JP7226354B2 - Hood lock mechanism striker unit - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a striker unit that engages a latch in a hood locking mechanism.

A hood lock mechanism for unlocking and locking an engine hood or the like includes a latch that is a latch and a striker that engages with the latch.

For example, in the case of an engine hood, a ring-shaped striker projecting downward is provided at the front end in the vehicle front-rear direction and at the center in the vehicle width direction of the hood panel inner. On the other hand, a latch is provided at the vehicle longitudinal direction front end and the vehicle width direction center of the engine room on the vehicle body side. The latch is rotatable between an engaging position (locked position) where it is engaged with the striker and a disengaged position (unlocked position) where it is disengaged from the striker.

As exemplified in Patent Documents 1 and 2, by adjusting the relative position between the hood panel inner and the striker, that is, the height of the striker overhang, the height of the hood panel in the closed state with respect to the engine room is adjusted. can. For example, the more the striker protrudes from the hood panel inner, the more the hood panel in the closed state floats with respect to the engine room.

For example, the striker may be of a screw-in type and the relative position between the hood panel inner and the striker may be adjusted by the stroke of screw-in. For example, the striker is provided with a rod-like extension into which an external thread is cut. On the other hand, the hood panel inner is provided with a screw hole in which a female thread is cut. By screwing the extended portion of the striker into the screw hole of the hood panel inner and adjusting the number of rotations of the screw, the relative position between the two can be adjusted.

JP 2008-018893 A JP 2011-094475 A

By the way, in the hood locking mechanism, the striker is oriented with respect to the latch. For example, the striker is oriented so that its opening penetrates in the vehicle width direction. When using a threaded striker, the striker is oriented in the given direction at only one angle per revolution of the screw. In other words, the accuracy of adjusting the relative position between the striker and the hood panel inner is limited to the pitch of one round of the screw, and it is difficult to adjust the accuracy finer than this pitch.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a striker unit for a hood lock mechanism that is capable of adjusting the relative position between the striker and the hood panel inner with finer precision than before when using a screw-in type striker. .

The present invention relates to a striker unit of a hood lock mechanism. The striker unit is attached to the hood panel and engages with a latch provided on the vehicle body to close the hood panel. A striker unit includes nuts, bolts, a striker cover, a cam plate, and a cover. A nut is secured to the hood panel. A bolt is threaded into the nut and a through hole is formed along the axis of rotation. The striker cover includes a ring-shaped striker body engaged with the latch, and a rod extending from the striker body and inserted into the through-hole of the bolt. The cam plate is fixed to the end spaced from the striker body of the rod inserted through the through hole of the bolt and rotates with the striker bar. The cam plate is formed with a cam plate-side projection that protrudes outward in a radial direction perpendicular to the rotation axis and rotates around the rotation axis as the strike cover rotates around the rotation axis. The bolt is provided on the rotation path of the cam plate-side projection, and is rotated around the rotation axis so as to abut on the cam plate-side projection and set the height position of the strike cover to a desired value. A protrusion is formed. The circumferential distance between the multiple bolt-side projections is set so that the cam plate-side projections are idling with respect to the bolt-side projections so that the height position of the strike cover returns to a predetermined angle while maintaining the desired value. be done. The cover fixes the strike cover at a predetermined angle.

According to the above configuration, the bolt is screw-rotated by rotating the cam-plate-side projection while it is in contact with the bolt-side projection. This screw rotation adjusts the height position of the strike cover. Further, after that, the cam plate is rotated in the opposite direction to make it idle with respect to the bolt, so that the angular position of the strike cover can be adjusted without changing the height position.

According to the present invention, when using a screw-in type striker, it is possible to adjust the relative position between the striker and the hood panel inner with finer precision than in the prior art.

1 is a front perspective view of a vehicle illustrating a hood lock mechanism according to this embodiment; FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the striker unit according to the embodiment; FIG. FIG. 4 is an assembled cross-sectional view of the striker unit according to the present embodiment; It is a figure explaining the projection structure of a cam plate and a bolt. FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view showing another example of the cam plate and strike cover;

FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of the front of a vehicle provided with a hood lock mechanism according to this embodiment. The hood lock mechanism is used as a lock mechanism for the engine hood 100, for example. The hood lock mechanism according to this embodiment may be used for the rear hood and the fuel lid.

The hood lock mechanism according to this embodiment includes a striker unit 10 and a latch 110. As shown in FIG. As exemplified in FIG. 1, the latch 110 is provided at the front end in the vehicle front-rear direction of the engine room 102 on the vehicle body side, and at the central portion in the vehicle width direction. For example, a radiator support (not shown) that forms part of the front wall of the engine compartment 102 is provided with a latch 110 . The hood panel of the vehicle is closed by engaging the striker unit 10 with the latch 110 .

As illustrated by the arrow in FIG. 1, the latch 110 is rotatable around an axis parallel to the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, for example. That is, the latch 110 is rotatable between a locked position engaged with the striker cover 40 (see FIG. 2) of the striker unit 10 and an unlocked position separated from the striker cover 40 .

The striker unit 10 is attached to the hood panel. In FIG. 1 , the striker unit 10 is attached to a hood panel inner 101 that is an inner plate member of the engine hood 100 .

The engine hood 100 is rotatable with respect to the engine room 102 of the vehicle body via a hood hinge 104 provided at the rear end in the vehicle longitudinal direction. The striker unit 10 is attached to the front end of the hood panel inner 101 in the vehicle front-rear direction and the central portion in the vehicle width direction.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exploded perspective view of the striker unit 10 according to this embodiment. Further, FIG. 3 illustrates an assembled cross-sectional view of the striker unit 10. As shown in FIG. The striker unit 10 includes bolts 20 , nuts 30 , striker covers 40 , cam plates 50 , screws 60 , base plates 70 and covers 80 .

The base plate 70 is a plate material fixed to the hood panel inner 101 . The base plate 70 is, for example, an elongated plate material, and is provided with hood fixing holes 76 penetrating in the thickness direction at both ends in the longitudinal direction. The hood fixing hole 76 is aligned with the panel hole 101A of the hood panel inner 101, and a fastening means such as a clip 78 is inserted into these holes.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the hood panel inner 101 is recessed upward between the panel holes 101A, 101A, and a space is formed by the base plate 70 and the panel holes 101A. The screw 60, the claw 84 of the cover 80, and the like are accommodated in this space. The space may be formed by recessing the base plate 70 downward.

Claw openings 74 , 74 penetrating in the thickness direction are formed in the base plate 70 on the longitudinal center side of the hood fixing holes 76 , 76 . The claws 84 , 84 of the cover 80 are inserted into the claw openings 74 , 74 .

Note that the claw openings 74 , 74 may be formed in the hood panel inner 101 instead of being formed in the base plate 70 . For example, the claw openings 74 , 74 may be provided in the hood panel inner 101 at locations spaced further apart in the longitudinal direction than both ends of the base plate in the longitudinal direction. In this case, the cover 80 is formed such that its longitudinal dimension is longer than the longitudinal dimension of the base plate 70 in order to accommodate the dimensions of the pawl openings 74 , 74 . With such a structure, the base plate 70 can be hidden by the cover 80, and the appearance is improved.

A bolt opening 72 penetrates through the base plate 70 in the longitudinal center thereof in the thickness direction. The diameter of the bolt opening 72 is formed to be greater than or equal to the inner diameter of the nut 30 and less than or equal to the outer diameter.

Nut 30 is fixed to the surface (lower surface) of base plate 70 opposite to the surface facing hood panel inner 101 . For example, nut 30 is welded to the lower surface of base plate 70 . Nut 30 is secured to base plate 70 in alignment with bolt opening 72 in base plate 70 . In this way, nut 30 is fixed to hood panel inner 101 via base plate 70 .

Bolt 20 is screwed into nut 30 . A male thread 22 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the bolt 20 and meshes with a female thread 32 formed on the inner peripheral surface of the nut 30 . Further, the bolt 20 is formed with a through hole 26 along (that is, coaxial with) the rotation axis L1 (see FIG. 3). As will be described later, the rod 44 of the striker cover 40 is inserted into this through hole 26 .

The contact surface of the bolt 20 that contacts the cam plate 50 is provided with an inner projection 24 that is a bolt-side projection. A plurality of inner protrusions 24 may be provided at equal intervals in the circumferential direction. For example, as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 4, two inner projections 24 are provided. As will be described later, the inner protrusion 24 is provided on the rotation path of the outer protrusion 54 of the cam plate 50, and is rotated around the rotation axis L1 by coming into contact with the outer protrusion 54. As shown in FIG.

As illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, the striker cover 40 includes a rectangular ring-shaped striker body 42 and a rod 44 as an extension thereof. A claw 112 of a latch 110 (see FIG. 1) is engaged with the striker body 42 . As illustrated in FIG. 1, the striker body 42 is oriented such that its opening extends through in the vehicle width direction.

The rod 44 extends linearly from the outer peripheral surface of the striker body 42 . For example, a rod 44 extends perpendicularly to the central axis of the striker body 42 . A screw hole 46 is drilled along an axis parallel to the longitudinal direction of the rod 44 at a distal end 44A of the rod 44 spaced from the striker body 42 .

As illustrated in FIG. 3, rod 44 is inserted into through hole 26 of bolt 20 . The rod 44 is formed so that the diameter of the rod 44 is less than the inner diameter of the through hole 26 in order to allow the rod 44 to rotate (turn) within the through hole 26 .

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the cam plate 50 includes a body plate 52 and an outer projection 54 which is a cam plate side projection. The body plate 52 is disk-shaped, and a screw hole 56 penetrates through the center thereof in the thickness direction.

The body plate 52 is formed so that its diameter is larger than the inner diameter of the through hole 26 of the bolt 20 . Body plate 52 is secured to distal end 44 A of rod 44 inserted into through hole 26 . For example, the screw holes 56 of the body plate 52 and the screw holes 46 of the striker cover 40 are axially aligned, and the cam plate 50 is fixed to the striker cover 40 by driving screws 60 into the screw holes 46 and 56 . By this fixation, the strike cover 40 and the cam plate 50 rotate together.

Further, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the bolt 20 is sandwiched between the cam plate 50 and the strike cover 40 along the rotation axis L1. As a result, both the bolt 20 and the striker cover 40 move in the direction of the rotation axis L1. For example, as the bolt 20 rotates, the bolt 20 moves along the rotation axis L1.

Although the bolt 20 and the striker cover 40 are integrally linearly moved along the rotation axis L1, relative rotation around the rotation axis L1 is possible. For example, the clamping force of the bolt 20 by the strike cover 40 and the cam plate 50 can be controlled by controlling the driving strength (for example, air pressure) of a screw driving machine that drives the screw 60 . As a result, relative movement of the bolt 20 and the strike cover 40 in the direction of the rotation axis L1 is suppressed, and relative movement around the rotation axis L1 becomes possible.

In addition to this, a key 49 may be provided at the end 44A of the rod 44 and a key groove 59 may be provided in the screw hole 56 of the cam plate 50, as illustrated in FIG. When the striker unit 10 is assembled, the relative rotation between the striker cover 40 and the cam plate 50 is suppressed by inserting the key 49 into the key groove 59 .

As illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 4, an outer projection 54, which is a projection on the cam plate side, is formed so as to project outward in a radial direction perpendicular to the rotation axis L1 from the body plate 52 of the cam plate 50. be done. A plurality of outer protrusions 54 may be formed, for example, the same number as the inner protrusions 24 of the bolt 20 are provided. Further, the projection length of the outer projection 54 is determined so as to fit in the center side of the outer periphery of the bolt 20, that is, so as not to protrude radially outward from the bolt.

The inner protrusion 24 of the bolt 20 is provided on the rotation path of the outer protrusion 54 of the cam plate 50, and is rotated around the rotation axis L1 while coming into contact with the outer protrusion 54. As shown in FIG. The bolt 20 is screwed into the nut 30 by this rotation. By this screwing, the height position of the strike cover 40 that linearly moves together with the bolt 20 along the rotation axis L1, that is, the relative position with respect to the hood panel inner 101 is adjusted.

In addition, by providing the circumferential distance between the inner projections 24, 24 of the bolt 20, that is, the idling angle θ1, the strike cover 40 and the bolt 20 are rotated together, and the height position of the strike cover 40 is adjusted. After reaching the desired value, the striker bar 40 is allowed to rotate back into position.

It is useful to arbitrarily determine the return position of the striker bar 40 to make the slipping angle θ1 as large as possible. For this reason, it is preferable that the circumferential width θ2 of the inner projection 24 and the circumferential width θ3 of the outer projection 54 are formed thin within a range capable of withstanding torque during rotation of the screw.

For example, the circumferential width θ3 of the outer protrusion 54 may be the same as the circumferential width θ2 of the inner protrusion 24 . For example, θ2=θ3=10°. With such a configuration, the idling angle θ1 becomes 160°.

Also, the circumferential pitch of the outer projections 54 may be the same as the circumferential pitch of the inner projections 24 of the bolt 20 . For example, as illustrated in FIG. 4, when the circumferential pitch of the plurality of inner projections 24, 24, that is, the idling angle θ1 is 160°, the circumferential pitch of the plurality of outer projections 54, 54 is also 160°. good.

<Assembly process of striker unit>
When attaching the striker unit 10 to the hood panel inner 101 illustrated in FIG. 1, the base plate 70 is fixed to the hood panel inner 101 via clips 78 as illustrated in FIG.

Also, the rod 44 of the striker bar 40 is inserted into the through hole 26 of the bolt 20 . Further, the body plate 52 of the cam plate 50 is brought into contact with the distal end 44A of the rod 44. As shown in FIG. The screw holes 46 of the rod 44 and the screw holes 56 of the body plate 52 are aligned, and screws 60 are driven into both holes. As a result, an assembly of the bolt 20, the strike cover 40 holding the bolt 20 in a relatively rotatable manner, the cam plate 50, and the screw 60 is assembled.

Next, the bolt 20 is screwed into the nut 30 . At this time, the striker cover 40 is turned around the rotation axis L1 by hand, for example, by the operator. As the striker cover 40 rotates about the rotation axis L1, the outer protrusion 54 of the cam plate 50 is also rotated about the rotation axis L1. At this time, as illustrated in FIG. 4 , when the outer protrusion 54 idles and contacts the inner protrusion 24 , the inner protrusion 24 is rotated by being biased by the outer protrusion 54 . The bolt 20 is thereby screwed to the nut 30 .

When the bolt 20 is screwed in until the height position of the striker body 42 with respect to the hood panel inner 101 (see FIG. 1) reaches a predetermined set position (desired value), the bolt 20 has been screwed in until now. , the striker bar 40 is rotated in the opposite direction. At this time, since the inner projection 24 and the outer projection 54 are separated from each other, the rotation of the cam plate 50 is not transmitted to the bolt 20 . That is, the height position of the striker bar 40 is maintained at a desired value.

The strike cover 40 is idly rotated within the range of the idling angle θ1 and returned to a predetermined angle as illustrated in FIG. 1 . For example, the orientation of the striker cover 40 is adjusted so that the central axis of the opening of the striker body 42 is parallel to the vehicle width direction.

Once the strike cover 40 is oriented, the wraparound cover 80 is attached to the base plate 70 . Specifically, the striker body 42 is inserted into the opening 82 of the cover 80 . Furthermore, the claws 84 of the cover 80 are inserted into the claw openings 74 of the base plate 70 . The striker main body 42 is restricted from rotating about the rotation axis L1 by the cover 80 and is fixed at the predetermined angle described above.

10 striker unit, 20 bolt, 22 male screw, 24 inner projection (bolt side projection), 26 through hole, 30 nut, 32 female screw, 40 striker cover, 42 striker body, 44 rod, 44A rod end, 46 screw hole, 50 cam plate, 52 body plate, 54 outer projection (cam plate side projection), 56 screw hole, 60 screw, 70 base plate, 72 bolt opening, 74 claw opening, 76 hood fixing hole, 78 clip, 80 cover, 82 opening, 84 claw, 100 engine hood, 101 hood panel inner, 101A panel hole, 102 engine room, 104 hood hinge, 110 latch, 112 claw.

Claims (1)

A striker unit of a hood lock mechanism that is attached to a hood panel and engages with a latch provided on the vehicle body side to close the hood panel,
a nut secured to the hood panel;
a bolt screwed into the nut and formed with a through hole along the rotation axis;
a striker cover comprising a ring-shaped striker body engaged with the latch, and a rod extending from the striker body and inserted into the through-hole of the bolt;
a cam plate fixed to an end spaced apart from the striker body of the rod inserted into the through hole of the bolt and rotating together with the striker cover;
with
The cam plate is formed with a cam plate-side projection that protrudes outward in a radial direction perpendicular to the rotation axis and rotates around the rotation axis as the strike cover rotates around the rotation axis,
The bolt is provided on the rotation path of the cam plate-side projection, and is rotated around the rotation axis so that the strike cover reaches a desired height position by coming into contact with the cam plate-side projection. a plurality of bolt-side projections are formed,
The circumferential distance between the plurality of bolt-side projections is the idling angle of the cam plate-side projections with respect to the bolt-side projections so that the height position of the strike cover returns to a predetermined angle while maintaining the desired value. is set to obtain
further comprising a cover for fixing the strike cover at the predetermined angle;
A striker unit with a hood lock mechanism.

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