Patent attributes
A crash cushion comprising a resilient cylinder having a substantially vertical longitudinal axis and an outer surface at least a portion of which is adapted to be exposed in or to a roadway. A deflector skin has a curved contour shaped to mate with the outer surface of the cylinder. The deflector skin is mounted on the outer surface over at least a portion of the portion of the outer surface that is adapted to be exposed to the roadway. A crash cushion system includes an array of cylinders and at least one deflector skin. In another aspect, a plurality of cylinders, at least some of which define a side of the array, each have an outermost vertical tangent, the combination of which defines a vertical plane. One or more deflector skins each including a leading edge and a trailing edge are mounted to corresponding ones of the cylinders forwardly of the tangent. In one preferred embodiment, the one or more deflector skins are substantially flat and are oriented in a non-parallel relationship with the vertical plane. Preferably, only the leading edge of the deflector skins is mounted to the cylinder. Methods for using and assembling the crash cushion systems are also provided.
