Patent ID: 6938948

Claim:
A front frame structure for a vehicle, attached to side rails of the vehicle, for absorbing energy during a frontal collision of the vehicle, the front frame structure comprising: a bumper reinforcement disposed at a front end of the frame structure and extending transversely to a longitudinal centerline of the vehicle; and a pair of juxtaposed main frame rails extending longitudinally along the longitudinal centerline of the vehicle, each main frame rail having a front end thereof attached to the bumper reinforcement and a rear end thereof attached to a respective side rail of the vehicle; each main frame rail having a deformable forward section, a non-deformable intermediate section and a non-deformable rear section thereof, each of the forward, intermediate and rear sections of each main frame rail defining a front and a rear end thereof; the forward section of each main frame rail being joined at the front end thereof to the bumper reinforcement and at the rear end thereof to the front end of the intermediate section of that main frame rail; the rear section of each main frame rail being joined at the front end thereof to the rear end of the intermediate section of that main frame rail and at the rear end thereof to the respective side rail of the vehicle; each main frame rail further including a first selectively crushable juncture joining the rear end of the forward section of that main frame rail to the front end of the intermediate section of that frame rail, a second selectively crushable juncture joining the rear end of the intermediate section of that frame rail to the front end of the rear section of that main frame rail, and a third selectively crushable juncture between the rear end of the rear section of that main frame rail and the respective side rail of the vehicle; one or more of the first, second, and third selectively crushable junctures predisposing at least one of the second selectively crushable junctures to pivot outward with respect to the longitudinal centerline during a frontal collision of the vehicle.