Vehicle hood hinge

Details Vehicle hood hinge Vehicle hood hinge

2000-12-08

2002-09-03

Knight, Anthony (Department: 3676)

Miscellaneous hardware (e.g., bushing, carpet fastener, caster,

Hinge

Including transversely moving pin in slot

C016S366000, C180S069200, C180S274000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06442801

ABSTRACT:

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application claims priority of Korean patent Application No. 2000-61697, filed on Oct. 19, 2000.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle hood hinge, and more particularly to a vehicle hood hinge which suppresses injury of a walker by retracting a hood at the rear when the hood contacts with a body of the walker as a head-on collision accident occurs between a vehicle and the walker during driving of the vehicle.
2. Prior Art
Recently, according to walker safety regulations which will be in force in vehicle export countries as well as Korea, attempts have progressed to minimize an impact value which occurs when a walker collides with a vehicle, deforming a body of the vehicle, such as a hood.
According to the walker safety regulations, an impact value is detected by launching a head form, taken from a head of the walker, at a speed of 40 kph. This impact value is used as a standard determination of impact energy. A collision position of a head of a walker is virtually set at an end portion at a front glass of a hood, i.e., near a hinge.
Generally, an engine room
90
is formed at the front of a vehicle, as shown in FIG.
1
. Engine and various parts are received in the engine room
90
. A hood
60
is rotatably mounted around a hinge
100
in an upper portion of the engine room
90
to protect the engine room
90
.
As shown in
FIG. 2
, a related art vehicle hood hinge includes a hinge support
20
, a hinge arm
10
, and a hinge pin
30
. A link piece
22
d
having a hinge hole
23
is formed at the rear of the hinge support
20
to extend upwardly in an integral form with the hinge support
20
, and a securing hole
21
is formed at the front of the hinge support
20
to pass through the hinge support
20
. An insertion hole
12
is formed at the rear of the hinge arm
10
, and a fitting hole
11
is formed at the front of the hinge arm
10
to pass through the hinge arm
10
. The insertion hole
12
has an inner diameter equal to that of the hinge hole
23
of the link piece
22
d
. The link piece
22
d
is formed in the hinge support
20
. The hinge pin
30
is fitted into the insertion hole
12
of the hinge arm
10
and the hinge hole
23
.
In the aforementioned related art vehicle hood hinge, when the center of the insertion hole
12
of the hinge arm
10
is parallel to the center of the hinge hole
23
pierced in the link piece
22
d
of the hinge support
20
, the hinge pin
30
is inserted into the insertion hole
12
and the hinge hole
23
. Thus, the hinge support
20
and the hinge arm
10
are fitted to each other by the hinge pin
30
in such a manner that a top surface of a vehicle body and a bottom surface of the hood
60
are respectively in contact with a bottom surface of the hinge support
20
and a top surface of the hinge arm
10
by fitting a bolt
70
through the securing hole
21
and the fitting hole
11
. Thus, the hood
60
is rotatably opened and closed around the hinge pin
30
.
However, the related art vehicle hood hinge has a problem. In the related art vehicle hood hinge, the hinge arm
10
, of which the top surface is in contact with the bottom surface of the hood
60
by fitting the bolt
70
, is fitted into the hinge support
20
, of which the bottom surface is in contact with the top surface of the vehicle body by fitting the bolt
70
, by the hinge pin
30
. For this reason, when the hood is in contact with a body of the walker as a head-on collision accident occurs between the vehicle and the walker during driving of the vehicle, the walker may be injured highly by an impact energy that occurs when the walker collides with the vehicle.
To solve this problem, as shown in
FIG. 3
, a bead portion
22
a
′ is formed in the link piece of the hinge support
20
and connected to the hinge arm
10
by the hinge pin
30
by forming the hinge hole
23
, having an inner diameter equal to that of the insertion hole of hinge arm
10
.
In this bead portion
22
a
′, when a head-on collision accident occurs between the vehicle and the walker during driving of the vehicle, the bead portion
22
a
′ formed in the link piece of the hinge support
20
is deformed to absorb an impact energy, thereby reducing injury of the walker. However, it is impossible for the bead portion
22
a
′ to control breakdown load. For this reason, it was difficult to suppress the injury of the walker. A problem also arises in that the hinge portion is not deformed. Because of this problem, the impact energy at the head portion of the walker increases, thereby failing to pass collision test standards of the walker.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a vehicle hood hinge that substantially obviates one or more of the problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art.
An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle hood hinge, wherein a hood moves downwardly to absorb impact energy as a bottom end of a first link moves along a slot, thereby reducing injury of a walker when the hood is in contact with a body of the walker due to a head-on collision accident between a vehicle and the walker during driving of the vehicle.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle hood hinge in which an impact value of a walker during a head-on collision accident is minimized, so as to more safely protect the walker.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle hood hinge that fulfills walker safety regulations which will be in force in domestic and foreign countries.
Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by the scheme particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.
To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described, a vehicle hood hinge according to the present invention includes a hinge arm
10
contacted with a bottom surface of hood
60
at its top surface and provided with a fitting hole
11
and first and second hinge holes
13
and
14
, the fitting hole
11
being fitted into the bottom surface of the hood
60
by a bolt
70
, and the first and second hinge holes
13
and
14
being formed at front and rear portions of one side of the hinge arm
10
; first and second links
40
and
50
being respectively fitted into the first and second hinge holes
13
and
14
by a shaft pin
32
at their top portions; a hinge support
20
provided with a hinge hole
23
at one side portion and securing holes
21
at front and rear portions, the hinge hole
23
being rotatably fitted to a bottom portion of the second link
50
by the shaft pin
32
, and the securing holes
21
being fitted into a top surface of the vehicle at its bottom surface by a bolt
70
; a slot
22
longitudinally pierced in a lengthwise direction to detach the hinge pin
30
fitted into the bottom portion of the first link
40
from a center shaft of the hinge during an external impact; and a hinge positioning means
22
a
formed in the slot
22
to prevent the hinge pin
30
from being detached from a normal hinge operation position.
Accordingly, when the hood
60
opens and closes normally, a hinge shaft is formed in a normal position of the hinge pin
30
by the hinge positioning means
22
a
. When an external impact is applied to the top surface of the hood
60
to act on a head portion of a walker due to a collision accident, the hinge pin
30
is detached from the slot
22
to reduce impact energy.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.

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