Patent ID: 8070196

Claim:
A bumper mounting assembly, comprising: a support member mountable to a vehicle front; a bumper-carrying member, the bumper-carrying member comprising a bumper-mounting portion and a spacer portion; the spacer portion of the bumper-carrying member being hingedly mounted to the support member so that the bumper-carrying member is movable between an upright position and a lowered position, relative to the support member; the bumper-mounting portion being spaced from the support member when the bumper-carrying member is in the upright position; a primary actuator secured to the support member and the bumper-carrying member; the primary actuator being at least selectively operable to apply braking force against movement of the bumper-carrying member from the upright position to the lowered position; one of the bumper-carrying member and the support member carrying a detent; the other of the bumper-carrying member and the support member movably carrying a latch so that the latch is movable between an engagement position and a disengagement position relative to the detent so that the latch can selectively engage and disengage from the detent and thereby selectively retain the bumper-carrying member in the upright position and release the bumper-carrying member from the upright position; the latch being biased into the engagement position; the other of the bumper-carrying member and the support member carrying a latch actuator coupled to the latch for selectively moving the latch between the engagement position and the disengagement position.