The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Feb. 28, 2017
Filed:
Apr. 08, 2015
Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc., Erlanger, KY (US);
Jeremiah T. Hammer, Ann Arbor, MI (US);
Aaron R. Steinhilb, Milan, MI (US);
Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc., Erlanger, KY (US);
Abstract
A vehicle includes a vehicle support member at an underside of the vehicle. A bumper assembly is at a front of the vehicle and includes a bumper fascia and a bumper reinforcement beam covered by the bumper fascia providing an upper projecting bumper portion. A lower reinforcement member is connected to the vehicle support member at a location below the bumper reinforcement beam in a vehicle vertical direction that is covered by the bumper fascia providing a lower projecting bumper portion. The lower reinforcement member includes a reinforcement body having a rear end connected to the vehicle support member and a front end opposite the rear end. The lower reinforcement member is connected to the bumper fascia and is configured to have a lowered configuration where the front end of the reinforcement body moves downward in the vehicle vertical direction upon impact to the bumper fascia at the lower projecting bumper portion and a raised configuration where the front end of the reinforcement body moves upward, after the bumper fascia contacts the front end of the reinforcement body during the impact.