Unibody bumper system

Abstract

An improved unibody bumper system including a concave back plate welded to the sheet metal of the unibody, to be integral therewith across the front and back of the automobile unibody and wrapped around on the sides. A pressurized, elongated bumper is secured to the back plate by fasteners at either of its sealed ends. The bumper member is formed by taking a length of hose or other flexible tube sized and shaped to conform to the concave back plate and sealing the ends by clamping the walls inward. A mastic-covered flat seal member is provided in the tube at the area of clamping. In a first embodiment, a C-shaped clamp member is bolted against the hose or tube end by a bolt which passes through a hole formed therein, which bolt also serves to secure the end of the bumper element to the backing plate. In a second embodiment, a short section of a close-fitting metal sleeve is placed over the tube and then pressed flat, the sleeve serving to thereafter clamp the walls of the tube end together. The bumper element is provided with an air valve and stem which projects within the automobile body so as to be accessible only from the protected areas of the finished automobile (the trunk or under the hood). The bumper elsewhere is assembled and secured at its ends without being inflated and thereafter held in place by being inflated.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.