Patent ID: 6536986
Filing Date: 2003-03-25
Classification: E01F

Abstract:
Apparatus for absorbing energy when impacted by a vehicle, said apparatus comprising, in combination:a plurality of vertical, spaced supports; and a double-ended energy absorbing module disposed between adjacent supports of said plurality of vertical, spaced supports collapsible when a force is applied to an end of the energy absorbing module due to relative movement between said adjacent supports caused by a vehicle impacting said apparatus, said energy absorbing module defining an interior and including two attached and aligned module segments, each of said module segments having an end wall and an outer wall substantially in the form of a truncated cone attached to the end wall thereof and extending away from the end wall thereof to the other module segment and diverging outwardly in the direction of the other module segment, the outer walls of said module segments being substantially unpleated when a force is not applied to an end of the energy absorbing module and responsive to collapse of the absorbing module when a force is applied to an end thereof to form a plurality of folds at the peripheries of the outer walls which do not substantially engage or interfere with one another.