US Patent 8118286 Impact energy dissipation device

An impact energy dissipation device for the prevention of high-speed vehicles and more specifically automotive vehicles, aircraft, helicopters, components and the like from receiving high-speed impact energy directly onto their structures in case of a collision. The device is to isolate high-speed impact energy from the crashworthy structures by breaking down the huge impact energy with many small manageable shear fragments. The device includes a slidable assembly with a series of resistive pins with predetermined shear strength, staggered in two tandem rows to shear in a controlled manner that only one pin is sheared at a time thereof bearing an approximate equivalent of one shear pin load transmission throughout a collision.