Patent ID: 6874832

Claim:
A bumper system for a passenger vehicle comprising: a beam having a face and adapted for attachment to a vehicle frame; and an energy absorber supported against the face of the beam, the energy absorber including longitudinally-extending top and bottom horizontal walls, at least part of one of the top and bottom horizontal walls including a front portion, a rear portion extending parallel the front portion, and a mid portion that interconnects the front and rear portions but that offsets and misaligns the front and rear portions so that, upon a frontal impact, the front and rear portions telescopingly collapse with the offset mid portion wrapping back upon itself with a predictable energy-absorbing collapse, wherein both of the top and bottom horizontal walls include a front portion, a rear portion parallel the front portion, and an offset mid portion that interconnects the front and rear portions but that offsets and misaligns the front and rear portions so that, upon a frontal impact, the front and rear portions telescopingly collapse with the offset mid portion wrapping back upon itself with a predictable energy-absorbing collapse.