Safety attachment for a front vehicle bumper

Claim 2

An attachment for a front vehicle bumper having front and rear sides extending transversely of the forward straight line direction of travel of the vehicle, said attachment comprising a pair of transversely spaced brackets, a pair of substantially vertically spaced rollers supported by said brackets to rotate about substantially horizontal axes extending transversely of the forward straight line direction of travel of the vehicle, and means for attaching said brackets to the rear side of the bumper adjacent one end portion thereof.

Claim 3

An attachment as defined in claim 1 in which the end portions of each of said rollers are defined by reduced diameter trunnions, and sockets in said brackets and rotatably receiving said trunnions.

Claim 4

An attachment as defined in claim 2 in which each of said trunnions is longitudinally crowned.

Claim 5

A front transversely extending bumper for a vehicle, said bumper having front and rear sides extending transversely of the forward straight line direction of travel of the vehicle, rollers located on the rear side of the bumper adjacent opposite end portions thereof, and means for supporting each of said rollers on said bumper for rotation about a generally horizontal axis extending transversely of the forward straight line direction of travel of the vehicle.

Claim 6

A front transversely extending bumper for a vehicle, said bumper having front and rear sides extending transversely of the forward straight line direction of travel of the vehicle, rollers located on the rear side of the bumper adjacent opposite end portions thereof, and means for supporting each of said rollers on said bumper for rotation about a generally horizontal axis extending transversely of the forward straight line direction of travel of the vehicle.

Claim 7

A bumper as defined in claim 4 in which a pair of substantially vertically spaced rollers are supported adjacent each end portion of said bumper.

Claim 8

A bumper as defined in either of claims 4 or 5 in which said supporting means comprise transversely spaced brackets attached to the rear side of said bumper, each of said rollers being supported by two of said brackets.

Claim 9

A vehicle having first and second laterally spaced and steerable front wheels and having a front bumper spaced forwardly from and extending laterally in front of said wheels, the improvement in said vehicle comprising, first and second pairs of substantially vertically spaced rollers located in front of and spaced forwardly from said first and second wheels, respectively, and means mounting said rollers on the rear side of said bumper for rotation about generally horizontal axes whereby the rollers will make rolling contact with said wheels if said vehicle is involved in a moving collision and said bumper is shoved rearwardly toward said wheels.

Claim 10

A vehicle having first and second laterally spaced and steerable front wheels and having a front bumper spaced forwardly from and extending laterally in front of said wheels, the improvement in said vehicle comprising, first and second pairs of substantially vertically spaced rollers located in front of and spaced forwardly from said first and second wheels, respectively, and means mounting said rollers on the rear side of said bumper for rotation about generally horizontal axes whereby the rollers will make rolling contact with said wheels if said vehicle is involved in a moving collision and said bumper is shoved rearwardly toward said wheels.

Claim 11

A vehicle as defined in claim 7 in which said mounting means comprise first and second pairs of laterally spaced brackets fastened to the rear side of said bumper and rotatably receiving the end portions of said first and second pairs of rollers, respectively.

Claim 12

A vehicle as defined in claim 8 in which the end portions of each of said rollers are defined by reduced diameter trunnions.

Claim 13

A vehicle as defined in claim 9 in which each of said trunnions is longitudinally crowned.

Claim 14

A vehicle as defined in claim 7 in which the vertically spaced rollers of each pair are located on opposite sides of the horizontal diameter of the respective wheel and are spaced substantially equidistantly from such diameter.