nearly 60% of total fatalities. These tragic statistics could be dramatically decreased if effectiv...

Commuter rail seat testing and analysis of facing seats

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2003-12-01

Tests have been conducted on the Bombardier back-to-back commuter rail car seat in a facing-seat configuration to evaluate its performance under static and dynamic loading conditions. Quasi-static tests have been conducted to establish the load defle...

49 CFR 571.202a - Standard No. 202a; Head restraints; Mandatory applicability begins on September 1, 2009.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

..., representing the head position of a seated 50th percentile male, with sliding scale at the back of the head for... any rear outboard designated seating position, a rear seat back, or any independently adjustable seat component attached to or adjacent to a seat back, that has a height equal to or greater than 700 mm, in any...

49 CFR 571.202a - Standard No. 202a; Head restraints; Mandatory applicability begins on September 1, 2009.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

..., representing the head position of a seated 50th percentile male, with sliding scale at the back of the head for... any rear outboard designated seating position, a rear seat back, or any independently adjustable seat component attached to or adjacent to a seat back, that has a height equal to or greater than 700 mm, in any...

49 CFR 571.202a - Standard No. 202a; Head restraints; Mandatory applicability begins on September 1, 2009.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

..., representing the head position of a seated 50th percentile male, with sliding scale at the back of the head for... any rear outboard designated seating position, a rear seat back, or any independently adjustable seat component attached to or adjacent to a seat back, that has a height equal to or greater than 700 mm, in any...

The Seated Soldier Study: Posture and Body Shape in Vehicle Seats

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-01-28

vehicle interior layout Current design guidance is based on outdated anthropometry Previous studies of seated anthropometry have not included the...personal protective equipment (PPE) for seat and vehicle interior layout • Current design guidance is based on outdated anthropometry • Previous...studies of seated anthropometry have not included the effects of PPE on posture and body shape • Detailed anthropometric data needed for the design

Blast resistant vehicle seat

DOEpatents

Ripley, Edward B

2013-02-12

Disclosed are various seats for vehicles particularly military vehicles that are susceptible to attack by road-bed explosive devices such as land mines or improvised explosive devices. The seats often have rigid seat shells and may include rigid bracing for rigidly securing the seat to the chassis of the vehicle. Typically embodiments include channels and particulate media such as sand disposed in the channels. A gas distribution system is generally employed to pump a gas through the channels and in some embodiments the gas is provided at a pressure sufficient to fluidize the particulate media when an occupant is sitting on the seat.

Effects of Wheelchair Seat-height Settings on Alternating Lower Limb Propulsion With Both Legs.

PubMed

Murata, Tomoyuki; Asami, Toyoko; Matsuo, Kiyomi; Kubo, Atsuko; Okigawa, Etsumi

2014-01-01

This study investigated the effects of seat-height settings of wheelchairs with alternating propulsion with both legs. Seven healthy individuals with no orthopedic disease participated. Flexion angles at initial contact (FA-IC) of each joint, range of motion during propulsion period (ROM-PP), and ground reaction force (GRF) were measured using a three dimensional motion capture system and force plates, and compared with different seat-height settings. Statistically significant relationships were found between seat-height and speed, stride length, knee FA-IC, ankle FA-IC, hip ROM-PP, vertical ground reaction force (VGRF), and anterior posterior ground reaction force (APGRF). Speed, hip ROM-PP, VGRF and APGRF increased as the seat-height was lowered. This effect diminished when the seat-height was set below -40 mm. VGRF increased as the seat-height was lowered. The results suggest that the seat-height effect can be attributed to hip ROM-PP; therefore, optimal foot propulsion cannot be achieved when the seat height is set either too high or too low. Efficient foot propulsion of the wheelchair can be achieved by setting the seat height to lower leg length according to a combination of physical characteristics, such as the user's physical functions, leg muscles, and range of motion.

Evaluation of Safe Kids Week 2004: age 4 to 9? It's booster seat time!

PubMed

Howard, A; Beben, N; Rothman, L; Fiissel, D; MacArthur, C

2006-10-01

To assess the effectiveness of a national one week media campaign promoting booster seat use. Pre-test, post-test design based on nationally representative random digit dialing telephone survey, with control for exposure to campaign. Canada. Parents of children aged 4-9 years. During a one week campaign in May 2004, information on booster seat use was distributed via a national media campaign, retail stores, medical clinics, and community events. Information included pamphlets with guidelines for booster seat use, as well as a growth chart (designed by Safe Kids Canada) to assist parents in determining if their child should be using a booster seat. Assessing seat belt fit was described in detail on the growth chart. Knowledge, attitudes, and self-reported behaviors regarding booster seat use. Respondents in the group exposed to the campaign were twice as likely to report using a booster seat with lap and shoulder belt for their child (47%), compared to those in the pre-test (24%) and the unexposed (23%) groups (p<0.001). However, only small differences in general knowledge regarding booster seat use were found between the groups. A one week national media campaign substantially increased self-reported use of booster seats. Parents did not remember details of the campaign content, but did remember implications for their own child.

Seat design principles to reduce neck injuries in rear impacts.

PubMed

Viano, David C

2008-12-01

In the 1990s, research was conducted at General Motors R&D Center on seat safety in rear impacts. It led to the development of high retention seats and an active head restraint to improve occupant safety. This article provides an overview of the design principles found from that research and focuses on seat characteristics that lower whiplash risks. Sled and quasistatic seat testing showed how occupants interact with the seat in rear impacts and what seat characteristics improve occupant retention, energy management, and support of the head-neck, lowering injury risks. Neck displacements, moments, and forces were used to assess whiplash and more severe injury risks. A QST test was developed to quasi-statically push a dummy rearward into the seat to determine seat stiffness (k), frame strength (j), and peak bending moment (M(Hpt)). These parameters were related to neck displacements associated with whiplash. Sled tests were run with in-position and out-of-position male and female Hybrid III dummies to assess performance. A high retention seat and active head restraint were developed and put into production in 1997. High retention seats have 2.3 times greater moment, develop 2.2 times greater load, but have the same stiffness as earlier yielding seats. Seat stiffness was found to be a principle characteristic related to neck displacements associated with whiplash. The combination of a stronger frame, yielding seatback, and high-forward head restraint in the high retention seat provides early head support and low neck displacements in rear impacts. Larger reductions in neck displacement were obtained by adding an active head restraint that moves the head restraint forward and upward by occupant penetration into the seatback. This substantially reduces head contact time, neck displacements, and loads. Whiplash risks are related to seat stiffness, the position of the head restraint, and frame strength. Low seat stiffness allows the occupant to move into the seatback without high loads on the torso until the head-neck is supported by the head restraint. A strong seat frame reduces early seatback rotation that increases the gap to the head restraint and drops it in relation to the occupant's head. A high and forward head restraint provides support of the head and neck. Large forces can be applied to the occupant once the head, neck, and torso are supported by the seat and head restraint without adverse loading of the spine. The addition of an active head restraint closes the gap behind the head before significant load develops on the neck. The movement provides a more upward trajectory of the head restraint. Low-speed rear crashes are not just a matter of whiplash; older occupants, some with cervical stenosis, are at risk for paralyzing spinal cord injury.

Evaluation of seatback vibration based on ISO 2631-1 (1997) standard method: The influence of vehicle seat structural resonance.

PubMed

Ittianuwat, R; Fard, M; Kato, K

2017-01-01

Although much research has been done in developing the current ISO 2631-1 (1997) standard method for assessment seat vibration comfort, little consideration has been given to the influence of vehicle seat structural dynamics on comfort assessment. Previous research has shown that there are inconsistencies between standard methods and subjective evaluation of comfort at around vehicle seat twisting resonant frequencies. This study reports the frequency-weighted r.m.s. accelerations in [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] axes and the total vibration (point vibration total value) at five locations on seatback surface at around vehicle seat twisting resonant frequencies. The results show that the vibration measured at the centre of seatback surface, suggested by current ISO 2631-1 (1997), at around twisting resonant frequencies was the least for all tested vehicle seats. The greatest point vibration total value on the seatback surface varies among vehicle seats. The variations in vibration measured at different locations on seatback surface at around twisting resonant frequencies were sufficiently great that might affect the comfort assessment of vehicle seat.Practitioner Summary: The influence of vehicle seat structural dynamics has not been considered in current ISO 2631-1 (1997). The results of this study show that the vibration measures on seatback surface at around vehicle seat twisting resonant frequency depends on vehicle seats and dominate at the top or the bottom of seatback but not at the centre.

Reference PMHS Sled Tests to Assess Submarining.

PubMed

Uriot, Jérôme; Potier, Pascal; Baudrit, Pascal; Trosseille, Xavier; Petit, Philippe; Richard, Olivier; Compigne, Sabine; Masuda, Mitsutoshi; Douard, Richard

2015-11-01

Sled tests focused on pelvis behavior and submarining can be found in the literature. However, they were performed either with rigid seats or with commercial seats. The objective of this study was to get reference tests to assess the submarining ability of dummies in more realistic conditions than on rigid seat, but still in a repeatable and reproducible setup. For this purpose, a semi-rigid seat was developed, which mimics the behavior of real seats, although it is made of rigid plates and springs that are easy to reproduce and simulate with an FE model. In total, eight PMHS sled tests were performed on this semirigid seat to get data in two different configurations: first in a front seat configuration that was designed to prevent submarining, then in a rear seat configuration with adjusted spring stiffness to generate submarining. All subjects sustained extensive rib fractures from the shoulder belt loading. No pelvis fractures and no submarining were observed in the front seat configuration, but two subjects sustained lumbar vertebrae fractures. In the rear seat configuration, all subjects sustained pelvic fractures and demonstrated submarining. Corridors were constructed for the external forces and the PMHS kinematics. They are provided in this paper as new reference tests to assess the biofidelity of human surrogates in different configurations that either result in submarining or do not. In future, it is intended to analyze further seat and restraint system configurations to be able to define a submarining predictor.

Factors related to nonuse of seat belts in Michigan.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1987-09-01

This study combined direct observation of seat belt use with interview methods to : identify factors related to seat belt use in a state with a mandatory seat belt use law. Trained : observers recorded restraint use for a probability sample of motori...

Seat belt use increases in Maine following change to primary enforcement : traffic tech.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2010-04-01

Primary seat belt laws are associated with higher selfreported : seat belt use rates and fewer traffic fatalities following : enactment. Primary laws allow police to issue a citation : solely upon observation of a seat belt violation. In contrast, : ...

Portable seat lift

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Weddendorf, Bruce (Inventor)

1994-01-01

A portable seat lift that can help individuals either (1) lower themselves to a sitting position or (2) raise themselves to a standing position is presented. The portable seat lift consists of a seat mounted on a base with two levers, which are powered by a drive unit.

Injuries to seat occupants of light airplanes.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1989-02-01

A series of 55 light-airplane accidents was examined in an effort to demonstrate the role of seats in the genesis of injury in seat occupants. Good engineering, design of airplane seats is an important related issue which is not treated in this study...

NASA experiments on the B-720 structure and seats

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alfaro-Bou, E.

1986-01-01

Two experiments onboard a remotely piloted transport aircraft that was crashed on landing are discussed. The structural experiment deals with the location and distribution of the instrumentation throughout the airplane structure. In the seat experiment, the development and testing of an energy absorbing seat are discussed. The objective of the structural experiment was to obtain a data base of structural crash loads for use in the advancement of crashworthy technology of materials (such as composites) in structural design and for use in the comparison between computer and experimental results. The objective of the seat experiment was to compare the performance of an energy absorbing transport seat and a standard seat when subjected to similar crash pulses. Details are given on the location of instrumentation, on the dynamic seat test pulse and headward acceleration limits.

Muscle activity of the core during bilateral, unilateral, seated and standing resistance exercise.

PubMed

Saeterbakken, Atle Hole; Fimland, Marius Steiro

2012-05-01

Little is known about the effect of performing common resistance exercises standing compared to seated and unilaterally compared to bilaterally on muscle activation of the core. Thus, the purpose of this study was to compare the electromyographic activity (EMG) of the superficial core muscles (i.e. rectus abdominis, external oblique and erector spinae) between seated, standing, bilateral and unilateral dumbbell shoulder presses. 15 healthy males performed five repetitions at 80% of one-repetition maximum of the exercises in randomized order. Results were analyzed with a two-way analysis of variance and a Bonferroni post hoc test. The position × exercise interaction was significantly different for rectus abdominis (P = 0.016), but not for external oblique (P = 0.100) and erector spinae (P = 0.151). The following EMG results were observed: For rectus abdominis: ~49% lower in seated bilateral versus unilateral (P < 0.001), similar in standing bilateral versus unilateral (P = 0.408), ~81% lower in bilateral seated versus standing (P < 0.001), ~59% lower in unilateral seated versus standing (P < 0.001); For external oblique: ~81% lower in seated bilateral versus unilateral (P < 0.001), ~68% lower in standing bilateral than unilateral (P < 0.001), ~58% lower in bilateral seated versus standing (P < 0.001), ~28% lower in unilateral seated versus standing (P = 0.002); For erector spinae: similar in seated bilateral versus unilateral (P = 0.737), ~18% lower in standing bilateral versus unilateral (P = 0.001), similar in seated versus standing bilateral (P = 0.480) and unilateral (P = 0.690). In conclusion, to enhance neuromuscular activation of the superficial core muscles, standing exercises should be used instead of seated exercises, and unilateral exercises should be used instead of bilateral exercises.

Lumbar load attenuation for rotorcraft occupants using a design methodology for the seat impact energy-absorbing system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moradi, Rasoul; Beheshti, Hamid K.; Lankarani, Hamid M.

2012-12-01

Aircraft occupant crash-safety considerations require a minimum cushion thickness to limit the relative vertical motion of the seat-pelvis during high vertical impact loadings in crash landings or accidents. In military aircraft and helicopter seat design, due to the potential for high vertical accelerations in crash scenarios, the seat system must be provided with an energy absorber to attenuate the acceleration level sustained by the occupants. Because of the limited stroke available for the seat structure, the design of the energy absorber becomes a trade-off problem between minimizing the stroke and maximizing the energy absorption. The available stroke must be used to prevent bottoming out of the seat as well as to absorb maximum impact energy to protect the occupant. In this study, the energy-absorbing system in a rotorcraft seat design is investigated using a mathematical model of the occupant/seat system. Impact theories between interconnected bodies in multibody mechanical systems are utilized to study the impact between the seat pan and the occupant. Experimental responses of the seat system and the occupant are utilized to validate the results from this study for civil and military helicopters according to FAR 23 and 25 and MIL-S-58095 requirements. A model for the load limiter is proposed to minimize the lumbar load for the occupant by minimizing the relative velocity between the seat pan and the occupant's pelvis. The modified energy absorber/load limiter is then implemented for the seat structure so that it absorbs the energy of impact in an effective manner and below the tolerable limit for the occupant in a minimum stroke. Results show that for a designed stroke, the level of occupant lumbar spine injury would be significantly attenuated using this modified energy-absorber system.

Study to develop improved fire resistant aircraft passenger seat materials

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Duskin, F. E.; Schutter, K. J.; Sieth, H. H.; Trabold, E. L.

1980-01-01

The Phase 3 study of the NASA 'Improved Fire Resistant Aircraft Seat Materials' involved fire tests of improved materials in multilayered combinations representative of cushion configurations. Tests were conducted to determine their thermal, smoke, and fire resistance characteristics. Additionally, a 'Design Guideline' for Fire Resistant Passenger Seats was written outlining general seat design considerations. Finally, a three-abreast 'Tourist Class' passenger seat assembly fabricated from the most advanced fire-resistant materials was delivered.

Active control of an innovative seat suspension system with acceleration measurement based friction estimation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ning, Donghong; Sun, Shuaishuai; Li, Hongyi; Du, Haiping; Li, Weihua

2016-12-01

In this paper, an innovative active seat suspension system for vehicles is presented. This seat suspension prototype is built with two low cost actuators each of which has one rotary motor and one gear reducer. A H∞ controller with friction compensation is designed for the seat suspension control system where the friction is estimated and compensated based on the measurement of seat acceleration. This principal aim of this research was to control the low frequency vibration transferred or amplified by the vehicle (chassis) suspension, and to maintain the passivity of the seat suspension at high frequency (isolation vibration) while taking into consideration the trade-off between the active seat suspension cost and its high frequency performance. Sinusoidal excitations of 1-4.5 Hz were applied to test the active seat suspension both when controlled and when uncontrolled and this is compared with a well-tuned passive heavy duty vehicle seat suspension. The results indicate the effectiveness of the proposed control algorithm within the tested frequencies. Further tests were conducted using the excitations generated from a quarter-car model under bump and random road profiles. The bump road tests indicate the controlled active seat suspension has good transient response performance. The Power Spectral Density (PSD) method and ISO 2631-1 standards were applied to analyse the seat suspension's acceleration under random road conditions. Although some low magnitude and high frequency noise will inevitably be introduced by the active system, the weighted-frequency Root Mean Square (RMS) acceleration shows that this may not have a large effect on ride comfort. In fact, the ride comfort is improved from being an 'a little uncomfortable' to a 'not uncomfortable' level when compared with the well-tuned passive seat suspension. This low cost active seat suspension design and the proposed controller with the easily measured feedback signals are very practical for real applications.

[Use of seat belts and mobile phone while driving in Florence: trend from 2005 to 2009].

PubMed

Lorini, Chiara; Pellegrino, Elettra; Mannocci, Federico; Allodi, Guendalina; Indiani, Laura; Mersi, Anna; Petrioli, Giuseppe; Santini, Maria Grazia; Garofalo, Giorgio; Bonaccorsi, Guglielmo

2012-01-01

to evaluate the trend over time of the use of seat belts by drivers and passengers of cars and vans and the use of hand held mobile phone while driving in Florence from 2005 to 2009. DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS AND MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: direct observations (58,773 vehicles) have been conducted to detect the use of seat belts by occupants of cars and vans, and the use of mobile phone while driving. It has been carried out correlation analysis between the use of the seat belt by occupants of vehicles and between the simultaneous use of this device and mobile phone while driving.Moreover, it has been carried out time series analysis (ARIMA Box Jenkins) of in the prevalence of the use of seat belts by occupants of vehicles observed, of mobile phone by drivers and the trend of the risk to drive using the mobile phone with unfastened seat belt rather than to drive using the mobile phone with fastened seat belt. seat belts were used on average by 75.7% of drivers, 75.5% of front passengers and 25.1% of rear passengers. The average mobile phone use while driving was 4.5%. Drivers most frequently fasten seat belt if front passengers use it and while they do not use mobile phone. The use of seat belts by drivers and front passengers has not changed over time, whereas the use of mobile phone while driving has significantly increased. The prevalence of using mobile phone with unfastened seat belt rather than to use it with fastened seat belt while driving has significantly decreased over the years, indicating an increase in the use of mobile phone, especially among those who fasten the seat belt. it is necessary to plan and realize stronger interventions in the whole area.

Residence Hall Seating That Works.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wiens, Janet

2003-01-01

Describes the seating chosen for residence halls at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of New England. The seating required depends on ergonomics, aesthetics, durability, cost, and code requirements. In addition, residence halls must have a range of seating types to accommodate various uses. (SLD)

Observations of seating position of front seat occupants relative to the side of the vehicle.

PubMed

Dinas, Arthur; Fildes, Brian N

2002-01-01

This study was an on-road observational study of the seating position and limb position of front seat occupants relevant to the side of the car for a representative sample of occupants during straight road driving and turning manoeuvres. A video camera captured over 650 front-on images of passenger car occupants in Metropolitan Melbourne. Results showed a significant numbers of occupants were seated out-of-position while travelling on the road and that a number of these were seated in a manner that may possibly result in injury from the deployment of a side airbag. This was particularly so while turning, a situation common in many side impacts. A substantial number of front seat occupants' arms were exposed to severe injury in the event of a side impact crash. These findings highlight a number of aspects of seating behaviour of driver and front passengers that need to be taken into account when designing side impact airbags.

Coach design for the Korean high-speed train: a systematic approach to passenger seat design and layout.

PubMed

Jung, E S; Han, S H; Jung, M; Choe, J

1998-12-01

Proper ergonomic design of a passenger seat and coach layout for a high-speed train is an essential component that is directly related to passenger comfort. In this research, a systematic approach to the design of passenger seats was described and the coach layout which reflected the tradeoff between transportation capacity and passenger comfort was investigated for the Korean high-speed train. As a result, design recommendations and specifications of the passenger seat and its layout were suggested. The whole design process is composed of four stages. A survey and analysis of design requirement was first conducted, which formed the base for designing the first and second class passenger seats. Prototypes were made and evaluated iteratively, and seat arrangement and coach layout were finally obtained. The systematic approach and recommendations suggested in this study are expected to be applicable to the seat design for public transportations and to help modify and redesign existing vehicular seats.

Proposed test method for and evaluation of wheelchair seating system (WCSS) crashworthiness.

PubMed

van Roosmalen, L; Bertocci, G; Ha, D R; Karg, P; Szobota, S

2000-01-01

Safety of motor vehicle seats is of great importance in providing crash protection to the occupant. An increasing number of wheelchair users use their wheelchairs as motor vehicle seats when traveling. A voluntary standard requires that compliant wheelchairs be dynamically sled impact tested. However, testing to evaluate the crashworthiness of add-on wheelchair seating systems (WCSS) independent of their wheelchair frame is not addressed by this standard. To address this need, this study developed a method to evaluate the crash-worthiness of WCSS with independent frames. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) 207 test protocols, used to test the strength of motor vehicle seats, were modified and used to test the strength of three WCSS. Forward and rearward loads were applied at the WCSS center of gravity (CGSS), and a moment was applied at the uppermost point of the seat back. Each of the three tested WCSS met the strength requirements of FMVSS 207. Wheelchair seat-back stiffness was also investigated and compared to motor vehicle seat-back stiffness.

Seat belts are more effective than airbags in reducing thoracic aortic injury in frontal motor vehicle crashes.

PubMed

Brasel, Karen J; Quickel, Robert; Yoganandan, Narayan; Weigelt, John A

2002-08-01

Airbags reduce the probability of death in frontal collisions, but the effect is small compared with seat belts. Little is known about the influence of seat belts and airbags on the incidence of thoracic aortic injury (TAI). The National Automotive Sampling System database was queried for the years 1993 to 1998 to determine the impact of seat belts and airbags on the incidence of TAI in survivors of frontal motor vehicle crashes. Proportions were compared using the two-sample Z test. Seat belts prevent TAI regardless of airbag deployment. The effect of airbags is limited to those wearing seat belts. In frontal collisions without seat belt use, airbag deployment does not alter TAI incidence. Seat belts are considerably more effective in preventing TAI than airbags after frontal motor vehicle crashes. Prevention efforts should continue to emphasize the use of active restraints. Restraint use should be considered a risk factor in evaluating patients for potential TAI.

The effects of wheelchair-seating stiffness and energy absorption on occupant frontal impact kinematics and submarining risk using computer simulation.

PubMed

Bertocci, Gina; Souza, Aaron L; Szobota, Stephanie

2003-01-01

Many wheelchair users must travel in motor vehicles while seated in their wheelchairs. The safety features of seat assemblies are key to motor vehicle occupant crash protection. Seating system properties such as strength, stiffness, and energy absorbance have been shown to have significant influence on risk of submarining. This study investigated the effects of wheelchair seat stiffness and energy absorption properties on occupant risk of submarining during a frontal motor vehicle 20 g/30 mph impact using a validated computer crash simulation model. The results indicate that wheelchair-seating stiffness and energy absorption characteristics influence occupant kinematics associated with the risk of submarining. Softer seat surfaces and relatively high energy absorption/permanent deformation were found to produce pelvis excursion trajectories associated with increased submarining risk. Findings also suggest that the current American National Standards Institute/Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America (ANSI/RESNA) WC-19 seating integrity may not adequately assess submarining risk.

Experimental injury study of children seated behind collapsing front seats in rear impacts.

PubMed

Saczalski, Kenneth J; Sances, Anthony; Kumaresan, Srirangam; Burton, Joseph L; Lewis, Paul R

2003-01-01

In the mid 1990's the U.S. Department of Transportation made recommendations to place children and infants into the rear seating areas of motor vehicles to avoid front seat airbag induced injuries and fatalities. In most rear-impacts, however, the adult occupied front seats will collapse into the rear occupant area and pose another potentially serious injury hazard to the rear-seated children. Since rear-impacts involve a wide range of speeds, impact severity, and various sizes of adults in collapsing front seats, a multi-variable experimental method was employed in conjunction with a multi-level "factorial analysis" technique to study injury potential of rear-seated children. Various sizes of Hybrid III adult surrogates, seated in a "typical" average strength collapsing type of front seat, and a three-year-old Hybrid III child surrogate, seated on a built-in booster seat located directly behind the front adult occupant, were tested at various impact severity levels in a popular "minivan" sled-buck test set up. A total of five test configurations were utilized in this study. Three levels of velocity changes ranging from 22.5 to 42.5 kph were used. The average of peak accelerations on the sled-buck tests ranged from approximately 8.2 G's up to about 11.1 G's, with absolute peak values of just over 14 G's at the higher velocity change. The parameters of the test configuration enabled the experimental data to be combined into a polynomial "injury" function of the two primary independent variables (i.e. front seat adult occupant weight and velocity change) so that the "likelihood" of rear child "injury potential" could be determined over a wide range of the key parameters. The experimentally derived head injury data was used to obtain a preliminary HIC (Head Injury Criteria) polynomial fit at the 900 level for the rear-seated child. Several actual accident cases were compared with the preliminary polynomial fit. This study provides a test efficient, multi-variable, method to compare the injury biomechanical data with actual accident cases.

Energy absorption capability of foam-based composite materials and their applications as seat cushions in aircraft crashworthiness

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kh. Beheshti, Hamid

This study is focusing on the application of foam materials in aviation. These materials are being used for acoustic purposes, as padding in the finished interior panels of the aircraft, and as seat cushions. Foams are mostly used in seating applications. Since seat cushion is directly interacting with the body of occupant, it has to be ergonomically comfortable beside of absorbing the energy during the impact. All the seats and seat cushions have to pass regulations defined by Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). In fact, all airplane companies are required to certify the subcomponents of aircrafts before installing them on the main structure, fuselage. Current Federal Aviation Administration Regulations require a dynamic sled test of the entire seat system for certifying the seat cushions. This dynamic testing is required also for replacing the deteriorated cushions with new cushions. This involves a costly and time-consuming certification process. AGATE group has suggested a procedure based on quasi-static testing in order to certify new seat cushions without conducting full-scale dynamic sled testing. AGATE subcomponent methodology involves static tests of the energy-absorbing foam cushions and design validation by conducting a full-scale dynamic seat test. Microscopic and macroscopic studies are necessary to provide a complete understanding about performance of foams during the crash. Much investigation has been done by different sources to obtain the reliable modeling in terms of demonstration of mechanical behavior of foams. However, rate sensitivity of foams needs more attention. A mathematical hybrid dynamic model for the cushion underneath of the human body will be taken into consideration in this research. Analytical and finite element codes such as MADYMO and LS-DYNA codes have the potential to greatly speed up the crashworthy design process, to help certify seats and aircraft to dynamic crash loads, to predict seat and occupant response to impact with the probability of injury, and to evaluate numerous crash scenarios not economically feasible with full-scale crash testing. Therefore, these codes are being used to find the accurate response of spinal load during the impact of model including human body, seat cushion and seat under different acceleration pulses. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

75 FR 9390 - Availability of Seats for the Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-03-02

...The ONMS is seeking applications for the following vacant seats on the Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council: Fishing, Primary and Alternate seats; Maritime Activities, Primary and Alternate seats; Community-at-Large Sonoma County, Primary and Alternate seats. Applicants are chosen based upon their particular expertise and experience in relation to the seat for which they are applying; community and professional affiliations; philosophy regarding the protection and management of marine resources; and possibly the length of residence in the area affected by the sanctuary. Applicants who are chosen as members should expect to serve three-year terms, pursuant to the council's Charter.

76 FR 12069 - Availability of Seats for the Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-03-04

...The ONMS is seeking applications for the following vacant seats on the Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council: Fishing, Primary and Alternate seats; Research, Primary and Alternate seats; Community-at-Large Mann County, Primary and Alternate seats. Applicants are chosen based upon their particular expertise and experience in relation to the seat for which they are applying; community and professional affiliations; philosophy regarding the protection and management of marine resources; and possibly the length of residence in the area affected by the sanctuary. Applicants who are chosen as members should expect to serve three-year terms, pursuant to the council's Charter.

Development of crashworthy passenger seats for general-aviation aircraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reilly, M. J.; Tanner, A. E.

1979-01-01

Two types of energy absorbing passenger seat concepts suitable for installation in light twin-engine fixed wing aircraft were developed. An existing passenger seat for such an aircraft was used to obtain the envelope constraints. Ceiling suspended and floor supported seat concept designs were developed. A restraint system suitable for both concepts was designed. Energy absorbing hardware for both concepts was fabricated and tension and compression tests were conducted to demonstrate the stroking capability and the force deflection characteristics. Crash impact analysis was made and seat loads developed. The basic seat structures were analyzed to determine the adequacy of their strength under impact loading.

The effect of shaped wheelchair cushion and lumbar supports on under-seat pressure, comfort, and pelvic rotation.

PubMed

Samuelsson, Kersti; Björk, Maarit; Erdugan, Ann-Marie; Hansson, Anna-Karin; Rustner, Birgitta

2009-09-01

A wheelchair seat and position help clients perform daily activities. The comfort of the wheelchair can encourage clients to participate in daily activities and can help prevent future complications. This study evaluates how a shaped seat-cushion and two different back supports affect under-seat pressure, comfort, and pelvic rotation. Thirty healthy subjects were tested using two differently equipped manual wheelchairs. One wheelchair had a Velcro adjustable back seat and a plane seat-cushion. The other wheelchair had a non-adjustable sling-back seat and a plane cushion. The second wheelchair was also equipped with a shaped cushion and/or a detachable lumbar support. Under-seat pressure, estimated comfort, and pelvic rotation were measured after 10 min in each wheelchair outfit. Peak pressure increased with the shaped cushion compared to the plane cushion. No significant difference in estimated comfort was found. Pelvic posterior-rotation was reduced with the adjustable or detachable back-support irrespective of the shape of the seat cushion. To support a neutral pelvic position and spinal curvature, a combination of a shaped cushion and a marked lumbar support is most effective.

Factors associated with rear seating of children in motor vehicles: a study in two low-income, predominantly Hispanic communities.

PubMed

Greenberg-Seth, Jennifer; Hemenway, David; Gallagher, Susan S; Lissy, Karen S; Ross, Julie B

2004-07-01

This study examined child seating patterns in two predominantly low-income, Hispanic communities in Massachusetts. The purpose was to determine the factors associated with child rear seating in the community as a whole and for a subset of Hispanic motorists. Five hundred and five vehicles carrying child passengers and no adult other than the driver were observed in parking lots of fast food restaurants and grocery stores. Four hundred and thirty-two vehicle drivers agreed to be interviewed. A child was defined as a passenger younger than age 12 as determined by appearance and height (head below the vehicle headrest when seated). Variables under study included driver gender, age, ethnicity, and educational attainment; driver shoulder belt use; driver perception of passenger-side airbag presence; and the number and ages of children in the car. Overall, 51% of vehicles were observed with all children seated in the rear. In a bivariate analysis, child rear seating was strongly associated with female drivers ( P = 0.01), younger drivers ( P = 0.02) driver shoulder belt use ( P < 0.00), perceived presence of a passenger-side airbag ( P < 0.00), all children in the vehicle

Geometry of rear seats and child restraints compared to child anthropometry.

PubMed

Bilston, Lynne E; Sagar, Nipun

2007-10-01

The objective of this study was to evaluate the geometry of a wide range of restraints (child restraints, booster seats and rear seats) used by children, and how these match their anthropometry, and to determine limitations to restraint size for the population of children using them. The study is motivated by the widespread premature graduation from one restraint type to another, which parents often attribute to children outgrowing their previous restraint. Currently, recommended transitions are based on a small sample of vehicles and children. Outboard rear seat and seat belt geometry (anchorage locations, sash belt angles) from 50 current model vehicles were measured using a custom-developed measuring jig. For 17 child restraints, a 3-dimensional measuring arm was used to measure the geometry of the restraint including interior size and strap slot locations (where relevant). These measurements were compared to anthropometric measurements, to determine the suitability of a given restraint for children of particular ages. The results for the rear seat geometry indicate that all seat cushions were too deep for a child whose upper leg length is at the 50th percentile until approximately 11.5 years, and half of vehicle seat cushions were too deep for a 15 year old child whose upper leg length is at the 50th percentile. Sash belt geometry was more variable, with approximately a third of vehicles accommodating 6-8 year olds who approximate the shoulder geometry measurements at the 50th percentile. Dedicated child restraints accommodated most children within recommended age groups, with two exceptions. Several high back booster seats were not tall enough for a child whose seated height is at the 50th percentile for 8 year olds (who is still too short for an adult belt according to current guidelines and the results from the rear seat geometry study), and a small number of forward facing restraints and high back boosters were too narrow for children at the upper end of the recommended age ranges. Analysis of the results from this study indicates that alterations in restraint geometry, particularly shortening the seat cushion, allowing for adjustable upper sash belt anchorages in the rear seat of vehicles, and increasing the height of high back booster seats would substantially improve the fit of restraints for child occupants. This data confirms findings from a recent study that looked only at rear seat cushion depths and provides new data on seat belt and child restraint geometry for child occupants.

Trends in child passenger safety practices in Indiana from 2009 to 2015.

PubMed

O'Neil, Joseph; Bull, Marilyn J; Talty, Judith

2018-02-28

This study reviews trends in rear-facing direction, top tether use, booster seat use, and seating position for children 12 years or younger among motor vehicle passengers in Indiana. This is an observational, cross-sectional survey of drivers transporting children 15 years and younger collected at 25 convenience locations randomly selected in Indiana during summers of 2009-2015. Observations were conducted by certified child passenger safety technicians (CPST). As the driver completed a written survey collecting demographic data on the driver, the CPST recorded the child demographic data, vehicle seating location, the type of restraint, direction the car safety seat (CSS) was facing, and use of the CSS harness or safety belt as appropriate. Data were analyzed for infants and toddlers younger than 24 months, children in forward-facing CSS, booster seat use, and seating position for children 12 years or younger. During the study period, 4,876 drivers were queried, and 7,725 children 15 years and younger were observed in motor vehicles. Between 2009 and 2015, 1,115 infants and toddlers (age birth to 23 months) were observed in motor vehicles. For infants <1 year, rear-facing increased from 84% to 91%. During the study years the greatest increase in rear facing was for toddlers age 12-17 months (12-61%). Rear facing for those from 18-23 months did not significantly change. Of the 1,653 vehicles observed with a forward-facing car seat, using either the seat belt system or lower anchors, an average of 27% had the top tether attached. For installations of forward-facing seats using the lower anchor, 66% employed the top tether. Among children age 4-7 years observed booster seat use decreased from 72% to 65% during the observation period. Finally, for vehicle seating position, in our sample, more than 85% of children 12 years or younger were seated in a rear seat vehicle position. Unfortunately, 31% of 8- to 12-year-old children were observed in the front seat. Overall, these trends demonstrate an improvement in child passenger safety practices among Indiana drivers. However, this study illuminates areas to improve child passenger safety, such as rear facing for toddlers 18 to 23 months, increasing top tether use, booster seat use, and an emphasis on rear seat position for children 8 to 12 years. This information can be used by primary care providers and child passenger safety technicians and other child passenger safety advocates to develop counseling points and targeted educational campaigns.

Shock Mitigating Seat Single Impact Program

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-04-24

new seats from Shockwave, SHOXS and Zodiac , were tested during the third and fourth phases of the final test program and these were conducted between...test program to the four single jockey style seats from Shockwave, SHOXS, Ullman and Zodiac because of budget and time constraints. The program...along with the Zodiac jockey pod seat that replaced the Ullman seat. 2711 (NETE CS) ZT4110-R 23 April 2014 QF035 32/39 Rev. 05/2011.11.14 69. The

Simulation of Adaptive Seat Energy Absorber for Military Rotorcraft Crash Safety Enhancement

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-04-01

design guidelines and detailed requirements were developed for military crew seats as defined in MIL-S-85510(AS) (12) and for civil rotorcraft seats in...rotorcraft vertical crash pulse as stipulated in military design standards was used to evaluate the performance of MREA seat energy absorber with a...Desjardins, S. P.; Zimmerman, R. E.; Bolukbasi, A. O.; Merritt, N. A. Aircraft Crash Survival Design Guide Vol. IV – Aircraft Seats , Restraints, Litters

Evaluation of Safe Kids Week 2004: Age 4 to 9? It's Booster Seat Time!

PubMed Central

Howard, A; Beben, N; Rothman, L; Fiissel, D; MacArthur, C

2006-01-01

Objective To assess the effectiveness of a national one week media campaign promoting booster seat use. Design Pre‐test, post‐test design based on nationally representative random digit dialing telephone survey, with control for exposure to campaign. Setting Canada. Subjects Parents of children aged 4–9 years. Interventions During a one week campaign in May 2004, information on booster seat use was distributed via a national media campaign, retail stores, medical clinics, and community events. Information included pamphlets with guidelines for booster seat use, as well as a growth chart (designed by Safe Kids Canada) to assist parents in determining if their child should be using a booster seat. Assessing seat belt fit was described in detail on the growth chart. Main outcome measures Knowledge, attitudes, and self‐reported behaviors regarding booster seat use. Results Respondents in the group exposed to the campaign were twice as likely to report using a booster seat with lap and shoulder belt for their child (47%), compared to those in the pre‐test (24%) and the unexposed (23%) groups (p<0.001). However, only small differences in general knowledge regarding booster seat use were found between the groups. Conclusions A one week national media campaign substantially increased self‐reported use of booster seats. Parents did not remember details of the campaign content, but did remember implications for their own child. PMID:17018673

Crashworthy Seats Would Afford Superior Protection

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gohmert, Dustin

2009-01-01

Seats to prevent or limit crash injuries to astronauts aboard the crew vehicle of the Orion spacecraft are undergoing development. The design of these seats incorporates and goes beyond crash-protection concepts embodied in prior spacecraft and racing-car seats to afford superior protection against impacts. Although the seats are designed to support astronauts in a recumbent, quasi-fetal posture that would likely not be suitable for non-spacecraft applications, parts of the design could be adapted to military and some civilian aircraft seats and to racing car seats to increase levels of protection. The main problem in designing any crashworthy seat is to provide full support of the occupant against anticipated crash and emergency-landing loads so as to safely limit motion, along any axis, of any part of the occupant s body relative to (1) any other part of the occupant s body, (2) the spacecraft or other vehicle, and (3) the seat itself. In the original Orion spacecraft application and in other applications that could easily be envisioned, the problem is complicated by severe limits on space available for the seat, a requirement to enable rapid egress by the occupant after a crash, and a requirement to provide for fitting of the seat to a wide range of sizes and shapes of a human body covered by a crash suit, space suit, or other protective garment. The problem is further complicated by other Orion-application-specific requirements that must be omitted here for the sake of brevity. To accommodate the wide range of crewmember body lengths within the limits on available space in the original Orion application, the design provides for taller crewmembers to pull their legs back closer toward their chests, while shorter crewmembers can allow their legs to stretch out further. The range of hip-support seat adjustments needed to effect this accommodation, as derived from NASA s Human Systems Integration Standard, was found to define a parabolic path along which the knees must be positioned. For a given occupant, the specific position along the path depends on the distance from the heel to the back of the knee. The application of the concept of parabolic adjustment of the hip-support structure caused the seat pan to also take on a parabolic shape, yielding the unanticipated additional benefit that the seat pan fits the occupant s buttocks and thighs more nearly conformally than do seat pans of prior design. This more nearly conformal fit effectively eliminates a void between the occupant s body and the seat pan, thereby helping to prevent what, in prior seat designs, was shifting of the occupant s body into that void during an impact.

Thirty years of anthropometric changes relevant to the width and depth of transportation seating spaces, present and future.

PubMed

Molenbroek, J F M; Albin, T J; Vink, P

2017-11-01

This paper reports the results of an investigation into changes in body shape anthropometry over the past several decades and discusses the impact of those changes on seating in transport, especially airliners. Changes in some body shape dimensions were confirmed in a sample of students at TU Delft; several of the changes, e.g. hip breadth, seated, are relevant to the ongoing design of seating. No change in buttock knee length was observed. The fit between current user anthropometry and current airline seat design, especially regarding seat width, was investigated. A comparison of the average current seat breadth with global anthropometric data suggests that accommodation may be problematic, with less than optimal width for passengers' shoulder and elbow widths. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

All metal valve structure for gas systems

DOEpatents

Baker, Ray W.; Pawlak, Donald A.; Ramey, Alford J.

1984-11-13

A valve assembly with a resilient metal seat member is disclosed for providing a gas-tight seal in a gas handling system. The valve assembly also includes a valve element for sealing against the valve seat member; and an actuating means for operating the valve element. The valve seat member is a one-piece stainless steel ring having a central valve port and peripheral mounting flange, and an annular corrugation in between. A groove between the first and second ridges serves as a flexure zone during operation of the valve member and thus provides the seating pressure between the inner ridge or valve seat and the valve element. The outer annular ridge has a diameter less than said valve element to limit the seating motion of the valve element, preventing non-elastic deformation of the seat member.

Design and testing of an energy-absorbing crewseat for the F/FB-111 aircraft, volume 1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shane, S. J.

1985-01-01

A program to determine if the injury potential could be reduced by replacing the existing crewseats with energy absorbing crewseats is explored. An energy-absorbing test seat was designed using much of the existing seat hardware. An extensive dynamic seat test series, designed to duplicate various crew module ground impact conditions, was conducted at a sled test facility. Comparative tests with operational F-111 crewseats were also conducted. After successful dynamic testing of the seat, more testing was conducted with the seats mounted in an F-111 crew module. Both swing tests and vertical drop tests were conducted. The vertical drop tests were used to obtain comparative data between the energy-absorbing and operational seats. Volume 1 describes the energy absorbing test seat and testing conducted, and evaluates the data from both test series.

All-metal valve structure for gas systems

DOEpatents

Baker, R.W.; Pawlak, D.A.; Ramey, A.J.

1982-06-10

A valve assembly with a resilient metal seat member is disclosed for providing a gas-tight seal in a gas handling system. The valve assembly also includes a valve element for sealing against the valve seat member; and an actuating means for operating the valve element. The valve seat member is a one-piece stainless steel ring having a central valve port and peripheral mounting flange, and an annular corrugation in between. A groove between the first and second ridges serves as a flexure zone during operation of the valve member and thus provides the seating pressure between the inner ridge or valve seat and the valve element. The outer annular ridge has a diameter less than said valve element to limit the seating motion of the valve element, preventing non-elastic deformation of the seat member.

A kinematic and kinetic analysis of the sit-to-stand transfer using an ejector chair: implications for elderly rheumatoid arthritic patients.

PubMed

Munro, B J; Steele, J R; Bashford, G M; Ryan, M; Britten, N

1998-03-01

Twelve elderly female rheumatoid arthritis patients (mean age = 65.5 +/- 8.6 yr) were assessed rising from an instrumented Eser Ejector chair under four conditions: high seat (540 mm), low seat (450 mm), with and without the ejector mechanism operating. Sagittal plane motion, ground reaction forces, and vertical chair arm rest forces were recorded during each trial with the signals synchronised at initial subject head movement. When rising from a high seat, subjects displayed significantly (p < 0.05) greater time to seat off; greater trunk, knee and ankle angles at seat off; increased ankle angular displacement; decreased knee angular displacement; and decreased total net and normalised arm rest forces compared to rising from a low seat. When rising using the ejector mechanism, time to seat off and trunk and knee angle at seat off significantly increased, whereas trunk and knee angular displacement, and total net and normalised arm rest forces significantly decreased compared to rising unassisted. Regardless of seat height or ejector mechanism use, there were no significant differences in the peak, or time to peak horizontal velocity of the subjects' total body centre of mass, or net knee and ankle moments. It was concluded that increased seat height and use of the ejector mechanism facilitated sit-to-stand transfers performed by elderly female rheumatoid arthritic patients. However, using the ejector chair may be preferred by these patients compared to merely raising seat height because it does not necessitate the use of a footstool, a possible obstacle contributing to falls.

Seating type and cognitive performance after 3 hours travel by high-speed boat in sea states 2-3.

PubMed

McMorris, Terry; Myers, Stephen; Dobbins, Trevor; Hall, Ben; Dyson, Rosemary

2009-01-01

Transit in high-speed marine craft subjects occupants to a rough ride as the boat impacts the waves. This induces high levels of physical stress, which may inhibit cognitive performance during military operations and life-saving activities. Land-based research suggests that suspension seats reduce vibration and, therefore, stress. We hypothesized that subjects using suspension seats would demonstrate better cognitive performance, lower perceptions of exertion, fatigue, and sleepiness, and lower salivary concentrations of cortisol than those using fixed seats. Subjects, naval personnel, were divided into fixed (N = 6) and suspension seat (N = 6) groups. Subjects undertook forward and backward number recall and random number generation tests pre- and post-transit (3 h in sea states 2-3). Salivary cortisol concentrations were sampled pre- (1100 h) and post-transit (1700 h) and at the same times on a control day. Post-transit perceptions of exertion, fatigue, and sleepiness were measured subjectively. The suspension seat group demonstrated better performance post-transit than the fixed seat group for forward number recall and showed a significant pre- to post-transit improvement in backward number recall. The suspension seat group reported less fatigue and sleepiness. The suspension seat group had significantly higher salivary cortisol concentrations than the fixed seat group post-transit. Regression analyses found a quadratic correlation between delta cortisol concentrations and delta random number generation scores (R2 = 0.68). Results show that the use of suspension seats during transit in high-speed marine craft may be advantageous with regard to cognitive performance.

Injury Risk for Rear-Seated Occupants in Small Overlap Crashes

PubMed Central

Arbogast, Kristy B.; Locey, Caitlin M.; Hammond, Rachel; Belwadi, Aditya

2013-01-01

Small overlap crashes, where the primary crash engagement is outboard from the longitudinal energy absorbing structures of the vehicle, have received recent interest as a crash dynamic that results in high likelihood of injury. Previous analyses of good performing vehicles showed that 24% of crashes with AIS 3+ injuries to front seat occupants were small overlap crashes. However, similar evaluations have not been conducted for those rear seated. Vehicle dynamics suggest that rear seat occupants may be at greater risk due to lack of lateral seating support and a steering wheel to hold, making them more sensitive to lateral movement seen in these crashes. Thus, the objective was to calculate injury risk for rear-seated occupants in small overlap collisions. AIS 2+ and AIS 3+ injury risk was calculated from NASS-CDS data from 2000–2011. Inclusion criteria were vehicles of model year 2000 or later, with CDC codes of “FL” or “FR”, and an occupant in the second or third row. AIS2+ injury risk was 5.1%, and AIS3+ injury risk was 2.4%. Of note, half of the occupants were <15 years of age indicating rear seat protection should emphasize the young. Occupants seated near side were nearly three times as likely to sustain an AIS2+ injury than occupants seated far side. Particular attention should be paid to the prominence of head injuries in this crash dynamic and consideration given to their mitigation. Additional research should determine whether countermeasures being implemented for front seat occupants can be beneficial to rear seat occupants. PMID:24406964

IIHS head restraint ratings and insurance injury claim rates.

PubMed

Trempel, Rebecca E; Zuby, David S; Edwards, Marcy A

2016-08-17

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) rates front seat/head restraint designs using a combination of static and dynamic measurements following RCAR-IIWPG procedures. The purpose of this study was to determine whether vehicles with better IIHS-rated seats/head restraints had lower injury risk in rear-end collisions and how the effect of better rated seats interacted with driver gender and age. The presence of an associated insurance injury claim was determined for rear-impact crashes using 2001-2014 model year cars and SUVs. Logistic regression was used to compare injury risk for vehicles with good, acceptable, and marginal IIHS-rated seats/head restraints with poor-rated seats/head restraints. Analyses were run by gender and driver age and also by the rate of more severe injury claims. Injury rates were 11.2% lower for vehicles with seats/head restraints rated good compared to vehicles with seats/head restraints rated poor. The percentage reduction for good- versus poor-rated seats was greater for females (12.7%) than males (8.9%). Comparing good- with poor-rated seats, driver ages 15-24 had the largest reduction at 19.8%, followed by 10.7% for driver ages 45-64 and 10.4% for driver ages 25-44. Seats/head restraints with better IIHS ratings are associated with lower injury rates in rear-impact collisions than seats rated poor. The reductions in injury rates were strongest for females and for young-to-middle-age drivers. The strong reductions in injury rates for these groups are encouraging given their high initial injury rates.

Reduced Protection for Belted Occupants in Rear Seats Relative to Front Seats of New Model Year Vehicles

PubMed Central

Sahraei, Elham; Digges, Kennerly; Marzougui, Dhafer

2010-01-01

Effectiveness of the rear seat in protecting occupants of different age groups in frontal crashes for 2000–2009 model years (MY) of vehicles was estimated and compared to 1990–1999 model years of vehicles. The objective was to determine the effectiveness of the rear seat compared to the front seat for various age groups in newer model year vehicles. The double paired comparison method was used to estimate relative effectiveness. For belted adults of the 25–49 age group, the fatality reduction effectiveness of the rear seat compared to the right front seat was 25 % (CI 11% to 36%), in the 1990–1999 model year vehicles. The relative effectiveness was −31% (CI −63% to −5%) for the same population, in the 2000–2009 model year vehicles. For restrained children 0–8 years old, the relative effectiveness was 55% (CI 48% to 61%) when the vehicles were of the 1990–1999 period. The level of effectiveness for this age group was reduced to 25% (CI −4% to 46%) in the 2000–2009 MYs of vehicles. Results for other age groups of belted occupants have followed a similar trend. All belted adult occupants of 25+ years old were significantly less protected in rear seats as compared to right front seats in the 2000–2009 model years of vehicles. For unbelted occupants however, rear seats were still a safer position than front seats, even in the 2000–2009 model years of vehicles. PMID:21050599

Pilot tests of a seat belt gearshift delay on the belt use of commercial fleet drivers.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2009-12-01

the seat belt was buckled. Participants, commercial drivers from the United States and Canada who did not consistently wear their seat belts, could avoid the delay by fastening their seat belts. Unbelted participants experienced a delay of either a c...

Video monitoring system for car seat

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Elrod, Susan Vinz (Inventor); Dabney, Richard W. (Inventor)

2004-01-01

A video monitoring system for use with a child car seat has video camera(s) mounted in the car seat. The video images are wirelessly transmitted to a remote receiver/display encased in a portable housing that can be removably mounted in the vehicle in which the car seat is installed.

7 CFR 1206.30 - Establishment and membership.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... INFORMATION Mango Promotion, Research, and Information Order Definitions National Mango Promotion Board § 1206... on the volume of mangos imported into the Customs Districts identified by their name and Code Number... seats for District I, three seats for District II, two seats for District III, and one seat for District...

75 FR 36062 - Availability of Conservation Seat and Diving Operations Seat for the Flower Garden Banks National...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-06-24

... Conservation Seat and Diving Operations Seat for the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary Advisory... Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council: Conservation and Diving Operations... Jennifer Morgan, NOAA--Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, 4700 Avenue U, Bldg. 216, Galveston...

49 CFR 571.210 - Standard No. 210; Seat belt assembly anchorages.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 49 Transportation 6 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Standard No. 210; Seat belt assembly anchorages... STANDARDS Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards § 571.210 Standard No. 210; Seat belt assembly anchorages. S1. Purpose and scope. This standard establishes requirements for seat belt assembly anchorages to...

49 CFR 571.210 - Standard No. 210; Seat belt assembly anchorages.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 49 Transportation 6 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Standard No. 210; Seat belt assembly anchorages... STANDARDS Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards § 571.210 Standard No. 210; Seat belt assembly anchorages. S1. Purpose and scope. This standard establishes requirements for seat belt assembly anchorages to...

49 CFR 571.210 - Standard No. 210; Seat belt assembly anchorages.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 49 Transportation 6 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Standard No. 210; Seat belt assembly anchorages... STANDARDS Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards § 571.210 Standard No. 210; Seat belt assembly anchorages. S1. Purpose and scope. This standard establishes requirements for seat belt assembly anchorages to...

49 CFR 571.210 - Standard No. 210; Seat belt assembly anchorages.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 49 Transportation 6 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Standard No. 210; Seat belt assembly anchorages... STANDARDS Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards § 571.210 Standard No. 210; Seat belt assembly anchorages. S1. Purpose and scope. This standard establishes requirements for seat belt assembly anchorages to...

Poppet valve tester

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tellier, G. F.

1973-01-01

Tester investigates fundamental factors affecting cyclic life and sealing performance of valve seats and poppets. Tester provides for varying impact loading of poppet against seat and rate of cycling, and controls amount and type of relative motion between sealing faces of seat and poppet. Relative motion between seat and poppet can be varied in three modes.

49 CFR 571.201 - Standard No. 201; Occupant protection in interior impact.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... seat. Ambulance means a motor vehicle designed exclusively for the purpose of emergency medical care... designated seating position, with adjustable forward seats in their rearmost design driving position and reclinable forward seat backs in their nominal design driving position; (b) Direction of impact shall be...

49 CFR 571.201 - Standard No. 201; Occupant protection in interior impact.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... seat. Ambulance means a motor vehicle designed exclusively for the purpose of emergency medical care... designated seating position, with adjustable forward seats in their rearmost design driving position and reclinable forward seat backs in their nominal design driving position; (b) Direction of impact shall be...

IRTAD Special Report : the availability of seat belt wearing data in OECD member countries, 1995

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1997-03-01

This reports surveys the availability of seat belt wearing data in OECD Member countries. The injury-reducing effect of seat belts is estimated to be around 50 per cent for fatal and serious injuries. Seat belts are most effective in frontal and roll...

Classroom Seating Considerations for 21st Century Students and Faculty

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harvey, Eugene J.; Kenyon, Melaine C.

2013-01-01

This quantitative, cross-sectional research study explored students' perceptions of five different seating styles within typical classrooms in an urban public higher education institution. The five seating styles included: modern mobile chairs, tablet arm chairs, fixed tiered seating with tablet arms, rectangle tables with standard chairs, and…

Proper seat placement of children aged 12 or younger within vehicles : a rural/urban comparison.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2010-09-01

Seating children in the rear of vehicles has been shown to decrease the odds of being fatally injured in a motor vehicle crash by 36% to 40%. Although rear seating is safer, rates of children being front-seated remain high, especially for older child...

Development of a Methodology to Gather Seated Anthropometry in a Microgravity Environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rajulu, Sudhakar; Young, Karen; Mesloh, Miranda

2009-01-01

The Constellation Program's Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) is required to accommodate the full population range of crewmembers according to the anthropometry requirements stated in the Human-Systems Integration Requirement (HSIR) document (CxP70024). Seated height is one of many critical dimensions of importance to the CEV designers in determining the optimum seat configuration in the vehicle. Changes in seated height may have a large impact to the design, accommodation, and safety of the crewmembers. Seated height can change due to elongation of the spine when crewmembers are exposed to microgravity. Spinal elongation is the straightening of the natural curvature of the spine and the expansion of inter-vertebral disks. This straightening occurs due to fluid shifts in the body and the lack of compressive forces on the spinal vertebrae. Previous studies have shown that as the natural curvature of the spine straightens, an increase in overall height of 3% of stature occurs which has been the basis of the current HSIR requirements. However due to variations in the torso/leg ratio and impact of soft tissue, data is nonexistent as to how spinal elongation specifically affects the measurement of seated height. In order to obtain this data, an experiment was designed to collect spinal elongation data while in a seated posture in microgravity. The purpose of this study was to provide quantitative data that represents the amount of change that occurs in seated height due to spinal elongation in microgravity environments. Given the schedule and budget constraints of ISS and Shuttle missions and the uniqueness of the problem, a methodology had to be developed to ensure that the seated height measurements were accurately collected. Therefore, simulated microgravity evaluations were conducted to test the methodology and procedures of the experiment. This evaluation obtained seat pan pressure and seated height data to a) ensure that the lap restraint provided sufficient restraint to eliminate any gap between the subject s gluteal surface and the seat pan and b) to document any necessary design and procedural changes needed due to the microgravity environment. The methodology and setup used during the simulated microgravity evaluations was replicable to the proposed methodology and setup for in-space missions. A flight-like Shuttle seat, pressure sensors, anthropometer, and existing hardware was used to measure seated height and contact area while experiencing microgravity. The outlying buttock and thigh surface contact areas were collected to determine if the subjects were in contact with the seat pan, while a measurer recorded their seated height with an anthropometer. The Anthropometry and Biomechanics Facility (ABF) completed data collection from three microgravity flights to assess the restraint methods and techniques to be used for the in-flight procedures performed by the crewmembers in orbit. The first flight demonstrated that the restraint system on the seat, used in a nominal configuration, did not sufficiently restrain a person in the seat. The results showed the subjects were not in full contact with the seat pan, resulting in inaccurate sitting height data. Thus, a second flight was conducted to test different restraint system options. The results showed that by 1) changing the restraint system from the nominal 3-points of the 5-point harness, which is used for crewmembers when fully suited with emergency equipment, and 2) rerouting the lap straps around the joint of the backrest, where the backrest and seat pan are joined, resulted in the optimal method to restrain a subject. This rerouting method allowed for the anchor location to change and pull the subjects back into the seat instead of being anchored at the side of the subjects thighs. The results from the third flight validated the final restraint system, which resulted in a verified methodology for collecting seated anthropometry to ultimately determine the amount of spil elongation in a microgravity environment.

Seat belt use in cars with air bags.

PubMed Central

Williams, A F; Wells, J K; Lund, A K

1990-01-01

Seat belt use was observed in 1,628 cars with air bags and manual belts and 34,223 cars with manual seat belts only. Sixty-six percent of drivers in cars with air bags wore seat belts compared to 63 percent of drivers in cars with manual belts only. The study found no evidence for the speculation that drivers with air bags will reduce their seat belt use because they believe an air bag alone provides sufficient protection. PMID:2240346

Cushion System for Multi-Use Child Safety Seat

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dabney, Richard W. (Inventor); Elrod, Susan V. (Inventor)

2007-01-01

A cushion system for use with a child safety seat has a plurality of bladders assembled to form a seat cushion that cooperates with the seat's safety harness. One or more sensors coupled to the safety harness sense tension therein and generate a signal indicative of the tension. Each of the bladders is individually pressurized by a pressurization system to define a support configuration of the seat cushion. The pressurization system is disabled when tension in the safety harness has attained a threshold level.

Cushion system for multi-use child safety seat

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Elrod, Susan V. (Inventor); Dabney, Richard W. (Inventor)

2007-01-01

A cushion system for use with a child safety seat has a plurality of bladders assembled to form a seat cushion that cooperates with the seat's safety harness. One or more sensors coupled to the safety harness sense tension therein and generate a signal indicative of the tension. Each of the bladders is individually pressurized by a pressurization system to define a support configuration of the seat cushion. The pressurization system is disabled when tension in the safety harness has attained a threshold level.

Dynamic Model of Aircraft Passenger Seats for Vibration Comfort Evaluation and Control

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Šika, Z.; Valášek, Michael; Vampola, T.; Füllekrug, U.; Klimmek, T.

The paper deals with the development of the seat dynamical model for vibration comfort evaluation and control. The aircraft seats have been tested extensively by vibrations on the 6 DOF vibrating platform. The importance of the careful comfort control together with the flight mechanics control is namely stressed for the blended wing body (BWB) aircrafts. They have a very large fuselage, where the mechanical properties (accelerations, angular accelerations) vary considerably for different seat places. The model have been improved by adding of dynamical models of the aircraft passenger seats identified by the measurements on the 6 DOF vibrating platform. The experiments, their results and the identification of the dynamical seat model are described. The model is further modified by adding of the comfort evaluation norms represented by dynamical filters. The structure and identification of the seat model is briefly described and discussed.

Three experiments to support the design of lightweight comfortable vehicle seats.

PubMed

Vink, P; Franz, M; Kamp, I; Zenk, R

2012-01-01

Seats need to be more lightweight for airplanes, cars, busses and even trains to contribute to a better environment and to reduce energy consumption. However, a reduction in comfort due to weight reduction is not preferable, which opens a new area of research: improving comfort with a minimum of material or with lightweight materials and systems. In this paper three experiments are performed to test the effects of light weight seats and parts of a seat on comfort. The first experiment shows that a new developed light weight massage system improves comfort and reduces muscle activity. The second experiment shows that the automatic seat adjustment without motors improves the comfort as well. The third experiment showed that a light weight seat following closely the human body contour is experienced on many aspects in the same way as current more heavy seats. More research and models will be needed in this ergonomic field which needs more attention.

Seat and seatbelt accommodation in fire apparatus: Anthropometric aspects

PubMed Central

Hsiao, Hongwei; Whitestone, Jennifer; Wilbur, Michael; Lackore, J. Roger; Routley, J. Gordon

2015-01-01

This study developed anthropometric information on U.S. firefighters to guide fire-apparatus seat and seatbelt designs and future standards development. A stratified sample of 863 male and 88 female firefighters across the U.S. participated in the study. The study results suggested 498 mm in width, 404 mm in depth, and 365–476 mm in height for seat pans; 429–522 mm in width and 542 mm in height for seat back; 871 mm in height for head support; a seat space of 733 mm at shoulder and 678 mm at hip; and a knee/leg clearance of 909 mm in fire truck cab. Also, 1520 mm of lap belt web effective length and 2828 mm of lap-and-shoulder belt web effective length were suggested. These data for firetruck seats and seatbelts provide a foundation for fire apparatus manufacturers and standards committees to improve firefighter seat designs and seatbelt usage compliance. PMID:26154212

Effect of Increased Rear Row Occupancy on Injury to Seat Belt Restrained Children in Side Impact Crashes

PubMed Central

Maltese, Matthew R.; Chen, Irene G.; Arbogast, Kristy B.

2005-01-01

Previous work identified a similar risk of injury for children seated on the struck side and center rear in side impact crashes in passenger cars. In order to further explain this finding, we investigated the effect of sharing the rear row with other occupants on injury risk and delineated differences in injury patterns among the seat positions. These analyses, conducted from a large child specific crash surveillance system, included: children 4–15 years old, rear seated, seat belt restrained, in a passenger car, and in a side impact crash. Injury risk was compared among each rear seat position stratified by the presence of other occupants on the rear row. Occupants are at an increased risk of injury if they sit alone on their row as compared to sitting with other occupants. Patterns of injuries distinct to each seat position were delineated. PMID:16179151

Primary laws and fine levels are associated with increases in seat belt use, 1997–2008 : traffic tech.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2010-11-01

Increasing seat belt usage in the United States has proved to be a : slow and difficult task. It has taken about 30 years since NHTSA : conducted the first seat belt and child restraint workshops in : 1978 to reach 84% usage in 2009. In general, seat...

78 FR 65756 - Notice of Receipt of Petition for Decision That Nonconforming 1992 Jeep Wrangler Multi-Purpose...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-11-01

... comments were received, please enclose a stamped, self-addressed postcard with the comments. Note that all... Control Rearward Displacement, 205 Glazing Materials, 207 Seating Systems, 210 Seat Belt Assembly... the vehicle is not already so equipped. Standard No. 209 Seat Belt Assemblies: Inspection of seat...

75 FR 35877 - Bentley Motors Inc., Receipt of Petition for Decision of Inconsequential Noncompliance

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-06-23

...) of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 209, Seat Belt Assemblies. BMI filed an... approximately 300 nonconforming seat belt assemblies, produced during the 12 months prior to December 18, 2009...) Installation instructions. A seat belt assembly, other than a seat belt assembly installed in a motor vehicle...

Seat belt use, especially among low-use drivers, increases as Florida upgrades to primary seat belt enforcement : traffic tech.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2012-08-01

As a secondary seat belt law State, Florida had worked : for many years to encourage more drivers to wear : their seat belts by participating in annual Click It or : Ticket (CIOT) mobilizations, and by conducting special : programs in rural areas of ...

Strategies to increase seat belt use : an analysis of levels of fines and the type of law.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2010-11-01

The main objectives of this study were to determine the relationships between seat belt use in the States and (1) the : type of seat belt law enforcement (primary versus secondary), and (2) seat belt fine levels. : The study examined law type and lev...

49 CFR 38.107 - Restrooms.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... closet. Fold-down or retractable seats or shelves may overlap the clear floor space at a lower height... 17 inches to 19 inches measured to the top of the toilet seat. Seats shall not be sprung to return to... at least one seating location for persons using mobility aids and shall be connected to such a space...

49 CFR 38.107 - Restrooms.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... closet. Fold-down or retractable seats or shelves may overlap the clear floor space at a lower height... 17 inches to 19 inches measured to the top of the toilet seat. Seats shall not be sprung to return to... at least one seating location for persons using mobility aids and shall be connected to such a space...

49 CFR 38.107 - Restrooms.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... closet. Fold-down or retractable seats or shelves may overlap the clear floor space at a lower height... 17 inches to 19 inches measured to the top of the toilet seat. Seats shall not be sprung to return to... at least one seating location for persons using mobility aids and shall be connected to such a space...

49 CFR 38.107 - Restrooms.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... closet. Fold-down or retractable seats or shelves may overlap the clear floor space at a lower height... 17 inches to 19 inches measured to the top of the toilet seat. Seats shall not be sprung to return to... at least one seating location for persons using mobility aids and shall be connected to such a space...

76 FR 18042 - Uniform Criteria for State Observational Surveys of Seat Belt Use

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-04-01

... [Docket No. NHTSA-2010-0002] RIN 2127-AK41 Uniform Criteria for State Observational Surveys of Seat Belt... designing and conducting State seat belt use observational surveys and the procedures for obtaining NHTSA... use rate, known as the Uniform Criteria for State Observational Surveys of Seat Belt Use (the Uniform...

The Mutual Impact of Personality Traits on Seating Preference and Educational Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hemyari, Camellia; Zomorodian, Kamiar; Ahrari, Iman; Tavana, Samar; Parva, Mohammad; Pakshir, Keyvan; Jafari, Peyman; Sahraian, Ali

2013-01-01

Several studies have investigated the association between students' seating positions and their classroom performance. However, the role of personality traits on seating preference in the classroom has not been well investigated. The aim of the study was to understand how students choose their seats according to their personality traits in a…

14 CFR 382.81 - For which passengers must carriers make seating accommodations?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 4 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false For which passengers must carriers make seating accommodations? 382.81 Section 382.81 Aeronautics and Space OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF... TRAVEL Seating Accommodations § 382.81 For which passengers must carriers make seating accommodations? As...

14 CFR 382.83 - Through what mechanisms do carriers make seating accommodations?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 4 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Through what mechanisms do carriers make seating accommodations? 382.83 Section 382.83 Aeronautics and Space OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF... TRAVEL Seating Accommodations § 382.83 Through what mechanisms do carriers make seating accommodations...

14 CFR 382.81 - For which passengers must carriers make seating accommodations?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 4 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false For which passengers must carriers make seating accommodations? 382.81 Section 382.81 Aeronautics and Space OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF... TRAVEL Seating Accommodations § 382.81 For which passengers must carriers make seating accommodations? As...

14 CFR 382.83 - Through what mechanisms do carriers make seating accommodations?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 4 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Through what mechanisms do carriers make seating accommodations? 382.83 Section 382.83 Aeronautics and Space OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF... TRAVEL Seating Accommodations § 382.83 Through what mechanisms do carriers make seating accommodations...

Spinal Elongation and its Effects on Seated Height in a Microgravity Environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rajulu, Sudhakar; Young, Karen

2009-01-01

Objectives: 1. To collect spinal elongation induced seated height data for subjects exposed to microgravity environments. 2. To provide information relating to the seated height rate of change over time for astronauts subjected to microgravity. We will collect: Seated Height measurement (ground & flight) and digital still photograph (ground and flight).

14 CFR 135.76 - DOD Commercial Air Carrier Evaluator's Credentials: Admission to pilots compartment: Forward...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... Credentials: Admission to pilots compartment: Forward observer's seat. 135.76 Section 135.76 Aeronautics and... Commercial Air Carrier Evaluator's Credentials: Admission to pilots compartment: Forward observer's seat. (a.... (b) A forward observer's seat on the flight deck or forward passenger seat with headset or speaker...

14 CFR 135.76 - DOD Commercial Air Carrier Evaluator's Credentials: Admission to pilots compartment: Forward...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... Credentials: Admission to pilots compartment: Forward observer's seat. 135.76 Section 135.76 Aeronautics and... Commercial Air Carrier Evaluator's Credentials: Admission to pilots compartment: Forward observer's seat. (a.... (b) A forward observer's seat on the flight deck or forward passenger seat with headset or speaker...

14 CFR 382.83 - Through what mechanisms do carriers make seating accommodations?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 4 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Through what mechanisms do carriers make seating accommodations? 382.83 Section 382.83 Aeronautics and Space OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF... TRAVEL Seating Accommodations § 382.83 Through what mechanisms do carriers make seating accommodations...

14 CFR 382.83 - Through what mechanisms do carriers make seating accommodations?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 4 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Through what mechanisms do carriers make seating accommodations? 382.83 Section 382.83 Aeronautics and Space OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF... TRAVEL Seating Accommodations § 382.83 Through what mechanisms do carriers make seating accommodations...

14 CFR 382.83 - Through what mechanisms do carriers make seating accommodations?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 4 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Through what mechanisms do carriers make seating accommodations? 382.83 Section 382.83 Aeronautics and Space OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF... TRAVEL Seating Accommodations § 382.83 Through what mechanisms do carriers make seating accommodations...

Evaluation of biofeedback seat insert for improving active sitting posture in children with cerebral palsy. A clinical report.

PubMed

Bertoti, D B; Gross, A L

1988-07-01

Biofeedback devices have been used successfully to improve head control and symmetrical standing in children with cerebral palsy. This clinical report describes a biofeedback seat insert developed to improve erect sitting posture in children with cerebral palsy who have inadequate trunk control. The seat insert is easily placed against the back of any seating device. A momentary-contact pressure switch on the seat insert is activated when the child exerts pressure on it by extending his trunk. The pressure switch then activates a videocassette recorder or can be adapted to activate a television or radio. Five children with spastic cerebral palsy participated in this evaluation of the biofeedback seat insert. The results of this evaluation show that the children used the biofeedback seat insert effectively to actively improve their sitting posture by voluntarily extending their trunk against the pressure switch. The biofeedback seat insert offers physical therapists a valuable therapeutic training tool to encourage carry-over of improved sitting posture away from the clinical setting for children with cerebral palsy.

Evaluation of wheelchair sling seat and sling back crashworthiness.

PubMed

Ha, D; Bertocci, G; Karg, P; Deemer, E

2002-07-01

Many wheelchairs are used as vehicle seats by those who cannot transfer to a vehicle seat. Although ANSI/RESNA WC-19 has been recently adopted as a standard to evaluate crashworthiness of the wheelchairs used as motor vehicle seats, replacement or after-market seats may not be tested to this standard. This study evaluated the crashworthiness of two specimens each of three unique sling backs and three unique sling seats using a static test procedure intended to simulate crash loading conditions. To pass the test, a sling back is required to withstand a 2290 lb load, and a sling seat should be capable of withstanding a 3750 lb load. All, but two sling back specimens which failed at 1567 lb and 1787 lb, withstood the test criterion load. Two of six tested sling seats failed to pass the test: one failed at 3123 lb and the other failed to sustain the load for 5 s although it reached the test criterion load. Most of the failures occurred at the seams of the side openings of upholsteries where the wheelchair frame inserts for attachment.

Improving paddling efficiency through raising sitting height in female white water kayakers.

PubMed

Broomfield, Shelley A L; Lauder, Mike

2015-01-01

The study compared female white water paddlers over two conditions: with seat raise and with no seat raise. The aim was to determine whether raising the sitting height would improve paddling efficiency. Sitting height of each participant was recorded in order to calculate the seat raise height required and three-dimensional kinematic data was collected for six participants over both conditions. Twelve measures of efficiency were utilised. The efficiency of all participants improved on the seat condition for ≥4 of the measures, with three participants showing improvement for ≥6 of the measures. The stern snaking measure had the highest value of significance (P = 0.1455) and showed an average of 11.98% reduction in movement between no seat and seat conditions. The results indicate that improvements were seen although these were individualistic. Therefore it can be concluded that it is worth experimenting with a seat raise for a female kayaker who is lacking efficiency, noting, however, that improvements might depend on anthropometrics and the seat height selected, and therefore could elicit differing results.

Statistical Performance Evaluation Of Soft Seat Pressure Relief Valves

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Harris, Stephen P.; Gross, Robert E.

2013-03-26

Risk-based inspection methods enable estimation of the probability of failure on demand for spring-operated pressure relief valves at the United States Department of Energy's Savannah River Site in Aiken, South Carolina. This paper presents a statistical performance evaluation of soft seat spring operated pressure relief valves. These pressure relief valves are typically smaller and of lower cost than hard seat (metal to metal) pressure relief valves and can provide substantial cost savings in fluid service applications (air, gas, liquid, and steam) providing that probability of failure on demand (the probability that the pressure relief valve fails to perform its intendedmore » safety function during a potentially dangerous over pressurization) is at least as good as that for hard seat valves. The research in this paper shows that the proportion of soft seat spring operated pressure relief valves failing is the same or less than that of hard seat valves, and that for failed valves, soft seat valves typically have failure ratios of proof test pressure to set pressure less than that of hard seat valves.« less

Seating positions and children's risk of dying in motor vehicle crashes

PubMed Central

Braver, E.; Whitfield, R.; Ferguson, S.

1998-01-01

Objectives—To determine the effects of seating position, combined with restraint use and airbag status, on children's risk of dying in crashes. Methods—Using 1988–95 data from the United States Fatality Analysis Reporting System, risk of death was compared among front and rear seated passengers aged 12 and younger who were involved in fatal crashes for different categories of restraint use and in vehicles with and without passenger airbags. Results—Restrained children in rear seats had the lowest risk of dying in fatal crashes. Among children seated in the rear, risk of death was reduced 35% in vehicles without any airbags, 31% in vehicles equipped only with driver airbags, and 46% in vehicles with passenger airbags. Both restrained and unrestrained children aged 0–12 were at lower risk of dying in rear seats. Rear seats also afforded additional protection to children aged 5–12 restrained only with lap belts compared with lap/shoulder belted children in front seats. Children were about 10–20% less likely to die in rear center than in rear outboard positions. Conclusions—Parents and others who transport children should be strongly encouraged to place infants and children in rear seats whether or not vehicles have airbags. Existing laws requiring restraint use by children should be strengthened and actively enforced. PMID:9788087

Application of ideal pressure distribution in development process of automobile seats.

PubMed

Kilincsoy, U; Wagner, A; Vink, P; Bubb, H

2016-07-19

In designing a car seat the ideal pressure distribution is important as it is the largest contact surface between the human and the car. Because of obstacles hindering a more general application of the ideal pressure distribution in seating design, multidimensional measuring techniques are necessary with extensive user tests. The objective of this study is to apply and integrate the knowledge about the ideal pressure distribution in the seat design process for a car manufacturer in an efficient way. Ideal pressure distribution was combined with pressure measurement, in this case pressure mats. In order to integrate this theoretical knowledge of seating comfort in the seat development process for a car manufacturer a special user interface was defined and developed. The mapping of the measured pressure distribution in real-time and accurately scaled to actual seats during test setups directly lead to design implications for seat design even during the test situation. Detailed analysis of the subject's feedback was correlated with objective measurements of the subject's pressure distribution in real time. Therefore existing seating characteristics were taken into account as well. A user interface can incorporate theoretical and validated 'state of the art' models of comfort. Consequently, this information can reduce extensive testing and lead to more detailed results in a shorter time period.

The influence of seat height, trunk inclination and hip posture on the activity of the superior trapezius and longissimus

PubMed Central

Bertolaccini, Guilherme da Silva; Nakajima, Rafael Kendi; Filho, Idinei Francisco Pires de Carvalho; Paschoarelli, Luis Carlos; Medola, Fausto Orsi

2016-01-01

[Purpose] This study was aimed at investigating the influence of seat height and body posture on the activity of the superior trapezius and longissimus muscles. [Subjects and Methods] Twenty two healthy subjects were instructed to perform a total of eight different body postures, varying according three main factors: seat height (low and high seat); trunk inclination (upright and leaning forward at 45°); and the hips in abduction and adduction. Electromyography of the superior trapezius and longissimus was collected bilaterally, and the average values were obtained and compared across all the postures. [Results] The activity of the superior trapezius and longissimus significantly changes according to the seat height and trunk inclination. For both seat heights, sitting with trunk leaning forward resulted in a significant increase in the activity of both muscles. When sitting in a high seat and the trunk leaning forward, the superior trapezius activity was significantly reduced when compared to the same posture in a low seat. [Conclusion] This study contributes to the knowledge on the influence of the body posture and seat configuration on the activity of postural muscles. Reducing the biomechanical loads on the postural muscles must be targeted in order to improve users’ comfort and safety. PMID:27313381

Noncompliance with seat-belt use in patients involved in motor vehicle collisions

PubMed Central

Ball, Chad G.; Kirkpatrick, Andrew W.; Brenneman, Frederick D.

2005-01-01

Background Seat-belt compliance in trauma patients involved in motor vehicle collisions (MVCs) appears low when compared with compliance of the general public. In this study we wished to define the relative frequency of seat-belt use in injured Canadian drivers and passengers and to determine if there are risk factors particular to seat-belt noncompliance in this cohort. Methods We identified trauma patients who were involved in MVCs over a 24-month period and contacted them 2–4 years after the injury by telephone to administer a standardized survey. Potential determinants of seat-belt noncompliance were compared with the occurrence of an MVC by multiple logistic regression. Results Seat-belt noncompliance in 386 MVC patients was associated with drinking and driving, youth, speeding, male sex, being a passenger, smoking, secondary roads, rural residence, low level of education, overnight driving, having no dependents, licence demerit points, previous collisions, unemployment and short journeys. There was an increase in seat-belt awareness and a decrease in self-rated driving ability after the MVC. Conclusions Factors that indicate poor driving habits (alcohol, speeding, previous MVCs and driving offences) also predict seat-belt noncompliance. Injury prevention programs should selectively target these high-risk drivers to improve seat-belt compliance and limit associated injury and consumption of health care resources. PMID:16248134

Power absorbed during whole-body vertical vibration: Effects of sitting posture, backrest, and footrest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nawayseh, Naser; Griffin, Michael J.

2010-07-01

Previous studies have quantified the power absorbed in the seated human body during exposure to vibration but have not investigated the effects of body posture or the power absorbed at the back and the feet. This study investigated the effects of support for the feet and back and the magnitude of vibration on the power absorbed during whole-body vertical vibration. Twelve subjects were exposed to four magnitudes (0.125, 0.25, 0.625, and 1.25 m s -2 rms) of random vertical vibration (0.25-20 Hz) while sitting on a rigid seat in four postures (feet hanging, maximum thigh contact, average thigh contact, and minimum thigh contact) both with and without a rigid vertical backrest. Force and acceleration were measured at the seat, the feet, and the backrest to calculate the power absorbed at these three locations. At all three interfaces (seat, feet, and back) the absorbed power increased in proportion to the square of the magnitude of vibration, with most power absorbed from vibration at the seat. Supporting the back with the backrest decreased the power absorbed at the seat at low frequencies but increased the power absorbed at high frequencies. Supporting the feet with the footrest reduced the total absorbed power at the seat, with greater reductions with higher footrests. It is concluded that contact between the thighs and the seat increases the power absorbed at the seat whereas a backrest can either increase or decrease the power absorbed at the seat.

Evaluation of the influence of velocity on dynamic passenger loads during a frontal minibus impact against an obstacle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prochowski, L.; Dębowski, A.; Żuchowski, A.; Zielonka, K.

2016-09-01

The safety of people travelling by minibus is a very complex issue, in which the decisive role is played by load-bearing vehicle structure, passenger seats, and personal protection means. In order to maximize the number of people transported, the seats are spaced very closely to each other and this may pose a hazard to the passengers. Based on an analysis of experimental test results, a computer model representing a system composed of a minibus floor segment, seats, and dummies was built. For the analysis, seats integrated with seat belts were adopted. A seat of this type was based on a high-rigidity frame necessary to bear, inter alia, the strong force exerted (during a collision) by passenger's torso on the shoulder seat belt and transmitted to the upper seat belt anchorage point on the seat backrest. Within this work, the frontal minibus impact against an obstacle with velocities ranging from 20 km/h to 70 km/h was considered. The analysis covered the motion of, and dynamic loads on, a test dummy representing a 50th percentile adult male (Hybrid III dummy). Within the analysis, realizations of dynamic loads caused by inertial forces and reactions exerted by a three-point seat belt were taken into account. Special attention was paid to the extreme values of the loads that acted on dummy's head, neck, and torso when the head hit the backrest of the preceding seat in the culminating phase of the vehicle impact against an obstacle. The values of biomechanical indicators HIC, ThAC, Nij , and FAC and of the joint injury risk indicator were calculated.

Teaching infant car seat installation via interactive visual presence: An experimental trial.

PubMed

Schwebel, David C; Johnston, Anna; Rouse, Jenni

2017-02-17

A large portion of child restraint systems (car seats) are installed incorrectly, especially when first-time parents install infant car seats. Expert instruction greatly improves the accuracy of car seat installation but is labor intensive and difficult to obtain for many parents. This study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of 3 ways of communicating instructions for proper car seat installation: phone conversation; HelpLightning, a mobile application (app) that offers virtual interactive presence permitting both verbal and interactive (telestration) visual communication; and the manufacturer's user manual. A sample of 39 young adults of child-bearing age who had no previous experience installing car seats were recruited and randomly assigned to install an infant car seat using guidance from one of those 3 communication sources. Both the phone and interactive app were more effective means to facilitate accurate car seat installation compared to the user manual. There was a trend for the app to offer superior communication compared to the phone, but that difference was not significant in most assessments. The phone and app groups also installed the car seat more efficiently and perceived the communication to be more effective and their installation to be more accurate than those in the user manual group. Interactive communication may help parents install car seats more accurately than using the manufacturer's manual alone. This was an initial study with a modestly sized sample; if results are replicated in future research, there may be reason to consider centralized "call centers" that provide verbal and/or interactive visual instruction from remote locations to parents installing car seats, paralleling the model of centralized Poison Control centers in the United States.

Characterizing the community use of an ultralight wheelchair with "on the fly" adjustable seating functions: A pilot study.

PubMed

Mattie, Johanne; Borisoff, Jaimie; Miller, William C; Noureddin, Borna

2017-01-01

An ultralight manual wheelchair that allows users to independently adjust rear seat height and backrest angle during normal everyday usage was recently commercialized. Prior research has been performed on wheelchair tilt, recline, and seat elevation use in the community, however no such research has been done on this new class of manual ultralight wheelchair with "on the fly" adjustments. The objective of this pilot study was to investigate and characterize the use of the two adjustable seating functions available on the Elevation™ ultralight dynamic wheelchair during its use in the community. Eight participants had data loggers installed onto their own wheelchair for seven days to measure rear seat height, backrest angle position, occupied sitting time, and distance traveled. Analysis of rear seat height and backrest adjustment data revealed considerable variability in the frequency of use and positions used by participants. There was a wide spread of mean daily rear seat heights among participants, from 34.1 cm to 46.7 cm. Two sub-groups of users were further identified: those who sat habitually at a single typical rear seat height, and those who varied their rear seat height more continuously. Findings also showed that participants used the rear seat height adjustment feature significantly more often than the backrest adjustment feature. This obvious contrast in feature use may indicate that new users of this class of wheelchair may benefit from specific training. While the small sample size and exploratory nature of this study limit the generalizability of our results, our findings offer a first look at how active wheelchairs users are using a new class of ultralight wheelchair with "on the fly" seating adjustments in their communities. Further studies are recommended to better understand the impact of dynamic seating and positioning on activity, participation and quality of life.

Exploring the functional impact of adaptive seating on the lives of individual children and their families: a collective case study.

PubMed

Stier, Carly D; Chieu, Ivan B; Howell, Lori; Ryan, Stephen E

2017-07-01

This study examined parent-reported change in the functional performance of four school-aged children with wheeled mobility needs who had used a new adaptive seating system for 6 weeks. The collective case study involved four mothers whose children, ages 6-9 years, received a new adaptive seating system for a manual wheelchair or stroller. Mothers completed the Family Impact of Assistive Technology Scale for Adaptive Seating (FIATS-AS) at the time their child received a new seating system, and then after 6 weeks of daily use. Other questionnaires, health records, and semi-structured interviews provided additional data about the seating interventions and their functional effects on individual children and their families. The FIATS-AS detected overall functional gain in one family, and both gains and losses in 2-7 dimensions for all families. Functional status and change scores showed consistency with measures of seating intervention satisfaction, global functional change, and home participation. Interview themes also suggested consistency with change scores, but provided a deeper understanding of important factors that influenced adaptive seating outcomes. This study supports the need to explore further the complexity, temporality and meaningfulness of adaptive seating outcomes in individual children and their families. Implications for Rehabilitation Assistive technology practitioners need to adopt practical measurement strategies that consider the complexity, temporality, and meaningfulness of outcomes to make evidence-informed decisions about how to improve adaptive seating services and interventions. Health measurement scales that measure adaptive seating outcomes for service applications must have adequate levels of reliability and validity, as well as demonstrate responsive to important change over time for individual children and their families. Needs-specific measurement scales provide a promising avenue for understanding functional outcomes for individual children and youth who use adaptive seating systems.

Prevalence and predictors of booster seat use in Alberta, Canada.

PubMed

Golonka, Richard P; Dobbs, Bonnie M; Rowe, Brian H; Voaklander, Don

2016-08-15

To determine the prevalence of booster seat misuse in a Canadian province and identify determinants of non-use. A cross-sectional study using parking lot interviews and in-vehicle restraint inspections by trained staff was conducted at 67 randomly selected childcare centres across Alberta. Only booster-eligible children were included in this analysis. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) are reported using unadjusted and adjusted logistic regression. Overall, 23% of children were not in a booster seat, and in 31.8% of cases there was evidence of at least one misuse. Non-use increased significantly by age, from 22.2% for children 2 years of age to 47.8% for children 7 years of age (p = 0.02). Children who were at significantly increased risk of booster seat non-use were those in vehicles with drivers who could not recall the booster seat to seatbelt transition point (OR: 4.54; 95% CI: 2.05-10.06) or drivers who were under the age of 30 (OR: 3.54; 95% CI: 1.45-8.62). A front row seating position was also associated with significantly higher risk of nonuse (OR: 18.00; 95% CI: 2.78-116.56). Children in vehicles with grandparent drivers exhibited significantly decreased risk of booster seat non-use (OR: 0.21; 95% CI: 0.05-0.85). Messaging should continue to stress that the front seat is not a safe place for any child under the age of 9 as well as remind drivers of the booster seat to seatbelt transition point, with additional emphasis placed on appealing to parents under the age of 30. Future research should focus on the most effective means of communicating booster seat information to this group. Enacting mandatory booster seat legislation would be an important step to increase both awareness and proper use of booster seats in Alberta.

Characterizing the community use of an ultralight wheelchair with “on the fly” adjustable seating functions: A pilot study

PubMed Central

Mattie, Johanne; Borisoff, Jaimie; Miller, William C.; Noureddin, Borna

2017-01-01

An ultralight manual wheelchair that allows users to independently adjust rear seat height and backrest angle during normal everyday usage was recently commercialized. Prior research has been performed on wheelchair tilt, recline, and seat elevation use in the community, however no such research has been done on this new class of manual ultralight wheelchair with “on the fly” adjustments. The objective of this pilot study was to investigate and characterize the use of the two adjustable seating functions available on the Elevation™ ultralight dynamic wheelchair during its use in the community. Eight participants had data loggers installed onto their own wheelchair for seven days to measure rear seat height, backrest angle position, occupied sitting time, and distance traveled. Analysis of rear seat height and backrest adjustment data revealed considerable variability in the frequency of use and positions used by participants. There was a wide spread of mean daily rear seat heights among participants, from 34.1 cm to 46.7 cm. Two sub-groups of users were further identified: those who sat habitually at a single typical rear seat height, and those who varied their rear seat height more continuously. Findings also showed that participants used the rear seat height adjustment feature significantly more often than the backrest adjustment feature. This obvious contrast in feature use may indicate that new users of this class of wheelchair may benefit from specific training. While the small sample size and exploratory nature of this study limit the generalizability of our results, our findings offer a first look at how active wheelchairs users are using a new class of ultralight wheelchair with “on the fly” seating adjustments in their communities. Further studies are recommended to better understand the impact of dynamic seating and positioning on activity, participation and quality of life. PMID:28278254

Effects of different seating equipment on postural control and upper extremity function in children with cerebral palsy.

PubMed

Sahinoğlu, Dilek; Coskun, Gürsoy; Bek, Nilgün

2017-02-01

Adaptive seating supports for cerebral palsy are recommended to develop and maintain optimum posture, and functional use of upper extremities. To compare the effectiveness of different seating adaptations regarding postural alignment and related functions and to investigate the effects of these seating adaptations on different motor levels. Prospective study. A total of 20 children with spastic cerebral palsy (Gross Motor Function Classification System 3-5) were included. Postural control and function (Seated Postural Control Measure, Sitting Assessment Scale) were measured in three different systems: standard chair, adjustable seating system and custom-made orthosis. In results of all participants ungrouped, there was a significant difference in most parameters of both measurement tools in favor of custom-made orthosis and adjustable seating system when compared to standard chair ( p < 0.0017). There was a difference among interventions in most of the Seated Postural Control Measure results in Level 4 when subjects were grouped according to Gross Motor Function Classification System levels. A difference was observed between standard chair and adjustable seating system in foot control, arm control, and total Sitting Assessment Scale scores; and between standard chair and custom-made orthosis in trunk control, arm control, and total Sitting Assessment Scale score in Level 4. There was no difference in adjustable seating system and custom-made orthosis in Sitting Assessment Scale in this group of children ( p < 0.017). Although custom-made orthosis fabrication is time consuming, it is still recommended since it is custom made, easy to use, and low-cost. On the other hand, the adjustable seating system can be modified according to a patient's height and weight. Clinical relevance It was found that Gross Motor Function Classification System Level 4 children benefitted most from the seating support systems. It was presented that standard chair is sufficient in providing postural alignment. Both custom-made orthosis and adjustable seating system have pros and cons and the best solution for each will be dependent on a number of factors.

23 CFR 1340.10 - Submission and approval of seat belt survey design.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 23 Highways 1 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Submission and approval of seat belt survey design. 1340... § 1340.10 Submission and approval of seat belt survey design. (a) Contents: The following information shall be included in the State's seat belt survey design submitted for NHTSA approval: (1) Sample design...

23 CFR 1340.10 - Submission and approval of seat belt survey design.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 23 Highways 1 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Submission and approval of seat belt survey design. 1340... § 1340.10 Submission and approval of seat belt survey design. (a) Contents: The following information shall be included in the State's seat belt survey design submitted for NHTSA approval: (1) Sample design...

23 CFR 1340.10 - Submission and approval of seat belt survey design.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 23 Highways 1 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Submission and approval of seat belt survey design. 1340... § 1340.10 Submission and approval of seat belt survey design. (a) Contents: The following information shall be included in the State's seat belt survey design submitted for NHTSA approval: (1) Sample design...

78 FR 79074 - Technical Report Evaluating Seat Belt Pretensioners and Load Limiters

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-12-27

... effectiveness of pretensioners and load limiters for seat belts in the front seats of passenger cars and LTVs... cars and LTVs sold in the United States were equipped with pretensioners and load limiters at the... at those seats. In passenger cars, CUVs, and minivans, a belted driver or right-front passenger has...

76 FR 65101 - Special Conditions: Embraer S.A.; Model EMB 500; Single-Place Side Facing Seat Dynamic Test...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-10-20

... anthropomorphic test dummy (ATD) or its equivalent, undeformed floor, no yaw, and with all lateral structural... Side Facing Seat Dynamic Test Requirements AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT. ACTION... installation of a single-place side facing seat on Embraer S.A. EMB 500 aircraft. Side- facing seats are...

Parental Views Regarding Seating and Participation for Young Children with Cerebral Palsy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bolas, Jennifer; Boyle, Paul

2017-01-01

The aim of this article was to explore the views of parents regarding seating for children with cerebral palsy. Two interviews with parents were conducted. These were transcribed verbatim and thematic analysis was conducted. This small study outlines three themes: the importance of seating, seating and participation, and the parental role in…

14 CFR 382.87 - What other requirements pertain to seating for passengers with a disability?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 4 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false What other requirements pertain to seating for passengers with a disability? 382.87 Section 382.87 Aeronautics and Space OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY... DISABILITY IN AIR TRAVEL Seating Accommodations § 382.87 What other requirements pertain to seating for...

14 CFR 382.87 - What other requirements pertain to seating for passengers with a disability?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 4 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false What other requirements pertain to seating for passengers with a disability? 382.87 Section 382.87 Aeronautics and Space OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY... DISABILITY IN AIR TRAVEL Seating Accommodations § 382.87 What other requirements pertain to seating for...

14 CFR 382.87 - What other requirements pertain to seating for passengers with a disability?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 4 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false What other requirements pertain to seating for passengers with a disability? 382.87 Section 382.87 Aeronautics and Space OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY... DISABILITY IN AIR TRAVEL Seating Accommodations § 382.87 What other requirements pertain to seating for...

14 CFR 382.87 - What other requirements pertain to seating for passengers with a disability?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 4 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false What other requirements pertain to seating for passengers with a disability? 382.87 Section 382.87 Aeronautics and Space OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY... DISABILITY IN AIR TRAVEL Seating Accommodations § 382.87 What other requirements pertain to seating for...

14 CFR 382.87 - What other requirements pertain to seating for passengers with a disability?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 4 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false What other requirements pertain to seating for passengers with a disability? 382.87 Section 382.87 Aeronautics and Space OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY... DISABILITY IN AIR TRAVEL Seating Accommodations § 382.87 What other requirements pertain to seating for...

A target fibre study on seats in public houses.

PubMed

Kelly, E; Griffin, R M

1998-01-01

A target fibre survey was conducted to assess the random occurrence of a blue wool fibre on seats in public houses throughout the United Kingdom. Fibre tape lifts were taken from 80 seats. Four seats yielded matching fibres and five of these were found on one seat. A total of 292 fibres were identified; nine fibres proved indistinguishable from the target after comparison microscopy, microspectro-photometry and attempts at thin layer chromatography, and two of these fibres were still apparently indistinguishable after TLC analysis although only one dye component was visible.

NASA general aviation crashworthiness seat development

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fasanella, E. L.; Alfaro-Bou, E.

1979-01-01

Three load limiting seat concepts for general aviation aircraft designed to lower the deceleration of the occupant in the event of a crash were sled tested and evaluated with reference to a standard seat. Dummy pelvis accelerations were reduced up to 50 percent with one of the concepts. Computer program MSOMLA (Modified Seat Occupant Model for Light Aircraft) was used to simulate the behavior of a dummy passenger in a NASA full-scale crash test of a twin engine light aircraft. A computer graphics package MANPLOT was developed to pictorially represent the occupant and seat motion.

A pilot evaluation of two G-seat cueing schemes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Showalter, T. W.

1978-01-01

A comparison was made of two contrasting G-seat cueing schemes. The G-seat, an aircraft simulation subsystem, creates aircraft acceleration cues via seat contour changes. Of the two cueing schemes tested, one was designed to create skin pressure cues and the other was designed to create body position cues. Each cueing scheme was tested and evaluated subjectively by five pilots regarding its ability to cue the appropriate accelerations in each of four simple maneuvers: a pullout, a pushover, an S-turn maneuver, and a thrusting maneuver. A divergence of pilot opinion occurred, revealing that the perception and acceptance of G-seat stimuli is a highly individualistic phenomena. The creation of one acceptable G-seat cueing scheme was, therefore, deemed to be quite difficult.

The effects of seat belt legislation on road traffic injuries.

PubMed

Trinca, G W; Dooley, B J

1977-04-01

The compulsory wearing of seat belts, first introduced in the world in Victoria in 1970, has effectively reduced the number of deaths and injuries by approximately one-third for car occupants involved in motor vehicle crashes. Initially, the legislation did not apply to children under the age of eight years, but in 1975 a further law was introduced banning children from the front seat of any vehicle unless properly harnessed. Seat belts offer the best protection for front seat drivers and passengers involved in frontal impacts, but offer less protection to the recipient of a side impact. Ten per cent of car occupants admitted to hospital after a frontal impact show injuries, mostly minor, directly attibutable to the wearing of seat belts.

Jet behaviors and ejection mode recognition of electrohydrodynamic direct-write

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zheng, Jianyi; Zhang, Kai; Jiang, Jiaxin; Wang, Xiang; Li, Wenwang; Liu, Yifang; Liu, Juan; Zheng, Gaofeng

2018-01-01

By introducing image recognition and micro-current testing, jet behavior research was conducted, in which the real-time recognition of ejection mode was realized. To study the factors influencing ejection modes and the current variation trends under different modes, an Electrohydrodynamic Direct-Write (EDW) system with functions of current detection and ejection mode recognition was firstly built. Then a program was developed to recognize the jet modes. As the voltage applied to the metal tip increased, four jet ejection modes in EDW occurred: droplet ejection mode, Taylor cone ejection mode, retractive ejection mode and forked ejection mode. In this work, the corresponding relationship between the ejection modes and the effect on fiber deposition as well as current was studied. The real-time identification of ejection mode and detection of electrospinning current was realized. The results in this paper are contributed to enhancing the ejection stability, providing a good technical basis to produce continuous uniform nanofibers controllably.

A spatial generalized ordered response model to examine highway crash injury severity.

PubMed

Castro, Marisol; Paleti, Rajesh; Bhat, Chandra R

2013-03-01

This paper proposes a flexible econometric structure for injury severity analysis at the level of individual crashes that recognizes the ordinal nature of injury severity categories, allows unobserved heterogeneity in the effects of contributing factors, as well as accommodates spatial dependencies in the injury severity levels experienced in crashes that occur close to one another in space. The modeling framework is applied to analyze the injury severity sustained in crashes occurring on highway road segments in Austin, Texas. The sample is drawn from the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) crash incident files from 2009 and includes a variety of crash characteristics, highway design attributes, driver and vehicle characteristics, and environmental factors. The results from our analysis underscore the value of our proposed model for data fit purposes as well as to accurately estimate variable effects. The most important determinants of injury severity on highways, according to our results, are (1) whether any vehicle occupant is ejected, (2) whether collision type is head-on, (3) whether any vehicle involved in the crash overturned, (4) whether any vehicle occupant is unrestrained by a seat-belt, and (5) whether a commercial truck is involved. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Compound maar crater and co-eruptive scoria cone in the Lunar Crater Volcanic Field (Nevada, USA)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Amin, Jamal; Valentine, Greg A.

2017-06-01

Bea's Crater (Lunar Crater Volcanic Field, Nevada, USA) consists of two coalesced maar craters with diameters of 440 m and 1050 m, combined with a co-eruptive scoria cone that straddles the northeast rim of the larger crater. The two craters and the cone form an alignment that parallels many local and regional structures such as normal faults, and is interpreted to represent the orientation of the feeder dyke near the surface. The maar formed among a dense cluster of scoria cones; the cone-cluster topography resulted in crater rim that has a variable elevation. These older cones are composed of variably welded agglomerate and scoria with differing competence that subsequently affected the shape of Bea's Crater. Tephra ring deposits associated with phreatomagmatic maar-forming eruptions are rich in basaltic lithics derived from < 250 m depth, with variable contents of deeper-seated ignimbrite lithic clasts, consistent with ejection from relatively shallow explosions although a diatreme might extend to deeper levels beneath the maar. Interbedding of deposits on the northeastern cone and in the tephra ring record variations in the magmatic volatile driven and phreatomagmatic eruption styles in both space and time along a feeder dike.

Main Building (4800) at Dryden FRC

NASA Image and Video Library

1991-09-05

The X-1E research aircraft provides a striking view at the entrance of NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, California. The X-1E, one of the three original X-1 aircraft modified with a raised cockpit canopy and an ejection seat, was flown at the facility between 1953 and 1958 to investigate speeds at twice that of sound, and also to evaluate a thin wing designed for high-speed flight. The Dryden complex was originally established in 1946 as a small high-speed flight station to support the X-1 program. The X-1 was the first aircraft to fly at supersonic speeds. The main administrative building is to the rear of the X-1E and is the center of a research installation that has grown to more than 450 government employees and nearly 400 civilian contractors. Located on the northwest "shore" of Rogers Dry Lake, the Dryden Center was built around the original administrative-hangar building constructed in 1954 at a cost of $3.8 million. Since then many additional support and operational facilities have been built including a number of unique test facilities such as the Thermalstructures Research Facility, Flow Visualization Facility, and the newest addition, the Integrated Test Facility.

Kinematics and Shoulder Belt Position of Child Rear Seat Passengers during Vehicle Maneuvers

PubMed Central

Bohman, Katarina; Stockman, Isabelle; Jakobsson, Lotta; Osvalder, Anna-Lisa; Bostrom, Ola; Arbogast, Kristy B.

2011-01-01

Head impact to the seat back has been identified as one important injury causation scenario for seat belt restrained, head-injured children and previous research highlighted vehicle maneuvers prior to impact as possible contributing factors. The aim was to quantify kinematics of child occupants during swerving maneuvers focusing on the child’s lateral movement and seat belt position relative to the child’s shoulder. A study was conducted on a closed-circuit test track with 16 children aged 4–12, restrained in the rear seat of a modern passenger vehicle. A professional driving instructor drove at 50 km/h making sharp turns in a repeatable fashion, resulting in inboard motion of the children. The children were exposed to two turns in each of two restraint systems. Shorter children were on a booster or highback booster cushion. The taller children were seated on a booster cushion or with only a lap and shoulder seat belt. Four film cameras were fixed in the vehicle monitoring the child. Vehicle data were also collected. The seat belt slipped off the shoulder in 1 of 5 turns, varying by age and restraint type. Among shorter children, the belt slipped off in a majority of turns when seated on a booster cushion while the belt remained on the shoulder when seated on the highback booster cushion. Among taller children, the shoulder belt moved far laterally on the shoulder in half of the turns. This data provides valuable knowledge on possible pre-impact postures of children as a result of vehicle swerving maneuvers for a variety of restraint systems. PMID:22105379

An online means of testing asymmetries in seating preference reveals a bias for airplanes and theaters.

PubMed

Nicholls, Michael E R; Thomas, Nicole A; Loetscher, Tobias

2013-08-01

The aim of this study was to investigate asymmetrical interactions between humans and their environment using online seat booking sites. Functional differences between the cerebral hemispheres affect the choices people make. For example, when asked to imagine going to a cinema, people preferentially select seats to the right We investigated whether this experimental research generalizes to online booking sites for aircraft and theaters. Occupancy rates for seats taken on the left and right sides were assessed for 100 airline flights with 12,762 available seats and 37 theater performances with 34,456 seats. On the basis of previous research, a rightward bias was predicted for aircraft and theaters. For aircraft, contrary to expectation, occupancy rate was higher for left- compared with right-side seats. For theaters, a rightward bias was observed when the theater was less than half full.The bias was not affected by the orientation of the map. For aircraft, the leftward preference could be attributable to a rightward turning bias or a "feeling" that the port seats are closer to the exit, even though they are not. For theaters, the data demonstrate that the rightward preference observed in earlier studies exists only when the theater is relatively empty. Asymmetrical seating may play an important role in the efficient assimilation of information from the environment, and this role should take this into account when designing effective human-environment interfaces.The online method of assessing seating used in the current study provides an informative and potentially powerful means of assessing asymmetries in human perception and action.

Improving seat belt use among teen drivers: findings from a service-learning approach.

PubMed

Goldzweig, Irwin A; Levine, Robert S; Schlundt, David; Bradley, Richard; Jones, Gennifer D; Zoorob, Roger J; Ekundayo, O James

2013-10-01

Low seat belt use and higher crash rates contribute to persistence of motor vehicle crashes as the leading cause of teenage death. Service-learning has been identified as an important component of public health interventions to improve health behavior. A service-learning intervention was conducted in eleven selected high schools across the United States in the 2011-2012 school year. Direct morning and afternoon observations of seat belt use were used to obtain baseline observations during the fall semester and post-intervention observations in the spring. The Mann-Whitney U test for 2 independent samples was used to evaluate if the intervention was associated with a statistically significant change in seat belt use. We identified factors associated with seat belt use post-intervention using multivariable logistic regression. Overall seat belt use rate increased by 12.8%, from 70.4% at baseline to 83.2% post-intervention (p<0.0001). A statistically significant increase in seat belt use was noted among white, black, and Hispanic teen drivers. However, black and Hispanic drivers were still less likely to use seat belts while driving compared to white drivers. Female drivers and drivers who had passengers in their vehicle had increased odds of seat belt use. A high school service-learning intervention was associated with improved seat belt use regardless of race, ethnicity, or gender, but did not eliminate disparities adversely affecting minority youth. Continuous incorporation of service-learning in high school curricula could benefit quality improvement evaluations aimed at disparities elimination and might improve the safety behavior of emerging youth cohorts. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Occupant Kinematics in Simulated Autonomous Driving Vehicle Collisions: Influence of Seating Position, Direction and Angle.

PubMed

Kitagawa, Yuichi; Hayashi, Shigeki; Yamada, Katsunori; Gotoh, Mitsuaki

2017-11-01

This two-part study analyzed occupant kinematics in simulated collisions of future automated driving vehicles in terms of seating configuration. In part one, a frontal collision was simulated with four occupants with the front seats reversed. The left front seat occupant was unbelted while the others were belted. In part two of the study, occupant restraint was examined in various seating configurations using a single seat model with a three-point seatbelt. The seat direction with respect to impact was considered as forward, rearward, and lateral facing in 45 degree increments. The effect of seat recline was also studied in the forward-facing and rear-facing cases by assuming three positions: driving position, resting position and relaxed position. Occupants were represented by human body finite element models. The results of part one showed that the front seat (rear-facing) occupants were restrained by the seatback, resulting in T1 forward displacement less than 100 mm; the rear seat occupants were restrained by the seatbelt resulting larger T1 forward displacement more than 500 mm. The results of the part two showed the directional dependence of occupant restraint. Greater T1 displacements were observed when the occupant faced lateral or front oblique. However, the seatbelt provided some restraint in all directions considered. The seatback generated contact force to the occupant when it was in the impact direction, including the lateral directions. The relaxed position allowed increased excursion compared to the driving position when the occupant faced rearward, but the magnitude of this increase was lower with lower impact speed.

Analysis of child passenger safety restraint use at a pediatric emergency department.

PubMed

Cease, Alan T; King, William D; Monroe, Kathy W

2011-02-01

The objectives of the study were to determine the number of children properly restrained during transit to a pediatric emergency department for care and to ascertain parental knowledge of Alabama laws and American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) guidelines and where they obtain this information. An emergency department (patient care rooms) waiting area, convenience sample of Alabama parents who have children younger than or 13 years of age were surveyed over a 5-week period. Appropriate use of child passenger safety (CPS) restraints was determined using Alabama law and AAP recommendations. Use of Car Seat Checks provided by Children's Hospital and Safe Kids, knowledge of Alabama laws and CPS guidelines, and the source of information used by parents were ascertained. Among 525 patients identified, 520 (99.0%) participated. Appropriate use per Alabama law and AAP guidelines was 72.3% and 60.6%, respectively; 5.0% were unrestrained. Booster seats were the most commonly misused restraint. Car seats were reportedly used correctly by 81.9%. Parents who had used the Car Seat Checks program had correct booster seat and car seat use rates of 95.8% and 61.5%, respectively. Unfortunately, only 31.2% of patients had knowledge of the Car Seat Checks program, and only 40.6% knew the current law. Most often, parents stated that the hospital where their child was born was the primary (and sometimes only) source of CPS information. This study illustrates the need for improving parental knowledge of appropriate child passenger restraint use (especially booster seats) and Car Seat Checks programs. Car seat program assistance is associated with high levels of appropriate use.

Kineto-dynamic design optimisation for vehicle-specific seat-suspension systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shangguan, Wen-Bin; Shui, Yijie; Rakheja, Subhash

2017-11-01

Designs and analyses of seat-suspension systems are invariably performed considering effective vertical spring rate and damping properties, while neglecting important contributions due to kinematics of the widely used cross-linkage mechanism. In this study, a kineto-dynamic model of a seat-suspension is formulated to obtain relations for effective vertical suspension stiffness and damping characteristics as functions of those of the air spring and the hydraulic damper, respectively. The proposed relations are verified through simulations of the multi-body dynamic model of the cross-linkage seat-suspension in the ADAMS platform. The validity of the kineto-dynamic model is also demonstrated through comparisons of its vibration transmission response with the experimental data. The model is used to identify optimal air spring coordinates to attain nearly constant natural frequency of the suspension, irrespective of the seated body mass and seated height. A methodology is further proposed to identify optimal damping requirements for vehicle-specific suspension designs to achieve minimal seat effective amplitude transmissibility (SEAT) and vibration dose value (VDV) considering vibration spectra of different classes of earthmoving vehicles. The shock and vibration isolation performance potentials of the optimal designs are evaluated under selected vehicle vibration superimposed with shock motions. Results show that the vehicle-specific optimal designs could provide substantial reductions in the SEAT and VDV values for the vehicle classes considered.

NASA Standards Inform Comfortable Car Seats

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2014-01-01

NASA developed standards, which included the neutral body posture (NBP), to specify ways to design flight systems that support human health and safety. Nissan Motor Company, with US offices in Franklin, Tennessee, turned to NASA's NBP research for the development of a new driver's seat. The 2013 Altima now features the new seat, and the company plans to incorporate the seats in upcoming vehicles.

75 FR 28478 - Airworthiness Directives; Eurocopter France (ECF) Model AS332L1 and AS332L2 Helicopters

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-05-21

... fully tilted the seat shoulder harness could become jammed between the seat and bulkhead. This condition, if not corrected, could result in the shoulder harness binding and causing the inertial reel to... seat backrest is fully tilted, there is a risk of the shoulder harness jamming between the seat and...

76 FR 31803 - Airworthiness Directives; Koito Industries, Ltd., Seats and Seating Systems Approved Under...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-06-02

... experts in seat design and that testing most likely would be done by the seat manufacturer or at a test... and passengers during emergency landing conditions. In the event of an in-flight or post- emergency... that new test data are available to the FAA. AEA added that Koito (witnessed by the JCAB) has carried...

Biomechanical investigation of prolonged driving in an ergonomically designed truck seat prototype.

PubMed

Cardoso, Michelle; McKinnon, Colin; Viggiani, Dan; Johnson, Michel J; Callaghan, Jack P; Albert, Wayne J

2018-03-01

A postural evaluation during a prolonged driving task was conducted to determine the ergonomic validity of a new freely adjustable truck seat prototype. Twenty participants were recruited to perform two 2-h simulated driving sessions. Postures were assessed using motion capture, accelerometers and pressure pads. Subjective discomfort was also monitored in 15-min increments using ratings of perceived discomfort (RPD) and the Automotive Seating Discomfort Questionnaire. Participants had a more neutral spine posture during the first hour of the drive and reported lower RPDs while sitting in the prototype. Pairing the gluteal backrest panel with the adjustable seat pan helped reduce the average sitting pressure. The industry-standard truck seat may lead to the development of poor whole body posture, and the proposed ergonomic redesign of a new truck seat helped improve sitting posture and reduce perceived discomfort. Practitioner Summary: A new freely adjustable truck seat prototype was compared to an Industry standard seat to assess hypothesised improvements to sitting posture and discomfort for long haul driving. It was found that the adjustable panels in the prototype helped promote spine posture, reduce sitting pressure and improved discomfort ratings.

Knowledge and attitude of Turkish parents regarding car safety seats for children.

PubMed

Sevketoğlu, Esra; Hatipoğlu, Sami; Esin, Gülbaran; Oztora, Serdar

2009-09-01

One of the major causes of death among children younger than 15 years is vehicular injury. Car safety seats protect children in a crash if they are used correctly. The objective of this study was to assess the level of parental knowledge and their attitudes regarding car safety seats. The survey was conducted in May and June 2007 at Bakirkoy Dr. Sadi Konuk Research-Training Hospital. Randomly selected parents were asked to complete an anonymous self-administered questionnaire after providing informed consent. Five hundred thirty-two Turkish parents were sampled. Twenty-eight percent of the parents did not know what a car safety seat was. While 20% of parents reported using a car safety seat, only 10% used them correctly. Car safety seat use was correlated with higher socioeconomic status. Increased education of parents regarding the proper use of child safety seats can protect children from potentially fatal injuries. Health care professionals are obligated to give information to parents regarding car safety seats and their proper use. This study should alert planners and policy makers regarding the need to implement educational prevention programs concerning car safety for children in Turkey.

Energy Absorbing Seat System for an Agricultural Aircraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kellas, Sotiris; Jones, Lisa E. (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

A task was initiated to improve the energy absorption capability of an existing aircraft seat through cost-effective retrofitting, while keeping seat-weight increase to a minimum. This task was undertaken as an extension of NASA ongoing safety research and commitment to general aviation customer needs. Only vertical crash scenarios have been considered in this task which required the energy absorbing system to protect the seat occupant in a range of crash speeds up to 31 ft/sec. It was anticipated that, the forward and/or side crash accelerations could be attenuated with the aid of airbags, the technology of which is currently available in automobiles and military helicopters. Steps which were followed include, preliminary crush load determination, conceptual design of cost effective energy absorbers, fabrication and testing (static and dynamic) of energy absorbers, system analysis, design and fabrication of dummy seat/rail assembly, dynamic testing of dummy seat/rail assembly, and finally, testing of actual modified seat system with a dummy occupant. A total of ten full scale tests have been performed including three of the actual aircraft seat. Results from full-scale tests indicated that occupant loads were attenuated successfully to survivable levels.

Predicting passenger seat comfort and discomfort on the basis of human, context and seat characteristics: a literature review.

PubMed

Hiemstra-van Mastrigt, Suzanne; Groenesteijn, Liesbeth; Vink, Peter; Kuijt-Evers, Lottie F M

2017-07-01

This literature review focused on passenger seat comfort and discomfort in a human-product-context interaction. The relationships between anthropometric variables (human level), activities (context level), seat characteristics (product level) and the perception of comfort and discomfort were studied through mediating variables, such as body posture, movement and interface pressure. It is concluded that there are correlations between anthropometric variables and interface pressure variables, and that this relationship is affected by body posture. The results of studies on the correlation between pressure variables and passenger comfort and discomfort are not in line with each other. Only associations were found between the other variables (e.g. activities and seat characteristics). A conceptual model illustrates the results of the review, but relationships could not be quantified due to a lack of statistical evidence and large differences in research set-ups between the reviewed papers. Practitioner Summary: This literature review set out to quantify the relationships between human, context and seat characteristics, and comfort and discomfort experience of passenger seats, in order to build a predictive model that can support seat designers and purchasers to make informed decisions. However, statistical evidence is lacking from existing literature.

Kelly mud saver valve sub

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Reddoch, J.A.

1986-12-02

A mud saver valve is described for preventing drilling mud from escaping from a kelly when a drill string is broken below the kelly, the valve comprising: a tubular valve body having first and second ends, the first end being provided with means for attachment in fluid communicating relationship with the kelly, the second end being provided with means for attachment to the drill string; an annular seat fixed in the interior of the valve body adjacent its first end; a tubular closure member within the valve body. The closure member is provided with a selectively closed seating end formore » seating in valve closing engagement with the annular seat, an open non-seating end in fluid communicating relationship with the drill string, and an annular expansion in the outer diameter of the closure member adjacent the seating end; a top and bottom spacer ring disposed in sliding relationship around the tubular closure member intermediate the annular expansion and the non-seating end of the closure member. The spacer ring and annular expansion cooperatively define an annular chamber around the closure member; and a helical spring disposed around the closure member towards the annular seat.« less

Increasing the safety of children's vehicle travel: from effective risk communication to behavior change.

PubMed

Will, Kelli England; Geller, E Scott

2004-01-01

When installed and used correctly, child safety seats reduce the risk of fatal injury by 71% for infants and 54% for toddlers. However, four out of five safety seats are unintentionally misused. Yet, parents fail to participate in safety-seat checks and other child seat interventions aimed at correcting misuse. Such lack of participation is the focus of this article, which argues that most caregivers are naïve to their own vulnerability for misusing their child's seat. Research on risk perception is discussed as a guide to understanding both the high misuse rate and the lack of participation in interventions designed to correct this public safety problem. A comprehensive intervention plan that incorporates risk communication techniques for maximum parental participation is proposed that includes three essential components: (a) establishing community locations for parents to turn for safety seat advice, (b) making these locations well known to the public, and (c) increasing caregivers' perceptions of risk of misusing their children's seats.

Seat and seatbelt accommodation in fire apparatus: Anthropometric aspects.

PubMed

Hsiao, Hongwei; Whitestone, Jennifer; Wilbur, Michael; Lackore, J Roger; Routley, J Gordon

2015-11-01

This study developed anthropometric information on U.S. firefighters to guide fire-apparatus seat and seatbelt designs and future standards development. A stratified sample of 863 male and 88 female firefighters across the U.S. participated in the study. The study results suggested 498 mm in width, 404 mm in depth, and 365-476 mm in height for seat pans; 429-522 mm in width and 542 mm in height for seat back; 871 mm in height for head support; a seat space of 733 mm at shoulder and 678 mm at hip; and a knee/leg clearance of 909 mm in fire truck cab. Also, 1520 mm of lap belt web effective length and 2828 mm of lap-and-shoulder belt web effective length were suggested. These data for fire-truck seats and seatbelts provide a foundation for fire apparatus manufacturers and standards committees to improve firefighter seat designs and seatbelt usage compliance. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Sitting on a Sloping Seat Does Not Reduce the Strain Sustained by the Postural Chain

PubMed Central

Hamaoui, Alain; Hassaïne, Myriam; Zanone, Pier-Giorgio

2015-01-01

The objective of this study was to explore the effect of a forward sloping seat on posture and muscular activity of the trunk and lower limbs. To this aim, twelve asymptomatic participants were tested in six conditions varying seat slope (0°, 15° forward) and height (high, medium, low). Angular position of head, trunk and pelvis was assessed with an inertial orientation system, and muscular activity of 11 superficial postural muscles located in the trunk and lower limbs was estimated using normalized EMG. Results showed that a forward sloping seat, compared to a flat seat, induced a greater activity of the soleus (p<0.01), vastus lateralis (p<0.05) and vastus medialis (p<0.05), as well a lower hip flexion (p<0.01). In contrast, no significant variation of head, trunk and pelvis angular position was observed according to seat slope. It was concluded that forward sloping seats increase the load sustained by the lower limbs, without a systematic improvement of body posture. PMID:25587989

Evaluation of the vibration attenuation properties of an air-inflated cushion with two different heavy machinery seats in multi-axis vibration environments including jolts.

PubMed

Ji, Xiaoxu; Eger, Tammy R; Dickey, James P

2017-03-01

Seats and cushions can attenuate whole-body vibration (WBV) exposures and minimize health risks for heavy machine operators. We successfully developed neural network (NN) algorithms to identify the vibration attenuation properties for four different seating conditions (seat/cushion combinations), and implemented each of the NN models to predict the equivalent daily exposure A(8) values for various vehicles in the forestry and mining environments. We also evaluated the performance of the new prototype No-Jolt™ air-inflated cushion and the original cushion of each seat with jolt exposures. We observed that the air cushion significantly improved the vibration attenuation properties of the seat that initially had good performance, but not for the seat that had relatively poor vibration attenuation properties. In addition, operator's anthropometrics and sex influenced the performance of the air-inflated cushion when the vibration environment included jolt exposures. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Aircraft Cabin Turbulence Warning Experiment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bogue, Rodney K.; Larcher, Kenneth

2006-01-01

New turbulence prediction technology offers the potential for advance warning of impending turbulence encounters, thereby allowing necessary cabin preparation time prior to the encounter. The amount of time required for passengers and flight attendants to be securely seated (that is, seated with seat belts fastened) currently is not known. To determine secured seating-based warning times, a consortium of aircraft safety organizations have conducted an experiment involving a series of timed secured seating trials. This demonstrative experiment, conducted on October 1, 2, and 3, 2002, used a full-scale B-747 wide-body aircraft simulator, human passenger subjects, and supporting staff from six airlines. Active line-qualified flight attendants from three airlines participated in the trials. Definitive results have been obtained to provide secured seating-based warning times for the developers of turbulence warning technology

Lightweight, fire-retardant, crashworthy aircraft seat cushioning

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Haslim, Leonard A.; Mcdonough, Paul T.

1991-01-01

A two page discussion of non-aerospace seating applications and the design of NASA's safety seat cushioning (SSC) is presented. The SSC was designed for both safety and comfort in order to replace polyurethane cushioning which is flammable and produces lethal fumes upon combustion. The SSC is composed of advanced fabric reinforced composites and is lightweight, fire-retardent, and crashworthy. The seat design consists of central elliptical tubular spring supports made of fire-resistant and fatigue-durable composites surrounded by a fire-blocking sheath. The cushioning is made crashworthy by incorporating energy-absorbing, viscoelastic layers between the nested, elliptical-hoop springs. The design is intended to provide comfortable seating that meets aircraft-loading requirements without using the conventional polyurethane materials. The designs of an aircraft seat and structural components of the SSC are also presented.

System for controlling child safety seat environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Elrod, Susan V. (Inventor); Dabney, Richard W. (Inventor)

2008-01-01

A system is provided to control the environment experienced by a child in a child safety seat. Each of a plurality of thermoelectric elements is individually controllable to be one of heated and cooled relative to an ambient temperature. A first portion of the thermoelectric elements are positioned on the child safety seat such that a child sitting therein is positioned thereover. A ventilator coupled to the child safety seat moves air past a second portion of the thermoelectric elements and filters the air moved therepast. One or more jets coupled to the ventilator receive the filtered air. Each jet is coupled to the child safety seat and can be positioned to direct the heated/cooled filtered air to the vicinity of the head of the child sitting in the child safety seat.

Evaluation of a Community-Based Intervention to Promote Rear Seating for Children

PubMed Central

Greenberg-Seth, Jennifer; Hemenway, David; Gallagher, Susan S.; Ross, Julie B.; Lissy, Karen S.

2004-01-01

Objectives. We evaluated the short-term effect of a community-based effort to promote child rear seating in a low-income Hispanic community. Methods. Child seating patterns were observed pre- and postintervention at intersections in 1 intervention and 2 control cities. Brief interviews assessed exposure to program messages. Results. Child rear seating increased from 33% to 49% in the intervention city (P < .0001), which represented a greater increase than that in the control cities (P < .0001). The greatest improvement was observed in relatively higher-income areas. Rear seating was significantly correlated with reported program exposure. Incentives and exposure to the program across multiple channels seemed to have the greatest effect. Conclusions. Independent of legislation, community-based programs incorporating incentives can increase child rear seating. PMID:15249307

Seat Belt Sign and Its Significance

PubMed Central

Agrawal, Amit; Inamadar, Praveenkumar Ishwarappa; Subrahmanyam, Bhattara Vishweswar

2013-01-01

Safety belts are the most important safety system in motor vehicles and when worn intend to prevent serious injuries. However, in unusual circumstances (high velocity motor vehicle collisions) these safety measures (seat belts) can be the source and cause of serious injuries. The seat belt syndrome was first described as early by Garrett and Braunste in but the term “seat belt sign” was discussed by Doersch and Dozier. Medical personnel's involved in emergency care of trauma patients should be aware of seat belt sign and there should a higher index of suspicion to rule out underlying organ injuries. PMID:24479100

Initial Investigation of Wave Impact Load Transfer Through Shock Isolation Seats in High Speed Craft

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-08-31

12 Hz to 14 Hz is caused by the relative motions of the spring-damper assembly between the deck and the seat pan. In the deck acceleration signal the...caused by the oscillation of the seat assembly. In other words, 12 Hz to 14 Hz motions of the seat assembly fed back into the deck structure as in a...accelerations are based on use of a 10 Hz low- pass filter to capture only the dominant rigid body impacts observed in Figure 3 at less than 2 Hz. The seat

Nonconformities in real-world fatal crashes--electronic stability control and seat belt reminders.

PubMed

Lie, Anders

2012-01-01

Many new safety systems are entering the market. Vision Zero is a safety strategy aiming at the elimination of fatalities and impairing injuries by the use of a holistic model for safe traffic to develop a safe system. The aim of this article is to analyze fatalities in modern cars with respect to the Vision Zero model with special respect to electronic stability control (ESC) systems and modern seat belt reminders (SBRs). The model is used to identify and understand cases where cars with ESC systems lost control and where occupants were unbelted in a seat with seat belt reminders under normal driving conditions. The model for safe traffic was used to analyze in-depth studies of fatal crashes with respect to seat belt use and loss of control. Vehicles from 2003 and later in crashes from January 2004 to mid-2010 were analyzed. The data were analyzed case by case. Cars that were equipped with ESC systems and lost control and occupants not using the seat belt in a seat with a seat belt reminder were considered as nonconformities. A total of 138 fatal crashes involving 152 fatally injured occupants were analyzed. Cars with ESC systems had fewer loss-of-control-relevant cases than cars without ESC systems. Thirteen percent of the ESC-equipped vehicles had loss-of-control-relevant crashes and 36 percent of the cars without ESC systems had loss-of-control-relevant crashes. The analysis indicates that only one car of the 9 equipped with ESC that lost control did it on a road surface with relevant friction when driving within the speed restriction of the road. In seats with seat belt reminders that are in accordance with the European New Car Assessment Programme's (Euro NCAP) protocol, 93 percent of the occupants were using a seat belt. In seats without reminders this number was 74 percent. This study shows that ESC systems result in a very significant reduction in fatal crashes, especially under normal driving conditions. Under extreme driving conditions such as speeding or extremely low friction (snow or on the side of the road), ESC systems can fail in keeping the car under control. Seat belt reminders result in higher seat belt use rates but the level of unbelted occupants is higher than roadside studies have indicated. The holistic Vision Zero approach helped in the analysis by identifying nonconformities and putting these into the safe systems perspective.

Higher exercise intensity delays postexercise recovery of impedance-derived cardiac sympathetic activity.

PubMed

Michael, Scott; Jay, Ollie; Graham, Kenneth S; Davis, Glen M

2017-08-01

Systolic time intervals (STIs) provide noninvasive insights into cardiac sympathetic neural activity (cSNA). As the effect of exercise intensity on postexercise STI recovery is unclear, this study investigated the STI recovery profile after different exercise intensities. Eleven healthy males cycled for 8 min at 3 separate intensities: LOW (40%-45%), MOD (75%-80%), and HIGH (90%-95%) of heart-rate (HR) reserve. Bio-impedance cardiography was used to assess STIs - primarily pre-ejection period (PEP; inversely correlated with cSNA), as well as left ventricular ejection time (LVET) and PEP:LVET - during 10 min seated recovery immediately postexercise. Heart-rate variability (HRV), i.e., natural-logarithm of root mean square of successive differences (Ln-RMSSD), was calculated as an index of cardiac parasympathetic neural activity (cPNA). Higher preceding exercise intensity elicited a slower recovery of HR and Ln-RMSSD (p < 0.001), and these measures did not return to baseline by 10 min following any intensity (p ≤ 0.009). Recovery of STIs was also slower following higher intensity exercise (p ≤ 0.002). By 30 s postexercise, higher preceding intensity resulted in a lower PEP (98 ± 14 ms, 75 ± 6 ms, 66 ± 5 ms for LOW, MOD, and HIGH, respectively, p < 0.001). PEP recovered to baseline (143 ± 11 ms) by 5 min following LOW (139 ± 13 ms, p = 0.590) and by 10 min following MOD (145 ± 17 ms, p = 0.602), but was still suppressed at 10 min following HIGH (123 ± 21 ms, p = 0.012). Higher preceding exercise intensity attenuated the recovery of indices for cSNA (from STIs) and cPNA (from HRV) in a graded dose-response fashion. While exercise intensity must be considered, acute recovery may be a valuable period during which to concurrently monitor these noninvasive indices, to identify potentially abnormal cardiac autonomic responses.

Onset of a Large Ejective Solar Eruption from a Typical Coronal-jet-base Field Configuration

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Joshi, Navin Chandra; Magara, Tetsuya; Moon, Yong-Jae

Utilizing multiwavelength observations and magnetic field data from the Solar Dynamics Observatory ( SDO )/Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA), SDO /Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI), the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite ( GOES ), and RHESSI , we investigate a large-scale ejective solar eruption of 2014 December 18 from active region NOAA 12241. This event produced a distinctive “three-ribbon” flare, having two parallel ribbons corresponding to the ribbons of a standard two-ribbon flare, and a larger-scale third quasi-circular ribbon offset from the other two. There are two components to this eruptive event. First, a flux rope forms above a strong-field polarity inversionmore » line and erupts and grows as the parallel ribbons turn on, grow, and spread apart from that polarity inversion line; this evolution is consistent with the mechanism of tether-cutting reconnection for eruptions. Second, the eruption of the arcade that has the erupting flux rope in its core undergoes magnetic reconnection at the null point of a fan dome that envelops the erupting arcade, resulting in formation of the quasi-circular ribbon; this is consistent with the breakout reconnection mechanism for eruptions. We find that the parallel ribbons begin well before (∼12 minutes) the onset of the circular ribbon, indicating that tether-cutting reconnection (or a non-ideal MHD instability) initiated this event, rather than breakout reconnection. The overall setup for this large-scale eruption (diameter of the circular ribbon ∼10{sup 5} km) is analogous to that of coronal jets (base size ∼10{sup 4} km), many of which, according to recent findings, result from eruptions of small-scale “minifilaments.” Thus these findings confirm that eruptions of sheared-core magnetic arcades seated in fan–spine null-point magnetic topology happen on a wide range of size scales on the Sun.« less

Petrology of eucrites, howardites and mesosiderites

USGS Publications Warehouse

Duke, M.B.; Silver, L.T.

1967-01-01

The eucrite and howardite calcium-rich achondrites and many mesosiderites are considered as a coherent meteorite assemblage, their silicates consisting essentially of calciumpoor monoclinic and orthorhombic pyroxenes and calcium-rich plagioclase feldspar. The achondrites can be grouped according to their brecciated structure as follows: eucrites-unbrecciated and monomict brecciated achondrites; howardites-polymict brecciated achondrites. Many mesosiderites contain brecciated structures; they are distinguished from the achondrites by their large metallic fraction. The structure and composition of rock fragments in the breccias indicate a complicated sequence of events including magmatic differentiation, brecciation, recrystallization and refragmentation, and ejection from the parent body. Detailed mineralogical and chemical data suggest that the magmatic differentiation proceeded primarily by the separation of pyroxene from an ultrabasic parent material that had a much lower alkali content than ordinary chondrites. Magmatic crystallization took place in environments ranging from extrusive to deep-seated intrusive. Polymict breccias contain fragments with a wide variety of magmatic and recrystallization textures, which suggests that the breccias were formed either in very large or repeated fragmentation events. Monomict breccias contain fragments with a small range of similar magmatic textures, which suggests that these breccias were formed by small or single events. Petrographic evidence suggests that many of the breccias are impact breccias. Either in their original magmatic crystallization sites or in the sites of breccia accumulation, most of these meteorites apparently had a near-surface location prior to ejection from the parent body. Evidence obtained from eucrites, howardites and mesosiderites forms an important part of our understanding of the early evolution of the surface regions of their parent body. Chemical and oxidation conditions were different from those presently found in the Earth's crust and upper mantle, but the necessary conditions may have been present in the early history of the Earth. A lunar origin for eucrites, howardites and mesosiderites is proposed, but an asteroidal origin can not be presently excluded. ?? 1967.

Rear-Facing Car Safety Seat Use for Children 18 Months of Age: Prevalence and Determinants.

PubMed

Jones, Ashley T; Hoffman, Benjamin D; Gallardo, Adrienne R; Gilbert, Tess A; Carlson, Kathleen F

2017-10-01

To examine the prevalence and potential determinants of rear-facing car safety seat use among children approximately 18 months of age born at a university hospital. We administered a telephone survey to caregivers of children 17-19 months of age who were born between November 2013 and May 2014. The survey was designed to assess the prevalence of rear-facing car safety seat use and estimate the likelihood of rear-facing car safety seat use, compared with forward-facing car seat use, in reference to hypothesized determinants. aORs and 95% CIs were calculated using multivariable logistic regression. In total, 56% of potentially eligible caregivers (491/877) completed the survey; 62% of these reported rear-facing car safety seat use. Race, education, rurality, and household income were associated with rear-facing car safety seat use after controlling for potential confounders. Additionally, caregivers who reported having discussed car seats with their child's provider (aOR 1.7; 95% CI 1.1-2.6); receiving their child's primary care in pediatrics compared with family practice clinics (aOR 2.4; 95% CI 1.1-2.6); and being aware of the American Academy of Pediatrics rear-facing recommendation (aOR 2.8; 95% CI 1.8-4.1) were significantly more likely to report rear-facing car safety seat use. Conversely, caregivers who previously used a car seat with another child were less likely to have their child rear facing at 18 months of age (aOR 0.6; 95% CI  0.4-0.9). A large proportion of children were forward facing at 18 months of age. Future efforts focused on encouraging providers to discuss car seats during patient visits, increasing awareness of the American Academy of Pediatrics' rear-facing recommendation, and targeting high-risk populations may improve the prevalence of children who remain rear facing until 2 years of age. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Reliability and responsiveness of the Self-Efficacy in Assessing, Training and Spotting wheelchair skills (SEATS) outcome measure.

PubMed

Rushton, Paula W; Smith, Emma M; Miller, William C; Kirby, R Lee; Daoust, Geneviève

2018-01-31

The aim of this study was to evaluate the internal consistency, test-retest reliability and responsiveness of the Self-Efficacy in Assessing, Training and Spotting manual wheelchair skills (SEATS-M) and Self-Efficacy in Assessing, Training and Spotting power wheelchair skills (SEATS-P). A 2-week test-retest design was used with a convenience sample of occupational and physical therapists who worked at a provincial rehabilitation centre (inpatient and outpatient services). Sixteen participants completed the SEATS-M and 18 participants completed the SEATS-P. For the SEATS-M assessment, training, spotting and documentation sections, Cronbach's alpha coefficients ranged from 0.90 to 0.97, the 2-week intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC 1,1 ) ranged from 0.81 to 0.95, the standard error of measurements (SEM) ranged from 5.06 to 8.70 and the smallest real differences (SRD) ranged from 6.24 to 8.18. For the SEATS-P assessment, training, spotting and documentation sections, Cronbach's alpha coefficients ranged from 0.83 to 0.92, the ICCs ranged from 0.72 to 0.86, the SEMs ranged from 4.54 to 8.91 and the SRDs ranged from 5.90 to 8.27. There is preliminary evidence that both the SEATS-M and the SEATS-P have high internal consistency, good test-retest reliability and support for responsiveness. These tools can be used in evaluating clinician self-efficacy with assessing, training, spotting and documenting wheelchair skills included on the Wheelchair Skills Test. Implications for Rehabilitation There is preliminary evidence that the SEATS-M and SEATS-P are reliable and responsive outcome measures that can be used to evaluate the self-efficacy of clinicians to administer the Wheelchair Skills Program. Measurement of clinicians' self-efficacy in this area of practice may enable an enhanced understanding of the areas in which clinicians lack self-efficacy, thereby informing the development of improved knowledge translation interventions.

Compliance with Seat Belt Use in Makurdi, Nigeria: An Observational Study

PubMed Central

Popoola, SO; Oluwadiya, KS; Kortor, JN; Denen-Akaa, P; Onyemaechi, NOC

2013-01-01

Background: Seat belts are designed to reduce injuries due to road crash among vehicle occupants. Aims: This study aims to determine the availability of seat belt in vehicles and compliance with seat belt use among vehicle occupants. Materials and methods: This was a 24-h direct observational study of seat belt usage among vehicle occupants in Makurdi, Benue State, Nigeria. By direct surveillance and using a datasheet, we observed 500 vehicles and their occupants for seat belt availability and compliance with its use. Chi-square test was used for test of significance between variables. Results: Twenty-five (5.0%) of the observed 500 vehicles had no seat belt at all. Overall, compliance was 277/486 (57.0%). Use of seat belt was highest in the afternoon with 124/194 (64.4%), followed by 111/188 (59.0%) in the morning and 42/95 (44.2%) at night. Compliance was highest among car occupants [209/308 (67.9%)] and private vehicles, and lowest among commercial vehicle occupants. Compliance among female drivers was 77.1% compared with 51.4% among male drivers. Among drivers, the mean age of seat belt users was 38.4 (7.7) years, which was significantly younger than the 41.3 (8.7) years mean age of non-users. Similar figures were obtained among other vehicle occupants. Conclusions: Compared with previous studies, seat belt usage has improved among Nigerian road users, but there is still room for improvement, especially early in the mornings and at nights. Since these were times when law enforcement agencies were not likely to be on the roads, we advocate for improved coverage by enforcement agents to enforce better compliance. PMID:24116327

Responses of the Q6/Q6s ATD Positioned in Booster Seats in the Far-Side Seat Location of Side Impact Passenger Car and Sled Tests.

PubMed

Tylko, Suzanne; Bohman, Katarina; Bussières, Alain

2015-11-01

Passenger car side impact crash tests and sled tests were conducted to investigate the influence of booster seats, near-side occupant characteristics and vehicle interiors on the responses of the Q6/Q6s child ATD positioned in the rear, far-side seating location. Data from nine side impact sled tests simulating a EuroNCAP AEMD barrier test were analyzed with data obtained from 44 side impact crash tests. The crash tests included: FMVSS 214 and IIHS MDB, moving car-to-stationary car and moving car-to-moving car. A Q6 or prototype Q6s ATD was seated on the far-side, using a variety of low and high back booster seats. Head and chest responses were recorded and ATD motions were tracked with high-speed videos. The vehicle lateral accelerations resulting from MDB tests were characterized by a much earlier and more rapid rise to peak than in tests where the bullet was another car. The near-side seating position was occupied by a Hybrid III 10-year-old ATD in the sled tests, and a rear or front facing child restraint or a 5th percentile side impact ATD in the crash tests. Head impacts occurred more frequently in vehicles where a forward facing child restraint was present behind the driver seat for both the low and high back booster seats. Pretensioners were found to reduce lateral head displacements in all sled test configurations but the greatest reduction in lateral excursion was obtained with a high back booster seat secured with LATCH and tested in combination with pretensioners.

Measurement and modelling of x-direction apparent mass of the seated human body-cushioned seat system.

PubMed

Stein, George Juraj; Múcka, Peter; Chmúrny, Rudolf; Hinz, Barbara; Blüthner, Ralph

2007-01-01

For modelling purposes and for evaluation of driver's seat performance in the vertical direction various mechano-mathematical models of the seated human body have been developed and standardized by the ISO. No such models exist hitherto for human body sitting in an upright position in a cushioned seat upper part, used in industrial environment, where the fore-and-aft vibrations play an important role. The interaction with the steering wheel has to be taken into consideration, as well as, the position of the human body upper torso with respect to the cushioned seat back as observed in real driving conditions. This complex problem has to be simplified first to arrive at manageable simpler models, which still reflect the main problem features. In a laboratory study accelerations and forces in x-direction were measured at the seat base during whole-body vibration in the fore-and-aft direction (random signal in the frequency range between 0.3 and 30 Hz, vibration magnitudes 0.28, 0.96, and 2.03 ms(-2) unweighted rms). Thirteen male subjects with body masses between 62.2 and 103.6 kg were chosen for the tests. They sat on a cushioned driver seat with hands on a support and backrest contact in the lumbar region only. Based on these laboratory measurements a linear model of the system-seated human body and cushioned seat in the fore-and-aft direction has been developed. The model accounts for the reaction from the steering wheel. Model parameters have been identified for each subject-measured apparent mass values (modulus and phase). The developed model structure and the averaged parameters can be used for further bio-dynamical research in this field.

Effectiveness of child safety seats vs seat belts in reducing risk for death in children in passenger vehicle crashes.

PubMed

Elliott, Michael R; Kallan, Michael J; Durbin, Dennis R; Winston, Flaura K

2006-06-01

To provide an estimate of benefit, if any, of child restraint systems over seat belts alone for children aged from 2 through 6 years. Cohort study. A sample of children in US passenger vehicle crashes was obtained from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration by combining cases involving a fatality from the US Department of Transportation Fatality Analysis Reporting System with a probability sample of cases without a fatality from the National Automotive Sampling System. Children in tow-away [corrected] crashes occurring between 1998 and 2003. Use of child restraint systems (rear-facing and forward-facing car seats, and shield and belt-positioning booster seats) vs seat belts. Potentially confounding variables included seating position, vehicle type, model year, driver and passenger ages, and driver survival status. Death of child passengers from injuries incurred during the crash. Compared with seat belts, child restraints, when not seriously misused (eg, unattached restraint, child restraint system harness not used, 2 children restrained with 1 seat belt) were associated with a 28% reduction in risk for death (relative risk, 0.72; 95% confidence interval, 0.54-0.97) in children aged 2 through 6 years after adjusting for seating position, vehicle type, model year, driver and passenger ages, and driver survival status. When including cases of serious misuse, the effectiveness estimate was slightly lower (21%) (relative risk, 0.79; 95% confidence interval, 0.59-1.05). Based on these findings as well as previous epidemiological and biomechanical evidence for child restraint system effectiveness in reducing nonfatal injury risk, efforts should continue to promote use of child restraint systems through improved laws and with education and disbursement programs.

Exposure to whole-body vibration and seat transmissibility in a large sample of earth scrapers.

PubMed

Salmoni, Alan; Cann, Adam; Gillin, Kent

2010-01-01

It is often difficult to access a large sample of vehicles in various work environments to evaluate worker exposure to vibration such as in construction and mining. Thus the main purpose of the present research was to test vibration exposure in a relatively large number of earth scrapers. The second aim was to assess vibration exposure values on seat transmissibility. 33earth scrapers were assessed for both exposure to whole-body vibration and seat transmissibility. Two triaxial accelerometers, one placed on the seat and one on the floor directly below the seat, were used to gather whole-body vibration values (a(w)). Each machine was tested for a minimum of three complete work cycles: idling, scraping, travelling full, dumping, travelling empty back to the scrape site. Results showed that idling and scraping produced low levels of vibration when compared to travelling and dumping. Second, when the a(w) values were compared to the EU safety standards for an eight hour work day, the data (z axis) exceeded the exposure action value (0.5 m/s2) in all machines, and the exposure limit value (1.15 m/s2) in some. Implications; Operators of the scrapers were being exposed to unsafe levels of whole-body vibration. When the seats were assessed to see whether they were attenuating operator exposure to vibration, many of the seat effective amplitude transmissibility (SEAT) values exceeded 1.0. This meant that some of the seats were actually amplifying the vibration present at the floor, particularly in the y axis. Travelways should be kept smooth, operating speeds reduced, and new seats, effective in all three axes, designed.

CEV Seat Layout Evaluation

NASA Image and Video Library

2007-11-15

Photographic documentation of the CEV Seat Layout Evaluation taken in the Orion mockup located in bldg 9NW, Johnson Space Center (JSC). Test subjects in orange Launch and Entry Suit (LES) is visible in the seat.

Biomechanical responses of PMHS in moderate-speed rear impacts and development of response targets for evaluating the internal and external biofidelity of ATDS.

PubMed

Kang, Yun-Seok; Bolte, John H; Moorhouse, Kevin; Donnelly, Bruce; Herriott, Rodney; Mallory, Ann

2012-10-01

The objectives of this study were to obtain biomechanical responses of post mortem human subjects (PMHS) by subjecting them to two moderate-speed rear impact sled test conditions (8.5g, 17 km/h; 10.5g, 24 km/h) while positioned in an experimental seat system, and to create biomechanical targets for internal and external biofidelity evaluation of rear impact ATDs. The experimental seat was designed to measure external loads on the head restraint (4 load cells), seat back (6 load cells), and seat pan (4 load cells) such that subject dynamic interaction with the seat could be evaluated. This seat system was capable of simulating the dynamic characteristics of modern vehicle seat backs by considering the moment-rotation properties of a typical passenger vehicle, thus providing a more realistic test environment than using a rigid seat with a non-rotating seat back as done in previous studies. Instrumentation used to measure biomechanical responses of the PMHS included both accelerometers and angular rate sensors (ARS). A total of fourteen sled tests using eight PMHS (males 175.8 ± 6.2 cm of stature and 78.4 ± 7.2 kg of weight) provided data sets of seven PMHS for both test conditions. The biomechanical responses are described at both speeds, and cervical spine injuries are documented. Biomechanical targets are also created for internal and external biofidelity evaluation of rear impact anthropomorphic test devices (ATDs).

"He's the Number One Thing in My World": Application of the PRECEDE-PROCEED Model to Explore Child Car Seat Use in a Regional Community in New South Wales.

PubMed

Hunter, Kate; Keay, Lisa; Clapham, Kathleen; Brown, Julie; Bilston, Lynne E; Lyford, Marilyn; Gilbert, Celeste; Ivers, Rebecca Q

2017-10-10

We explored the factors influencing the use of age-appropriate car seats in a community with a high proportion of Aboriginal families in regional New South Wales. We conducted a survey and three focus groups with parents of children aged 3-5 years enrolled at three early learning centres on the Australian south-east coast. Survey data were triangulated with qualitative data from focus groups and analysed using the PRECEDE-PROCEED conceptual framework. Of the 133 eligible families, 97 (73%) parents completed the survey including 31% of parents who reported their children were Aboriginal. Use of age-appropriate car seats was reported by 80 (83%) of the participants, and awareness of the child car seat legislation was high (91/97, 94%). Children aged 2-3 years were less likely reported to be restrained in an age-appropriate car seat than were older children aged 4-5 years (60% versus 95%: χ² = 19.14, p < 0.001). Focus group participants highlighted how important their child's safety was to them, spoke of the influence grandparents had on their use of child car seats and voiced mixed views on the value of authorised child car seat fitters. Future programs should include access to affordable car seats and target community members as well as parents with clear, consistent messages highlighting the safety benefits of using age-appropriate car seats.

“He’s the Number One Thing in My World”: Application of the PRECEDE-PROCEED Model to Explore Child Car Seat Use in a Regional Community in New South Wales

PubMed Central

Hunter, Kate; Keay, Lisa; Clapham, Kathleen; Brown, Julie; Lyford, Marilyn; Gilbert, Celeste; Ivers, Rebecca Q.

2017-01-01

We explored the factors influencing the use of age-appropriate car seats in a community with a high proportion of Aboriginal families in regional New South Wales. We conducted a survey and three focus groups with parents of children aged 3–5 years enrolled at three early learning centres on the Australian south-east coast. Survey data were triangulated with qualitative data from focus groups and analysed using the PRECEDE-PROCEED conceptual framework. Of the 133 eligible families, 97 (73%) parents completed the survey including 31% of parents who reported their children were Aboriginal. Use of age-appropriate car seats was reported by 80 (83%) of the participants, and awareness of the child car seat legislation was high (91/97, 94%). Children aged 2–3 years were less likely reported to be restrained in an age-appropriate car seat than were older children aged 4–5 years (60% versus 95%: χ2 = 19.14, p < 0.001). Focus group participants highlighted how important their child’s safety was to them, spoke of the influence grandparents had on their use of child car seats and voiced mixed views on the value of authorised child car seat fitters. Future programs should include access to affordable car seats and target community members as well as parents with clear, consistent messages highlighting the safety benefits of using age-appropriate car seats. PMID:28994725

A dynamic seating intervention for wheelchair seating discomfort.

PubMed

Crane, Barbara A; Holm, Margo B; Hobson, Douglas; Cooper, Rory A; Reed, Matthew P

2007-12-01

The objective of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a new user-adjustable wheelchair seating system designed to relieve discomfort for long-duration wheelchair users. This objective was carried out using the newly developed Tool for Assessing Wheelchair disComfort (TAWC) as the primary outcome measure. Two wheelchair users each tested two different designs and feedback from the wheelchair users regarding the first design was used to guide development of the second design. A single-subject research methodology was used, allowing long-duration (up to 2 wks per test) evaluation of the wheelchair seating systems and comparison of subject discomfort levels with those experienced during a baseline period using their own wheelchairs. The experimental wheelchair seating systems employed existing automotive seating with embedded pneumatic bladders that allowed adjustment of the seat and back-support characteristics. The test wheelchair also had tilt, recline, and elevating leg rests. The two subjects completed limited periods of testing with the first design, both finding poor results with either stable or increased levels of discomfort. Subject feedback was used to redesign the wheelchair seat. After redesign, both subjects tested the second design and found it substantially more comfortable. The selected research methodology was a very positive method for a progressive wheelchair seating design and the second design provided improved comfort for both users when compared with that experienced using their own wheelchairs and the first test wheelchair. Future research of this type of user-controlled technology is recommended.

Fire resistant aircraft seat materials

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Trabold, E. L.

1978-01-01

The establishment of a technical data base for individual seat materials in order to facilitate materials selections is reviewed. The thermal response of multi-layer constructions representative of the basic functional layers of a typical future seat is examined. These functional layers include: (1) decorative fabric cover; (2) slip sheet (topper); (3) fire blocking layer; (4) cushion reinforcement; and (5) cushioning layer. The implications for material selection for full-scale seats are discussed.

Helicopter cockpit seat side and trapezius muscle metabolism with night vision goggles.

PubMed

Harrison, Michael F; Neary, J Patrick; Albert, Wayne J; Veillette, Dan W; McKenzie, Neil P; Croll, James C

2007-10-01

Documented neck strain among military helicopter aircrew is becoming more frequent and many militaries use helicopters that provide pilots with the option of sitting in the left or right cockpit seat during missions. The purpose of this study was to use near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to investigate the physiological changes in trapezius muscle oxygenation and blood volume during night vision goggle (NVG) flights as a function of left and right cockpit seating. There were 25 pilots who were monitored during NVG flight simulator missions (97.7 +/- 16.1 min). Bilateral NIRS probes attached to the trapezius muscles at C7 level recorded total oxygenation index (TOI, %), total hemoglobin (tHb), oxyhemoglobin (Hbo2), and deoxyhemo-globin (HHb). No significant differences existed between variables for pilots seated in the right cockpit seat as compared with the pilots seated in the left cockpit seat in either trapezius muscle (pTOI = 0.72; ptHb = 0.72; pHbo2 = 0.57; pHHb = 0.21). Alternating cockpit seats on successive missions is not a means to decrease metabolic stress for helicopter pilots using NVG. This suggests that cockpit layout and location of essential instruments with respect to the horizontal and the increased head supported mass of the NVG may be important factors influencing metabolic stress of the trapezius muscle.

Application of Zen sitting principles to microscopic surgery seating.

PubMed

Noro, Kageyu; Naruse, Tetsuya; Lueder, Rani; Nao-I, Nobuhisa; Kozawa, Maki

2012-03-01

This paper describes the application of an alternative seating concept for surgeons that reflects the research of Zen sitting postures, which require Zazen meditators to maintain fixed postures for long durations. The aim of this alternative approach is to provide sitters with a seat pan with sacral support(1) that provides a more even distribution of seat pressures, induces forward pelvic rotation and improves lumbar, buttock and thigh support. This approach was applied to the development of a chair for microscopic surgery. The experimental chair is a seat pan that closely matches the three-dimensional contours of the user's buttocks. Seat comfort was evaluated by comparing both changes in pelvic tilt and seat pressure distributions using Regionally-Differentiated Pressure Maps (RDPM) with subjective ratings of surgeons while operating in prototype and conventional chairs. Findings include that the sacral support of the prototype chair prevents backward pelvic rotation, as seen in zazen (Zen sitting postures). Preliminary data suggests that the prototype provided greater sitting comfort and support for constrained operating postures than did the conventional chair. These findings support the selective application of concave-shaped seat pans that conform to users' buttocks and reflect Zen sitting principles. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

The Effectiveness of Child Restraint Systems for Children Aged 3 Years or Younger During Motor Vehicle Collisions: 1996 to 2005

PubMed Central

Anderson, Craig L.

2009-01-01

Objectives. We estimated the effectiveness of child restraints in preventing death during motor vehicle collisions among children 3 years or younger. Methods. We conducted a matched cohort study using Fatality Analysis Reporting System data from 1996 to 2005. We estimated death risk ratios using conditional Poisson regression, bootstrapping, multiple imputation, and a sensitivity analysis of misclassification bias. We examined possible effect modification by selected factors. Results. The estimated death risk ratios comparing child safety seats with no restraint were 0.27 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.21, 0.34) for infants, 0.24 (95% CI = 0.19, 0.30) for children aged 1 year, 0.40 (95% CI = 0.32, 0.51) for those aged 2 years, and 0.41 (95% CI = 0.33, 0.52) for those aged 3 years. Estimated safety seat effectiveness was greater during rollover collisions, in rural environments, and in light trucks. We estimated seat belts to be as effective as safety seats in preventing death for children aged 2 and 3 years. Conclusions. Child safety seats are highly effective in reducing the risk of death during severe traffic collisions and generally outperform seat belts. Parents should be encouraged to use child safety seats in favor of seat belts. PMID:19059860

Bidet toilet seats with warm-water tanks: residual chlorine, microbial community, and structural analyses.

PubMed

Iyo, Toru; Asakura, Keiko; Nakano, Makiko; Yamada, Mutsuko; Omae, Kazuyuki

2016-02-01

Despite the reported health-related advantages of the use of warm water in bidets, there are health-related disadvantages associated with the use of these toilet seats, and the bacterial research is sparse. We conducted a survey on the hygienic conditions of 127 warm-water bidet toilet seats in restrooms on a university campus. The spray water from the toilet seats had less residual chlorine than their tap water sources. However, the total viable microbial count was below the water-quality standard for tap water. In addition, the heat of the toilet seats' warm-water tanks caused heterotrophic bacteria in the source tap water to proliferate inside the nozzle pipes and the warm-water tanks. Escherichia coli was detected on the spray nozzles of about 5% of the toilet seats, indicating that the self-cleaning mechanism of the spray nozzles was largely functioning properly. However, Pseudomonas aeruginosa was detected on about 2% of the toilet seats. P. aeruginosa was found to remain for long durations in biofilms that formed inside warm-water tanks. Infection-prevention measures aimed at P. aeruginosa should receive full consideration when managing warm-water bidet toilet seats in hospitals in order to prevent opportunistic infections in intensive care units, hematology wards, and other hospital locations.

Development of Methodology to Gather Seated Anthropometry Data in a Microgravity Environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rajulu, Sudhakar; Young, Karen; Mesloh, Miranda

2010-01-01

The Constellation Program is designing a new vehicle based off of new anthropometric requirements. These requirements specify the need to account for a spinal elongation factor for anthropometric measurements involving the spine, such as eye height and seated height. However, to date there is no data relating spinal elongation to a seated posture. Only data relating spinal elongation to stature has been collected in microgravity. Therefore, it was proposed to collect seated height in microgravity to provide the Constellation designers appropriate data for their analyses. This document will describe the process in which the best method to collect seated height in microgravity was developed.

Measurements of the Absorption by Auditorium SEATING—A Model Study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

BARRON, M.; COLEMAN, S.

2001-01-01

One of several problems with seat absorption is that only small numbers of seats can be tested in standard reverberation chambers. One method proposed for reverberation chamber measurements involves extrapolation when the absorption coefficient results are applied to actual auditoria. Model seat measurements in an effectively large model reverberation chamber have allowed the validity of this extrapolation to be checked. The alternative barrier method for reverberation chamber measurements was also tested and the two methods were compared. The effect on the absorption of row-row spacing as well as absorption by small numbers of seating rows was also investigated with model seats.

Composite shell spacecraft seat

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Barackman, Victor J. (Inventor); Pulley, John K. (Inventor); Simon, Xavier D. (Inventor); McKee, Sandra D. (Inventor)

2008-01-01

A two-part seat (10) providing full body support that is specific for each crew member (30) on an individual basis. The two-part construction for the seat (10) can accommodate many sizes and shapes for crewmembers (30) because it is reconfigurable and therefore reusable for subsequent flights. The first component of the two-part seat construction is a composite shell (12) that surrounds the crewmember's entire body and is generically fitted to their general size in height and weight. The second component of the two-part seat (10) is a cushion (20) that conforms exactly to the specific crewmember's entire body and gives total body support in more complex environment.

Boeing CST-100 Starliner Seat Test

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-02-21

Engineers working with Boeing's CST-100 Starliner test the spacecraft's seat design in Mesa, Arizona, focusing on how the spacecraft seats would protect an astronaut's head, neck and spine during the 240-mile descent from the International Space Station. The company incorporated test dummies for a detailed analysis of impacts on a crew returning to earth. The human-sized dummies were equipped with sensitive instrumentation and secured in the seats for 30 drop tests at varying heights, angles, velocities and seat orientations in order to mimic actual landing conditions. High-speed cameras captured the footage for further analysis. The Starliner spacecraft is being developed in partnership with NASA's Commercial Crew Program.

Civil aircraft side-facing seat research summary.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2012-11-01

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has standards and regulations that are intended to protect aircraft : occupants in the event of a crash. However, side-facing seats were not specifically addressed when aircraft seat : dynamic test standards ...

76 FR 51953 - Availability of Seats for the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-08-19

...) Research (Alternate) seats. Applicants are chosen based upon their particular expertise and experience in relation to the seat for which they are applying; community and professional affiliations; philosophy...

76 FR 14651 - Availability of Seats for the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-03-17

...) Research Member seat and (2) Conservation Alternate seats. Applicants are chosen based upon their... professional affiliations; philosophy regarding the protection and management of marine resources; and possibly...

Higher-speed coronal mass ejections and their geoeffectiveness

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singh, A. K.; Bhargawa, Asheesh; Tonk, Apeksha

2018-06-01

We have attempted to examine the ability of coronal mass ejections to cause geoeffectiveness. To that end, we have investigated total 571 cases of higher-speed (> 1000 km/s) coronal mass ejection events observed during the years 1996-2012. On the basis of angular width (W) of observance, events of coronal mass ejection were further classified as front-side or halo coronal mass ejections (W = 360°); back-side halo coronal mass ejections (W = 360°); partial halo (120°< W < 360°) and non-halo (W < 120°). From further analysis, we found that front halo coronal mass ejections were much faster and more geoeffective in comparison of partial halo and non-halo coronal mass ejections. We also inferred that the front-sided halo coronal mass ejections were 67.1% geoeffective while geoeffectiveness of partial halo coronal mass ejections and non-halo coronal mass ejections were found to be 44.2% and 56.6% respectively. During the same period of observation, 43% of back-sided CMEs showed geoeffectiveness. We have also investigated some events of coronal mass ejections having speed > 2500 km/s as a case study. We have concluded that mere speed of coronal mass ejection and their association with solar flares or solar activity were not mere criterion for producing geoeffectiveness but angular width of coronal mass ejections and their originating position also played a key role.

An exploratory study of parents' use and knowledge of car safety seats in Beijing, China.

PubMed

Purc-Stephenson, Rebecca J; Ren, Jianhua; Snowdon, Anne W

2010-12-01

As the number of vehicles in China rapidly increases and there is no child safety seat law, the issue of road safety for children is a growing concern. The purpose of this study was to examine parents' use and knowledge of car safety seats in Beijing, China. Using a convenience sample of 843 parents, survey results showed that only 64.8% of parents used a safety restraint for their children; the remaining 35.2% of children, of which most were toddlers or school-aged children, travelled unrestrained in vehicles. Among parents who used a safety restraint, only 24.2% were using it correctly based on the child's age (for infants), weight and height. Common reasons for not using a safety seat included difficulty finding safety seats (56.6%), cost (26.1%), and a preference to hold the child (18.1%). Moreover, a large proportion of parents prematurely transitioned their child from a safety seat to seat belt. The results highlight the need to develop injury prevention interventions that communicate the benefits and encourage the use of child safety restraints in China.

The Influence of Tractor-Seat Height above the Ground on Lateral Vibrations

PubMed Central

Gomez-Gil, Jaime; Gomez-Gil, Francisco Javier; Martin-de-Leon, Rebeca

2014-01-01

Farmers experience whole-body vibrations when they drive tractors. Among the various factors that influence the vibrations to which the driver is exposed are terrain roughness, tractor speed, tire type and pressure, rear axle width, and tractor seat height above the ground. In this paper the influence of tractor seat height above the ground on the lateral vibrations to which the tractor driver is exposed is studied by means of a geometrical and an experimental analysis. Both analyses show that: (i) lateral vibrations experienced by a tractor driver increase linearly with tractor-seat height above the ground; (ii) lateral vibrations to which the tractor driver is exposed can equal or exceed vertical vibrations; (iii) in medium-size tractors, a feasible 30 cm reduction in the height of the tractor seat, which represents only 15% of its current height, will reduce the lateral vibrations by around 20%; and (iv) vertical vibrations are scarcely influenced by tractor-seat height above the ground. The results suggest that manufacturers could increase the comfort of tractors by lowering tractor-seat height above the ground, which will reduce lateral vibrations. PMID:25340448

Seating position and patterns of severely injured body parts among child passengers in motor vehicle crashes: Japan as a distinct case.

PubMed

Takahashi, Hiroki; Fujita, Takashi; Nakahara, Shinji; Sakamoto, Tetsuya

2018-04-19

This study describes injury patterns and outcomes related to the seating position of child passengers involved in motor vehicle crashes in Japan. Using data obtained from a national trauma registry database, we compared the occurrence of injuries by body parts, length of hospital stay and in-hospital deaths between front-seating and rear-seating among children. We analysed 166 children aged 0-5 years and 205 children aged 6-12 years. No significant differences were observed between front- and rear-seating for injured body parts, length of hospital stay or in-hospital deaths in the 0-5-year-old victims. Among those aged 6-12 years, rear-seating was associated with a higher incidence of head and chest injuries but the length of stay or in-hospital deaths did not differ. These findings contrast those of previous studies, which found that rear-seating reduces injury risk, possibly attributed to low age-appropriate restraint use among school-aged children in Japan.

Tractor seating for operators with paraplegia.

PubMed

Wilhite, C S; Field, W E; Jaramillo, M

2017-01-01

This feasibility study explored the utility of using a pressure mapping instrument to explore the variable of pressure under subjects sitting on a commonly used tractor seat, and four other cushion interventions. The research model used single-subject with repeated measures during simulated tractor operation. In examining the graphical images and pressure mapping data available from the instrument; the contour tractor seat used in this study was not sufficient in redistributing pressure for people with paraplegia operating tractors, putting them at greater risk for acquiring a pressure ulcer. The use of pressure mapping equipment to study seated pressure within dynamic environments is achievable, and further studies need to be performed and replicated in simulated or in vivo environments. The data in this study suggest people with paraplegia operating agricultural equipment may not have acceptable pressure distribution using the manufacturer's installed seat and must rely on adding wheelchair cushions or other materials to the seat surface to create acceptable pressure distribution. However, doing so changes other aspects of the seating micro or macro climate that can also be problematic.

The influence of tractor-seat height above the ground on lateral vibrations.

PubMed

Gomez-Gil, Jaime; Gomez-Gil, Francisco Javier; Martin-de-Leon, Rebeca

2014-10-22

Farmers experience whole-body vibrations when they drive tractors. Among the various factors that influence the vibrations to which the driver is exposed are terrain roughness, tractor speed, tire type and pressure, rear axle width, and tractor seat height above the ground. In this paper the influence of tractor seat height above the ground on the lateral vibrations to which the tractor driver is exposed is studied by means of a geometrical and an experimental analysis. Both analyses show that: (i) lateral vibrations experienced by a tractor driver increase linearly with tractor-seat height above the ground; (ii) lateral vibrations to which the tractor driver is exposed can equal or exceed vertical vibrations; (iii) in medium-size tractors, a feasible 30 cm reduction in the height of the tractor seat, which represents only 15% of its current height, will reduce the lateral vibrations by around 20%; and (iv) vertical vibrations are scarcely influenced by tractor-seat height above the ground. The results suggest that manufacturers could increase the comfort of tractors by lowering tractor-seat height above the ground, which will reduce lateral vibrations.

Impact of Active Climate Control Seats on Energy Use, Fuel Use, and CO2 Emissions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kreutzer, Cory J; Rugh, John P; Titov, Eugene V

A project was developed through collaboration between Gentherm and NREL to determine the impact of climate control seats for light-duty vehicles in the United States. The project used a combination of experimentation and analysis, with experimental results providing critical input to the analysis process. First, outdoor stationary vehicle testing was performed at NREL's facility in Golden, CO using multiple occupants. Two pre-production Ford Focus electric vehicles were used for testing; one containing a standard inactive seat and the second vehicle containing a Gentherm climate control seat. Multiple maximum cool-down and steady-state cooling tests were performed in late summer conditions. Themore » two vehicles were used to determine the increase in cabin temperature when using the climate control seat in comparison to the baseline vehicle cabin temperature with a standard seat at the equivalent occupant whole-body sensation. The experiments estimated that on average, the climate control seats allowed for a 2.61 degrees Celsius increase in vehicle cabin temperature at equivalent occupant body sensation compared to the baseline vehicle. The increased cabin air temperature along with their measured energy usage were then used as inputs to the national analysis process. The national analysis process was constructed from full vehicle cabin, HVAC, and propulsion models previously developed by NREL. In addition, three representative vehicle platforms, vehicle usage patterns, and vehicle registration weighted environmental data were integrated into the analysis process. Both the baseline vehicle and the vehicle with climate control seats were simulated, using the experimentally determined cabin temperature offset of 2.61degrees Celsius and added seat energy as inputs to the climate control seat vehicle model. The U.S. composite annual fuel use savings for the climate control seats over the baseline A/C system was determined to be 5.1 gallons of gasoline per year per vehicle, corresponding to 4.0 grams of CO2/mile savings. Finally, the potential impact of 100 percent adoption of climate control seats on U.S. light-duty fleet A/C fuel use was calculated to be 1.3 billion gallons of gasoline annually with a corresponding CO2 emissions reduction of 12.7 million tons. Direct comparison of the impact of the CCS to the ventilated seat off-cycle credit was not possible because the NREL analysis calculated a combined car/truck savings and the baseline A/C CO2 emissions were higher than EPA. To enable comparison, the CCS national A/C CO2 emissions were split into car/truck components and the ventilated seat credit was scaled up. The split CO2 emissions savings due to the CCS were 3.5 g/mi for a car and 4.4 g/mi for a truck. The CCS saved an additional 2.0 g/mi and 2.5 g/mi over the adjusted ventilated seat credit for a car and truck, respectively.« less

Identifying priorities for improving rear seat occupant protection.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2009-03-01

This project helped to identify priorities for improving the safety of rear seat occupants through a literature review and NASS-CDS injury analysis. The literature review covers injury patterns of rear seat occupants, new safety technologies intended...

Fire resistant aircraft seat program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fewell, L. A.

1979-01-01

Foams, textiles, and thermoformable plastics were tested to determine which materials were fire retardant, and safe for aircraft passenger seats. Seat components investigated were the decorative fabric cover, slip covers, fire blocking layer, cushion reinforcement, and the cushioning layer.

Rear-facing car seat (image)

MedlinePlus

A rear-facing car seat position is recommended for a child who is very young. Extreme injury can occur in an accident because ... child. In a frontal crash a rear-facing car seat is best, because it cradles the head, ...

Race, belief in destiny, and seat belt usage: a pilot study.

PubMed Central

Colón, I

1992-01-01

A survey of 1063 individuals found that when belief in destiny was statistically controlled, differences in seat belt use by race disappeared. Thus, racial differences in seat belt use are statistically accounted for and might be explained by belief in destiny. Efforts to increase seat belt use should target minority groups rather than include them in broadbrush programs. Further, these efforts should take into account this important difference in motivation. PMID:1585969

The impact of conflicting spatial representations in airborne unmanned aerial system sensor control

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-02-01

Their methodology, however, was limited – participants were only seated in a forward configured seat in a civilian aircraft and only rudimentary...a starboard seat , facing towards the center of the aircraft , great discord between these spatial representations and their relevant sensory inputs...configuration provided space for three participants to be run at a time in three different seating orientations: forward, backward, and center of the aircraft

Retractor-Based Stroking Seat System and Energy-Absorbing Floor to Mitigate High Shock and Vertical Acceleration

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-04-15

Seat stroke, Lumbar loads, Accelerative load, M&S analysis, Blast , UBB, LS- DYNA , ATD 16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: 17. LIMITATION OF ABSTRACT...typical blast input load to the seat . Resulting crew injuries are monitored for various vertical accelerative loading scenarios. The retractor load...an enforced blast pulse, this hull structural thickness does not have any effect on the results. 2.2 Seatbelt model Automotive seat belts with

Effects of UAV Supervisory Control on F-18 Formation Flight Performance in a Simulator Environment

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-03-01

words) Continual advances in technology, along with increased cockpit workload— particularly the shift from two- seat to single- seat fighters to save...INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK v ABSTRACT Continual advances in technology, along with increased cockpit workload— particularly the shift from two- seat to...single- seat fighters to save money and reduce risk to life—push the limits of human mental capacity. Additionally, there is interest within the

Promoting the use of seat belts. Wessex Positive Health Team.

PubMed

1980-11-29

A six-month study into the effect of a substantial programme of integrated health education promoting the use of seat belts showed no major change in the rates for occupants of front seats, which remained around 35%. Though there were increases of up to 5% in the rates for wearing seat belts immediately after the multimedia campaigns which achieved high penetration, only those among women drivers were sustained. Of the methods used to disseminate information, television had the greatest impact on the community, followed by press reports and radio broadcasts. It is concluded that health education alone is insufficient to increase significantly the use of car seat belts. Britain should follow its European partners and pass legislation requiring front seat occupants to wear belts. As the recent experience in Australia shows, the benefits will be considerable in terms of reducing mortality, morbidity, and consequential expenditure.

Entertainment and Pacification System For Car Seat

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Elrod, Susan Vinz (Inventor); Dabney, Richard W. (Inventor)

2006-01-01

An entertainment and pacification system for use with a child car seat has speakers mounted in the child car seat with a plurality of audio sources and an anti-noise audio system coupled to the child car seat. A controllable switching system provides for, at any given time, the selective activation of i) one of the audio sources such that the audio signal generated thereby is coupled to one or more of the speakers, and ii) the anti-noise audio system such that an ambient-noise-canceling audio signal generated thereby is coupled to one or more of the speakers. The controllable switching system can receive commands generated at one of first controls located at the child car seat and second controls located remotely with respect to the child car seat with commands generated by the second controls overriding commands generated by the first controls.

Modeling the Effect of Enlarging Seating Room on Passengers' Preference of Taiwan's Domestic Airlines

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lu, Jin-Long; Tsai, Li-Non

2003-01-01

This study addresses the need for measuring the effect of enlarging seating room in airplane on passengers' preferences of airline in Taiwan. The results can assist Taiwan's domestic air carriers in better understanding their customers' expectations. Stated choice experiment is used to incorporate passengers' trade-offs in the preferred measurement, and three major attributes are taken into account in the stated choice experiment: (1) type of seat (enlarged or not), (2) price, and (3) brand names of airlines. Furthermore, a binary logit model is used to model the choice behavior of air passengers. The findings show that the type of seat is a major significant variable; price and airline's brand are also significant as well. It concludes that air carriers should put more emphasis on the issue of improving the quality of seat comfort. Keywords: Passengers' preference, Enlarged seating room, Stated choice experiment, Binary logit model.

Ergonomic Evaluation of Space Shuttle Light-Weight Seat Lever Position and Operation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Maida, J.; Rajulu, Sudhakar L.; Bond, Robert L. (Technical Monitor)

2000-01-01

During a Shuttle flight in the early part of 1999, one of the crewmembers was unable to operate the backrest lever for the light-weight seat in microgravity. It is essential that the crewmembers are able to adjust this back-rest lever, which is titled forward 2 degrees from vertical during launch and then moved backwards to 10 degrees aft of vertical upon reaching orbit. This adjustment is needed to cushion the crewmembers during an inadvertent crash landing situation. The original Shuttle seats, which had seat controls located on the front left and right sides of the seat, were replaced recently with the new light-weight seats. The controls for these new, seats were moved to the night side with one control at the front and the other at the back. While it was uncertain whether the problem encountered was unique to that crewmember or not it was clear to the personnel responsible for maintaining the Shuttle seats that not knowing the cause of the problem posed a safety concern for NASA. Hence the Anthropometry and Biomechanics Facility (ABF) of the Johnson Space Center was requested to perform an evaluation of the seat controls and provide NASA with appropriate recommendations on whether the seat lever positions and operations should be modified. The ABF designed an experiment to investigate the amount of pull force exerted by subjects, wearing an unpressurized or pressurized crew launch escape suit, when controls were placed in the front and back (on the right side) of the light-weight seat. Single-axis load cells were attached to the seat levers, which measured the maximum static pull forces that were exerted by the subjects. Twelve subjects, six male and six female, participated in this study. Each subject was asked to perform the pull test at least three times for each combination of lever position and suit pressure conditions. The results from this study showed that as a whole (or in general), the subjects were able to pull on the lever at the back position with only about half the amount of force that they were able to exert on the lever at the front position. In addition, the results also showed that subjects wearing the pressurized suit were unable to reach the seat lever when it was located at the back. Furthermore, the pull forces on the front lever diminished about 50 % when subjects wore the pressurized suits. Based on these results from this study, it was recommended to NASA that the levers should not be located in the back position. In addition, further investigation is needed on whether the levers at the front of the seat could be modified or adjusted to increase the leverage for crew members wearing pressurized launch/escape suits.

75 FR 36780 - Notice of Receipt of Petition for Decision that Nonconforming 2000 East Lancs Lolyne Double...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-06-28

... that your comments were received, please enclose a stamped, self-addressed postcard with the comments..., 207 Seating Systems, 209 Seat Belt Assemblies, 210 Seat Belt Assembly Anchorages, 217 Bus Emergency...

States upgrade to primary enforcement seat belt laws : traffic tech.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2011-09-01

States with primary seat belt enforcement laws consistently : have higher observed daytime seat belt use rates than secondary : law States. Secondary belt law States, on the other : hand, consistently have more motor vehicle fatalities who : were not...

May 2004 Click It or Ticket seat belt mobilization evaluation

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2007-05-01

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Air : Bag & Seat Belt Safety Campaign of the National Safety Council, : in conjunction with thousands of State and local law enforcement : agencies, conduct annual national seat belt mobiliza...

Crashworthiness requirements for commuter rail passenger seats

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2005-11-05

Occupant experiments using instrumented crash test dummies seated in commuter rail seats have been conducted on board full-scale impact tests of rail cars. The tests have been conducted using both conventional cars and cars modified to incorporate cr...

National child safety seat distribution program evaluation

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1999-03-01

The National Child Safety Seat Distribution Program (NCSS) was a multi-year, multi-phase program intended to distribute $8 million in child safety seats to low-income and special needs children in all fifty states. Non-profit organizations that recei...

Identifying information that promotes belt-positioning booster use. Volume 2, Appendices

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2008-07-01

Many parents with low educational attainment prematurely graduate their children to seat belt restraint rather than use belt-positioning booster seats. This study aimed to identify interventions that promoted booster seat use among this population. F...

Children's and Adults' Comfort Experience of Extra Seat Belts When Riding in the Rear Seat of a Passenger Car.

PubMed

Osvalder, Anna-Lisa; Hansson, Ida; Bohman, Katarina

2015-01-01

The objective of this study was to explore passengers' comfort experience of extra seat belts during on-road driving in the rear seat of a passenger car and to investigate how the use of extra belts affects children's and adults' attitudes to the product. Two different seat belt systems were tested, criss-cross (CC) and backpack (BP), consisting of the standard 3-point belt together with an additional 2-point belt. In total, 32 participants (15 children aged 6-10, 6 youths aged 11-15, and 11 adults aged 20-79, who differed considerably in size, shape, and proportions) traveled for one hour with each system, including city traffic and highway driving. Four video cameras monitored the test subject during the drive. Subjective data regarding emotions and perceived discomfort were collected in questionnaires every 20 min. A semistructured interview was held afterwards. All participant groups accepted the new products and especially the increased feeling of safety (P <.01); 56% preferred CC and 44% preferred BP but the difference was not significant. In total, 81% wanted to have extra seat belts in their family car. CC was appreciated for its symmetry, comfort, and the perceived feeling of safety. Some participants found CC unpleasant because the belts tended to slip close to the neck, described as a strangling feeling. BP was simpler to use and did not cause annoyance to the neck in the way CC did. Instead, it felt asymmetric and to some extent less safe than CC. Body size and shape affected seat belt fit to a great extent, which in turn affected the experience of comfort, both initially and over time. Perceived safety benefit and experienced comfort were the most determinant factors for the attitude toward the extra seat belts. The extra seat belts were perceived as being better than the participants had expected before the test, and they became more used to them over time. This exploratory study provided valuable knowledge from a user perspective for further development of new seat belt systems in cars. In addition to an increased feeling of safety, seat belt fit and comfort are supplementary influencing factors when it comes to gaining acceptance of new seat belt systems.

Ignition characteristics of some aircraft interior fabrics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hilado, C. J.; Brandt, D. L.

1978-01-01

Six samples of aircraft interior fabrics were evaluated with regard to resistance to ignition by radiant heat. Five samples were aircraft seat upholstery fabrics and one sample was an aircraft curtain fabric. The aircraft seat fabrics were 100% wool (2 samples), 83% wool/17% nylon, 49% wool/51% polyvinyl chloride, and 100% rayon. The aircraft curtain fabric was 92% modacrylic/8% polyester. The five samples of aircraft seat upholstery fabrics were also evaluated with regard to resistance to ignition by a smoldering cigarette. The four samples of wool-containing aircraft seat fabrics appeared to be superior to the sample of rayon seat fabric in resistance to ignition, both by radiant heat and by a smoldering cigarette.

Health Monitoring System for Car Seat

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Elrod, Susan Vinz (Inventor); Dabney, Richard W. (Inventor)

2004-01-01

A health monitoring system for use with a child car seat has sensors mounted in the seat to monitor one or more health conditions of the seat's occupant. A processor monitors the sensor's signals and generates status signals related to the monitored conditions. A transmitter wireless transmits the status signals to a remotely located receiver. A signaling device coupled to the receiver produces at least one sensory (e.g., visual, audible, tactile) output based on the status signals.

Optimization of Aircraft Seat Cushion Fire Blocking Layers.

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-03-01

function of cost and weight, and the costs of labor involved in assembling a ccmposite seat cushion. The same classes of high char yield polymers that are...SEAT LATER DESIGN REPORT NRBBNBsg$$$$$$NN$$R$$$$$ SEAT DESIGN NUMBER: 009 LAYER NAME CODE NO. S MANUFACTURER 5 COST FACTORS . LABOR ...72621, 9096.. 7SS43. 73757. 77147. DELTA COSTS 0. 8340. 2922. 1136. 4327. ACOSOS in Iho..aS Of dollars. COST SUIRNY REPORT Re ....... VONR3 MORFA

Development of Anthropometric Specifications for the Warrior Injury Assessment Manikin (WIAMan)

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-10-01

kg/m2 (mean 26.7 kg/m2). Body Landmark Data in Vehicle Seat Conditions Soldiers were instructed to sit comfortably in the seat . Lower and upper...landmark locations from 100 soldiers with a wide range of body size obtained in a single squad seating condition were analyzed using regression methods to...establish target surface landmark and internal joint center locations. Laser scan data from 126 men in up to four seated postures were analyzed

Seatbelt use, attitudes, and changes in legislation: an international study.

PubMed

Steptoe, Andrew; Wardle, Jane; Fuller, Ray; Davidsdottir, Sigurlina; Davou, Bettina; Justo, Joao

2002-11-01

The use of seat belts is among the most effective methods of reducing injury in motor vehicle crashes. We examined trends in seat belt use by university students from 13 European countries between 1990 and 2000, in relation to changes in legislation, attitudes, and hazardous driver behaviors. Data were collected via an anonymous standardized questionnaire from university students in Belgium, England, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, and Spain. There were 10,576 respondents in 1990, and 10,294 in 2000. Data were also collected from 1672 students in the United States in 2000. Analyses were performed in early 2002. Reported seat belt use increased from 63% to 73% in male students, and from 66% to 77% in female students over the decade. There were marked increases in seat belt use in countries with changes in legislation or enforcement from 1990 to 2000, with 24% to 64% more respondents reporting seat belt use in 2000. The prevalence of use and noted changes during this period correlated with findings from national surveys (r= 0.91). Attitudes to seat belt use were associated with behavior both within and between countries. Nonuse of seat belts was positively related to alcohol-impaired driving and failure to obey speed limits. Legislation has a substantial impact on the use of vehicle seat belts, but additional gains require efforts to change attitudes within the university student population.

A statistical model including age to predict passenger postures in the rear seats of automobiles.

PubMed

Park, Jangwoon; Ebert, Sheila M; Reed, Matthew P; Hallman, Jason J

2016-06-01

Few statistical models of rear seat passenger posture have been published, and none has taken into account the effects of occupant age. This study developed new statistical models for predicting passenger postures in the rear seats of automobiles. Postures of 89 adults with a wide range of age and body size were measured in a laboratory mock-up in seven seat configurations. Posture-prediction models for female and male passengers were separately developed by stepwise regression using age, body dimensions, seat configurations and two-way interactions as potential predictors. Passenger posture was significantly associated with age and the effects of other two-way interaction variables depended on age. A set of posture-prediction models are presented for women and men, and the prediction results are compared with previously published models. This study is the first study of passenger posture to include a large cohort of older passengers and the first to report a significant effect of age for adults. The presented models can be used to position computational and physical human models for vehicle design and assessment. Practitioner Summary: The significant effects of age, body dimensions and seat configuration on rear seat passenger posture were identified. The models can be used to accurately position computational human models or crash test dummies for older passengers in known rear seat configurations.

Aircrew ejection experience: questionnaire responses from 20 survivors.

PubMed

Taneja, Narinder; Pinto, Leslie J; Dogra, Manmohan

2005-07-01

Published studies on ejection have focused predominantly on the injuries sustained by aircrew and discussed their preventive measures from an aeromedical perspective. However, studies have not discussed aircrew experiences related to ejection or how they would like to advise other aircrew to successfully handle ejection as an event. Such information can assist in designing realistic indoctrination and training programs. This study was conducted to fill gaps in our understanding of aircrew perspectives of successful ejections. Aircrew reporting to the Institute of Aerospace Medicine (IAM), Indian Air Force, for post-ejection evaluation during the period of May 2003 to January 2005 completed a questionnaire that was designed for the study. A total of 20 aircrew completed this questionnaire. The mean age of the aircrew was 30.25 +/- 4.45 yr. Most of them had logged more than 500 flying hours. Some aircrew described their initial moments of ejection as "blacked out," "dazed, yet conscious," or as "a shock that gradually decreased." Practicing ejection drills on the ground, being prepared at all times, making a timely decision to eject, and assuming correct posture were identified as the most important factors for success. Descriptions of ejection as an event suggest intense emotional arousal could occur following ejection. This study provides first hand inputs into the psychological processes accompanying ejections. Such information could be very useful in understanding the critical factors that influence successful ejection.

Influence of standing or seated pelvis on dummy responses in rear impacts.

PubMed

Viano, David C; Parenteau, Chantal S; Burnett, Roger

2012-03-01

There is a question whether the standing or seated pelvis should be used in Hybrid III dummy evaluations of seats and belt restraint systems in severe rear impacts. This study compares the standing and seated Hybrid III pelvis in matched rear sled tests. Sixteen sled tests were found at 10, 16 and 24 km/h rear delta V in Ford's archives where matched tests were run with the standing and seated pelvis in a belted Hybrid III dummy. Two new tests were conducted at 40 km/h rear delta V to extend the severity range. The head, chest and pelvis were instrumented with triaxial accelerometers and the upper and lower neck, thoracic spine and lumbar spine had transducers measuring triaxial loads and moments. Belt Loads were measured. High-speed video recorded different views of the dummy motion. Dummy kinematics and biomechanical responses were compared for all of the data with the two different Hybrid III pelvic designs. In the 40 km/h sled tests, the dummy motion and excursion were essentially similar with the standing and seated pelvis. The similarities included the lap belt interaction with the pelvis and the leg movement upward flexing the hip joint. Overall, similar biomechanic and kinematic responses were found, including the pelvic acceleration, spinal forces and moments. For the lower speed tests at 10, 16 and 24 km/h, the motion sequence was also similar with the two different pelvises, including the upward movement of the legs as the seat was loaded and rebound kinematics. The biomechanical responses were similar. The seated pelvis involves only a small portion of the upper leg molded into the vinyl skin of the pelvis and does not limit leg rotation at the hip joint. Furthermore, lap belt loads were minimal during the rearward movement of the dummy. The matched testing showed no significant difference in occupant kinematics or biomechanical responses between the standing and seated pelvis in rear sled tests. The Hybrid III dummy with the seated pelvis is suitable for FMVSS 301 and other testing of seats and belt restraint systems in severe rear impacts. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Dynamics Control Approaches to Improve Vibratory Environment of the Helicopter Aircrew

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wickramasinghe, Viresh Kanchana

Although helicopter has become a versatile mode of aerial transportation, high vibration levels leads to poor ride quality for its passengers and aircrew. Undesired vibration transmitted through the helicopter seats have been known to cause fatigue and discomfort to the aircrew in the short-term as well as neck strain and back pain injuries due to long-term exposure. This research study investigated the use of novel active as well as passive methodologies integrated in helicopter seats to mitigate the aircrew exposure to high vibration levels. Due to significantly less certification effort required to modify the helicopter seat structure, application of novel technologies to the seat is more practical compared to flight critical components such as the main rotor to reduce aircrew vibration. In particular, this research effort developed a novel adaptive seat mount approach based on active vibration control technology. This novel design that incorporated two stacked piezoelectric actuators as active struts increases the bending stiffness to avoid the low frequency resonance while generating forces to counteract higher harmonic vibration peaks. A real-time controller implemented using a feed-forward algorithm based on adaptive notches counteracted the forced vibration peaks while a robust feedback control algorithm suppressed the resonance modes. The effectiveness of the adaptive seat mount system was demonstrated through extensive closed-loop control tests on a full-scale helicopter seat using representative helicopter floor vibration profiles. Test results concluded that the proposed adaptive seat mount approach based on active control technology is a viable solution for the helicopter seat vibration control application. In addition, a unique flight test using a Bell-412 helicopter demonstrated that the aircrew is exposed to high levels of vibration during flight and that the whole body vibration spectrum varied substantially depending on operating conditions as well as the aircrew configurations. This investigation also demonstrated the suitability of integrating novel energy absorbing cushion materials to the seat as a low cost solution to improve aircrew vibration suppression. Therefore, it was recommended to pursue certification of novel seat cushion materials as a near-term solution to mitigate undesirable occupational health hazards in helicopter aircrew due to vibration exposure.

The effects of active (hot-seat) versus observer roles during simulation-based training on stress levels and non-technical performance: a randomized trial.

PubMed

Bong, Choon Looi; Lee, Sumin; Ng, Agnes Suah Bwee; Allen, John Carson; Lim, Evangeline Hua Ling; Vidyarthi, Arpana

2017-01-01

Active 'hands-on' participation in the 'hot-seat' during immersive simulation-based training (SBT) induces stress for participants, which is believed to be necessary to improve performance. We hypothesized that observers of SBT can subsequently achieve an equivalent level of non-technical performance as 'hot-seat' participants despite experiencing lower stress. We randomized 37 anaesthesia trainees into two groups to undergo three consecutive SBT scenarios. Eighteen 'hot-seat' trainees actively participated in all three scenarios, and 19 'observer' trainees were directed to observe the first two scenarios and participated in the 'hot-seat' only in scenario 3. Salivary cortisol (SC) was measured at four time points during each scenario. Primary endpoint for stress response was the change in SC (ΔSC) from baseline. Performance was measured using the Anaesthetist's Non-Technical Skills (ANTS) Score. Mean SC increased in all participants whenever they were in the 'hot-seat' role, but not when in the observer role. Hot-seat ΔSC (mcg/dL) for scenarios 1, 2, and 3 were 0.122 ( p  = 0.001), 0.074 ( p  = 0.047), and 0.085 ( p  = 0.023), respectively. Observers ΔSC (mcg/dL) for scenarios 1, 2, and 3 were -0.062 ( p  = 0.091), 0.010 ( p  = 0.780), and 0.144 ( p  = 0.001), respectively. Mean ANTS scores were equivalent between the 'hot-seat' (40.0) and 'observer' (39.4) groups in scenario 3 ( p  = 0.733). Observers of SBT achieved an equivalent level of non-technical performance, while experiencing lower stress than trainees repeatedly trained in the 'hot-seat'. Our findings suggest that directed observers may benefit from immersive SBT even without repeated 'hands-on' experience and stress in the hot-seat. The directed observer role may offer a less stressful, practical alternative to the traditional 'hot-seat' role, potentially rendering SBT accessible to a wider audience. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT02211378, registered August 5, 2014, retrospectively registered.

Identifying information that promotes belt-positioning booster use. Volume 1, Summary and findings

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2008-07-01

Many parents with low educational attainment prematurely graduate their children to seat belt restraint rather than use belt-positioning booster seats. This study aimed to identify interventions that promoted booster seat use among this population. F...

Daytime and nighttime seat belt use by fatally injured passenger vehicle occupants.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2010-07-01

The difference in day and night seat belt use among fatally injured passenger vehicle occupants was : investigated by personal, environmental, and vehicle characteristics. In each of the 10 years reviewed, seat belt : use among fatally injured occupa...

Conference on the Development of Fire-Resistant Aircraft Passenger Seats

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fewell, L. L.; Kourtides, D. A.; Rosser, R. W.; Parker, J. A.

1976-01-01

Papers are presented dealing with the development of aircraft seats with the minimum fire risk. Criteria examined include: flame spread, heat release, and smoke and/or toxic fumes. Materials and performance specifications of all seat material options are provided.

Papers on adult seat belts : effectiveness and use

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1988-06-01

The eight papers in this volume describe analyses of the : effectiveness and use of adult seat belts, based on traffic : accident data. All eight were written between January 1984 and : May 1988. The topics addressed include front seat belt : effecti...

The constitutionality of mandatory seat belt laws.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1986-01-01

Low seat belt usage rates have persisted for years despite efforts to educate people about belts' benefits. There is ample documentation of the contribution of seat belts to saving lives and reducing injury. The emotional and pecuniary toll of the fa...

Strategies to increase the use of child safety seats among toddlers. Volume 1

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1987-01-01

This project used group depth interviews to investigate parent attitudes toward use and nonuse of child safety seats (CSSs), particularly for toddlers. Parenting habits differentiate toddler-seat users and nonusers. Nonusers abandon CSSs because of t...

Human factors in design of passenger seats for commercial aircraft: A review

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schaedel, S. F.; Jacobson, I. D.; Kuhlthau, A. R.

1977-01-01

Seat comfort and safety research since the early part of the century is reviewed. The approach blends empirical and theoretical human factors and technical knowledge of seated humans under static and dynamic conditions experienced on commercial aircraft.

Papers on adult seat belts--effectiveness and use

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1988-06-01

The eight papers in the volume describe analyses of the effectiveness and use of adult seat belts, based on traffic accident data. All eight were written between January 1984 and May 1988. The topics addressed include front seat belt effectiveness (e...

Disturbance observer based Takagi-Sugeno fuzzy control for an active seat suspension

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ning, Donghong; Sun, Shuaishuai; Zhang, Fei; Du, Haiping; Li, Weihua; Zhang, Bangji

2017-09-01

In this paper, a disturbance observer based Takagi-Sugeno (TS) fuzzy controller is proposed for an active seat suspension; both simulations and experiments have been performed verifying the performance enhancement and stability of the proposed controller. The controller incorporates closed-loop feedback control using the measured acceleration of the seat and deflection of the suspension; these two variables can be easily measured in practical applications, thus allowing the proposed controller to be robust and adaptable. A disturbance observer that can estimate the disturbance caused by friction, model simplification, and controller output error has also been used to compensate a H∞ state feedback controller. The TS fuzzy control method is applied to enhance the controller's performance by considering the variation of driver's weight during operation. The vibration of a heavy duty vehicle seat is largest in the frequency range between 2 Hz and 4 Hz, in the vertical direction; therefore, it is reasonable to focus on controlling low frequency vibration amplitudes and maintain the seat suspensions passivity at high frequency. Moreover, both the simulation and experimental results show that the active seat suspension with the proposed controller can effectively isolate unwanted vibration amplitudes below 4.5 Hz, when compared with a well-tuned passive seat suspension. The active controller has been further validated under bump and random road tests with both a 55 kg and a 70 kg loads. The bump road test demonstrated the controller has good transient response capabilities. The random road test result has been presented both in the time domain and the frequency domain. When with the above two loads, the controlled seat suspensions root-mean-square (RMS) accelerations were reduced by 45.5% and 49.5%, respectively, compared with a well-tuned passive seat suspension. The proposed active seat suspension controller has great potential and is very practical for application as it can significantly improve heavy duty driver's ride comfort.

Preventive effects of car safety seat use on clinical outcomes in infants and young children with road traffic injuries: A 7-year observational study.

PubMed

Park, Gwan Jin; Ro, Young Sun; Shin, Sang Do; Song, Kyoung Jun; Hong, Ki Jeong; Jeong, Joo

2018-06-01

Road traffic injury (RTI) is one of the major mechanisms of injury leading to high disability and case-fatality in infants and children. Proper car safety seat use can reduce fatal outcomes in pediatric patients with RTI; however, the use rate is still low. This study aimed to measure the preventive effects of car safety seat use on clinical outcomes among infants and young children injured from RTI. A multicenter cross-sectional study was conducted using the Emergency Department-based Injury In-depth Surveillance (EDIIS) registry from 23 EDs between Jan 2010 and Dec 2016. All pediatric patients who were under 6 years of age and who sustained RTI in a vehicle with fewer than 10-seats were eligible. Primary and secondary endpoints were intracranial injury and mortality. We calculated the adjusted odds ratio (AOR) of the car safety seat for related outcomes adjusting for potential confounders. Among 5545 eligible patients, 1452 (26.2%) patients were in car safety seats at the time of the crash (12.5% in 2010 to 33.9% in 2016, p-for-trend <0.01), and 104 (1.9%) patients had intracranial injuries. The patients using car safety seats were less likely to have intracranial injuries compared with the patients not using car safety seats (0.8% vs. 2.2%, AOR: 0.31 (0.17-0.57)). However, there was no significant difference in mortality between the two groups (0.4% vs. 0.6%, AOR: 0.50 (0.20-1.25)). Use of the car safety seat has significant preventive effects on intracranial injury. Public health efforts to increase use of car safety seats for infants and young children are needed to reduce the burden of RTI. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Discrepancies between knowledge and practice of childhood motor vehicle occupant safety in Nova Scotia--a population-based study.

PubMed

Yanchar, Natalie L; Kirkland, Susan A; LeBlanc, John C; Langille, Donald B

2012-03-01

To determine discrepancies between knowledge and practice of childhood motor vehicle restraints (CMVRs) and vehicle seating position amongst parents within the province of Nova Scotia. Random telephone survey. The Canadian province of Nova Scotia. Four hundred and twenty-six households with at least one child under the age of 12 years, totaling 723 children. The proportion of parents whose children who should be in a specific stage of CMVR and sitting in the rear seat of the vehicle, and who demonstrate correct knowledge of that restraint system and seating position, yet do not use that restraint system/seating position for their child (demonstrate practice discrepant from their knowledge). Awareness of what restraint system to use is good (>80%). However, knowledge of when it is safe to graduate to the next stage is low (30-55%), most marked for when to use a seatbelt alone. Awareness of the importance of sitting in the rear seat of a vehicle was universal. Discrepancies between knowledge and practice were most marked with booster seats and rear-seating of older children. Factors influencing incorrect practice (prematurely graduated to a higher-level restraint system than what is appropriate for age and weight) included lower household income, caregiver education level, and knowledge of when to graduate from forward-facing car seats and booster seats. Incorrect practice was also more commonly observed amongst children of weight and/or age approaching (but not yet reaching) recommended graduation parameters of the appropriate CMVR. Discrepancies between knowledge and practice are evident through all stages of CMVRs, but most marked with booster seats. The roles of lower socioeconomic status and gaps in CMVR legislation, in influencing discrepant practice, must be acknowledged and suggest the need for targeted education concurrent with development of comprehensive all-stages CMVR policies. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Availability, functionality, and use of seat belts in Beijing taxis prior to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

PubMed

Fleiter, Judy J; Gao, Liping; Qiu, Chen; Shi, Kan

2009-03-01

Use of driver seat belts and availability and functionality of passenger seat belts in a convenience sample of 231 Beijing taxis were examined in the months prior to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Driver and front passenger seat belt use was mandated in China from 2004 to help address the growing public health crisis of road trauma. Results from observations made by in-vehicle passengers revealed that 21.2% of drivers were correctly wearing a belt, approximately half were not, and one third were using the belt in a non-functional way. Over 3/4 of this sample of taxi drivers were unrestrained while working. The percentage of functionally available belts was higher for front than rear passengers (88.3% and 22.9%, respectively). This low rate of belt availability in rear seats calls into question the preparedness of the fleet to cater for the safety needs of foreign visitors to China, particularly those from countries with high levels of restraint use. Factors influencing the use/misuse of seat belts in China remain largely unexplored. Results of this pilot study support further investigations of barriers to using injury prevention mechanisms such as seat belts in less motorised countries.

The influence of active seating on car passengers' perceived comfort and activity levels.

PubMed

Hiemstra-van Mastrigt, S; Kamp, I; van Veen, S A T; Vink, P; Bosch, T

2015-03-01

New technologies have led to an increasingly sedentary lifestyle. Sedentary behaviour is characterised by physical inactivity and is associated with several health risks. This excessive sitting does not only take place in the office or at home, but also during daily commute. Therefore, BMW AG developed an active seating system for the back seat of a car, consisting of sensors in the back rest that register upper body movements of the passenger, with which the passenger controls a game. This study evaluated three different aspects of active seating compared to other tasks (reading, working on laptop, and gaming on tablet). First, discomfort and comfort perception were measured in a 30-minute driving test. Discomfort was very low for all activities and participants felt significantly more challenged, more fit and more refreshed during active seating. Second, heart rate was measured, indicating a light intensity, but nevertheless non-sedentary, activity. Third, average and variability in activity of six postural muscles was measured by electromyography (EMG), showing a higher muscle activity and higher muscle variability for active seating compared to other activities. Active seating might stimulate movements, thereby increasing comfort and well-being. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

Preferred seat orientation of senior high-school students.

PubMed

Tuttle, N; Barrett, R; Gass, E

2007-10-01

The height of the front of the seat is the primary determinant of appropriate seat size in the school setting. In the present study, this dimension was fixed at 445 mm and, using a brief adjustment period, students adjusted the angle of the seat to their preferred rear seat height (PRSH) under three fixed and one adjustable desk height conditions and for one desk height, under two time conditions. PRSH was significantly greater at an 800 mm desk height (454+/-14 mm) compared to 735 mm (447+/-15 mm) and 720 mm (444+/-16 mm). When desk height as well as rear seat height were adjustable, PRSH was 446+/-15 mm and preferred desk height 751+/-25 mm. Taller students or those with larger popliteal heights selected lower PRSHs at all desk heights, with PRSH more strongly related to popliteal height (r = -0.54 to -0.59) than stature (r = -0.44 to -0.50). No differences were found in PRSH between short (<5 min) and long (30 min) adjustment periods for the 735 mm desk height. The nearly horizontal seat positions found in this study were between those recommended by other authors.

Seatbelt and seatback control for occupant protection in frontal automotive collisions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mott, Michael; Sun, Zhen; Rajamani, Rajesh

2013-10-01

This paper investigates the potential benefits of an imminent collision prediction system for improving occupant protection in a frontal automotive crash. Knowledge of an impending unavoidable crash is assumed to be known 100 ms before the crash occurs. A three dof human occupant model is developed using a Lagrangian approach to represent occupant translation with respect to seat, torso rotation and neck rotation. The performance of traditional elastic seat belts is compared with that of an analytically calculated seat belt law in which the force values are calculated in real-time so as to just prevent collision with car interior. Simulations verify that the analytical seat belt force calculation results in less force on occupant for the same level of safety. Furthermore, results show that knowledge of a future collision can be used to pre-tension seat belts but can provide no additional benefits, if seat belts are the only means for active occupant protection. However, if seat tilt-back can be deployed using an on-off mechanism, such predictive knowledge of a future collision can provide significantly improved occupant protection in terms of preventing occupant collision with car interior.

Identifying strategies to improve the effectiveness of booster seat laws

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2008-05-01

The objective of this project was to identify strategies to improve the effectiveness of booster seat laws. The project explored the possible factors that relate to the use and nonuse of booster seats, and examined the attitudes of law enforcement of...

Guidelines to observe and estimate statewide seat belt use at night.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2010-03-01

Research has shown that nighttime seat belt use is lower than daytime use. There is also an overrepresentation : of fatal crashes at night. Therefore a proper estimate of statewide nighttime seat belt use would be beneficial to : understanding the pr...

23 CFR 1340.1 - Purpose.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... SURVEYS OF SEAT BELT USE General § 1340.1 Purpose. This part establishes uniform criteria for State surveys of seat belt use conducted under 23 U.S.C. 402, procedures for NHTSA approval of survey designs, and administrative requirements relating to State seat belt surveys. ...

23 CFR 1340.1 - Purpose.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... SURVEYS OF SEAT BELT USE General § 1340.1 Purpose. This part establishes uniform criteria for State surveys of seat belt use conducted under 23 U.S.C. 402, procedures for NHTSA approval of survey designs, and administrative requirements relating to State seat belt surveys. ...

23 CFR 1340.1 - Purpose.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... SURVEYS OF SEAT BELT USE General § 1340.1 Purpose. This part establishes uniform criteria for State surveys of seat belt use conducted under 23 U.S.C. 402, procedures for NHTSA approval of survey designs, and administrative requirements relating to State seat belt surveys. ...

Korean Affairs Report

DTIC Science & Technology

1986-09-25

will 22 be equipped with 2,000 seats, a swimming pool equipped with 2,100 seats, a pingpong gymnasium equipped with 3,000 seats, a badminton ...swimming, diving, water polo, and synchronized swimming can be held. The badminton gymnasium will be octagonal, a unique shape. This gymnasium, which

29 CFR 1926.602 - Material handling equipment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... Engineers J333a-1970, Operator Protection for Agricultural and Light Industrial Tractors. (ii) Seat belts... wheel tractors, bulldozers, off-highway trucks, graders, agricultural and industrial tractors, and... Society of Automotive Engineers, J386-1969, Seat Belts for Construction Equipment. Seat belts for...

29 CFR 1926.602 - Material handling equipment.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... Engineers J333a-1970, Operator Protection for Agricultural and Light Industrial Tractors. (ii) Seat belts... wheel tractors, bulldozers, off-highway trucks, graders, agricultural and industrial tractors, and... Society of Automotive Engineers, J386-1969, Seat Belts for Construction Equipment. Seat belts for...

North Carolina Seat Belt Law : questions commonly asked.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1999-09-21

Who is covered by the law? : All drivers and front seat passengers ages sixteen and : older are covered by the seat belt law. Children less than : age sixteen are covered under the North Carolina Child : Passenger Safety (CPS) Law. Revisions to the C...

Booster seat law enforcement : examples from Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Washington.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2010-02-01

The objective of this study was to evaluate the implementation of State booster seat laws : (enhanced child restraint laws) and examine the most effective strategies that law enforcement agencies can : use to enforce booster seat laws. The research i...

The incidence and factors associated with child safety seat misuse

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1984-12-01

This report presents the findings for a study on the misuse of child safety seats. Data were collected in 10 cities across the country at Hardee's Restaurants. Data collection involved observation of seat use and determination of factors associated w...

Installation of child safety seats in selected 1988-1989 model year automobiles

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1989-06-01

The study tested whether currently marketed child safety seats are difficult to install in current model automobiles. The study also tested whether once installed, the child seats remain securely fastened when rocked or tilted. Thirteen toddler and f...

Evaluation of the League General Insurance Company child safety seat distribution program

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1982-05-01

This report presents an evaluation of the child safety seat distribution initiated by the League General Insurance Company in June 1979. The program provides child safety seats as a benefit under the company's auto insurance policies to policy-holder...

14 CFR 23.1524 - Maximum passenger seating configuration.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Maximum passenger seating configuration. 23.1524 Section 23.1524 Aeronautics and Space FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF... Operating Limitations and Information § 23.1524 Maximum passenger seating configuration. The maximum...

Crashworthiness testing of Amtrak's traditional coach seat : safety of high-speed ground transportation systems

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1996-10-01

Tests have been conducted on Amtrak's traditional passenger seat to evaluate its performance under static and dynamic loading conditions. Quasi-static tests have been conducted to establish the load-deflection characteristics of the seat. Dynamic tes...

JPRS Report, Near East and South Asia, Lebanon

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-08-18

Tannus al- Naddaf . For the Greek Catholic seat in Zahlah: Ghassan Dib al- Naddaf , Ilyas Joseph Skaf. For the Sunni seat in Zahlah: Muhammad ’Ali al...Sunni seat in Mount Lebanon-al-Shuf: ’Ali Muhammad ’Ala’-al-Din. In a related matter, the name of Husayn Dib al- Naddaf was reported erroneously as a...candidate in the edition published two days ago. The candidate’s correct name is Ghassan Dib al- Naddaf for the Greek Catholic seat in Zahlah

Multilevel Vehicle Design: Fuel Economy, Mobility and Safety Considerations, Part B. Ground Vehicle Weight and Occupant Safety Under Blast Loading

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-05-11

UNCLASSIFIED 11 Occupant Model Inputs: Blast Pulse (apeak) Seat Cushion Foam Stiffness (sc) Seat EA System Stiffness (sEA) Outputs: Upper Neck Axial Force...Floor Pad Surrogate model from linear regression on 300 data points: Inputs: Blast Pulse (apeak) Seat Cushion Foam Stiffness (sc) Seat EA System...B Ground Vehicle Weight and Occupant Safety Under Blast Loading Steven Hoffenson, presenter (U of M) Panos Papalambros, PI (U of M) Michael

Measuring static seated pressure distributions and risk for skin pressure ulceration in ice sledge hockey players.

PubMed

Darrah, Shaun D; Dicianno, Brad E; Berthold, Justin; McCoy, Andrew; Haas, Matthew; Cooper, Rory A

2016-01-01

To determine whether sledge hockey players with physical disability have higher average seated pressures compared to non-disabled controls. Fifteen age-matched controls without physical disability and 15 experimental participants with physical disability were studied using a pressure mapping device to determine risk for skin pressure ulceration and the impact of cushioning and knee angle positioning on seated pressure distributions. Regardless of participant group, cushioning, or knee angle, average seated pressures exceeded clinically acceptable seated pressures. Controls had significantly higher average seated pressures than the disability group when knees were flexed, both with the cushion (p = 0.013) and without (p = 0.015). Knee extension showed significantly lower average pressures in controls, both with the cushion (p < 0.001) and without (p < 0.001). Placement of the cushion resulted in significantly lower average pressure in controls when knees were extended (p = 0.024) but not when flexed (p = 0.248). Placement of the cushion resulted in no difference in pressure (p = 0.443) in the disability group. Pressures recorded indicate high risk for skin ulceration. Cushioning was effective only in the control group with knees extended. That knee extension significantly lowered average seated pressures is important, as many sledge hockey players utilize positioning with larger knee flexion angles. Implications for Rehabilitation Ice sledge hockey is a fast growing adaptive sport. Adaptive sports have been associated with several positive improvements in overall health and quality of life, though may be putting players at risk for skin ulceration. Measured static seated pressure in sledges greatly exceeds current clinically accepted clinical guidelines. With modern improvements in wheelchair pressure relief/cushioning there are potential methods for improvement of elevated seated pressure in ice hockey sledges.

An analytic model of the in-line and cross-axis apparent mass of the seated human body exposed to vertical vibration with and without a backrest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zheng, Guangtai; Qiu, Yi; Griffin, Michael J.

2011-12-01

During vertical excitation of the seated human body there are vertical and fore-and-aft forces at the seat that are influenced by contact with a backrest, so it is desirable to take into account the effect of a backrest when developing models of the seated human body. Initially, a seven degree-of-freedom multi-body dynamic model was developed for the human body sitting with an upright posture unsupported by a backrest and exposed to vertical vibration. The model was optimized to fit the vertical apparent mass and the fore-and-aft cross-axis apparent mass measured on a seat. The model was then extended by the addition of vertical and fore-and-aft reaction forces to the upper lumbar spine to model the interaction between the human body and a backrest. By minimizing the least square error between experimental data and the analytical solution of the apparent masses on the seat and at the back, the human body model was able to represent both the vertical apparent mass and the fore-and-aft cross-axis apparent mass on the seat and at the back. Parameter sensitivity studies showed that the vertical apparent mass and the fore-and-aft cross-axis apparent mass on the seat and the backrest were all highly sensitive to the axial stiffness of the tissue beneath the pelvis. Pitch motion of the upper-body contributed to the vertical apparent mass and the fore-and-aft cross-axis apparent mass on the seat. The apparent mass at the back was more sensitive to the stiffness and damping of the lower back than the properties of the upper back.

Lightweight Seat Lever Operation Characteristics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rajulu, Sudhakar

1999-01-01

In 1999, a Shuttle crew member was unable to operate the backrest lever for the lightweight seat in microgravity. It is essential that crew members can adjust this backrest lever, which is titled forward during launch and then moved backward upon reaching orbit. This adjustment is needed to cushion the crew members during an inadvertent crash landing situation. JSCs Anthropometry and Biomechanics Facility (ABF) performed an evaluation of the seat controls and provided recommendations on whether the seat lever positions and operations should be modified. The original Shuttle seats were replaced with new lightweight seats whose controls were moved, with one control at the front and the other at the back. The ABF designed a 12-person experiment to investigate the amount of pull force exerted by suited subjects, when controls were placed in the front and back of the lightweight seat. Each subject was asked to perform the pull test at least three times for each combination of lever position and suit pressure conditions. The results showed that, in general, the subjects were able to pull on the lever at the back position with only about half the amount of force that they were able to exert on the lever at the front position. In addition, the results also showed that subjects wearing the pressurized suit were unable to reach the seat lever when it was located at the back. The pull forces on the front lever diminished about 50% when subjects wore pressurized suits. Based on these results from this study, it was recommended that the levers should not be located in the back position. Further investigation is needed to determine whether the levers at the front of the seat could be modified or adjusted to increase the leverage for crew members wearing pressurized launch/escape suits.

Kinematics of pediatric crash dummies seated on vehicle seats with realistic belt geometry.

PubMed

Klinich, Kathleen D; Reed, Matthew P; Ebert, Sheila M; Rupp, Jonathan D

2014-01-01

A series of sled tests was performed using vehicle seats and Hybrid-III 6-year-old (6YO) and 10YO anthropomorphic test devices (ATDs) to explore possibilities for improving occupant protection for children who are not using belt-positioning booster seats. Cushion length was varied from production length of 450 mm to a shorter length of 350 mm. Lap belt geometry was set to rear, mid, and forward anchorage locations that span the range of lap belt angles found in vehicles. Six tests each were performed with the 6YO and 10YO Hybrid III ATDs. One additional test was performed using a booster seat with the 6YO. The ATDs were positioned using an updated version of the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) seating procedure that positions the ATD hips further forward with longer seat cushions to reflect the effect of cushion length on posture that has been measured with child volunteers. ATD kinematics were evaluated using peak head excursion, peak knee excursion, the difference between peak head and peak knee excursion, and the maximum torso angle. Shortening the seat cushion improved kinematic outcomes, particularly for the 10YO. Lap belt geometry had a greater effect on kinematics with the longer cushion length, with mid or forward belt geometries producing better kinematics than the rearward belt geometry. The worst kinematics for both ATDs occurred with the long cushion length and rearward lap belt geometry. The improvements in kinematics from shorter cushion length or more forward belt geometry are smaller than those provided by a booster seat. The results show potential benefits in occupant protection from shortening cushion length and increasing lap belt angles, particularly for children the size of the 10YO ATD.

Booster Seat Effectiveness Among Older Children: Evidence From Washington State.

PubMed

Anderson, D Mark; Carlson, Lindsay L; Rees, Daniel I

2017-08-01

The American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended that children as old as 12 years use a booster seat when riding in motor vehicles, yet little is known about booster seat effectiveness when used by older children. This study estimated the association between booster use and injuries among children aged 8-12 years who were involved in motor vehicle crashes. Researchers analyzed data on all motor vehicle crashes involving children aged 8-12 years reported to the Washington State Department of Transportation from 2002 to 2015. Data were collected in 2015 and analyzed in 2016. Children who were in a booster seat were compared with children restrained by a seat belt alone. Logistic regression was used to adjust for potential confounders. In unadjusted models, booster use was associated with a 29% reduction in the odds of experiencing any injury versus riding in a seat belt alone (OR=0.709, 95% CI=0.675, 0.745). In models adjusted for potential confounders, booster use was associated with a 19% reduction in the odds of any injury relative to riding in a seat belt alone (OR=0.814, 95% CI=0.749, 0.884). The risk of experiencing an incapacitating/fatal injury was not associated with booster use. Children aged 8-12 years involved in a motor vehicle crash are less likely to be injured if in a booster than if restrained by a seat belt alone. Because only 10% of U.S. children aged 8-12 years use booster seats, policies encouraging their use could lead to fewer injuries. Copyright © 2017 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The influence of recovery posture on post-exercise hypotension in normotensive men.

PubMed

Raine, N M; Cable, N T; George, K P; Campbell, I G

2001-03-01

Postexercise hypotension may be the result of an impaired vasoconstrictor response. This hypothesis was investigated by examining the central and peripheral hemodynamic responses during supine and seated recovery after maximal upright exercise. After supine or seated baseline measurements, seven normotensive male volunteers completed a graded upright cycling protocol to volitional exhaustion. This was immediately followed by either supine or seated recovery. Measurements of pulsatile arterial blood pressure and central and peripheral hemodynamic variables recorded 30 min before exercise were compared with those taken throughout 60 min of recovery. Compared with baseline, mean arterial pressure (MAP) was reduced after exercise (P < 0.05) although the degree of change was not different between the supine (-9 +/- 4 mm Hg) and seated positions (-6 +/- 2 mm Hg). This change in MAP was associated with a reduction in diastolic blood pressure (DBP) (P < 0.05) and arterial pulse pressure (APP) (P < 0.01) for the supine and seated positions, respectively. The reduction in APP during seated recovery was accompanied by a decline in stroke volume (SV) (P < 0.05), not seen in the supine position, that limited the contribution of cardiac output (CO) to the maintenance of MAP. This effect of seated recovery was compensated by greater systemic (SVR) and regional vascular resistances in the forearm (FVR) and the forearm skin (SkVRA). There was also evidence of an augmented return of FVR and SkVRA to resting levels in the seated position after exercise. The lower peripheral resistance in the supine compared with seated recovery position suggests there is potential for greater vasoconstriction, although this is not evoked to increase blood pressure. This further suggests that the arterial baroreceptor reflex is reset to a lower operating pressure after exercise.

Prioritizing Safety with Seat Belts: The Unanswered Question.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Farrell, Elaine

1987-01-01

Reviews conflicting federal and state developments (including liability lawsuits) involving seat belt installation on school buses. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board differ on this issue, and several states are considering seat belt legislation or crashworthiness studies. Hints are…

Guidelines to observe and estimate statewide seat belt use at night : traffic tech.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2010-03-01

Previous research has found an overrepresentation of fatal : crashes at night, as well as substantially lower seat belt use : among occupants of passenger vehicles at night compared : to seat belt use during the day. An estimate of statewide : nightt...

77 FR 2344 - Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-01-17

... reduce traffic accidents and deaths, injuries, and property damage resulting there from. Such program... compliance requires submission of copies of relevant seat belt and child passenger protection statutes plan and/or reports on statewide seat belt enforcement and child seat education programs and possibly some...

Evaluation of Kansas and Missouri rural seat belt demonstrations.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2016-04-01

Research has shown seat belt use is lower in rural areas of the United States, which may be one reason fatalities are higher in these areas. NHTSA sponsored two State-level demonstration projects to increase seat belt use in rural areas of Kansas and...

Safety for Your Child: 6 Years

MedlinePlus

... the street without a grown-up. And Remember Car Safety Your child must now use a booster seat in the car. Always check to be sure that he or ... in the booster seat before you start the car. Your child should use a booster seat until ...

Year 1 of the Washington nighttime seat belt enforcement program : traffic tech.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2010-09-01

The first year of the Washington nighttime belt program : ran from May 2007 through May 2008. During this period, WTSC ran three, two-week nighttime seat belt enforcement : campaigns. The primary message of the ad was that extra : seat-belt-focuse...

Narrowing Your Seating Options.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vukovic, Vladimir

1998-01-01

Offers guidance on selecting appropriate seating furniture for outdoor facilities, arenas, auditoriums, and lecture rooms. Considerations such as beam mounting systems to facilitate laptop computer and campuswide networking use by students and chair durability and ergonomics are discussed as are tips for choosing a seating remanufacturing company.…

Mandatory seat belt use laws.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1985-01-01

The purposes of this study were to review mandatory seat belt use laws as they have been used around the world, to forecast the impact of such a law in Virginia, and, if appropriate, to propose a mandatory seat belt law for inclusion in the Code of V...

Increasing seat belt use among part-time users : messages and strategies

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1998-02-01

Data indicate discrepancies between many persons' perceptions of themselves as seat belt users, and their actual behavior. The data also suggest that instead of targeting non-users, a greater increase in the national rate of seat belt use may be achi...

Mandatory seat belt use.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1984-01-01

The purposes of this study were to review mandatory seat belt use laws as they have been used around the world, to forecast the impact of such a law in Virginia, and, if appropriate, to propose a mandatory seat belt law for inclusion in the Code of V...

Assessment of Rail Seat Abrasion Patterns and Environment

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2012-05-01

Rail seat abrasion (RSA) of concrete ties is manifested by the loss of material under the rail seat area and, in extreme cases, results in loss of rail clip holding power, reverse rail cant, and gauge widening. RSA was measured in several curves on t...

Cervical spine fractures and rear car seat restraints.

PubMed Central

Conry, B G; Hall, C M

1987-01-01

Two cases of potentially fatal cervical spine fractures in children who were inadequately restrained by malfunctioning car seat restraints are presented. Adequate parental maintenance of seat restraints and their readjustment when children change from wearing lightweight to thick, heavy clothing are imperative. PMID:3435162