Programmable variable spring member

1. A variable rate spring assembly comprising:

a housing defining a chamber;

a layer of compressible medium dispose within said chamber;

a layer of electro-reactive medium disposed within said chamber, wherein said layer of electro-reactive medium is different than said layer of compressible medium;

a coil assembly associated with said layer of electro-reactive medium;

a controller in communication with said coil assembly to control a magnetic field generated by said coil assembly; and

at least one attachment member movable relative to said housing.

2. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein said at least one attachment member moves relative to said housing proportionate to a compressibility of said layer of compressible medium and said layer of electro-reactive medium.

3. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein said layer of compressible medium and said layer of electro-reactive medium move within said chamber in response to energy input from said attachment member.

4. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein said housing includes a recess, and said layer of electro-reactive medium extends into said recess for limiting movement of said layer of electro-reactive medium relative to said housing.

5. The assembly of claim 4 , wherein said layer of electro-reactive medium locks into said recess preventing movement of said layer of electro-reactive medium relative to said housing.

6. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein said layer of compressible medium comprising at least two layers of compressible medium with one layer of compressible medium disposed above said layer of electro-reactive medium and another layer of compressible medium disposed below said electro-reactive medium.

7. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein said layer of compressible medium and said layer of electro-reactive medium are separated by a sealed plate movable relative to said housing.

8. The assembly of claim 7 , wherein said sealed plate defines a cross-sectional area for distributing a load placed on said variable rate spring assembly.

9. The assembly of claim 7 , including a plurality of said sealed plates, wherein each of said plurality of sealed plates are the same size.

10. The assembly of claim 7 , including a plurality of sealed plates, wherein at least one of said plurality of sealed plates is of a different size than another of said plurality of sealed plates.

11. The assembly of claim 7 , wherein said attachment member is attached to said sealed plate.

12. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein said controller varies electric current supplied to said coil assembly to vary compressibility characteristics of said layer of electro-reactive medium.

13. The assembly of claim 1 , comprising three layers of compressible medium and three layers of electro-reactive medium.

14. The assembly of claim 13 , wherein said three layers of compressible medium and said three layers of electro-reactive medium are alternated such that no two adjacent layers are identical.

15. The assembly of claim 1 , comprising a stiffness variable in response to said magnetic field applied to said layer of electro-reactive medium.

16. The assembly of claim 15 , wherein said stiffness of said variable rate spring assembly varies proportionately with a magnitude of said magnetic field.

17. The assembly of claim 1 , further including multiple layers of said compressible medium, and at least two of said multiple layers of compressible medium comprise different compressible medium.

18. The assembly of claim 1 , further including multiple layers of said electro-reactive medium, and at least two of said multiple layers of electro-reactive medium comprise different electro-reactive medium.

19. The assembly as recited in claim 1 , including a plate movable within said chamber relative to said housing, said plate preventing intermixing of said compressible medium and said electro-reactive medium.

20. The assembly as recited in claim 1 , wherein said at least one attachment member comprises a first attachment member and a second attachment member movable relative to said housing and each other.

21. A method of absorbing energy comprising the steps of:

a. separating adjacent layers of compressible medium and electro-reactive medium within a housing with movable plates, where said electro-reactive medium is different from said compressible medium;

b. attaching a first member movable relative to the housing to a first structure;

c. attaching a second member movable relative to the housing to a second structure movable relative to said first structure;

d. absorbing energy input from either of said first or second members in proportion to an overall compressibility of the adjacent layers of compressible medium and electro-reactive medium.

22. The method of claim 21 , comprising the step of creating a magnetic field associated with said electro-reactive medium, and varying said overall compressibility in proportion to a magnitude of said magnetic field.

23. The method of claim 22 , comprising varying said magnitude of said magnetic field in response to signals received by a controller indicative of changes in a predetermined condition.

24. The method of claim 21 , comprising the step of dispersing input energy over a surface of the compressible medium and the electro-reactive medium through said movable plates.

25. A variable rate spring assembly comprising:

a chamber defined within a housing;

a layer of dampening fluid;

a layer of electro-reactive fluid separated from said dampening fluid, where said electro-reactive fluid is different than said dampening fluid;

a plurality of plates movable within said chamber separating said layers;

a magnetic field generator adjacent said layer of electro-reactive fluid, said magnetic field generator generating a magnetic field for varying a dampening rate of said electro-reactive fluid; and

an attachment member movable relative to said housing according to a combined dampening rate of said dampening fluid and said layer of electro-reactive fluid.