Energy absorber system
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsMichael Mahfet, Adam Trappe
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An energy absorbing system for a vehicle includes an elongated energy absorber including a flanged frame for attachment to a reinforcing beam and a body including a plurality of spaced apart tunable crush boxes capable of deformation and progressive collapse upon impact for absorbing the energy of impact.
Claims28
A unitary elongated energy absorber adapted for attachment to a vehicle, said energy absorber comprising:
- a flanged frame for attachment to said vehicle and a body extending from said frame, said body including a first transverse wall, a second transverse wall spaced from said first wall and a plurality of tunable crush boxes extending therebetween, said crush boxes spaced apart along a longitudinal axis of said body and having irregularly shaped open areas disposed therebetween.
An energy absorber system for an automotive vehicle comprising:
- a reinforcement beam;
- an energy absorber including a flanged frame tor attachment to said reinforcement beam and a body extending from said frame, said body including a first transverse wall, a second transverse wall spaced from said first wall and a plurality of tunable crush boxes extending therebetween, said crush boxes spaced apart along a longitudinal axis of said body and having irregularly shaped open areas disposed therebetween;
- and
- a fascia attachable to the energy absorber to substantially envelop the reinforcing beam and energy absorber.
A unitary elongated energy absorber adapted for attachment to a vehicle, said energy absorber comprising:
- a flanged frame for attachment to said vehicle and a body extending from said frame, said body including a) a first transverse wall, b) a second transverse wall spaced from said first wall, c) a plurality of rearwardly extending tunable crush boxes extending between said first and second transverse walls, said crush boxes spaced apart along a longitudinal axis of said body and having irregularly shaped open areas disposed therebetween, and d) a plurality of forwardly positioned spaced apart connecting members extending between said first and second transverse walls.
A method of making energy absorbers comprising the steps of:
- a) defining a set of impact load characteristics;
- b) selecting, a thermoplastic material in view of said impact load characteristics;
- and
- c) forming an energy absorber from said thermoplastic material, said energy absorber having a plurality of outwardly extending crush boxes including outer and side walls, at least one of said walls having a window of pre-selected geometry to meet said impact load characteristics.
A method of making energy absorbers comprising:
- forming a first energy absorber with a plurality of outwardly extending crush boxes having outer and side walls, at least one of the walls having a window therein of a preselected geometry to define a first set of impact load characteristics;
- and
- forming a second energy absorber having essentially the same construction as the first energy absorber except for a different window geometry to provide different impact load characteristics for the second energy absorber.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.