Patent ID: 7694787

Claim:
An impact absorber for a vehicle, disposed between a side member and a bumper beam of the vehicle, so as to be crushed like an accordion in an axial direction thereof upon application of a compressive load thereto, for absorbing an impact energy, the impact absorber comprising: a main body; and a pair of attachment plates that are fixedly welded to respective axially opposite end portions of the main body, the main body having a thin plate portion having a plate thickness smaller than 1.4 mm and constituting an axially intermediate portion of the main body, and a pair of thick plate portions having a plate thickness not smaller than 1.4 mm and located on axially opposite sides of the thin plate portion, and the respective thick plate portions coming into contact with a pair of facing surfaces of the respective attachment plates at respective axially opposite end faces of the thick plate portions, and the respective thick plate portions being fixedly welded at respective corners defined by respective axially opposite end portions of the thick plate portions and the pair of facing surfaces of the respective attachment plates, thereby fixedly welding the respective thick plate portions to the respective attachment plates; wherein the main body is constructed with a pipe member and ring members that are fitted on respective axially opposite end portions of the pipe member; and wherein the thick plate portions comprise the ring members and the axially opposite end portions of the pipe member, while the thin plate portion is constituted of an axially intermediate portion of the pipe member.