Land vehicles: bodies and tops – Bodies – Structural detail
Reexamination Certificate
2000-07-10
2002-04-02
Pape, Joseph D. (Department: 3612)
Land vehicles: bodies and tops
Bodies
Structural detail
C180S069210
Reexamination Certificate
active
06364402
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicular hood apparatus including a hood sufficiently deformable in a lifted position to absorb an impact of an obstacle thereon.
2. Description of the Related Art
Known vehicular hood apparatuses including a hood are provided on a vehicle. Such a hood is lifted upwardly and then held in a lifted position when the vehicle hits an obstacle. The lifted hood provides increased possible amount of downward deformation thereof. That is, the hood held in a lifted position can be deformed more downwardly. Thus, when the vehicle hits the obstacle and the obstacle is thereby thrown onto the hood, the hood can greatly absorb an impact of the obstacle thereon. One example of such vehicular hood apparatuses is known from Japanese Patent Laid-Open HEI 9-315266 entitled “VEHICULAR HOOD APPARATUS”.
FIGS.
13
(
a
) to
13
(
c
) hereof show the vehicular hood apparatus disclosed in the above-mentioned publication.
As shown in FIG.
13
(
a
), a rod
101
of an actuator
100
of the apparatus provided on a vehicle commences to rise when the vehicle hits an obstacle, as indicated by an arrow. The rod
101
has a recess
106
formed therein. Provided in the recess
106
is a rod retaining means
102
including a stopper piece
103
, a compression spring
104
, and a retaining piece
105
. The spring
104
urges the stopper piece
103
in such a manner that the stopper piece
103
projects from the rod
101
.
As shown in FIG.
13
(
b
), the rod
101
further rises in a direction indicated by an arrow to thereby bring the stopper piece
103
into abutment on a housing
100
a
of the actuator
100
. The stopper piece
103
is then moved into the recess
106
.
As shown in FIG.
13
(
c
), the rod
101
still further rises to an uppermost position, whereupon a hood (not shown) of the apparatus is lifted a given amount. The stopper piece
103
is then moved beyond the housing
100
a
of the actuator
100
to thereby project from the rod
101
.
The stopper piece
103
abuts on an upper surface of the housing
100
a
to thereby hold the rod
101
in the uppermost position. Consequently, the hood is held in a lifted position.
However, the rod retaining means
102
including the stopper piece
103
, the compression spring
104
, and the retaining piece
105
should be mounted in the recess
106
of the rod
101
, and thus the rod
101
becomes inevitably complicated in construction.
Further, since the rod
101
is relatively slim, mounting the rod retaining means
102
in the recess
106
requires a long time. Furthermore, forming the recess
106
in the slim rod
101
also requires a long time.
As a result, the actuator becomes undesirably expensive.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicular hood apparatus including a less costly actuator with a rod retaining means.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicular hood apparatus comprising a hood provided on a front part of a vehicle, and an actuator, wherein the actuator lifts the hood a predetermined amount when the vehicle hits an obstacle, the actuator including a rod for pushing the hood upwardly, and a rod retaining means functioning as a compression spring positioned below the rod, the compression spring serving to hold the rod in an uppermost position when the rod arrives in the uppermost position.
The actuator includes the rod retaining means for holding the rod in the uppermost position. The rod retaining means functions as a compression spring of simple construction. Therefore, mounting the rod retaining means to the actuator can be readily effected without requiring a long time. As a result, the cost of the actuator having the rod retaining means can be reduced.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicular hood apparatus comprising a hood provided on a front part of a vehicle, and an actuator, wherein the actuator lifts the hood a predetermined amount when the vehicle hits an obstacle, the actuator including a rod for pushing the hood upwardly, and a rod retaining means functioning as a gas supplying section, the gas supplying section serving to supply a space formed below the rod with a gas having a high pressure to thereby hold the rod in an uppermost position when the rod arrives in the uppermost position.
The actuator includes the rod retaining means for holding the rod in the uppermost position. The rod retaining means functions as the gas supplying section. The high pressure of the gas supplied from the gas supplying section acts to hold the rod in the uppermost position. The gas supplying section is connected to the actuator through a flow path portion thereof. This eliminates the need to mount the rod retaining means inside the actuator. Therefore, mounting the rod retaining means to the actuator can be easily effected without requiring a long time. As a result, the cost of the actuator having the rod retaining means can be reduced.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicular hood apparatus comprising a hood provided on a front part of a vehicle, and an actuator, wherein the actuator lifts the hood a predetermined amount when the vehicle hits an obstacle, the actuator including a rod for pushing the hood upwardly, and a rod retaining means having a lock pin, the rod forming therein a recessed portion, the lock pin being disposed to be fitted into the recessed portion so as to hold the rod in an uppermost position when the rod arrives in the uppermost position.
The actuator includes the rod retaining means for holding the rod in the uppermost position. The rod forms therein the recessed portion while the lock pin to be fitted into the recessed portion is mounted in the housing of the actuator. It is therefore unnecessary for the lock pin to be mounted in the relatively slim rod. Consequently, the mounting the lock pin does not require a long time. As a result, the cost of the actuator having the rod retaining means can be reduced.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3709316 (1973-01-01), Glance
patent: 4249632 (1981-02-01), Lucchini et al.
patent: 4572314 (1986-02-01), Anguera
patent: 4753475 (1988-06-01), Mochida
patent: 5197560 (1993-03-01), Oda et al.
patent: 5337852 (1994-08-01), Kastner
patent: 6182782 (2001-02-01), Matsuura et al.
patent: 6217108 (2001-04-01), Sasaki
patent: 2711338 (1978-09-01), None
patent: 2757238 (1979-06-01), None
patent: 2841092 (1980-04-01), None
patent: 28 41 315 (1980-04-01), None
patent: 2841315 (1980-10-01), None
patent: 2947202 (1981-05-01), None
patent: 19721565 (1997-04-01), None
patent: 197 21 565 (1997-12-01), None
patent: 19712961 (1998-01-01), None
patent: 197 12 961 (1998-10-01), None
patent: 199 22 454 (2000-11-01), None
patent: 19922454 (2000-11-01), None
patent: 9-315266 (1996-05-01), None
patent: 10-258774 (1997-03-01), None
patent: 11-34925 (1997-07-01), None
patent: 09315266 (1997-12-01), None
patent: 11034925 (1999-02-01), None
patent: 11-115680 (1999-04-01), None
patent: 2000-264146 (2000-09-01), None
German Search Report,, Feb. 13, 2001, with english translation.
09/619,323: Translation of German Search Report, and German Search Report, 8 pages, Feb. 13, 2001.
09/613,125: Translation of German Search Report, and German Search Report, Feb. 13, 2001.
Specification of Application No. 09/610,187.
Specification of Application No. 09/611,930.
Specification of Application No. 09/611,249.
Specification of Application No. 09/619,323.
Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
Merchant & Gould P.C.
Pape Joseph D.
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