Land vehicles: bodies and tops – Bodies – Door or window with specified vehicle feature
Reexamination Certificate
2000-12-04
2001-10-23
Pape, Joseph D. (Department: 3612)
Land vehicles: bodies and tops
Bodies
Door or window with specified vehicle feature
C296S182100, C296S146100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06305736
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to, an automotive vehicle, an automotive front door moving structure and an automotive front door window glass lowering structure which are adapted to effectively absorb an impact applied to a front pillar.
There is known an automotive front pillar provided with an impact absorbing structure for reducing an impact generated by an object coming into collision with the front pillar of an automotive vehicle through its deformation.
For example, Japanese Patent Unexamined Publiation No. Hei.9-39833 entitled an “automotive front pillar” describes such an automotive impact absorbing structure. This technology will be described below with reference to
FIG. 18
, which corresponds to
FIG. 2
of the original publication. Note that new reference numbers will be used in the description
FIG. 18
is a cross-sectional view of the prior art automotive front pillar. A front pillar
200
comprises a pillar main body
203
formed into a tube-like body by joining a pillar inner
201
with a pillar outer
202
and a substantially U-shaped impact absorbing panel
204
acting to absorb an impact is attached to the front face of the pillar main body
203
with an opening side thereof being oriented toward the pillar main body
203
.
Here, reference numeral
206
is a resin garnish, reference numeral
207
a windshield, reference numeral
208
a sealant, reference numeral
211
a window sash or window frame, reference numerals
212
,
213
weatherstrips and reference numeral
214
a front door windowpane or window glass. Note that the weatherstrip
213
and the window glass
214
are purposively added to the original drawing for the sake of explanation.
Referring to
FIG. 19
, the function of the front pillar
200
will be described.
FIG. 19
is a functional diagram for explaining the function of the prior art front pillar.
When an object C collides against the front pillar
200
from the front of a vehicle, an external force is applied to the impact absorbing panel
204
via the resin garnish
206
, whereby the impact absorbing panel
204
is deformed.
This reduces an impact force that is to be transmitted to the pillar main body
203
, but, for example, in the event that the impact absorbing panel
204
interferes with the window frame
211
while being deformed, the impact absorbing panel
204
is prevented from being deformed further.
As a result of this, it is conceived that the impact force applied to the impact absorbing panel
204
is not fully absorbed, whereby the impact is transmitted to the pillar main body
203
and the window frame
211
.
Additionally, with a door having no window sash or a so-called “frame-less” window, the deformation of the impact absorbing panel
204
is prevented similarly by a window glass (which corresponds to the windowpane
214
), and therefore it is predicted that the impact is transmitted to the window glass of the door.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention was made to cope with this. It is an object of the present invention to provide an automotive vehicle having a structure for effectively absorbing and reducing an impact, which is applied to an automotive front pillar, by preventing the automotive front pillar under deformation interfering with the front door window frame or window glass. In particular, it is an object of the present invention to provide an automotive front door moving structure for effectively absorbing and reducing the impact by preventing the front pillar under deformation interfering with the front door window frame. Further, it is also an object of the present invention to provide an automotive front door window glass lowering structure for effectively absorbing and reducing the impact by preventing the front pillar under deformation interfering with the window glass.
With a view to attaining the object, according to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided an automotive front door moving structure for an automotive vehicle in which a hinge on a front door can forcibly be moved toward the outside of the automotive vehicle, the automotive vehicle comprising an impact detecting unit for detecting an impact applied to a front pillar and a moving mechanism for forcibly moving the hinge toward the outside of the automotive vehicle based on a detection signal from the impact detecting unit, whereby the front door is constructed to be moved toward the outside of the automotive vehicle.
The front door is moved toward the outside of the automotive vehicle by providing the impact detecting unit and the moving mechanism on the vehicle in which the hinge of the front door can forcibly be moved toward the outside thereof, detecting an impact applied to the front pillar with the impact detecting unit and forcibly moving the hinge toward the outside of the vehicle with the moving mechanism based on a detection signal from the impact detecting unit.
As a result of this, in the event that an impact is applied to the front pillar, the front door can forcibly be moved toward the outside of the vehicle on the hinge side thereof, and in a case where the hinge is disposed in the vicinity of the front pillar, the movement of the front door toward the outside of the vehicle can be made larger, whereby the risk of the front pillar interfering with the front door can positively be prevented.
Consequently, since there is no risk of the deformation of the front pillar being prevented, the impact applied to the front pillar can effectively absorbed and reduced.
According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided an automotive front door moving structure for an automotive vehicle in which a hinge is provided at one end of a front door and a door lock mechanism for connecting the front door to an automotive vehicle side is provided at the other end of the front door, whereby the front door can forcibly be moved toward the outside of the automotive vehicle on a side thereof where the door lock mechanism is provided, the automotive vehicle comprising an impact detecting unit for detecting an impact applied to a front pillar and a mechanism for forcibly moving the front door toward the outside of the automotive vehicle on a side thereof where the door lock mechanism is provided based on a detection signal from the impact detection unit, whereby the front door is constructed to be moved toward the outside of the automotive vehicle.
The front door is moved toward the outside of the vehicle by providing the door lock mechanism at the other end of the front door having the hinge provided at one end thereof, providing the impact detecting unit and the moving mechanism on the automotive vehicle in which the door lock mechanism can forcibly be moved toward the outside thereof, detecting an impact applied to the front pillar with the impact detecting unit and forcibly moving the front door toward the outside of the vehicle with the moving mechanism based on the detection signal from the impact detecting unit.
As a result of this, in the event that an impact is applied to the front pillar, the front door can forcibly be moved toward the outside of the vehicle, whereby the risk of the front pillar interfering with the front door can be prevented.
Consequently, since there is no risk of the deformation of the front pillar being prevented, the impact applied to the front pillar can effectively absorbed and reduced.
According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided an automotive front door window glass lowering structure for an automotive vehicle in which a window glass of a window frame-less front door can forcibly be lowered, the automotive vehicle comprising an impact detecting unit for detecting an impact applied to a front pillar and a lowering mechanism for forcibly lowering the window glass based on a detection signal from the impact detecting unit.
The front door window glass is forcibly lowered with the lowering mechanism based on the detection signal from the impact detecting unit by providing the impact detecting unit and the lowering mechanism on the automotive ve
Enomoto Kouji
Yoshida Suguru
Arent Fox Kintner Plotkin & Kahn
Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
Pape Joseph D.
Patel Kiran B.
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