Claims
- 1. A bumper system for vehicles comprising:
a bumper beam having a continuous cross section with a front surface that extends vertically when the bumper beam is in a car-mounted position; and a polymeric energy absorber having a length and including a rear surface abutting the front surface of the bumper beam, the energy absorber having multiple box-shaped sections and having interconnecting sections positioned along the length that interconnect adjacent ones of the box-shaped sections; the box-shaped sections of the energy absorber, when cross-sectioned by a transverse plane that extends perpendicular to the length, including a top U-shaped section formed by top parallel legs and a top vertical leg, and further including a bottom U-shaped section formed by bottom parallel legs and a bottom vertical leg; the box-shaped sections further including end walls at each end that are attached to the parallel and vertical legs of the top and bottom U-shaped sections to close ends of the box-shaped sections and to stabilize the top and bottom U-shaped sections relative to each other, and the interconnecting sections each including a tying wall that connects the end walls together, whereby the box-shaped sections provide a stable and reliable energy-absorbing mechanism with the energy-absorbing U-shaped sections being stabilized by the end walls and with adjacent box-shaped sections being held together by interconnecting sections.
- 2. The bumper system defined in claim 1, wherein at least some of the top and bottom parallel legs are wave-shaped in a longitudinal direction.
- 3. The bumper system defined in claim 1, wherein the top and bottom vertical legs each include a rear edge that engages the bumper beam.
- 4. The bumper system defined in claim 1, wherein the energy absorber includes a top edge flange located on a top one of the top parallel legs, the top edge flange engaging the bumper beam and stabilizing the energy absorber on the bumper beam.
- 5. The bumper system defined in claim 4, wherein the top edge flange includes a portion that extends coplanar with the interconnecting wall.
- 6. The bumper system defined in claim 1, including a bottom edge flange on a bottom one of the bottom parallel legs, the bottom edge flange engaging the bumper beam and stabilizing the energy absorber on the bumper beam.
- 7. The bumper system defined in claim 1, wherein all of the legs and the walls combine to form front and rear surfaces without blind surfaces, such that the energy absorber characteristically can be manufactured without the use of molding dies having die slides, pulls, or movable components for making blind surfaces in a molded part.
- 8. The bumper system defined in claim 1, wherein the energy absorber includes a reinforced short wall in each of the box-shaped sections that extends between a lower one of the top parallel legs and an upper one of the bottom parallel legs.
- 9. The bumper system defined in claim 1, wherein the energy absorber includes at least one top attachment tab that is shaped to and does frictionally engage the bumper beam to temporarily hold the energy absorber on the bumper beam during assembly of the energy absorber onto the bumper beam.
- 10. The bumper system defined in claim 9, wherein the energy absorber further includes at least one bottom attachment tab frictionally engaging the bumper beam.
- 11. The bumper system defined in claim 1, wherein the energy absorber includes at least 5 box-shaped sections.
- 12. The bumper system defined in claim 1, wherein the interconnecting sections provide some flexibility and wrapping of energy absorber to match sweep of the bumper beam.
- 13. A bumper system for vehicles comprising:
a bumper beam having a continuous cross section with a front surface that extends vertically when the bumper beam is in a car-mounted position; and a polymeric energy absorber having a length and including a rear surface abutting the front surface of the bumper beam, the energy absorber having first, second, third, and fourth parallel walls that extend horizontally, the first parallel wall being at a top location and the fourth parallel wall being at a bottom location, the energy absorber further including a top front wall interconnecting the first and second parallel walls to form a rearwardly-facing U-shaped top channel, and including a bottom front wall interconnecting the third and fourth parallel walls to form a rearwardly-facing U-shaped bottom channel, the energy absorber further having stabilizing walls that interconnect at least the first and fourth parallel walls to stabilize the top and bottom channels on the bumper beam.
- 14. The bumper system defined in claim 13, wherein the energy absorber includes at least one top attachment tab that is shaped to and does frictionally engage the bumper beam to temporarily hold the energy absorber on the bumper beam during assembly of the energy absorber onto the bumper beam.
- 15. The bumper system defined in claim 14, wherein the energy absorber further includes at least one bottom attachment tab frictionally engaging the bumper beam.
- 16. The bumper system defined in claim 13, wherein the top and bottom channels are not continuous and include interruptions such that the energy absorber forms separated box portions, and wherein the energy absorber includes flexible stabilizing walls interconnecting the box portions.
- 17. A bumper system for vehicles comprising:
a bumper beam having a front surface that extends vertically when the bumper beam is in a car-mounted position and having a pair of attachment features; and a polymeric energy absorber having a length and including a rear surface abutting the front surface of the bumper beam, the energy absorber having a pair of protrusions adapted to engage the attachment features to temporarily loosely hold the energy absorber on the bumper beam during assembly of the energy absorber to the bumper beam.
- 18. The bumper system defined in claim 17, wherein the protrusions include a hooked end.
- 19. The bumper system defined in claim 17, wherein the attachment features are integrally molded as contiguous material of the energy absorber.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims benefit of provisional application serial No. 60/284,058, filed Apr. 16, 2001, entitled BUMPER SYSTEM WITH FACE-ABUTTING ENERGY ABSORBER under 35 USC 119.
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60284058 |
Apr 2001 |
US |