Restorable crash cushion apparatus

A crash cushion apparatus comprising:

• a rail assembly including:
• a plurality of anchor plates longitudinally spaced apart from each other;
• and
• a rail extending longitudinally on the plurality of anchor plates;
• a plurality of collapsible bays supported on the rail, at least some of the plurality of collapsible bays including:
• a divider slidably entrained on the rail and longitudinally spaced from a divider of an adjacent one of the plurality of collapsible bays;
• and
• a plurality of side panels linking the dividers of the plurality of collapsible bays together,
• each of the plurality of collapsible bays forming a space, one of the plurality of collapsible bays being a forward-most collapsible bay and one of the plurality of collapsible bays being a rearmost collapsible bay;
• a plurality of crushable tubes oriented longitudinally in the spaces formed by the plurality of collapsible bays and extending between sequentially adjacent ones of the plurality of dividers, the plurality of dividers entraining the plurality of crushable tubes in the longitudinal orientation without the plurality of crushable tubes being fixed to the plurality of dividers,
• the plurality of dividers being configured to be driven rearward along the rail and crush the plurality of crushable tubes to collapse the collapsible bays,
• the collapsible bay immediately aft of the forward-most collapsible bay having zero crushable tubes;
• and
• a brace positioned in the space formed by one of the plurality of collapsible bays and configured to transfer lateral impact loads between opposing sides of the crash cushion apparatus,
• wherein the brace extends to opposing side panels of the plurality of side panels, and
• wherein the brace includes end brackets configured to nest on the opposing side panels,
• each end bracket including a vertically-extending section, an upper section extending diagonally upward from the vertically-extending section, and a lower section extending diagonally downward from the vertically-extending section.

A crash cushion apparatus comprising:

• a rail assembly including:
• a plurality of anchor plates longitudinally spaced apart from each other;
• and
• a rail extending longitudinally on the plurality of anchor plates;
• a plurality of collapsible bays supported on the rail, at least some of the plurality of collapsible bays including:
• a divider slidably entrained on the rail and longitudinally spaced from a divider of an adjacent one of the plurality of collapsible bays;
• and
• a plurality of side panels linking the dividers of the plurality of collapsible bays together,
• each of the plurality of collapsible bays forming a space, one of the plurality of collapsible bays being a forward-most collapsible bay and one of the plurality of collapsible bays being a rearmost collapsible bay;
• and
• a plurality of crushable tubes oriented longitudinally in the spaces formed by the plurality of collapsible bays and extending between sequentially adjacent ones of the plurality of dividers, the plurality of dividers entraining the plurality of crushable tubes in the longitudinal orientation without the plurality of crushable tubes being fixed to the plurality of dividers,
• the plurality of dividers being configured to be driven rearward along the rail and crush the plurality of crushable tubes to sequentially collapse the collapsible bays,
• the forward-most collapsible bay including at least six crushable tubes of the plurality of crushable tubes, and
• the collapsible bay immediately aft of the forward-most collapsible bay having zero crushable tubes;
• and
• a brace positioned in the space formed by the forward-most collapsible bay and configured to transfer lateral impact loads between opposing sides of the crash cushion apparatus,
• wherein the brace extends to opposing side panels of the plurality of side panels, and
• wherein the brace includes end brackets configured to nest on the opposing side panels,
• each end bracket including a vertically-extending section, an upper section extending diagonally upward from the vertically-extending section, and a lower section extending diagonally downward from the vertically-extending section.