JP3643906B2 - Vehicle hood hinge structure - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a hood hinge structure for a vehicle.
[0002]
[Prior art]
The hood that covers the upper part of the engine room in the front part of the vehicle is usually mounted with a hood lock device provided at the other end of the hood. When released, the hood hinge pivots upward about the hinge pin and opens.
[0003]
In particular, in a hood hinge of a front opening hood, a hinge for the hinge bracket is mounted between a hinge bracket attached to the vehicle body and a hinge arm pivotally attached to the hinge bracket by a hinge pin and attached to the rear end of the hood. A link that regulates the rotation angle of the arm is provided. In normal times, the link acts as an opening restricting stopper mechanism that restricts the opening of the hood. When the hinge pin breaks due to a frontal collision, the link is located behind the hinge arm. A device that has the function of preventing the rearward movement of the hood and preventing the hood from protruding backward has been developed and disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 62-89482.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
At the time of a frontal collision of the vehicle, generally, a bending moment that bends the hood itself up and down acts, and as shown by a dotted line a in FIG. 3, the hood center portion is bent into a dogleg shape. The configuration disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 62-89482 cannot prevent the hood from being bent due to a frontal collision.
[0005]
As described above, the conventional configuration in which the hood bends in a dogleg shape at the time of a frontal collision is not designed to share much the absorption of collision energy by the hood itself because the resistance against the collision load of the hood itself is low. Also, if the resistance of the hood against the collision load is increased and an effective collision energy absorption effect is obtained by the hood, an excessive shear force acts on the hinge pin at the time of frontal collision, and the hinge pin may break. It has the problem of becoming larger.
[0006]
The present invention aims to solve the above-described conventional problems.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present invention relates to a hood hinge of a hood, a hinge bracket that is attached to a vehicle body, a lever that has one end pivotally attached to the hinge bracket, and a shaft that is pivotable to the other end of the lever. The hinge arm is attached to the end of the hood, and the hinge bracket has a length in the front-rear direction between the shaft attachment portion of the lever to the hinge bracket and the shaft attachment portion of the hinge arm to the lever. A hole is formed, and the shaft fixed to the hinge arm is movably fitted into the elongated hole so that when the hood opens and closes around the shaft, the shaft moves back and forth in the elongated hole. The movement direction of the shaft during opening operation is set to be opposite to the input direction of the collision load to the hood at the time of frontal collision, so that the movement of the shaft is suppressed by the collision load input to the hood at the time of frontal collision. Et Thereby become a hood upward (opening direction) state rotation is locked contracture, hood exert sufficient force in place. Further, since the collision load can be firmly received by a plurality of shafts constituting the linkage of the hood hinge, the hood is sequentially buckled and deformed from the front portion to the rear, and the collision energy is effectively absorbed.
[0008]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0009]
In FIGS. 1 and 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a hood hinge. The hood hinge 1 includes a hinge bracket 2 fixed to a vehicle body 10 and a lever 3 attached to the hinge bracket 2 so that a rear portion of the hinge bracket 2 can be rotated by a shaft 5. And a hinge arm 4 rotatably attached to the front portion of the lever 3 by a shaft 6. A shaft 7 fixed to the rear end portion of the hinge arm 4 is connected to the shafts 5 and 6. The hinge arm 4 is fixed to the rear portion of the hood 9 so as to be slidably fitted in a longitudinal hole 8 formed in the hinge bracket 2 between the front and rear.
[0010]
In the above, in the closed state of the hood 9, as shown by the solid line in FIG. 1, the shaft 7 is located at the rear end of the long hole 8, and the shaft centers of the shafts 5, 6 and 7 are located on the straight line XX. In addition, the longitudinal center line of the long hole 8 also coincides with the straight line XX, and the straight line XX is set to substantially coincide with the load input direction Y to the hood 9 at the time of a frontal collision.
[0011]
When the front portion of the hood 9 is lifted upward, the hinge arm 4 integrally coupled with the hood 9 moves the lever 3 about the shaft 5 while the shaft 7 moves forward in the long hole 8 of the hinge bracket 2. As shown in FIG. 1, the shaft 7 is in a fully opened state where the shaft 7 is positioned at the front end of the long hole 8. The opening degree of the hood 9 in the fully opened state is determined by an amount L by which the shaft 7 can slide in the elongated hole 8.
[0012]
When the front portion of the hood 9 is lowered downward from the fully opened state, the hinge 7 is rotated backward around the shaft 5 while the shaft 7 is moved backward in the elongated hole 8 contrary to the above. The arm 4 rotates downward about the shaft 7, and the hood is closed as shown by the solid line in FIG.
[0013]
When a collision load is input to the closed hood 9 as indicated by an arrow Y due to a frontal collision of the vehicle, the hinge arm 4 acts on the shaft 6, the shaft 7 and the shaft 5 in a shearing direction. It is pressed against the rear end of the hole 8. Here, as described above, in order for the hinge arm 4 to rotate upward, the shaft 7 needs to move forward in the elongated hole 8, but as described above, the shaft 7 is caused by the input load at the time of collision. Is pushed against the rear end of the long hole 8 and cannot move to the front side, so that the upward rotation of the hinge arm 4 is restrained by the input load, and the hood 9 is bent into a dogleg shape from the center thereof. The hood 9 exhibits sufficient resistance at a fixed position against the collision load. In addition, since the input load is received by the three shafts 5, 6 and 7, there is a possibility that the shaft may be broken as compared with the conventional case where the input load is received by one shaft (hinge pin). 3, and the hood 9 can be retracted to a minimum, and the hood is buckled and deformed sequentially from the front to the rear as shown by the solid line b in FIG. Effective absorption takes place.
[0014]
In the above embodiment, the present invention is applied to the case where the rear end of the hood is attached to the vehicle body with the hood hinge, but the present invention is also applied to the case where the front end of the hood is attached to the vehicle body with the hood hinge. In this case, by providing the hood lock device with sufficient strength, the same actions and effects as those in the illustrated embodiment can be obtained.
[0015]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, the linkage that forms the opening / closing locus of the hood is provided on the hood hinge, and the rotation center of the hood is moved in the front-rear direction when the hood is opened / closed. When the frontal collision of the vehicle, the center of rotation of the hood is pivoted to the lever hinge bracket by the collision load input to the hood. The movement of the hood opening direction is restrained by the hood hinge part, and the hood exerts sufficient resistance in a fixed position against the collision load, and further forms the linkage of the hood hinge. By firmly receiving the collision load at the shaft of the hood, the hood is buckled and deformed sequentially from the front end to the rear, and the impact energy is effectively absorbed by the hood. As it is possible to perform the absorption, it is very large at contributing to the improvement of safety during a vehicle collision.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a side view of a hood hinge portion, showing an example of an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG.
FIG. 3 is an explanatory side view for explaining a deformation mode of a hood at the time of a frontal collision of a vehicle in comparison with a conventional configuration.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 Hood Hinge 2 Hinge Bracket 3 Lever 4 Hinge Arm 5 Axis 6 Axis 7 Axis 8 Long Hole 9 Hood 10 Car Body

Claims (2)

A hood hinge that is attached to the vehicle body so that the end of the hood can be rotated up and down, a hinge bracket that is attached to the vehicle body, a lever that is pivotally attached to the hinge bracket so that the one end can be rotated up and down, and the other end of the lever A hinge arm that is pivotally attached to the end of the hood and is pivotally attached to the end of the hood, and between the pivot attachment portion of the lever to the hinge bracket and the pivot attachment portion of the hinge arm to the lever. A long hole in the front-rear direction is formed in the hinge bracket, the shaft fixed to the hinge arm is movably fitted into the long hole, and the shaft moves in the long hole due to the collision load input to the hood at the frontal collision of the vehicle The vehicle hood hinge structure is characterized in that the hood is restrained and the rotation of the hood in the opening direction is restrained . 2. The hood hinge structure for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the shaft fixed to the hinge arm is located at an end portion of the elongated hole provided in the hinge bracket on the lever shaft attaching portion side when the hood is closed, and the hood is opened. The shaft is moved in the elongated hole in the opposite direction of the lever shaft mounting portion, and the hood is rotated upward about the shaft, and the moving direction of the shaft when the hood is opened is A hood hinge structure for a vehicle, wherein the hood hinge structure is set so as to be opposite to a collision load input direction to the shaft at the time of collision.

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