Patent ID: 6957727

Claim:
An impact absorber for a vehicle, comprising: an outer body including a cavity having an axis, and an opening; an inner body situated partially within the cavity and extending through the opening for relative movement into the cavity along the axis when the absorber is subjected to an impact, the inner body having at least one lateral protrusion transverse to the axis; and a plurality of deformable units located in the outer body at discrete positions along the axis, the deformable units partially protruding into the cavity for successive engagements and deformations, one unit after another unit, along the axis, by the protrusion of the inner body moving into the outer body along the axis, thereby absorbing energy of an impact progressively, in different stages, wherein each deformable unit comprises a ball partially protruding into the cavity and a deformable member, softer than the ball, located outwardly from the ball relative to the axis, in a hole in the outer body, the deformable member being deformed upon absorbing the energy of an impact.