Miscellaneous hardware (e.g. – bushing – carpet fastener – caster – Hinge – Having stop or abutment
Reexamination Certificate
1999-12-23
2001-12-18
Mah, Chuck Y. (Department: 3626)
Miscellaneous hardware (e.g., bushing, carpet fastener, caster,
Hinge
Having stop or abutment
C016S370000, C016S371000, C016S366000, C016S222000, C016S223000, C180S069210, C180S274000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06330734
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates, in general, to hinge assemblies for automobile hoods and, more particularly, to a hinge assembly for automobile hoods for absorbing a shock during a collision with a pedestrian.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
As well known to those skilled in the art, a hood of an automobile refers to the hinged, openable part of an automobile body covering an engine room.
As shown in
FIG. 5
, the construction of an automobile body related to the present invention includes an engine room “E” defined by fenders “F” and a radiator support panel “S”, a hood
51
openably mounted at a cowl panel side of the engine room “E” by means of a hood hinge assembly
50
, a latch means consisting of a hood latch assembly
52
for maintaining a latched state at a radiator support panel side, a hood striker (not shown) for engaging with the hood latch assembly
52
at the hood
51
and a hood stay damper
53
for supporting the opened hood
51
.
As illustrated in
FIGS. 5 and 6
, the hood hinge assembly
50
consists of a first hinge piece
54
fixed at an upper surface of a fender apron “FA”, a second hinge piece
56
fixed at a lower surface of the hood
51
, and a hinge pin
55
rotatably connecting the first hinge piece
54
with the second hinge piece
56
.
The hood
51
consists of an inner panel
51
′ and an outer panel
51
″. The space “D” between the inner panel
51
′ and the outer panel
51
″ is about 15 mm. When the hood
51
is closed, a space “D
1
” between the hood hinge assembly
50
and the fender apron “FA” is about 35 mm, a space D
2
between the outer panel
51
″ of the hood
51
and the fender apron “FA” is about 50 mm.
When an automobile having the above-described construction collides with a pedestrian, the pedestrian receives a shock having a force F
1
when he crashes into the hood
51
. In more detail, the pedestrian initially collides with the bumper of the automobile at the lower half of his body and, thereafter, the pedestrian falls into the hood
51
and comes into collision-contact with the hood
51
.
In such a case, while the hood
51
is crushed and broken, the hood
51
absorbs the impact force applied by the pedestrian, thus reducing the shock applied to the pedestrian. In other words, while the space “D” between the inner panel
51
′ and the outer panel
52
′ and the space “D
1
” between the hood hinge assembly
50
and the fender apron “FA” is decreased, the shock applied to the pedestrian is reduced.
However, according to prior art, because the impact is absorbed using the space “D” between the inner panel
511
and the outer panel
52
′ and the space “D
1
” between the hood hinge assembly
50
and the fender apron “FA” and both spaces total 50 mm, the impact absorbing effect is low.
Additionally, because the hood is made of metal having a high degree of rigidity and supported firmly by the hood hinge assembly, there is a limitation in reducing the shock applied to the pedestrian.
Because the conventional hood hinge is rotated around one hinge point, the size of the hood hinge assembly must be increased so as to enlarge the space between the hood and the fender apron. However, because there are limitations for making the hood hinge large, the enlargement of the space is limited by the restrictions in automobile design.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a hinge assembly for automobile hoods, increasing a shock absorbing capability by enlarging the space between the hood hinge assembly and the fender apron.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a hinge assembly for automobile hoods that minimizes the shock applied to a pedestrian by allowing the hood and the hood hinge assembly to be separated when a pedestrian collides with an automobile.
In order to accomplish the above object, the present invention provides a hinge assembly for automobile hoods, comprising a first hinge rod unit. The first hinge rod unit is rotatably engaged at an upper end with a bottom of a hood by means of a first hinge pin. The first hinge rod unit is engaged at a lower end with a fender apron by means of a second hinge pin. The hinge assembly further comprises a second hinge rod unit. The second hinge rod unit is rotatably engaged at an upper end with the bottom of the hood by means of a third hinge pin. The second hinge rod unit is rotatably engaged at a lower end with the fender apron by means of a fourth hinge pin. The third hinge pin is spaced apart from the first hinge pin by a first interval, and the fourth hinge pin is spaced apart from the second hinge pin by a second interval longer than the first interval.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4012807 (1977-03-01), Kern
patent: 4093290 (1978-06-01), Pearson
patent: 4249632 (1981-02-01), Lucchini et al.
patent: 4946002 (1990-08-01), Vu et al.
patent: 5339494 (1994-08-01), Esau et al.
patent: 5557829 (1996-09-01), Schoen et al.
patent: 5697467 (1997-12-01), Howard
patent: 6182782 (2001-02-01), Matsuura et al.
patent: WO-00/69709 (2000-11-01), None
Christie Parker & Hale LLP
Hyundai Motor Company
Mah Chuck Y.
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