Impact-injury-minimizing seat structure and methodology

1. A vehicle safety seat for use in a vehicle having a vehicle frame comprising

a fixed-position, anti-spring-back, broad-expanse, generally planar seatpan mounted above and spaced from the vehicle frame having a generally upwardly facing, fixed-position support surface, adapted to provide effective underlying support for an overlying seat-occupant cushioning structure disposed above said support surface,

a triggerable acceleration structure disposed cooperatively relative to, and over and above, said support surface in a manner whereby said triggerable acceleration structure is operatively disposed between said support surface and any person occupying the seat, triggerable to accelerate such a person, translationally, and without rotation, upwardly away from, and relative to, said fixed-position support surface, thus to increase the vertical distance between such a person and said support surface, and

trigger structure responsive to a preselected downward deceleration of said fixed-position seatpan to trigger said acceleration structure.

2. The seat of claim 1 , wherein said acceleration structure includes fluid-extensible structure.

3. The seat of claim 2 , wherein said fluid-extensible structure takes the form of an inflatable air bag.

4. The seat of claim 1 which further includes an acceleration-rate-sensitive cushioning structure operatively interposed said acceleration structure and any person occupying the seat.

5. The seat of claim 4 , wherein said acceleration-rate-sensitive cushioning structure is viscoelastic.

6. A vehicle-associated, seated-occupant, catastrophic-impact safety practice comprising

providing a non-springy seatpan for carrying the load of a seat occupant,

mounting the seatpan on a seat frame, which is fixed to a vehicle floor, wherein the seatpan is spaced apart from and above the vehicle floor;

detecting downward deceleration of such an occupant, and

on such detected deceleration exceeding a predetermined threshold value, and utilizing the provided seatpan as a non-moveable reaction structure, explosively upwardly, and translationally without rotation, accelerating the occupant relative to the seatpan thus to reduce that occupant's downward vertical velocity.

7. The safety practice of claim 6 which further utilizes acceleration-rate-sensitivity in association with said explosively upwardly accelerating of a seat occupant relative to the seatpan.

8. A vehicle safety seat for use in a vehicle having a vehicle frame comprising

a seat frame fixed to the vehicle frame,

a fixed-position, anti-spring-back, broad-expanse, generally planar seatpan mounted on said seat frame, and carried thereby above and spaced from the vehicle frame, and having a generally upwardly facing, fixed-position support surface,

a triggerable acceleration structure disposed cooperatively relative to, and over and above, said support surface in a manner whereby said triggerable acceleration structure is operatively disposed between said support surface and any person occupying the seat, triggerable to accelerate such a person, translationally, and without rotation, upwardly away from, and relative to, said fixed-position support surface, thus to increase the vertical distance between such a person and said support surface, and

trigger structure responsive to a preselected downward deceleration of said fixed-position seatpan to trigger said acceleration structure.

9. The seat of claim 8 , wherein said acceleration structure includes fluid-extensible structure.

10. The seat of claim 9 , wherein said fluid-extensible structure takes the form of an inflatable air bag.

11. The seat of claim 8 which further includes an acceleration-rate-sensitive cushioning structure operatively interposed said acceleration structure and any person occupying the seat.

12. The seat of claim 11 , wherein said acceleration-rate-sensitive cushioning structure is viscoelastic.