Motor vehicles – Power – Hoods
Reexamination Certificate
2000-08-16
2002-04-16
Hess, Douglas (Department: 2167)
Motor vehicles
Power
Hoods
C180S069200
Reexamination Certificate
active
06371231
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a structure for an automotive vehicle bonnet for closing an engine compartment of the vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIGS. 12A
,
12
B are side views of conventional automotive vehicle bonnets.
In a common automotive vehicle
100
shown in
FIG. 12A
, a bonnet
103
attached via hinges
102
to a body
101
side of the vehicle in such a manner as to be opened and/or closed is held open by hooking up a distal end of an opening stay
104
extending from the body
101
side to the vicinity of a distal end of the bonnet
103
(hereinafter, referred to as a “prior art No. 1”) By the way, the reduction in weight of the opening stay is also important to reduce the weight of the automotive vehicle
100
.
FIG. 12B
shows that a bonnet
103
is held open by hooking up a distal end of an opening stay
104
extending from a body side of the vehicle to a hook retaining portion
105
provided in the vicinity of a hinge
102
(herein after referred to as a “Prior art No. 2”). Since the opening stay
104
is hooked up to the vicinity of the hinge
102
, the length of the opening stay
104
can be reduced.
In
FIG. 12B
, it is usual to press the distal end of the bonnet
103
downwardly to close the bonnet
103
that is being held open. However, it may happen that the distal end of the bonnet
103
is pressed downwardly with the opening stay
104
being hooked up to the bonnet
103
. Since a distance from the hinge
102
which functions as a closing fulcrum to the hook retaining portion
105
is short, a large downward load is applied to the hook retaining portion
105
and its mounting portion. Due to this, sufficient rigidity needs to be secured at the hook retaining portion
105
and the vicinity of its mounting portion.
An automotive vehicle bonnet whose rigidity is improved is known in, for example, JP-A-11-91627 entitled “an automotive vehicle hood structure” (hereinafter, referred to as a “prior art No. 3”).
Disclosed in this prior art No. 3, as shown in
FIG. 13A
, a bonnet
203
in which a bonnet inner panel
202
is overlaid on and joined to a bonnet outer panel
201
.
Furthermore, in the above prior art No. 3, as shown in
FIGS. 13A and 13B
, a plate-like reinforcement
216
is disposed on a front central portion of the bonnet inner panel
202
at a position where a striker
209
and rubber bumpers
210
,
210
are provided, and this reinforcement
216
is joined to the bonnet inner panel
202
with a predetermined space being provided therebetween, whereby a closed section
217
is formed between the two members
202
,
216
.
As a result of this, according to the prior art No. 3, when the bonnet
203
is pressed downwardly in an attempt to close the same, the bonnet outer panel
201
and the bonnet inner panel
202
can be prevented from being deformed at the position where the striker
209
and the rubber bumpers
210
,
210
are provided.
However, it is not possible to apply the contents of the prior art No. 3 directly to the prior art No. 2. The prior art No. 3 is such that it improves the overall rigidity of the portion of the bonnet inner panel
202
where the closed section
217
is provided but does not improve the surface rigidity of the portion where the striker
209
and the rubber bumpers
210
, a
210
are provided.
On the other hand, in the prior art No. 2 shown in
FIG. 12B
, since the hook retaining portion
15
is provided in the vicinity of the hinge
102
on the bonnet
103
, an extremely large concentrated load is applied to the hook retaining portion
105
and its mounting portion. A further device needs to be contrived to secure sufficient rigidity at the hook retaining portion
105
and the vicinity of its mounting portion in order to deal with such an excessively large load. It is not a good idea to reinforce the hook retaining portion
105
and the vicinity of its mounting portion with a simple plate member as done in the above prior art No. 3 because the thickness of the plate member increases, whereby the weight thereof increases.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
To cope with the above problem, an object of the invention is to provide a technique for enabling not only the improvement in rigidity of a portion to which a distal end of an opening stay is hooked up with a reinforcement member while attempting to reduce the weight of the opening stay but also the reduction in weight of the reinforcement member.
With a view to attaining the above object, according to an aspect of the invention, there is provided an automotive vehicle bonnet structure, comprising: an opening stay extending from a vehicle body side; a hook retaining portion disposed on the vicinity of a hinge between a bonnet and a vehicle body, for hooking up a distal end of the opening stay to hold the bonnet in an ope state; and a reinforcement member incorporated in the bonnet, for reinforcing the hook retaining portion, wherein the reinforcement member is constituted by an extruded member having a closed section, i.e. a hollow extended member.
Since the distal end of the opening stay for holding the bonnet open is hooked up to the hook retaining portion provided in the vicinity of the hinge, the opening stay can be made short, and as a result of this, the opening stay can be made lighter in weight.
Since the reinforcement member is the extruded member having the closed section, although it is thin, the reinforcement member has high bending and torsional rigidities, and moreover, the member is light in weight. Thus, the hook retaining portion can be sufficiently reinforced with the highly rigid reinforcement member.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3225857 (1965-12-01), De Haan et al.
patent: 4012807 (1977-03-01), Kern
patent: 4366598 (1983-01-01), Harasaki et al.
patent: 5411109 (1995-05-01), Orns
patent: 5806619 (1998-09-01), Kleinhoffer et al.
patent: 1103163 (1959-12-01), None
patent: 3046056 (1982-01-01), None
patent: 0486093 (1992-05-01), None
patent: 46005 (1960-05-01), None
patent: 59-034979 (1984-02-01), None
patent: 49103 (1991-03-01), None
patent: 6-278657 (1993-03-01), None
patent: 11-91627 (1999-04-01), None
Iwatsuki Syuuichiro
Nushii Hiro
Armstrong Westerman & Hattori, LLP
Gort Elaine
Hess Douglas
Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
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