Patent ID: 7441828

Claim:
A pedestrian protection apparatus for a vehicle, comprising: a plate member which is disposed at a lower part of a front of the vehicle so as to extend in a frontward and backward direction of the vehicle, which includes a front portion and a rear portion, and which is fixed at the rear portion to the vehicle; and at least one reinforcing bead each formed integrally on the front portion of the plate member and each including a bead-extending portion which extends in the frontward and backward direction of the vehicle with a channel-like configuration that is open upward or downward and a bead-end portion which has a plate-like configuration and which extends integrally from a rear-side edge of the bead-extending portion for connecting the rear-side edge of the bead-extending portion and the rear portion of the plate member, the apparatus being arranged to sweep a leg portion of a pedestrian that has collided with the front of the vehicle by contact of a front end of the plate member with the leg portion of the pedestrian, thereby protecting the leg portion of the pedestrian, the apparatus further comprising at least one first auxiliary bead each having a width smaller than a width of each of the at least one reinforcing bead and each extending continuously in the frontward and backward direction of the vehicle over the bead-end portion of a corresponding one of the at least one reinforcing bead and a front-side end section of the rear portion of the plate member.