Bumpers Have Always Been a CompromiseToday’s bumpers have a lot on their plate. They need to shield pricey front-end parts, manage crash forces, and even help protect pedestrians. The problem is, most bumpers are built to react the same way, no matter the impact. Softer bumpers help with minor bumps, but you want something stiffer when things get serious.Ford’s patent looks to blend both approaches into one bumper. Filed in November 2024 (patent no. 20260131749 if you want to check), the design uses what Ford calls a non-linear spring. Instead of staying the same through an impact, the bumper gets tougher to compress the further it moves.Put simply, the bumper starts out soft for light bumps, then firms up as the hit gets harder. …
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Author: Jacob Oliva
