Impact energy absorbing structure in upper vehicle body portion and impact energy absorbing member

An impact energy absorbing member comprising:

• a metal foil core member;
• and
• sheets laminated on opposite surfaces of the core member, each sheet being formed from a material other than metal,
• wherein the core member and the sheets on the opposite surfaces of the core member form a hybrid pipe and are shaped so that the energy absorbing member has protruded portions and recessed portions that are contiguous in a direction of an axis of the hybrid pipe, at least one of an outer peripheral surface of the energy absorbing member and an inner peripheral surface of the energy absorbing member is at least partially coated with an adhesive coating material to form a partially coated surface, and the protruded portions are adhered to each other by the adhesive coating material.

An impact energy absorbing structure in an upper vehicle body portion, comprising:

• a vehicle body structural member;
• an interior trim spaced from the structural member by an interval extending inward from the structural member;
• and
• an energy absorbing member disposed in the interval between the structural member and the interior trim,
• wherein the energy absorbing member is a hybrid pipe having a metal foil core member and sheets laminated on opposite surfaces of the core member, each sheet being formed from a material other than metal, and the core member and the sheets on the opposite surfaces of the core member are shaped so that the hybrid pipe has protruded portions and recessed portions that are contiguous in a direction of an axis of the hybrid pipe, the hybrid pipe being bent so as to substantially conform to a shape of the structural member, and the hybrid pipe being subjected to one of a strengthening process of a small-curvature portion of a bent portion of the hybrid pipe and a weakening process of a large-curvature portion of the bent portion of hybrid pipe.

An impact energy absorbing member comprising:

• a metal foil core member;
• and
• sheets laminated on opposite surfaces of the core member, each sheet being formed from a material other than metal,
• wherein the core member and the sheets on the opposite surfaces of the core member are shaped so that the energy absorbing member has protruded portions and recessed portions that are contiguous in a direction of an axis of the hybrid pipe, the energy absorbing member being bent so as to substantially conform to a shape of the structural member, and the energy absorbing member being subjected to one of a strengthening process of a small-curvature portion of a bent portion of the energy absorbing member and a weakening process of a large-curvature portion of the bent portion of the energy absorbing member.