Patent ID: 8550224

Claim:
An energy absorption system comprising: a movable carriage movable between a rest position and an operative position during an energy absorption event; a fixed bearing; a U-shaped deformable material strip being arranged in a gap defined between the movable carriage and the fixed bearing, the U-shaped deformable material strip having first and second legs defining a bending radius therebetween, wherein the first leg of the U-shaped deformable material strip is fixedly connected to the moveable carriage and the second leg of the U-shaped deformable material strip is at least areally connected with the fixed bearing; a first sheet and a second sheet, wherein the first and second sheets are arranged in the gap defined between the movable carriage and the fixed bearing; and coupling elements configured to define as a first setting, an uncoupled setting in which the first and second sheet are decoupled from the movable carriage, as a second setting, a coupled setting in which the second sheet is coupled to the moveable carriage and the first sheet is decoupled from the moveable carriage, and as a third setting, a further coupled setting in which the first and second sheet are coupled to the moveable carriage; wherein, when an energy absorption event causes the movable carriage to move from the rest position to the operative position, in the first setting, none of the first and second sheet is moved with the moveable carriage, and in the second and third setting, the second and the first and second sheet, respectively, are moved with the movable carriage between the U-shaped deformable material strip and the movable carriage to reduce the bending radius between the first and second legs of the U-shaped deformable material strip, and wherein the first, second, and third settings correspond to weight ranges of the users of the energy absorption system.