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US 2026/0098435 A1Published application
Bidirectional reactive bumper system for tailgate
AssigneeFord Global Technologies, LLC
InventorsJoseph Prior, Joshua Robert Hemphill, Michael Shawn Watterworth
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A bidirectional bumper assembly comprises a first arm having a pivotal attachment interface associated with a vehicle box structure, and a second arm coupled to the first arm. A first bumper is associated with the first arm, the first bumper comprising a first tailgate abutment surface, and a second bumper is associated with the second arm, the second bumper comprising a second tailgate abutment surface.
Claims20
An assembly, comprising:
- a first arm including a pivotal attachment interface associated with a vehicle box structure;
- a second arm coupled to the first arm;
- a first bumper associated with the first arm, the first bumper comprising a first tailgate abutment surface;
- and
- a second bumper associated with the second arm, the second bumper comprising a second tailgate abutment surface.
2 more elements
An apparatus comprising:
- a vehicle box structure;
- a tailgate moveable relative to the vehicle box structure between an open position and a closed position, wherein the tailgate includes a first surface and a second surface that extends transversely relative to the first surface;
- and
- at least one bumper assembly comprising:
- a first arm coupled to a second arm via a pivotal attachment interface, wherein the pivotal attachment interface is associated with the vehicle box structure;
- a first bumper associated with the first arm, the first bumper engageable with the first surface;
- and
- a second bumper associated with the second arm, the second bumper engageable with the second surface.
5 more elements
A method comprising:
- pivotally attaching a bumper assembly to a vehicle box structure, the bumper assembly comprising a first bumper arm coupled to a second bumper arm;
- and
- independently compressing a first bumper on the first bumper arm from a second bumper on the second bumper arm in response to input loads from a first tailgate surface and a second tailgate surface different from the first tailgate surface.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.