Trevor Ashline This is Me

Education

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1. 1. www.circletrack.com

   www.circletrack.com/techarticl - [Cached]

   Published on: 1/20/2008   Last Visited: 1/20/2008

   Trevor Ashline shows the updated helmet tethers for the original Hutchens Device. The original had one D-ring on each side of the helmet; the new hardware has two: one in front of the centerline and one behind.
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   Trevor Ashline, whose r,sum, lists Swedish restraint-system manufacturer Autoliv in addition to BSR, is the inventor of the Hutchens Device.
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   Ashline recently debuted an alternate version of the original, and its cost is $400. The difference in the two is that the new unit does not buckle into your safety harness. It uses your body's own structure to keep your head in place and out of lethal range.
   
   "Once you put it on, you can hook the helmet to it outside the car," Ashline says.
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   Ashline continues.
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   "Load limiting is the key," Ashline says.
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   "In the first 20 milliseconds, you'll start loading up the belts as the occupant moves forward," Ashline explains.
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   Ashline, as an engineer, recommends that whatever you decide you need for a head-and-neck restraint, make sure the product has been tested under laboratory conditions.
   
   "You learn how to watch the kinematics, learn where the loads are going," in a laboratory/crash sled setting, he explains.
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   As for the HANS, developed by sports-car racer Jim Downing, it does its job well, according to Ashline.
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   "The end result stays the same, and that's good," Ashline says.
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   "Formula One, the IRL and CART require three inches of energy absorption padding around their headrests," Ashline says.

2. 2. Speed Partz Customer Newsletter

   www.speedpartz.com/newsletters - [Cached]

   Published on: 2/9/2006   Last Visited: 12/21/2007

   This is a question I recently posed to Trevor Ashline, safety engineer and developer of the Hutchens Device and the Simpson's D-Cel. Although I guess I would be disappointed if Ashline's response was not biased towards his own products, I do feel his response carries a certain amount of credence since he always bases them on both laboratory testing and his years of experience in driver safety.
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   Ashline is quick to point out that each of these testing environments provides a safety engineer with valuable data. "The laboratory is valuable because it allows us to perform multiple tests in a controlled environment where we are able to gather data and visually watch the forces at work on a driver in an impact. The downside of laboratory testing is that it is a controlled environment under ideal conditions. In real-world racing situations, there are additional dynamics at work. Often you are dealing with seats, belts and other safety devices that might not be properly installed. Additionally the angles of impact produced in a real-world accident might not be easily duplicated in a sled test," explained Ashline.
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   Although not easily answered, Ashline helped direct us towards some considerations and facts that might help.
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   For instance, if the head and neck restraint is anchored to the seat, and the seat fails, the head and neck restraint also fails," commented Ashline.
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   For additional reading on head and neck restraints and to review the results of Ashline's laboratory testing, visit www.hutchensdevice.com.

3. 3. www.circletrack.com

   www.circletrack.com/techarticl - [Cached]

   Published on: 1/20/2008   Last Visited: 1/20/2008

   At the end of last season Butler and Trevor Ashline of Autoliv Corporation put together a combination of new equipment, improved existing products and proper installation procedures and made a full display to help illustrate specific aspects of driver cockpit safety throughout all levels of professional racing.