JP3260258B2 - Food stay locking device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a hood stay locking device for holding a hood in an open position with respect to a vehicle body.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a hood for closing an upper part of an engine room is supported on a vehicle body via a hood hinge so as to be openable and closable. A hood stay is attached to the inside of the engine room to hold the hood in the open position when performing inspection and maintenance of the engine and the like. One end of the hood stay is rotatably supported on a vehicle body (for example, a radiator panel or a fender apron), and a hook formed on the other end of the hood stay is provided in a locking hole provided in an inner portion of the hood. By locking, the hood is held in the open position. In such a conventional hood stay, the hood stay crosses the side of the hood, which hinders maintenance and inspection work from the side of the vehicle body. However, there is a disadvantage that the food stay needs to be lengthened, which is inconvenient for storage.

[0003]

In order to solve such a problem, a bearing is formed at an end of a hood hinge for rotatably supporting the hood on a vehicle body, and one end of a stay is pivoted on the bearing. A supported hood stay device is known (Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 58-27464). In this case, the hood stay can be shortened.
Maintenance workability is improved and storage is convenient. In addition, since the hood hinge supports the force in the hood closing direction applied to the hood stay, the load on the hood can be reduced.

However, in the case of the above hood stay device, the hood stay is provided at a position near the fulcrum of the hood, so that a moment in the closing direction of the hood is applied to the hood hinge via the hood stay as a large load. Works. Since this load is supported only by the hood hinge, the strength of the hood hinge is required to ensure sufficient hood holding rigidity, and the strength of the bolts that fix the hood hinge to the hood is also required. You. As a result, there is a disadvantage that the weight of the vehicle body increases.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to shorten the hood stay to improve inspection, maintenance and storage properties, and to secure sufficient hood holding rigidity without increasing weight. To provide a locking structure.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a hood that can be opened / closed via a hood hinge to a vehicle body, and one end of a hood stay is rotatable with respect to the vehicle body. pivoted, by engaging the other end portion of the hood stay in the hood, the locking device of the hood stay which is adapted to hold the hood in the open position, the
Hood hinges for the hood inner panel engine room
Is fixed to the side side, the fixing portion of the hood hinge
Is provided in the vicinity of the inner panel.
Form a locking hole in the stop, behind the locking hole of the hood hinge
An inner panel is arranged at an interval, and a hook that can be locked in the locking hole is formed at the other end of the hood stay, and it is possible to abut the engine room side surface of the locking portion near the hook. Forming the first contact surface and the tip of the hook
At the end, a second contact surface is formed which can contact the inner panel behind the locking hole , and the first contact surface and the second contact surface are separated.
It is possible to simultaneously contact the locking portion and the inner panel .

[0007]

With the hood opened, the hood stay is rotated upward, and the hook at the other end of the hood stay is locked in the locking hole of the hood hinge. This allows the first hook
The contact surface contacts the hood hinge, and the second contact surface contacts the inner panel of the hood. That is, since the load in the closing direction of the hood is supported by the two positions of the hood hinge and the hood inner panel, the load is not concentrated only on the hood hinge but is also distributed to the hood inner panel. Therefore, sufficient hood holding rigidity can be ensured without increasing the thickness of the hood hinge or increasing the strength of the fixing bolt.

[0008]

1 to 4 show an example of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a vehicle body, 2 is an engine room, 3 is a hood which can open and close the engine room 2 with the rear end as a fulcrum, 4, 4 ′
Reference numeral 5 denotes a hood hinge for supporting the hood 3 so as to be openable and closable with respect to the vehicle body 1, and 5 denotes a hood stay. Hood hinge 4,
4 ', only one of the hood hinges 4 uses the locking device of the present invention.

The hood hinge 4 is made of a sheet metal thicker than the inner panel 3a of the hood 3. Hood hinge 4
As shown in FIG. 4, a flat mounting portion (fixed portion )
Part) 4a is formed, and this mounting part 4a is
To the inner panel 3a. Mounting part 4
An extended portion (locking portion) 4b is formed on the inner side in the vehicle width direction of a, and a locking hole 4c is formed in the expanded portion 4b. The locking hole 4c is a long hole extending in the longitudinal direction of the hood hinge 4 (the front-rear direction of the vehicle body), and is set to have a length in which a hook 5a described later of the hood stay 5 can be inserted. The position of the locking hole 4c is offset by W in the vehicle width direction with respect to the insertion hole 4f of the bolt 6, but is provided at substantially the same position in the vehicle longitudinal direction. A shaft support 4d is formed at the other end of the hood hinge 4, and the shaft support 4d is rotatably supported on a bracket 8 bolted to a cowl 7 of the vehicle body 1 with a horizontal shaft 9 as a fulcrum. . Shaft support 4d
A stopper 4e protrudes from the front end of the bracket 8 when the hood 3 is opened to the fully open position.
2, and defines the fully open position of the hood 3.

The hood stay 5 is made of a metal rod, and one end 5d of the hood stay 5 is rotatably supported in a shaft support hole 2a formed in the inner surface of the engine room 2 so as to be vertically swingable.
The other end of the hood stay 5 is bent downward by about 45 ° at a bending point 5e, and a hook 5 curved in a U-shape is provided at the tip thereof.
a is formed. A first contact surface 5b is formed between the bending point 5e and the hook 5a, and a second contact surface 5c parallel to the first contact surface 5b is formed at the tip of the hook 5a. When the hood 3 is closed, the hood stay 5 is rotated in the horizontal direction and is held by a holder 10 (see FIG. 1) fixed to the inner surface of the engine room 2.

The hood 3 located behind the locking hole 4c
The inner panel 3a is formed with a groove 3b extending in the vehicle longitudinal direction. With the hood 3 opened, the hook 5a of the hood stay 5 is engaged with the locking hole 4c of the hood hinge 4.
, The first contact surface 5b of the hook 5a contacts the extended portion 4b of the hood hinge 4, and the second contact surface 5c of the hook 5a contacts the bottom surface of the concave groove 3b (see FIGS. 2 and 3). ).

In the hood stay locking device having the above structure, when the locking hole 4c of the hood stay 5 is provided in the hood hinge 4, the locking hole 4c is inevitably disposed near the rotation fulcrum of the hood 3. That is, the hood 3 can be held in a widely opened state even with the short hood stay 5. Therefore, when performing inspection or maintenance from the side of the engine room 2, the hood stay 5 does not interfere, and the workability is improved.
There is an advantage that the storage property of the food stay 5 is improved. On the other hand, a large axial force acts on the hood stay 5 to support the closing moment acting on the hood 3. In other words, the reaction force of the hood stay 5 acts strongly on the hood hinge 4. However, as described above, the hood stay 5 abuts on the hood hinge 4 on the first abutment surface 5b, and abuts on the inner panel 3a on the second abutment surface 5c. 4 and the inner panel 3a, so that the load on the hood hinge 4 can be reduced. That is, the holding rigidity of the hood 3 in the open position can be secured without increasing the thickness of the hood hinge 4 or increasing the fastening strength of the fixing bolt 6. Therefore, an increase in weight can be prevented. In the embodiment, the locking hole 4
The position of c is slightly offset in the vehicle width direction with respect to the bolt hole 4f for fixing the hood hinge 4 and the hood 3, but is not offset in the vehicle longitudinal direction. Has the effect of reducing

The first contact surface 5b and the second contact surface 5c of the hood stay 5 are connected to the hood hinge 4 and the inner panel 3a.
It is not necessary to always make contact with the hood hinge 4 or the inner panel 3a at all times, and only when a load in the closing direction larger than at rest is applied to the hood 3, Both contact surfaces may contact each other.

In the above embodiment, the inner groove 3b is formed in the inner panel 3a, and the second contact surface 5c of the hook 5a is brought into contact with the bottom surface of the groove 3b. You may make it contact. However, in the case of the embodiment, the strength of the inner panel 3a can be improved by the bead effect by forming the concave groove portion 3b in the inner panel 3a, and the second contact surface 5c can be improved. There is an advantage that deformation of the inner panel 3a can be suppressed.
Further, since the second contact surface 5c of the hood stay 5 contacts the hood inner panel 3a, it is not necessary to provide a hook hole for the hook 5a in the inner panel 3a. That is, since it is not necessary to form a hole in the inner panel 3a, the strength is further improved. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the example of the hood which can be opened and closed using the rear end portion as a fulcrum has been described.

[0015]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, the load in the closing direction acting on the hood is brought into contact with the first contact surface of the hood stay contacting the hood hinge and the hood inner panel. Since the support is made by the second contact surface of the hood stay, the load is not concentrated only on the hood hinge, and the load can be dispersed to the hood inner panel. Therefore, sufficient hood holding rigidity can be ensured without increasing the thickness of the hood hinge or increasing the strength of the fixing bolt of the hood hinge. Further, by forming a locking hole in the hood hinge, the hood stay can be shortened, so that inspection and maintenance are easy, and of course, the storage of the hood stay is improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a state in which a hood of an automobile having a locking device of the present invention is opened.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a locking device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a hood hinge.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Body 2 Engine room 3 Hood 4 Hood hinge 4c Lock hole 5 Hood stay 5a Hook 5b 1st contact surface 5c 2nd contact surface

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] A hood is supported on a vehicle body via a hood hinge so as to be openable and closable, one end of a hood stay is rotatably supported on the vehicle body, and the other end of the hood stay is locked to the hood. The hood hinge is adapted to hold the hood in the open position by connecting the hood hinge to the engine panel of the inner panel of the hood.
Is fixed to the over arm side surface of the hood hinge solid
A locking section facing the inner panel is provided near the
Form a lock hole in the lock part of the
The inner panel is spaced later, the other end of the hood stay forms a lockable hook the locking hole, abuts the vicinity of the hook on the engine room side surface of the locking portion To form a possible first contact surface
In addition, a second contact surface that can contact the inner panel behind the locking hole is formed at the tip of the hook, and the second contact surface is formed with the first contact surface.
Simultaneously attach the second contact surface to the locking part and the inner panel
A hood stay locking device characterized in that it can be brought into contact with the hood stay.