Patent ID: 7070217

Claim:
A collision energy-absorbing device for mounting between a frame assembly of a motor vehicle and a bumper beam at one end of the motor vehicle, said collision energy-absorbing device comprising: a substantially tubular body member configured to be operatively connected between the vehicle frame assembly and the bumper beam, said body member being constructed and arranged to collapse as said bumper beam and said vehicle frame assembly are moved relatively toward one another during a vehicle collision, said body member having a substantially tubular first telescoping portion and a substantially tubular second telescoping portion, said first and second telescoping portions being connected by a connecting portion, said first and second telescoping portions having different cross-sectional dimensions configured to enable said first and second telescoping portions to move one within the other into collapsing telescoping relation as said body member collapses with said connecting portion being deformed and received between said first and second telescoping portions, said body member further including one or more protrusions extending from one of said first and second telescoping portions, said protrusions being configured to interfere with relative movement of the other of said first and second telescoping portions as said body member collapses to thereby retard movement of said first and second telescoping portions one within the other into said telescoping relation; and a lost motion connecting structure carried on the body member for connection to the bumper beam, the lost motion connecting structure configured and positioned to allow the bumper beam to move relatively away from the body member during an offset collision laterally opposite the device, wherein the lost motion connecting structure includes a hinge plate assembly having a first mounting plate and a second mounting plate pivotally connected by a hinge, one of the first and second mounting plates being connected to the body member and the other of the first and second mounting plates being connected to the bumper beam, wherein the hinge plate assembly is movable from a closed position in which the first and second mounting plates are adjacent one another to an open position in which the first and second mounting plates are pivoted relative to one another during the offset collision.