ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 16 -- United States Patent no. 12,304,409, issued on May 20, was assigned to TRAFFIX DEVICES INC. (San Clemente, Calif.).
"Vehicle-mounted crash attenuator" was invented by Geoffrey B. Maus (Trabuco Canyon, Calif.) and Ryan Selvius (Vista, Calif.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A crash impact attenuator is adapted for deployment on a vehicle, and includes a cartridge portion having at least one energy absorbing module, as well as a backup system having a backup frame, which is adapted to attach the cartridge portion to the vehicle. The backup system includes an actuator configured to pivot the cartridge portion between a deployed orientation and a stored orientation about...