US Patent 7188890 Energy-absorbing device with a reduced initial peak load

An energy-absorbing device (34) with a reduced initial peak load (50) for enhancing the management of crash energy in an end structure (30′) for a vehicle (30). The energy-absorbing device (34) has a deformable construction adapted for progressively folding along a longitudinal axis (60) under an oscillating crash load (34′). The oscillating crash load (34′) is comprised of a mean load (48) and a peak load (50) that is in close proximity to the mean load (48).