GB2344080A

GB2344080A - Device for reducing the damage to a person or animal struck by the front end of a vehicle

Info

Publication number: GB2344080A
Application number: GB9826064A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Brian Michael Temple
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1998-11-27
Filing date: 1998-11-27
Publication date: 2000-05-31
Also published as: GB9826064D0

Abstract

The device comprises: a resilient catchment member 20 adapted to be mounted 21 at or adjacent the front end of the vehicle and capable of being deployed from a rest, furled or collapsed state to a deployed state at which it is deployed into a position at which it is adapted to receive at least part of the body of the animal or person; and a deployment mechanism 50 for deploying the catchment member 20; and an actuation mechanism 10,11 responsive to contact with an animal or person for actuating the deployment mechanism. The actuation mechanism may comprise a lateral impact sensing bar 10, rearward movement upwardly pivoting two side arms 21 carrying a sheet 20, such being aided by a spring; alternatively bar 10 movement actuates a pneumatic ram 50. Other embodiments include pneumatically extendable telescopic tubes together with a wound sheet in the bumper or an inflatable bag in the bonnet front or a pivoting flexible bonnet with an extended nose.

Description

TITLE: DEVICE The present invention relates to a device, notably a safety device for motor vehicle.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION: Great importance has been attached by motor car manufacturers, governments and safety organisations to the safety of people travelling in cars and other road vehicles. For example, cars are designed to provide many safety features for the driver and passengers within a car, such as the removal of hard sharp corners to the dashboard, air bags and strengthened cages for the passenger compartment. As a result, the occupants in a car are largely protected from harm in the event of an accident.

However, many accidents involve the car striking a pedestrian and the exterior of the car offers little protection to a pedestrian. For example, the front bumpers of a car are usually hard surfaces, even if deformable upon impact with another car, and are capable of causing serious damage to the legs of a pedestrian, even at a slow speed impact. Often, the impact is sufficiently severe to throw the pedestrian onto the bonnet of the car, where further impact damage may occur.

It has been proposed to mount a series of parallel horizontal bars, known as kangaroo bars, at the front of the car to provide protection to the front of the car in the event of striking an animal. Such kangaroo bars are usually formed from metal tubing and are mounted on the chassis of the car by means of substantial metal frames. In an attempt to reduce the damage that such bars would cause to a pedestrian in an impact accident, it has been proposed that the bars be covered with a foamed plastic sleeve. However, this does little to reduce the actual damage caused to the legs of a pedestrian by the impact of the bars and the bumper and does nothing to protect the upper body of the pedestrian from impact damage as he or she is thrown onto the bonnet or windscreen.

The problem of lack of protection for pedestrians in an impact with a car has recently been recognised by authorities within the EU and it has been suggested that regulations be introduced by the European Commission requiring motor manufacturers to design the front ends of cars to be more rounded and to make the bonnets of the cars from a soft material so as to reduce such impact damage to pedestrians. However, no concrete proposals for such designs have been made and I do not believe that they will offer significant protection against impact damage to pedestrians. Furthermore, such designs could well affect the visual appearance of the car and raise major technical problems in devising a bonnet material which is capable of resisting the forces normally encountered due to wind flow over the bonnet and the flexing of the bonnet during normal driving and use and yet be soft enough to reduce damage to a pedestrian thrown onto the bonnet in an impact accident.

I have devised a safety device which reduces the above problems and provides significant protection to a pedestrian in the event of an impact accident with a car.

SUMMEY OF THE INVENTION : Accordingly, the present invention provides a device for reducing the damage to a person or animal struck by the front end of a vehicle, which device comprises: a. a resilient catchment member adapted to be mounted at or adjacent the front end of the vehicle and capable of being deployed from a rest, furled or collapsed state to a deployed state at which it is deployed into a position at which it is adapted to receive at least part of the body of the animal or person; and b. a deployment mechanism for deploying the catchment member; and c. an actuation mechanism responsive to contact with an animal or person for actuating the deployment mechanism.

The invention also provides a vehicle carrying at or adjacent the front end thereof a device of the invention.

The invention can be applied to a wide range of types of vehicle which can potentially impact with an animal or person. For convenience, the present invention will be described in terms of a motor car although it will be appreciated that the invention can be applied to other forms of motor vehicle.

Furthermore, the safety device of the invention need not be carried at the forward end of the vehicle, but could be carried at the rearward end of the vehicle so as to provide protection for an animal or person from a vehicle which is reversing. The invention thus provides a means for protecting pedestrians when a vehicle is reversing and the driver cannot see what is immediately behind the body of the truck or other vehicle and lies within the intended path of reversal. The term front is therefore used to denote the leading end of the vehicle in its intended direction of motion. If desired, a device of the invention may be mounted at each end of the vehicle.

The catchment member is configured so that it cushions the impact of a body as it is caught by the catchment member.

This may be achieved by the design of the framework or other support by which the member is supported in the deployed state and/or the catchment member can be one which flexes or collapses under the load of the body.

Thus, the cushion effect can be achieved by mounting an inextensible netting, sheet or other form of catchment member upon a flexible frame or support arms which are raised by the deployment mechanism; or by the use of elastic straps, netting, sheet or other elastic members to form the catchment member itself, for example a reticulate netting formed from rubber strips or a rubber sheet; by the use of a depressible support mechanism, for example a gas strut or spring mechanism, to hold the catchment member or its support means in its deployed position; or by the use of a collapsible catchment member such as an air bag which is rapidly inflated and from which air is expressed through bleed openings under the load of a body; or any combination of these. The catchment member may be given a padded, for example foamed plastic, surface to further cushion the impact of a body on the member. Where an inflatable bag or the like is used, there may be no need to provide support arms or the like to deploy the bag, since inflation of the bag, for example using explosive gas inflation from a storage box across the front of the car, may form a sufficiently self supporting structure. In a further alternative, one or more body panels of the front end of the car may provide the catchment member. For example, the bonnet of the car can be moved from a rest position at which it forms part of the overall body shape of the car, but which can be tilted to rise and form a surface located in front of the windscreen which catches the body of a pedestrian and prevents it striking the windscreen. In such a form of the catchment member, the body panel (s) can be shaped and/or provided with a shaped resilient surface to provide a cushioned area to receive the body of the pedestrian.

For convenience, the invention will be described hereinafter in terms of a netting catchment member made from woven or non-woven strips of natural or synthetic rubber and extending between two side support arms. If desired, the netting may be formed with a catenary to it both transversely and/or longitudinally so that the netting inherently guides a body towards the deepest portion of the catenary and away from the support arms.

This catenary may be configured so that the netting conforms to the shape of the car bonnet over which it is to lie when not in use and may be held taut against the bonnet as the support mechanism, for example the support arms, adopts its fully retracted position.

The deployment mechanism can take a wide range of forms.

Thus, the deployment mechanism can take the form of a pair of side support arms carrying the lateral edges of the catchment netting which are pivoted to rise from a rest position at which they lie against the curve of the bonnet or other frontal body panel of the car to the deployed position at which they are inclined upwardly and rearwardly at an angle of from 30 to 80 to the horizontal. Such side arms can be housed in the gap between the bonnet panel and the side wings so that they do not significantly detract from the visual impact of the car's body shape.

Alternatively, the catchment netting can be carried by two lateral telescopic members which rise and fall substantially vertically from the bumper of the car to deploy and retract the netting from a roller or other net storage mechanism. Such telescopic members may be in the form of nesting tubular members or in the form of spirally wound spring members which are released to uncoil and form generally upright support arms.

There may be one or more support arms at each side of the netting and at one or more intermediate or transverse positions. However, for convenience, the invention will be described in terms of a support arm to each side of the netting without any intermediate or transverse support arms, since the omission of support arms within the plan area of the netting allows the netting to deform freely in its central area to dissipate but contain the energy of a body being caught in the net.

The deployment mechanism can incorporate springs, gas struts or other biasing means which bias the mechanism towards its fully deployed position; and such means can be actuated upon actuation of the deployment mechanism. For example, the pivoting of the side arms can be assiste by a pneumatic ram which is actuated by the same mechanism which actuates pivoting of the support arms.

Preferably, the support arms are secured in their rest position by mechanical or other locks to reduce the risk of premature release of the arms. Such locks can be provided by frangible lateral projections from the bonnet panel, which overlie the support arms in grooves to each side of the bonnet. Upon actuation of the device, the support arms or some other component operatively associated therewith are forced upwards and break the frangible projections so as to permit the arms to pivot out of the grooves and into the deployed position. The use of such a frangible member to retain the support arms in the rest position requires that the bonnet panel or the frangible projections carried by it are renewed in the case of an impact accident, thus ensuring that the vehicle can be inspected for other damage arising from the accident before it can be driven without the risk that the device will accidentally deploy because the frangible members have not been replaced.

For convenience, the invention will be described hereinafter in terms of support arms which pivot upwardly about a pivot point or points adjacent to the front edge of the bonnet from a rest position adjacent the line of the lateral edges of the bonnet of the car.

The support arms are deployed in response to actual or imminent contact with a body lying in the path of the vehicle. The presence of the body can be detected by suitable optical or electro-optic means or other proximity sensors so as to emit a signal when a body is detected within a given distance of the vehicle. This signal then actuates the gas struts, pneumatic rams or other means which cause the support arms to pivot and deploy the catchment member. However, such proximity sensors may be accidentally actuated during parking of the car or other manoeuvres when the car is deliberately approached close to a stationary object.

It is therefore preferred that the deployment mechanism is actuated by a contact sensor which detects actual contact with a body in the path of the vehicle. Thus, for example, a transverse bar can be mounted across the front of the car so that it engages the legs of a person in the path of the vehicle before they are struck by the solid structures of the car. Such a transverse bar moves rearwardly under the impact with the legs of the person and thus absorbs some of the energy of the impact or the bar on the legs. If desired, the bar can be formed from or can have a surface layer of a foamed plastic or other resilient material to further cushion the impact of the bar on the legs. Alternatively, the transverse bar can take the form of a forwardly projecting honeycomb structure which permits cooling air to reach the radiator of the vehicle whilst providing a cushioning effect to the transverse contact sensing mechanism. Preferably, the transverse bar extends for the full width of the car and can be incorporated into the structure of the front bumper so as to minimise the effect on the visual appearance of the vehicle.

If desired, the transverse bar or other contact sensor mechanism can incorporate a mechanism by which it is moved forward once the vehicle reaches a given speed, say five miles per hour, so that the contact sensor is carried ahead of the vehicle when the vehicle is in motion. This effectively increases the distance ahead of the vehicle at which contact with the legs of a person in the path of the vehicle can be detected. This increases the time over which the catchment member can be deployed into a position at which it acts to restrain the body of a person and reduce the risk that the body will strike the windscreen of the vehicle. Such forward movement can be achieved by any suitable mechanism linked to a speed of rotation detector on the wheel drive mechanism, for example a shaft encoder detecting the speed of rotation of a drive shaft to one of the driven wheels of the vehicle. Typically, such a mechanism will actuate a hydraulic ram or other forward transport mechanism.

If desired, the device of the invention can incorporate more than one impact sensor. For example, the sensor can be provided by a series of horizontal bars similar to a kangaroo bar, except that the bars are deliberately designed to move rearwardly upon impact with a body.

Alternatively, a single transverse bar can be subdivided into a number of sections and each section deflects independently of the others to actuate the deployment mechanism. For example, each section of the bar can be mounted upon a vertical pivot pin so that only that section or sections engaging the body are deflected and pivot about the pivot pin to actuate the deployment mechanism.

For convenience, the invention will be described in terms of a single transverse bar extending across the front of the car as the impact sensor.

The transverse bar is deflected rearwardly upon engagement with the legs or other parts of the body of a person in the path of travel of the vehicle. The rearward movement of the transverse bar may be linear, as when the bar is mounted by two or more horizontal piston and cylinder arrangements. Alternatively, the movement may be achieved by pivoting about a horizontal or vertical pivot point. This movement can actuate a switch or other mechanism which actuates the deployment mechanism as described below. Alternatively, the movement of the sensor bar can be mechanically interlinked with the deploying movement of the side arms or other support for the catchment member. Preferably, this is achieved by a lever linkage or by forming the supports carrying the transverse bar as extensions of the catchment member itself or of the support arms for the catchment member.

As the transverse bar is moved rearwardly by contact with the legs of a person, it causes the support mechanism to pivot upwardly to deploy the catchment member in the path of the body of the person as it is thrown towards the bonnet or windscreen of the car. Such a pivot mechanism provides a simple and effective means with the minimum of moving parts or other components by which the sensing of a person and the deployment of the catchment member can be achieved. If desired, the relative movement of the transverse bar and the catchment member or its support arms can be geared so that the catchment member is fully deployed before the transverse bar reaches the extreme of its pivot travel. Such gearing can be achieved by suitable eccentric mounting of linkage levers between the transverse bar and the support arms or by the use of toothed or other gears in the linkage between the transverse bar and the support arms to give the amplification of the movement of the support arms relative to the movement of the transverse bar.

In a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, the catchment member is provided by the bonnet of the vehicle which is mounted by two pin members at each side of the bonnet in sliding engagement with two slots in the chassis or other support for the bonnet. The two slots diverge from one another so that as the pin in one slot moves rearwardly when the front lip of the bonnet contacts a person, the other pin is carried upwardly with respect to the first by the other slot and thus causes the bonnet to pivot upwardly to form a cushioned surface adapted to receive the head and shouldrs of the person and thus protect them from impact with the windscreen of the vehicle.

For convenience, the invention will be described hereinafter in terms of the use of a rearwardly pivoting transverse bar mounted upon axially forward extensions of the support arms of the catchment member.

The movement of the transverse bar may provide the sole driving force by which the catchment member is deployed.

However, this may impose excessive energy requirements on the device and it will usually be preferred to provide springs, gas struts, pneumatic rams or other mechanisms by which the catchment member is deployed and that these are actuated by the initial movement of the transverse bar or of the support arms. For example, a proximity sensor may be used to detect initial movement of the transverse bar and a signal from this sensor used to actuate the deployment mechanism. As indicated above, the deployment mechanism preferably causes the catchment member to be deployed into its fully deployed position before the transverse bar impact sensor has reached the full extent of its rearward travel. Where the deployment mechanism operates independently of the rate of movement of the transverse bar, for example because it is driven by an independent drive mechanism, this can deploy the catchment member faster than the transverse bar moves.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS : A preferred form of the device of the invention will now be described by way of illustration only with respect to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a diagrammatic side view of the device in position on a car in its stored position; Figure 2 is a plan view of the device of Figure 1; Figures 3 and 4 show the device Figure 1 in progressively deployed states; and Figures 5 to 8 illustrate alternative forms of the device of Figure 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION: A car comprises a front bumper 1, a bonnet 2 over the engine bay and a windscreen 3 at the rearward end of the bonnet 2. In a conventional car, if a pedestrian is hit by the bumper 1, the initial impact often breaks the leg (s) of the pedestrian. If the impact is severe, the pedestrian will be thrown onto the smooth surface of the bonnet 2 and against the windscreen 3, sustaining further injuries, notably to the head and upper thorax.

In the device of the invention there is a transverse impact sensing bar 10, which may form part of the leading edge of the front bumper 1 for aesthetic reasons. The bar 10 can be provided with a foamed plastic or other resilient front face (not shown) to cushion the impact with the pedestrian. The bar 10 is mounted so that it can be deflected rearwardly upon engagement with a person. As shown in Figure 1, this can be achieved by mounting the bar 10 by arms 11 upon pivot pins 12 so that it swings or pivots rearwardly when it engages the pedestrian.

Friction washers or other damping means (not shown) can be incorporated into the pivot mounting to minimise movement of the transverse bar until at least a minimum load is applied to the bar.

The catchment member takes the form of a rubber or other elastic sheet 20 supported by two side arms 21. The sheet 20 is sufficiently large to catch and retain the body of a grown man and will usually extend for the full exposed area of the bonnet so as visually to provide a second skin to the bonnet. The arms 21 can be formed integrally with or interlinked with bar 10 so that the side arms move with the bar 10. However, it will usually be preferred to provide the arms 21 with driving means, such as coil springs, gas struts and the like, which pivot the side arms 21 about a pivot point at or adjacent the front edge of the bonnet 2. As shown in Figure 4, a shaft 22 may extend across the front edge of the bonnet and the side arms 21 are pivotally mounted on that shaft with a coil spring 23 journalled upon the shaft providing the driving force by which the side arms 21 are caused to deploy from their rest position in grooves 24 lying to either side of the bonnet 2. The side arms 21 are retained in the grooves 24 by frangible or releasable locking members 40 shown diagrammatically in Figures 1 to 4. The catchment sheet 20 is held taut against the outer surface of the bonnet 2 when the side arms 21 are located in the grooves 24 and the locking members 40 engaged therewith so that the sheet 20 behaves visually and aerodynamically as if it were an outer skin of the bonnet 2.

The side arms 21 are released from the locking means 40 and pivot into the deployed position shown in Figure 4 when the bar 10 engages the legs or body of a person in the path of the car. The release of the side arms 21 from the locking members 40 can be achieved mechanically, for example by the engagement of the pivot arms of bar 10 engaging the front ends of the side arms to draw them forward as the bar 10 pivots rearwardly as shown in Figure 3. The rearward ends of the side arms 21 are thus drawn out of engagement with the locking members 40 and the arms 21 can pivot upwardly under the action of spring 23. Alternatively or in addition, the movement of bar 10 upon the impact with the body of the person can be detected by a suitable switch or other sensor. This emits a signal to a compressed air ram 50 which pivots arms 21 about the pivot point of shaft 22. The locking members 40 can be in the form of breakable lugs which are broken when the arms 21 are pivoted by the ram 50 to allow the arms to adopt the deployed position shown in Figure 4.

In the above embodiments of the invention, the catchment sheet 20 is raised by pivoting side arms. However, in the embodiment shown in Figure 5, the side arms 21 are in the form of telescopic tubes 60 mounted in the bumper 1 and the sheet 20 is wound upon a storage roller 61 mounted within the bumper so that the major parts of the device of the invention are hidden within the bumper. The transverse bar 10 actuates a compressed air cylinder or the like (not shown) to eject the tubes 60 from their telescoped configuration into the erected tubes as shown dotted in Figure 5, carrying the sheet 20 with them.

In place of a sheet or netting catchment member, an air bag 70 may be used as shown in Figure 6. This can be housed within a storage chamber 71 located along the leading edge of the bonnet 2 having a detachable or rupturable cover 72. The air bag 70 is explosively inflated when the transverse impact bar 10 moves when it engages the body of a person. The bag is shaped so that it provides a deformable cushion against which the body of the person impacts. This cushion can deploy as a vertical wall as shown in Figure 6 which deflects rearwardly when the body of the person impacts against it. However, it may be preferred to deploy the cushion over the surface of the bonnet 2 as shown dotted in Figure 6, in which case the bag is formed so that it inflates to a wedge shape so that the exposed, upper face of the cushion simulates the catchment sheet of the device of Figure 1.

In the form of device shown in Figures 7 and 8, the bonnet 80 of a car is extended forwardly to provide a nose portion 81 which acts as the impact sensing means. The bonnet is made from a structural plastic or a rubber coated deformable metal sheet so as to provide a deformable member which will cushion the impact of a person's body against the bonnet. The nose 81 can have a transverse foam plastic portion (not shown) to cushion impact with the legs of a person in the path of the car.

The bonnet 80 is mounted by two laterally extending pins 82,83 at each side thereof which are engaged in a lower forward slot 84 and a rearward upwardly sloping second slot 85 respectively, the pins being carried by the bonnet and engaging in slots in an adjacent body member or in part of the chassis of the car, or vice versa.

The bonnet 80 is retained in its closed, rest, position shown in Figure 7 by a conventional bonnet catch or catches at the rearward end thereof which are released by a solenoid or other mechanism (not shown) when an imminent or actual impact with a person is detected.

When the nose 81 of the bonnet strikes a person, this causes the bonnet 80 to move as a whole rearwardly from its closed position shown in Figure 7. Pin 82 travels rearwardly in slot 84 and pin 83 simultaneously travels upwardly along slot 85 causing the bonnet to pivot raising the rear edge of the bonnet so that the bonnet forms an inclined surface between the person and the windscreen as shown in Figure 8. If desired, slot 84 can be inclined downwardly to increase the divergence between the slots and hence the rate at which the bonnet pivots as the pins 82 and 83 travel in their respective slots. Preferably, slot 85 is curved so that initial pivoting of the bonnet is slow whilst the centre of gravity of the bonnet is furthest away from pin 82. However, as the bonnet pivots, its centre of gravity moves towards pin 82 and a smaller force is required to pivot the bonnet. The curve of slot 85 thus applies the rearward force of the impact in a mechanically efficient manner to achieve an accelerating movement of the bonnet. The catch (es) securing the bonnet in its closed position can be released by any suitable mechanism when actual or imminent impact with the person on the nose of the bonnet is detected. Such a design provides a simple mechanism for detecting impact with a person and for deploying the catchment member in response to that impact and uses the mechanical advantage achieved by the relative position and inclination of the slots 84 and 85 to provide the necessary mechanical advantage and gearing to achieve rapid deployment of the bonnet to form the catchment member.

Claims

Claims 1. A safety device for reducing the damage to a person or animal struck by the front end of a vehicle, which device comprises: a. a resilient catchment member adapted to be mounted at or adjacent the front end of the vehicle and capable of being deployed from a rest, furled or collapsed state to a deployed state at which it is deployed into a position at which it is adapted to receive at least part of the body of the animal or person ; and b. a deployment mechanism for deploying the catchment member; and c. an actuation mechanism responsive to contact with an animal or person for actuating the deployment mechanism.
2. A saftey device as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the catchment member in a deployed state is configured so that it cushions the impact of a body as it is caught by the catchment member.
3. A safety device as claimed in Claim 2, wherein the cushioning is provided by a framework or support arms that support the catchment member in the deployed state and that flex or collapse under the load of the body.
4. A safety device as claimed in Claim 2 or Claim 3, wherein the catchment member comprises an inextensible netting, sheet or other form of catchment member mounted upon the framework or support arms and which are raised by the deployment mechanism into the deployed state.
5. A safety device as claimed in Claim 2 or Claim 3, wherein elastic straps, netting, sheet or other elastic members form the catchment member itself and provide cushioning.
6. A safety device as claimed in claim 2 or Claim 3, wherein the catchment member is formed from a reticulate netting formed from rubber strips or a rubber sheet which provide cushioning.
7. A safety device as claimed in Claim 2 or Claim 3, wherein the catchment member is formed from a depressible support mechanism that provides cushioning and which holds the catchment member or its support means in its deployed position
8. A safety device as claimed in Claim 7, wherein the depressible support mechanism is a gas strut or spring mechanism.
9. A saftey device as claimed in Claim 2 or Claim 3, wherein the catchment member that is collapsible to provide cushioning.
10. A safety device as claimed in Claim 2 or Claim 3, wherein the catchment member is formed from a cushioning air bag.
11. A safety device as claimed in Claim 10, wherein the air bag is housed within a storage chamber located along a leading edge of a vehicle bonnet.
12. A safety device as claimed in Claim 11, wherein the airbag deploys a vertical wall which deflects rearwardly when the body of the person impacts against it.
13. A safety device as claimed in Claim 11, wherein the air bag deploys as a wedge over the surface of the vehicle bonnet 2.
14. A safety device as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the catchment member has a padded surface to further cushion the impact of a body on the member.
15. A safety device as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein one or more body panels of the front end of the vehicle provide the catchment member.
16. A safety device as claimed in Claim 15, wherein the or one of the body panels is a bonnet of the vehicle that can be moved from a rest position at which it forms part of the overall body shape of the vehicle, to a tilted and raised position in which it forms a surface located in front of a windscreen which catches the body and prevents it striking the windscreen.
17. A safety device as claimed in Claim 15 or Claim 16, wherein the body panel (s) are shaped and/or provided with a shaped resilient surface to provide a cushioned area to receive the body of the pedestrian.
18. A safety device as claimed in Claim 2 or Claim 3, wherein the catchment member comprises netting, sheet or another form of catchment member mounted on support arms which support the catchment member in the deployed state, and which are raised by the deployment mechanism from a rest state to the deployed state, said support arms being secured in their rest state by mechanical or other locks to reduce the risk of premature release of the arms.
19. A safety device as claimed in Claim 18, wherein the locks are provided by frangible lateral projections from a bonnet panel, which overlie the support arms in grooves to each side of the bonnet.
20. A safety device as claimed in Claim 21 or Claim 22, wherein the support arms pivot upwardly about a pivot point or points adjacent to the front edge of a bonnet panel from a rest position adjacent the line of the lateral edges of the bonnet.
21. A safety device as claimed in any one of Claims 18 to Claim 20, wherein the support arms are housed in a gap between a bonnet panel and side wings so that the support arms do not significantly detract from the visual impact of the vehicle's body shape.
22. A safety device as claimed in any one of Claims 18 to 21, wherein the catchment member comprises a netting formed with a catenary to it both transversely and/or longitudinally so that the netting inherently guides a body towards the deepest portion of the catenary and away from the support arms.
23. A safety device as claimed in Claim 22, wherein the catenary is configured so that the netting conforms to the shape of a vehicle bonnet over which it is to lie when not in use.
24. A safety device as claimed in Claim 23, wherein the catenary is held taut against the bonnet as the support arms adopt a rest position.
25. A safety device as claimed in any one of Claims 18 to 24, wherein the support arms in the deployed position are inclined upwardly and rearwardly at an angle of from 30 to 80 to the horizontal.
26. A safety device as claimed in any one of Claims 18 to 24, wherein the catchment member comprises a netting carried by two lateral telescopic members which rise and fall substantially vertically from a bumper of the vehicle to deploy and retract the netting from a roller or other net storage mechanism.
27. A safety device as claimed in Claim 26, wherein the telescopic members are in the form of nesting tubular members.
28. A safety device as claimed in Claim 26, wherein the telescopic members are in the form of spirally wound spring members which are released to uncoil and form generally upright support arms.
29. A safety device as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the deployment mechanism incorporates biasing means which bias the mechanism towards a fully deployed position.
30. A safety device as claimed in Claim 29, wherein the biasing means is a pneumatic ram.
31. A safety device as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the actuation mechanism comprises optical or electro-optic means or other proximity sensors sensitive to the presence of a body about to collide with the vehicle.
32. A safety device as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 30, wherein the actuation mechanism comprises a contact sensor which detects actual contact with a body in the path of the vehicle.
33. A safety device as claimed in Claim 32, wherein the contact sensor includes a transverse bar mounted across the front of the vehicle so that it engages the legs of a person in the path of the vehicle before the person is struck by solid structures of the vehicle.
34. A safety device as claimed in Claim 33, wherein the bar comprises a forwardly projecting honeycomb structure which permits cooling air to reach a radiator of the vehicle whilst providing a cushioning effect.
35. A safety device as claimed in any one of Claims 32 to Claim 34, wherein the contact sensor mechanism incorporates a mechanism by which it is moved forward once the vehicle reaches a given speed.
36. A safety device as claimed in any one of Claims 32 to 35, wherein the contact sensor mechanism moves rearwardly upon impact with a body.
37. A safety device as claimed in any one of Claims 32 to 35, wherein the contact sensor mechanism is subdivided into a number of sections and each section deflects independently of the others to actuate the deployment mechanism.
38. A safety device as claimed in any one of Claims 32 to 37, wherein the contact sensor mechanism includes a bar mounted upon a vertical pivot pin so that only that section or sections engaging the body are deflected and pivot about the pivot pin to actuate the deployment mechanism.
39. A safety device as claimed in Claim 36, wherein the contact sensor mechanism includes a lever linkage mechanism to activate the deployment of the catchment member when the contact sensor mechanism moves rearwardly upon impact with a body.
40. A safety device as claimed in Claim 36, wherein the catchment member is provided by a bonnet of the vehicle which is mounted by two pin members at each side of the bonnet in sliding engagement with two diverging slots in a support for the bonnet, so that when the contact sensor mechanism moves rearwardly upon impact with a body, the pin in one slot moves rearwardly and the other pin is carried upwardly with respect to the first pin to cause the bonnet to pivot upwardly to form a cushioned surface.
41. A safety device as claimed in Claim 36, wherein the deployment mechanism operates independently of the rate of movement of the transverse bar so that this can deploy the catchment member faster than the transverse bar moves.
42. A vehicle carrying at or adjacent the front end thereof a safety device as claimed in any preceding claim.
43. A safety device substantially as herein described, with reference to or as shown in the accompanying drawings.
44. A vehicle substantially as herein described, with reference to or as shown in the accompanying drawings.