Miscellaneous hardware (e.g. – bushing – carpet fastener – caster – Hinge – Including means to hold or retard hinged members against...
Reexamination Certificate
2000-10-22
2002-11-05
Mah, Chuck Y. (Department: 3676)
Miscellaneous hardware (e.g., bushing, carpet fastener, caster,
Hinge
Including means to hold or retard hinged members against...
C016S296000, C016S386000, C016S339000, C016S327000, C016S332000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06473937
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a motor vehicle door hinge with integrated braking and holding function, including a first hinge half fastenable to one door arrangement part, namely door or door pillar, and a second hinge half fastenable to the other door arrangement part and also a hinge pin pivotably connecting the two hinge halves to one another, the hinge pin consisting of a solid material and being arranged in at least one hinge lug of one hinge half with a running fit, but in at least one hinge lug of the other hinge half with a firm fit, and a braking and holding device integrated into the hinge comprising at least one spring-loaded braking and holding body and which co-operates with a circumferential hinge-pin profiling extending over part of the circumference of said hinge Din and which is oriented radially to the hinge pin.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The aim of such or comparably designed integration of a braking and holding function into a motor vehicle door hinge is to provide a small-size combination of door stop and door hinge which is suitable for exerting high braking and holding forces and which is distinguished by the utilization of parts present in any case in the hinge and by the smallest possible number of components and the simplest possible mountability.
A motor vehicle door hinge of the abovementioned type with integrated braking and holding function is known, for example, from European Patent application No. EP-A 0 816 610 and is distinguished essentially in that the braking and holding function is formed as a whole from a cylinder housing connected fixedly in terms of rotation to one of the door arrangement parts and from a cylinder plug received in the cylinder housing and connected fixedly in terms of rotation to the other door arrangement part and also from at least one braking and holding body arranged radially adjustably in one part, namely a cylinder housing or cylinder plug, the cylinder plug being formed by a length portion of the hinge pin. Although such accommodation of the braking and holding device in a closed cylinder housing ensures not only small-size execution and assignment, but also an absolutely leak-tight design of the door stop, so that any impairment of the braking and holding functions of the door stop due to the painting of the vehicle body and a subsequent escape of abrasion or other dirt possibly occurring during operation are both ruled out, nevertheless, on the other hand, it has the disadvantage that the door cannot be stopped in a step-free manner and there is therefore the risk that noise would be generated during operation. Moreover, the known braking and holding device necessitates the production and mounting of a multiplicity of individual parts and is therefore relatively complicated.
Furthermore, in order to achieve continuous braking and step-free stopping of the vehicle door in motor vehicle door hinges with an integrated braking and holding function, it has already also been proposed to secure the hinge pin fixedly in terms of rotation in the hinge lug or hinge lugs of a first hinge half and to equip it, over its length passing through the hinge lug of the other hinge half in which it is to have a running fit, with at least one radially ascending wedge surface and to assign to the latter at least one wedge surface radially ascending on the inner circumference of the hinge-lug bore of the associated hinge lug of the second hinge half, in which case the two wedge surfaces must have identical pitches such that they form pairs of wedge surfaces which, over their entire overlap region, bear on one another essentially over a large area German Patent No. (DE-C 44 06 824). Although this configuration of a braking and holding device has the attractive benefit that no additional components are necessary to implement it and that, furthermore, the overall size of the hinge is not influenced or is influenced only insignificantly, it nevertheless has the disadvantage that, to achieve the desired braking and holding action, the wedge surfaces must have, on the one hand, a wedge surface ascending at a very low angle and, on the other hand, a flank surface descending at a steep angle, thus resulting in a considerable outlay in production terms both for the hinge pin and for the hinge-lug bore, particularly because the mutually co-operating wedge surfaces on the hinge pin, on the one hand, and on the inner circumference of the hinge-lug bore, on the other hand, have to be manufactured with the highest possible precision which can scarcely be achieved in mass production. Insofar as the criterion of highest possible precision is not fulfilled or is fulfilled only inadequately, either a sufficient inhibiting action cannot be achieved or premature wear occurs.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object on which the present invention is based is to improve a door stop capable of being integrated into a door hinge and, at the same time, a, in particular, demountable motor vehicle door hinge equipped with an integrated door stop, to the effect that the door stop as a whole is designed to have as small a size as possible, even in the case of a maximum door opening angle of up to 270°, and has a closed design in the same way, and that, furthermore, the holding forces of the door stop are adjustable, even subsequently, at any desired moment and with regard to the mounting of the hinge or stop on the vehicle body, and adjustability is to be afforded, irrespective of whether the door stop is designed to be integrated into a door hinge or as a stop independent of the door hinges.
The object on which the present invention is based is, therefore, to provide a motor vehicle door hinge with integrated braking and holding function, which, whilst having the simplest possible form of construction, ensures, over a predetermined permitted opening angle of the door, an increasing braking of the opening movement of the door and, conversely, an increasingly easier closing movement of said door and at a selected opening angle contains a limit stop for the motor vehicle door and, furthermore, in which, on the one hand, the painting of the vehicle body cannot lead to any impairment in functioning and, on the other hand, the operation of a vehicle door or the operating mode of the door stop cannot lead to any paint or dirt abrasion.
Proceeding from a motor vehicle door hinge of the type described in the introduction, this object is may be achieved, according to the present invention, in that the circumferential hinge-pin profiling extending over part of the circumference of said hinge pin forms a braking ramp having a contour profile continuously ascending in the door opening direction and the braking and holding body co-operating with said braking ramp is designed as a frictional body,
This configuration of a braking and holding device is distinguished, in the first place, in that, in order to implement it on or as integrated into a motor vehicle door hinge, it is necessary, in principle, to have only two additional parts, specifically the braking and holding body and a loading spring. At the same time, the design according to the present invention of a braking and holding device integrated into a door hinge makes it possible to exert continuously rising or falling braking and holding forces, with the obvious possibility of being able to adapt these in a simple way, without additional outlay, to any desired profile of force rise or of force fall by the configuration or modification of the contour shape of the braking ramp. Since, in the braking and holding device designed according to the present invention, the braking forces are exerted and supported solely within a hinge lug, such a braking and holding device is also suitable for use in conjunction with any desired type of door hinges, that is to say both single-shear and double-shear door hinges. Furthermore, the braking and holding device according to the present invention allows a wide range of different embodiments which, on the one hand, are adaptable to the respective hinge shape or hin
Davidson Davidson & Kappel LLC
Ed. Scharwaechter GmbH
Mah Chuck Y.
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