GB2523648A

GB2523648A - Hood assembly for a commercial vehicle, in particular a truck

Info

Publication number: GB2523648A
Application number: GB1501324.6A
Authority: GB
Inventors: John Koch; Richard Herz; Brad Wensink; David Jensen
Original assignee: Daimler AG
Current assignee: Mercedes Benz Group AG
Priority date: 2015-01-27
Filing date: 2015-01-27
Publication date: 2015-09-02
Also published as: GB201501324D0

Abstract

A hood assembly 10 comprising a latch 30 and handle 20 installed on a front pivoting engine cover, hood or bonnet 12 of a vehicle, such as a truck or lorry, the assembly comprising a latch arranged at a rearward position of the hood, the latch having at least one latched and one unlatched position, a handle remotely located with respect to the latch, the handle moveable between at least one neutral and one release positions and a remote control assembly 26 connecting the handle to the latch for translating movement of the handle into movement of the latch. The assembly allows a user to unlatch a trucks hood from a single location using handle 20, preferably located at the front of the hood and biased into the neutral position via a spring (38, fig.5). The latch may be a metal rotary latch, and may be biased into a latched position. The remote assembly may be a cable 26. A commercial vehicle comprising the remote assembly is also claimed.

Description

Hood Assembly for a Commercial Vehicle, in particular a Truck The invention relates to a hood assembly for a commercial vehicle, in particular a truck.

US 6 637 531 B2 shows a hood support and latching system for an over-the-highway vehicle, comprising a vehicle frame structure and a hood assembly movable between opened and closed positions and operative to enclose an engine compartment when in said closed position. Moreover, the system comprises at least one hood latch mechanism for maintaining closure of said hood assembly including first and second latch assemblies.

Moreover, US 7 390 036 B2 shows an actuating mechanism associated with a vehicle hood, the actuating mechanism comprising a first handle, a second handle and an operating linkage.

Furthermore, US 7 191 860 B2 shows an apparatus for preventing unintended closure of a tilting cover pivotably coupled to a base.

Additionally, it is known form the general prior art that the predominate method for constraining a front pivoting hood of a commercial vehicle such as a heavy truck in the rear is to incorporate some type of elastomeric hold-down device on each side of the rear of the hood. some of the known problems arising from this approach are the tendency of such elastomeric hold-down devices to be difficult to latch in cold weather and the inconvenience of having to walk to both sides of the rear of the hood to unlatch the hold-down devices, an then walk back to the front of the hood to pull the hood open.

Elastomeric hold-down devices also creep in hot temperature, which reduces effective hold-down force and hood stability. Elastomeric hold-down devices do not allow for beneficial degrees of freedom for the hood system, are susceptible to adverse tolerance stack up, and experience fatigue failure.

Hence, it is an object of the present invention to provide a hood assembly comprising a hood which can be opened particularly easily.

This object is solved by a hood assembly having the features of patent claim 1.

Advantageous embodiments with expedient developments of the invention are indicated in the other patent claims.

According to the present invention the hood assembly for a commercial vehicle comprises a hood having a front portion configured to be pivotably connected to a frame structure of the vehicle, the hood being pivotable between a closed position and at least one opened position. For example, with respect to the completely assembled state of the commercial vehicle, the hood is pivotably arranged on the frame structure between the closed position and the opened position. In the closed position, the hood covers or encloses an engine compartment of the commercial vehicle thereby covering at least one engine arranged in the engine compartment. In the opened position, at least a portion of the engine compartment is uncovered.

The hood assembly further comprises at least one latch arranged in a rearward portion of the hood, wherein the rearward portion is arranged behind the front portion with respect to the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. The latch is movably arranged on the hood between at least one latched position for keeping the hood in the closed position, and at least one unlatched position for releasing the hood. For example, the latch is configured to interact with a corresponding bolt in the closed position of the hood and in the latched position of the latch so that the hood is held in the closed position by means of the latch and the bold, which is, for example, arranged on a structure of the vehicle. In the unlatched position, the latch releases the bolt so that the hood can be moved from the closed position into the opened position.

Moreover, the hood assembly further comprises at least one handle arranged on the hood at a distance from the latch. In other words, the handle is remote from the latch. The handle is movably arranged on the hood between at least one neutral position and at least one release position.

Additionally, the hood assembly comprises at least one remote control element by means of which the handle is connected to the latch so as to move the latch from the latched position into the unlatched position by moving the handle from the neutral position into the release position. For example, a movement of the handle from the neutral position into the release position is transferred to the latch via the remote control element so that the latch is moved from the latched position into the unlatched position. The hood assembly according to the present invention allows a user such as the driver of the commercial vehicle to release the rear latch and open the hood in one step since the handle for releasing or unlatching the latch is arranged on the hood. Preferably, the handle is arranged in the front portion, in particular on a front end of the hood, so that the user can release the latch and open the hood in one step all from the front of the hood and without having to manually latch and unlatch the rear latch.

This means that, for example, the hood assembly can comprise a plurality of latches which can be connected to the handle by means of respective remote control elements such as cables. Thus, the user can release or unlatch the respective latches by actuating the handle. Moreover, the invention allows the user to push the hood closed and walk away while the hood can latch itself mechanically as opposed to requiring the user to manually latch it. Additionally, the invention benefits the user or driver by simplifying the pre-trip check by not having to go to each side of the rear of the hood to manually unlatch elastomeric hold-down devices. Instead, the user can release the hood at the front of the hood in the same motion as opening. The handle is part of a system that allows the user to close the hood from the front without having to manually latch the rear hood latches.

This invention alleviates the potential of hand damage when trying to latch very stiff elastomeric hold-down latches in cold weather.

Alternatively or additionally, at least one handle for unlatching the latch can be arranged in a side of the hood. This side opening embodiment reduces the potential risk to drivers of hurting themselves by straining to open the hood from the front of the hood, and from slipping off of a bumper or front handle while trying to leverage their body weight to counterweight the hood to open it, especially in icy conditions.

Preferably, the hood assembly of the present invention is part of a system approach of using a low-frequency hood front mount to isolate the hood from damaging chassis modes. The low-frequency hood mount system allows the front of the hood to float while the rear of the hood is selectively constrained in all degrees of freedom with the exception of rotation in an axis parallel to the opening rotation of the hood. This hood mount system reduces stress in the hood which allows for a lighter less expensive hood.

Other remote opening systems could be incorporated in lieu of the cables. For example, a fob activated solenoid could be used as said remote control element. Thus, a method of remote unlatching can be accomplished by an electronic switch in the handle that releases solenoids or electric linear drives to unlatch the latch.

Further advantages, features, and details of the invention derive from the following description of preferred embodiments as well as from the drawings. The features and feature combinations previously mentioned in the description as well as the features and feature combinations mentioned in the following description of the figures and/or shown in the figures alone can be employed not only in the respective indicated combination but also in any other combination or taken alone without leaving the scope of the invention.

The drawings show in: Fig. 1 a schematic and perspective front view of a hood assembly according to a first embodiment; Fig. 2 a schematic and perspective front view of the hood assembly according to a second embodiment; Fig. 3 a schematic and perspective front view of the hood assembly according to a third embodiment; Fig. 4 a schematic and perspective front view of a handle assembly of the hood assembly; Fig. 5 a schematic exploded view of the handle assembly; Fig. 6 a schematic side view of a rear mount assembly of the hood assembly; Fig. 7 a schematic side view of an auxiliary latch of the hood assembly; Fig. 8 a schematic side view of hood mounted components of the hood assembly; Fig. 9 a schematic exploded view of the rear mount assembly; and Fig. 10 a schematic exploded view of a striker box assembly of the hood assembly.

In the figures the same elements or elements having the same function are indicated by the same reference signs.

Fig. 1 shows a first embodiment of a hood assembly 10 for a commercial vehicle such as a truck, in particular a heavy truck. The hood assembly 10 comprises a hood 12 having a front portion 14 and a rearward portion 16. The front portion l4is configured to be pivotably connected to a frame structure of the commercial vehicle. In the completely assembled state of the vehicle, the hood 12 is pivotably arranged on the frame structure between a closed position and at least one opened position. In the closed position at least a portion of an engine compartment is covered by the hood 12 so that at least one engine arranged in the engine compartment is covered by the hood at least partially when in said closed position. In the opened position the engine compartment is uncovered at least partially so that, for example, a user such as the driver of the commercial vehicle can reach the engine. The hood 12 is pivotable about a pivot axis which extends, for example, in the transverse direction of the vehicle.

As can be seen from Fig. 1, the hood 12 comprises lateral fenders 18 configured to cover respective wheels of the vehicle at least partially in the closed position of the hood 12.

The hood assembly 10 according to the first embodiment comprises two latches which are not shown in Fig. 1, the latches being arranged in the rearward portion 16 of the hood 12. Each one of the latches is movably arranged on the hood 12 between at least one latched position and at least one unlatched position. The latched position is configured to keep the hood 12 in the closed position. In the unlatched position the hood 12 is released so that the hood 12 can be opened, i.e. moved from the closed position into the opened position.

The hood assembly 10 further comprises a handle assembly 20 having at least one handle 22 which is arranged on the hood 12 at a distance from the respective latches, the handle 22 being movably arranged on the hood 21 between one neutral position and at least one release position. As can be seen from Fig. 1, the handle 22 is arranged in the front portion 14, in particular on a front end 24 of the hood 12.

The hood assembly 10 further comprises at least one remote control element in the form of cables 26 by means of which the handle 22 is connected to the respective latches so as to move the respective latches from the respective latched positions into the unlatched positions by moving the handle 22 from the neutral position into the released position. In the first embodiment the respective latches are arranged on respective internal lateral walls 28 of the hood 12. The respective latch is configured as a rotary latch, wherein the cable 26 originates from the handle 22 to the respective rotary latches so that the rotary latches can be moved by the single handle 22. The cable 26 can be pulled by means of the handle 22 so as to unlatch both latches in one motion.

Fig. 2 shows a second embodiment of the hood assembly 10. In the second embodiment, the hood assembly 10 comprises a single rotary latch indicated by 30. Moreover, the handle assembly 20 and, thus, the handle 22 are arranged on one of the lateral fenders 18. The aforementioned remarks on the respective lateral latch also applies to the single latch 30 and vice versa, wherein the single latch 30 is arranged in a middle portion 32 of the hood 12 with respect to the transverse direction of the hood 12 and, thus, the vehicle.

This side handle embodiment could also be configured with two latches, one on each interior lateral wall as shown in Embodiment 1, shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 shows a third embodiment of the hood assembly 10, wherein the handle assembly and, thus, the handle 22 is arranged on the front end 24. In the third embodiment, the hood assembly 10 comprises a single rotary latch 30 for holding the hood 12 in the closed position.

Figs. 4 and 5 shows the handle assembly 20 comprising the handle 22 which is shown in the release position in Fig. 4, wherein the release position is also referred to as an unlatched condition of the handle 22. The handle assembly 20 further comprises a handle housing 34 on which the handle 22 is pivotably supported by a handle shaft 36. The handle assembly 20 comprises torsional springs 38 and is assembled as shown in Fig. 5 with the torsional springs clocked at 360 degrees to achieve a desired spring rate on the handle 22. As can be seen from Fig. 4, the hood assembly 10 comprises at least one cable sheath 40 which is mounted directly to the handle housing 34. The cable 26 itself is attached to a respective cam 42 which in turn is connected to the handle shaft 36 in a rotationally fixed manner so that the respective cam 42 can be pivoted by the handle 22 via the handle shaft 36. The cable 26 attaches to the cams 42 on either side of the cable housing 34. When the handle 22 is pulled, the cams 42 rotate 30 degrees and pull approximately 12 mm of the cable 26 out of both the left and right hand cable sheath 40.

This cable stroke unlatches the rotary latches 30 at the rear of the hood 12. When said cable stroke unlatches the rotary latches 30 at the rear of the hood 12, at this time, the user is already pulling on the hood 12 from the optimal location, so that the handle 22 provides a solid grip to continue the pulling motion, opening the entire hood 12.

As can be seen from Fig. 5, the handle assembly 20 further comprises retaining screws 44, washers 46 and hood mounting bolts 48 which are used to attach the assembled handle assembly 20 to the hood 12, in particular a hood pocket 50 (Fig. 4).

Preferably, the cable sheath 40 is routed through the hood 12 via at least one fir tree clipping point. The cable sheath 40 is then attached to a bulkhead 52 (Fig. 6) which is also referred to as a bulkhead bracket, and the cable 26 itself is attached to the rotary latch 30 which is shown in Fig. 6 in greater detail.

Fig. 6 shows a rear mount assembly 54 of the hood assembly 10, the rear mount assembly 54 being also referred to as a rear mount casting assembly comprising a rear mount casting 56 which is attached, in particular bolted, to a truck front wall 56. When the hood 12 is in the closed position for driving, the rotary latch 30 is closed on a striker 60 of a striker box assembly 62 (Fig. 10). Fig. 6 further shows part of a hood splash shield assembly 64. Moreover, a latch cable pass-through 66 as well as an auxiliary latch release cable 68 can be seen.

When the latch 30 is actuated by the handle 22 from the front of the hood 12, the cable 26 configured as a primary latch release cable pulls on a rotary latch release lever.

This action unlatches the rotary latch 30 which is made of a metallic material and allows the user to open the hood 12. In addition, there is the auxiliary release cable 68 that mounts to a rotary latch bracket 70 and runs through a hood splash shield 72 of the hood splash shield assembly 64.

The auxiliary latch release cable 68 is shown in Fig. 7 in greater detail. If the primary release cable 26 or a primary release cable system comprising the cable 26 fails to open the hood 12, the auxiliary latch release cable 68 can be used to open the hood 12. To actuate the rotary latch 30 by the cable 68 a cast ball 74 attached to the cable 66 is pulled through an opening 76 in the splash shield 72 and slid aft to lock it in place. This causes the latch 30 on each side of the vehicle to remain open until the cable 66 is reset.

Fig. 8 shows the rotary latch 30 which is attached to the rotary latch bracket 70 by means of, for example, bolts. The rotary latch bracket 70 is mounted on the hood 12 by means of mounting bolts 78.

Fig. 9 shows the rear mount assembly 54. As can be seen from Fig. 9, an alignment pad 80 is attached to the rear mount casting 56. Fig. 9 further shows the striker box assembly 62 which is attached to the rear mount casting 56. The rear mount assembly 54 further comprises shims 82, rubber isolators 84, a washer 86 and a nut 88.

Fig. 10 shows the striker box assembly 62 comprising a ribbed bolt 90, a compression sleeve 92, an acetal sleeve 94, an alignment pad 96 (in this embodiment the same component as 80), a striker box 98, an MS bolt 100 and a weld nut 102.

The hood assembly 10 allows the user to release the rear latch 30 or the rear latches 30 and open the hood 12 in one step all from the front of the hood 12 without having to manually latch and unlatch the rear hood latches 30. Moreover, the hood assembly 10 allows the user to push the hood closed and walk away while the hood 12 latches itself mechanically as opposed to be requiring the user to manually latch it. Preferably, the respective latch 30 is made of a rigid material. For example, the latch 30 is made of a metallic material such as steel. Preferably, the hood assembly 10 comprises at least one biasing means configured to move the latch from the unlatched position into the latched position. Alternatively or additionally, the hood assembly 10 comprises at least one biasing means configured to move the handle 22 from the release position in to the neutral position. For example, the torsion springs 38 are used as biasing means to move the handle 22 from the release position into the neutral position.

The steel rear rotary latches 30 are less susceptible to adverse cold weather effects in comparison with elastomeric hold-down devices. The respective rear rotary latch 30 with its pivoting striker bolt provides superior restraint in the longitudinal and vertical directions, while allowing relative rotation between the hood 12 and a truck cab in an axis parallel to hood opening during events such as hard braking. This relative rotation alleviates localized stresses in the rear of the hood 12.

A side opening option shown in Fig. 2 allows the driver to step out of the driver's side of the vehicle and unlatch and open the hood 12 from the nearest side of the truck in one quick operation. By using rotary latches 30 and cable release system activated by the release handle 22, the driver does not need to move to both sides of the truck or to the front to open it. The side handle hood assembly 10 also makes it easier for lighter drivers to open the hood 12 by providing greater mechanical advantage from rear of the hood 12 without having to use their weight as a counter balance.

List of reference signs hood assembly 12 hood 14 front portion 16 rear ward portion 18 fender handle assembly 22 handle 24 front end 26 cable 28 wall latch 32 middle portion 34 handle housing 36 handle shaft 38 torsional spring cable sheath 42 cam 44 retaining screw 46 washer 48 hood mounting bolt hood pocket 52 bulkhead 54 rear mount assembly 56 rear mount casting 58 front wall striker 62 striker box assembly 64 hood splash shield assembly 66 latch cable pass-throuhg 68 auxiliary latch release cable rotary latch bracket 72 splash shield 74 cast ball 76 opening 78 mounting bolt alignment pad 82 shim 84 rubber isolator 86 washer 88 nut ribbed bolt 92 compression sleeve 94 acetal sleeve 96 alignment pad 98 striker box MS bolt 102 weld nut

Claims

Claims A hood assembly (10) for a commercial vehicle, the hood assembly (10) comprising: -a hood (12) having a front portion (14) configured lobe pivotably connected to a frame structure of the vehicle, the hood (12) being pivotable between a closed position and at least one opened position; -at least one latch (30) arranged in an rearward portion (16) of the hood (12), the latch (30) being movably arranged on the hood (12) between at least one latched position for keeping the hood (12) in the closed position, and at least one unlatched position for releasing the hood (12); -at least one handle (22) arranged on the hood (12) at a distance from the latch (30), the handle (22) being movably arranged on the hood (12) between at least one neutral position and at least one release position; and -at least one remote control element (26) by means of which the handle (22) is connected to the latch (30) so as to move the latch (30) from the latched position into the unlatched position by moving the handle (22) from the neutral position into the release position.
2. The hood assembly (10) according to claim 1, wherein the handle (22) is arranged in the front portion (14), in particular on a front end (24) of the hood (12).
3. The hood assembly (10) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the latch (30) is made of a rigid material.
4. The hood assembly (10) according to claim 3, wherein the latch (30) is made of a metallic material.
5. The hood assembly (10) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the hood assembly (10) comprises at least one biasing means configured to move the latch (30) from the unlatched position into the latched position.
6. The hood assembly (10) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the hood assembly (10) comprises at least one biasing means (32) configured to move the handle (22) from the release position into the neutral position.
7. The hood assembly (10) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the remote control element (26) is a cable (26).
8. A commercial vehicle comprising a hood assembly (10) according to any one of the preceding claims.