60/324,312, filed September 24,2001.

TECHNICAL FIELD This invention relates to apparatus for absorbing energy when impacted by a vehicle. More specifically, the apparatus is utilized as a barrier which dissipates the energy of moving vehicles upon impact to reduce injury to the vehicle's occupants and damage to structure protected by the barrier apparatus.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION It is well known to provide impact absorbing systems, often called"crash cushions"adjacent to rigid structures such as pillars, bridge abutments, lighting poles and the like for the purpose of absorbing vehicle impact energy and minimizing the effects of impact on the vehicle, the vehicle's occupants and the structure being protected.

There are many forms and types of energy absorption barriers.

U. S. Patent No. 5,851, 005, issued December 22, 1998, discloses an energy absorption apparatus in the form of a modular energy absorption barrier assembly including multiple pairs of ground engaging support uprights interconnected to one another by overlapping side panels. The side panels and uprights are connected together by inter-engaging slides so that an impact at the end of the barrier assembly can cause relative movement between the uprights, between the side panels, and between the uprights and the side panels.

Located between the uprights and secured thereto are a plurality of energy absorbing metal plates configured in such a way that they collapse in a controlled manner upon vehicle impact to absorb impact forces.

U. S. Patent No. 4,009, 622, issued March 1, 1977, discloses a structural member suitable for incorporation in motor vehicles especially as a steering column which incorporates metal truncated cones disposed end to end which incorporate nicks or cuts which can grow to full-scale tears during collapse as the structural member is subjected to an endwise load. All or part of the interior of the column when mounted in a vehicle may be used as a reservoir to contain fire fighting fluid, fluid under pressure which is part of the vehicle's hydraulic system, hot or cold fluid which is part of an engine cooling or air conditioning system or fluid which is part of a vehicle's lubrication or fuel system.

The following patents are also known and are believed to be further representative of the current state of the crash cushion art: U. S. Patent No.

6,203, 079, issued March 20,2001, U. S. Patent No.

3,643, 924, issued February 22,1972, U. S. Patent No.

3,695, 583, issued October 3,1972, U. S. Patent No.

3,768, 781, issued October 30,1973, U. S. Patent No.

5,020, 175, issued June 4,1991, U. S. Patent No.

5,391, 016, issued February 21,1995, U. S. Patent No.

5,746, 419, issued May 5,1998, U. S. Patent No.

6,085, 878, issued July 11,2000, U. S. Patent No.

4, 815, 565, issued March 28,1989, U. S. Patent No.

6,116, 805, issued September 12,2000, U. S. Patent No.

4,844, 213, issued July 4,1989, U. S. Patent No.

4,452, 431, issued June 5,1984, U. S. Patent No.

4,674, 911, issued June 23,1987, U. S. Patent No.

5,851, 005, issued December 22,1998, U. S. Patent No.

5,660, 496, filed August 26,1997, and U. S. Patent No.

4,009, 622, issued March 1,1977.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION The present invention relates to apparatus for absorbing energy when impacted by a vehicle. The apparatus incorporates energy absorbing modules of a specified structure and configuration which provide for the controlled absorption of impact forces. The energy absorbing modules are relatively inexpensive and may quickly and readily be installed or removed relative to the rest of the apparatus.

The apparatus includes a plurality of vertical, spaced supports.

An energy absorbing module is disposed between and supported by adjacent supports of the plurality of vertical, spaced supports.

The energy absorbing module has a module side wall and spaced module ends defining a module interior.

The module side wall has a plurality of elongated openings formed therein defining deformable module side wall strips located between the module ends and extending longitudinally along the energy absorbing module.

The module side wall strips bend responsive to application of opposed forces on the module ends due to relative movement between the adjacent supports caused by a vehicle impacting the apparatus.

Other features, advantages and objects of the present invention will become apparent with reference to the following description and accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a perspective view of apparatus constructed in accordance with the teachings of the present invention and employing a plurality of energy absorbing modules supported by and extending between vertical, spaced supports; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the apparatus; Fig. 3 is a side elevational view of the apparatus; Fig. 4 is a plan view of an alternative form of apparatus; Fig. 5 is a side, elevational view of the embodiment of Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is a view of the Fig. 1 embodiment similar to Fig. 3, but with side panels removed, the illustrated components being in the condition assumed thereby prior to vehicle impact; Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 6, but illustrating the condition of the components after vehicle impact; Fig. 8 is a perspective view of an energy absorbing module of the type employed in the above- described embodiments of the apparatus; Fig. 9 is an end, elevational view of the module of Fig. 8; Fig. 10 is an elevational view of the end of the module of Fig. 8 opposed to the end shown in Fig. 9; Fig. 11 is a side elevational view of the module of Fig. 8; Fig. 12 is a perspective view of an alternative form of energy absorbing module; Fig. 13 is an enlarged, perspective view illustrating a portion of a vertical support having a cable guide structure affixed thereto surrounding and engaging a cable employed in the apparatus; Fig. 14 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 14-14 in Fig. 13; Fig. 15 is a perspective view of a spacer employed in the apparatus; Fig. 16 is a side elevational view of the spacer; Fig. 17 is a top plan view of the spacer; Fig. 18 is a view similar to Fig. 17, but illustrating the condition of the spacer after it has been bent by forces caused by the impact of a vehicle; Fig. 19 is an exploded view illustrating details of selected components of the apparatus including side panels, rear anchor structure, cables connected to the rear anchor structure, an immovable support fixedly anchored in position and spacers; and Fig. 20 is an enlarged, top plan view illustrating details of the structure shown in Fig. 19.

MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Referring now to Figs. 1-3,6-11 and 13- 20, apparatus constructed in accordance with the teachings of the present invention is illustrated. The apparatus includes a plurality of vertical, spaced supports in the form of steel support frames 10 and a substantially immovable steel support frame 12, the latter fixedly anchored in a rearmost position relative to the other of the vertical, spaced supports. The supports extend upwardly from the ground.

The supports or uprights 10,12 are interconnected to one another by overlapping side panels 14 which may, for example, be corrugated guard rails well known to those skilled in the art. The side panels 14 and the supports 10,12 are connected together by slides 16 projecting from supports and positioned in slots 18 extending longitudinally and formed in side panels 14.

A front impact member or nose 20 is located at the forward end of the apparatus, the nose overlapping to a certain extent the pair of frontmost side panels 14.

The apparatus includes front anchor structure 22 and rear anchor structure 24, the anchor structures being fixed in position and essentially immovable. For example, the anchor structures may be bolted to blocks of concrete embedded in the ground, as shown for example in Figs. 6 and 7.

Extending between the front and rear anchor structures are two parallel cables 26.

The apparatus includes cable guide structures incorporating guide members 28 which are placed around the cables and then connected by bolts to the supports 10. Cable passageways 30 defined by the guide members are sized to allow relative slidable movement between the cables and the guide members 28 upon application of suitable forces to such structural arrangement.

The just described arrangement provides some degree of stiffness to the supports 10, keeping them from rotating about their vertical axes when moving rearward responsive to a frontal impact on the system. This is desirable since when the diaphragm skews too much, it causes the side panels and slides 16 to encounter interference which could cause the apparatus to"lock up" and not compress efficiently. This also causes the energy absorbing modules (which will be described below) to not compress evenly or efficiently.

Located between the cables 26 and disposed between and supported by supports 10,12 are energy absorbing modules 40. Each energy absorbing module or unit has a module side wall 42 and spaced module ends 44, 46. The modules 40 include two module segments 50,52.

The side wall 42 of the module 40 forms a truncated cone at each of the module segments, extending away from an end of the module and diverging outwardly in the direction of the other module segment.

The modules 40 are collapsible containers, the module segments defining a pressurizable interior. In the illustrated embodiment, a blow-out plug 54 is located in an aperture or opening formed in each of the end walls, the blow-out plugs breaking away from the module segments when sufficient pressure builds up inside the energy absorbing module. However, in accordance with the teachings of the present invention, it is not necessary that blow-out plugs or openings be formed in the energy absorbing modules, unless desired. In the arrangement illustrated, (see Fig. 10) smaller apertures 60 not covered by blow-out plugs are located adjacent to the blow-out plug to allow for the egress of air from the module interior at a controlled rate.

Each energy absorbing module 40 is of integral construction, preferably being formed of roto-molded plastic, for example, cross linked polyethylene.

It will be seen that the modules 40 are disposed in alignment when installed between the supports 10, the planar end walls 44,46 thereof being vertically oriented, parallel and positioned in engagement with, or at least in close proximity to, the supports with which the modules are associated.

The interiors of the energy absorbing modules 40 may suitably be filled with a foam, such as a polyurethane foam formed in situ. All, some, or none of the energy absorbing modules may be foam filled to provide the desired characteristics during collapse.

In the forward most module 40 of the embodiment under discussion, the module side wall at module segment 50 has a plurality of elongated narrow openings or slots 60 formed therein defining deformable module side wall strips 62 which bend responsive to application of opposed forces on the module ends of the forward most module due to relative movement between the supports holding the module such as might be caused by a vehicle impacting the apparatus. Holes 64 are defined by the module side wall at module segment 50 communicating with the module interior and also communicating with the elongated openings 60. The holes 64 are illustrated as being located substantially mid point along the length of slots 60.

Elongated openings 60 and holes 64, if desired, may be located in both of the module segments 50,52.

Such an arrangement is illustrated in Fig. 12.

The function of the narrow, elongated openings or slots 60 is to create the strips 62 which fold outwardly when the ends 44,46 of the module are moved toward one another. The holes create necked-down or reduced areas in the strips, which encourages creation of folds at that location.

The strips 62 folding outwardly will occur at a much lower load than the folding of the sides of modules not incorporating the strips or holes; however, the actual load of the combination of all the strips folding can be varied by increasing or decreasing the thickness of the material being folded, the number of narrow, elongated openings, the size of the holes employed in combination with the slots, as well as other physical factors such as the slope of the outer module side wall.

With slots and folds formed in both segments of the module, there is not much likelihood of building up significant air pressure. However, if only one of the truncated segments has slots and if the module is compressed against a flat platen, once the center part of the module makes contact with the platen, air pressure can again build up; the point being that air pressure may or may not be an issue depending upon how the invention is implemented. It is possible that the modules could be reusable if molded from a plastic material having a <BR> <BR> significant position memory, i. e. , ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene or some types of cross-linked polyethylene.

In the embodiment under discussion, only the forward module 40 has elongated narrow openings or holes in communication therewith. The remaining three modules 40 are free of such features and will provide greater resistence to compression.

Fig. 7 illustrates by arrows the application of an endwise force on the front support 10, as for example caused by vehicle impact. The first module to collapse will be the forward most module and this can occur with relatively little resistance due to the use of the elongated openings and holes. The modules 40 disposed behind the front or forward most module will collapse in a generally accordion fashion, providing significantly greater resistance to the impact.

The number of modules and the module mix may be changed in accordance with conditions. Figs. 4 and 5 illustrate an embodiment of the invention wherein a total of eight modules 40 are employed, the front three of which incorporate elongated narrow openings 60 and holes 64 defining bendable strips.

Referring now especially to Figs. 15-20, two pairs (upper and lower) of spacers 70 are affixed to opposed sides of rearmost support 12, such support in turn being affixed to rear anchor structure 24 so that support 12 is immobile or fixed in position. Bolts may be employed for such purpose, as shown. In addition, bolts 72 are employed to fixedly secure the spacers 70 to the rearmost side panels 14, the bolts passing through holes 74 in the spacers as well as in the rearmost side panels.

The spacers 70 comprise cylindrically-shaped members which define hollow interiors and have forwardly directed open ends communicating with the hollow interiors. The spacers further define generally V-shaped notches 76 which extend rearwardly from the forwardmost open ends of the spacers. The notches communicate with the hollow interiors of the spacers.

The purpose of the arrangement just described is to ensure that the spacers collapse at the ends thereof with the V-shaped notches upon very high loading of the side panels 14 attached to the spacers during redirective impacts in the region of this connection.

Thus, the partially collapsed cylinder creates a ramp that is easier for the impacting vehicle to move past as it is being redirected than is the case with a non-sloped structural element that would have a tendency to snag the impacting vehicle. Fig. 18 shows a typical configuration of a spacer 70 after redirective impact, the notch changing in size, becoming substantially smaller to create a bent spacer end. The spacer 70 may suitably be formed of steel.