SAFETY CONSTRUCTION FOR VEHICLES

Safety construction for vehicles particularly adapted to absorb and dissipate kinetic energy resulting from a crash whether head-on, from the rear, or at an angle with respect to the front and rear bumpers thereof comprising a bumper for attachment to the frame of a vehicle, a piston rod, a ball on the rod, a first shock pad on the bumper, a socket on the first shock pad receiving the ball, a cylinder open at one end facing the first shock pad and the piston rod, the cylinder having a closed bottom at its end opposite its open end, a spring in the cylinder, a piston fixedly mounted on the piston rod in the cylinder, the spring urging the piston toward the open end of the cylinder, a second shock pad mounting the cylinder including a shield surrounding the cylinder in spaced relation thereto, an elastomeric sleeve connecting the sleeve and the cylinder, and a mount for connecting shield to the vehicle frame.