Patent ID: 7017960

Claim:
A bumper beam for a passenger vehicle comprising: a cross section including an impact-receiving front wall, a rear wall, and parallel top and bottom walls combining to define an exterior tube, and including an inner reinforcement wall extending between the front and rear walls that subdivides the exterior tube into upper and lower tubular halves; the front wall including a vertical section that extends parallel the rear wall and including an angled section extending completely across one of the upper and lower tubular halves and extending at least about one-third of the way across the other of the tubular halves, the angled section being connected by a bent section to the vertical section; the reinforcement wall extending parallel the top and bottom walls and being connected to and supporting the angled section at a location spaced from the bent section, whereby the reinforcement wall combines with the vertical and angled sections of the front wall and with the other walls to provide predictable and desired energy absorption upon impact.