US 12,296,769 B1
Head impact energy absorbing bracket
Goutham Shanmuga Sundaram, Foster City, CA (US); Michal Jan Swiniarski, Brentwood (GB); Dillon Lawrence Arellano, San Mateo, CA (US); and Maria Fernanda Villanueva Ochoa, Mountain View, CA (US)
Assigned to Zoox, Inc., Foster City, CA (US)
Filed by Zoox, Inc., Foster City, CA (US)
Filed on Nov. 30, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/525,182.
Int. Cl. B60R 21/055 (2006.01); B60R 21/04 (2006.01)
CPC B60R 21/055 (2013.01) [B60R 2021/0414 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A vehicle, comprising:
a frame member;
an interior trim panel spaced from the frame member to define a space between the interior trim panel and the frame member;
a solid member disposed at least partially in the space; and
an energy absorbing member disposed in the space between the interior trim panel and the solid member, the energy absorbing member comprising:
a base coupled to at least one of the interior trim panel or the frame member, the base comprising a first base member coupled to a second base member to define a volume; and
at least one fin disposed at least partially in the volume and including a portion protruding from the base to a position spaced from the base and in the space between the interior trim panel and the frame member, wherein the at least one fin is biased in a first direction relative to the base,
wherein the at least one fin is configured such that the portion protruding from the base of the at least one fin is contacted and deflects in a second direction relative to the base in response to an impact to the interior trim panel proximate the solid member to at least partially mitigate the impact.