Energy absorbing system for conflicting regulatory requirements for vehicle bumpers
First Claim
1. A multi-stage energy absorbing system comprising:
- a thermoplastic flanged frame; and
a crush lobe having a proximal base aligned with the flanged frame and a distal end protruding from the flanged frame, wherein the crush lobe comprises a central slab and slab pairs such that the crush lobe comprises a total of 2i+1 slabs, wherein i is the number of slab pairs and is greater than or equal to 1; and
wherein the central slab has load walls that extend from the base;
wherein the slab pairs are disposed on opposite sides of the central slab;
wherein the slabs are disposed in a stepped arrangement and configured to absorb impact energy by collapsing in a telescopic manner with increasing energy level; and
wherein the system is designed such that first stage absorbs impact energy of up to 450 Joules.
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Accused Products
Abstract
In an embodiment, multi-stage energy absorbing system can comprise: a thermoplastic flanged frame and a crush lobe having a proximal base aligned with the flanged frame and a distal end protruding from the flanged frame. The crush lobe comprises a central slab and slab pairs such that the crush lobe comprises a total of 2i+1 slabs, wherein i is the number of slab pairs and is greater than or equal to 1. The slabs are disposed in a stepped arrangement and configured to absorb impact energy by collapsing in a telescopic manner with increasing energy level. The single energy-absorbing system is able to absorb low energy impact associated with vehicle-to-pedestrian impact; simultaneously with the ability to mitigate damageability associated with low-speed vehicle-to-barrier impact, as well as damageability associated with vehicle-to-vehicle moderate speed impact, head-on, as well as at an angle.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A multi-stage energy absorbing system comprising:
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a thermoplastic flanged frame; and a crush lobe having a proximal base aligned with the flanged frame and a distal end protruding from the flanged frame, wherein the crush lobe comprises a central slab and slab pairs such that the crush lobe comprises a total of 2i+1 slabs, wherein i is the number of slab pairs and is greater than or equal to 1; and wherein the central slab has load walls that extend from the base; wherein the slab pairs are disposed on opposite sides of the central slab; wherein the slabs are disposed in a stepped arrangement and configured to absorb impact energy by collapsing in a telescopic manner with increasing energy level; and wherein the system is designed such that first stage absorbs impact energy of up to 450 Joules. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A multi-stage energy absorbing system comprising:
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a thermoplastic flanged frame; and a crush lobe having a proximal base aligned with the flanged frame and a distal end protruding from the flanged frame, wherein the crush lobe comprises a central slab and slab pairs such that the crush lobe comprises a total of 2i+1 slabs, wherein i is the number of slab pairs and is greater than or equal to 1; and wherein the central slab has load walls that extend from the base; wherein the slab pairs are disposed on opposite sides of the central slab; wherein the slabs are disposed in a stepped arrangement and configured to absorb impact energy by collapsing in a telescopic manner with increasing energy level; and wherein the central slab has a top load wall and a bottom load wall, and wherein at least one of the top load wall and the bottom load wall comprises a plurality of slots extending from a central slab front wall to a first slab pair front wall. - View Dependent Claims (11)
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12. A multi-stage energy absorbing system comprising:
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a thermoplastic flanged frame; and a crush lobe having a proximal base aligned with the flanged frame and a distal end protruding from the flanged frame, wherein the crush lobe comprises a central slab and slab pairs such that the crush lobe comprises a total of 2i+1 slabs, wherein i is the number of slab pairs and is greater than or equal to 1; and wherein the central slab has load walls that extend from the base; wherein the slab pairs are disposed on opposite sides of the central slab; wherein the slabs are disposed in a stepped arrangement and configured to absorb impact energy by collapsing in a telescopic manner with increasing energy level; and wherein the slabs have a wall thickness defined according to formula (II)
T1<
T2<
. . . <
Ti
(II)wherein;
i is the number of slab pairsT is the wall thickness of a center slab; T1 is the wall thickness of a first ith slab pair; T2 is the wall thickness a second ith slab pair; and Ti is the wall thickness of the last ith slab pair. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method for absorbing energy comprising:
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impacting an energy absorbing system with impact energy, wherein the energy absorbing system comprises a base; a first stage extending from the base and defined by a first stage top load wall, a first stage bottom load wall, and a front wall that extends between the first stage top load wall and the first stage bottom load wall; and a second stage extending from the base and defined by a pair of second slabs located adjacent to the first stage, wherein one of the second slabs is defined by a portion of the first stage top load wall, a second stage top load wall, and a second stage front wall that extends between the portion of the first stage top load wall and the second stage top load wall, and wherein the other second slab is defined by a portion of the first stage bottom load wall, a second stage bottom load wall, and another second stage front wall that extends between the portion of the first stage bottom load wall and the second stage bottom load wall; wherein the first stage extends from the base a greater distance than the second stage; collapsing the first stage and absorbing 450 Joules of impact energy, wherein the second stage does not collapse upon the absorption of 450 Joules of impact energy; and collapsing the second stage when absorbing up to 900 Joules of impact energy.
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Specification