Gas damped deceleration switch

摘要

A gas damped deceleration switch for a vehicle performs repeatedly in a consistent manner in response to decelerating crash forces acting transversely to the direction of movement of the vehicle or traversely to the axis of the deceleration switch. A mass assembly comprising a mass and a damping member is supported for movement along the axis of the deceleration switch in response to deceleration of the vehicle. A spiral spring is connected to the mass assembly at a location in a plane which extends perpendicular to the axis of the deceleration switch and which contains the center of mass of the mass assembly. Axially transverse components of a deceleration pulse experienced by the deceleration switch act upon the movable mass assembly at the axial location wherein the movable mass assembly is least susceptible to being moved out of its position centrally aligned with the axis of the deceleration switch.