US1421068A - Supporting bar and hinge construction for automobile hoods - Google Patents

Description

J. B.- COVI. SUPPORTING BAR AND HJNGE CONSTRUCTION-FOR AUTOMOBILE HOODS.

' APPucATmN FILED APR. 15,1920,

Patten-teal June 27 1922.

i i' W a JOHN B. COVI I were arias FATENT QFFQE,

JOHN B. com, 015 FAR RocKAwAv, NEW YORK, AssIGNoR ITO GENERAL MOTORS .ooRroRATION, 033 DETROIT, MICHIGAN, A CORPORATION OE DELAWARE.

SUPPORTING BAR AND HINGE CONSTRUCTION FOR AUTOMOBILE H'OODS.

emes.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patgnted J 27 1922 Application filed April 15, 1920. Serial No. 374,217.

T all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN B. Covr, a citi zen. of the- United States, and av resident of Far Rockaway, county of Queens, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Supporting Bar and invention relates to make and use the same,

the doors will not become marred or broken reference being made therein to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to automobile hood structures provided for enclosing the engine whereby the vehicle is driven,and particularly to hin e mechanism located at the upper end of t e hood and whereby the doors which close the sides of the hood are pivotallyconnected with a fixed support in such a manner as to permit them to be readily opened, to thereby gain access to the engine enclosed by'the hood. I i

The principal object of my invention is to provide an improved hinge construction for the doors of automobile hoods, which con-- struction includes a supporting bar in the form of a trough or channel to which the doors are pivotally connected; and which trough in addition to serving as a support for the doors serves to conduct such water as may get in between the adjacent ends of the doors when closed forward and discharge the same adjacent the radiator of the vehicle, to thereby prevent waterfrom reaching the engine and perhaps interfering with the ignition system thereof.

A further object of my invention is to.

provide, a hinge, construction for automobile hoodsofthe type and for the purpose above mentioned an in which the construction of the channel shaped trough or bar which supports thedoors, and of the doors themselves and the relationship of said several elements to one 'an'other, is such that the enamel coating upon the exterior surface of by contact with a metallic surface when the doors are opened; as no partof the exposed finished surface of the doors comes in contact with any element or part when the doors are opened, which contact, should it occur,

upper ends. of the doors of an automobile hood which will be simple in construction, easytomanufacture, and effective for the purpose for which it is designed, and which at the same time will prevent the entrance of water into the interior of the hood.

My 1nventi'on is illustrated in its preferred form in the drawing accompanying and forming a part of this specification; although it wlll be appreciated that the drawing is for illustrative purposes only, and

that my invention includes all such vari-.

ationsand modifications of the particular embodlment thereof illustrated as come within the scope of the concluding claims wherein the distinguishing features in which my invention consists are ed out.

Referring now to the drawing:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary view illustratmg myimproved hinge construction upon a vertical central plane extending longitudinally of the hood, so much only of the automobile with which the device is used being shown as is necessary to an understanding of my invention.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary view illustrating my improved hinge construction in perspective. j r

Figure 3 is a fragmentary view showing a sectlon of my invention upon a vertical plane extending transverse to the supportmg bar to which the doors are pivotally connected.

Figure L is a fragmentary perspective view showing a slightly modified form of mv invention.

Referring to the drawing, the reference numeral 4 designates the front end of an particularly pointautomobile body and 5 the radiator for cooling the cooling water whereby the engine not shown is cooled; said parts being'spaced apart from one another and the engine which propels the vehicle being. located between them in accordance with the usual practice in motor vehicle construction. The body portion is provided with a projecting flange 6, and the radiator structure regarded in its entirety with a similar flange 7 with which flanges the side edges of the doors 8, 9 contact when the doors are closed; such flanges serving therefore to support and pro erly position the front and rear edges 0 the doors when they. are closed, as is usual in hood'construction for motor vehicles.

Located at the upper end of the hood and.

-in Figure 3, the projecting portions being ing bar 10 channel shaped in cross-section, as best shown in Figures 2 and 3 the ends of said bar being supported from said body portion and radiator in-any suitable way as by resting thereupon, or by means of the projecting'ends of hinge pins or rods hereinafter described, such projecting ends being shown in Figure 2. This channel bar inclines downwardly and toward the front end of the vehicle so that any water which may find its way thereinto will flow toward the front end of the vehicle and be discharged adjacent the radiator thereof, thus preventing theentry of water into the interior of the hood and wetting of the engine which, should it occur, might interfere with the ignition system thereof.

The doors 8, 9 are pivotally connected with the side portions 12, 12 of the channel bar 10 adjacent the upper ends of the said sides. The channel bar is preferably formed from sheet metal, and spaced lugs or tongues 13 at the upper edge of the side portions thereof are turned inward around rods it at the upper ends of said side portions; whiclfconstruction strengthens the channel bar and at the same time provides a pin for the hinge connection through which the doors are pivotally connected with the said channel bar, the doors being likewise provided with projecting tongues or lugs 15 which are curved about the rods 14 to thereby complete the hinge connections between the upper ends of the sides of the channel bar and the doors and provide the pivotal connections between said elements which permit-the doors to be swung upward to gain access to the interior of the hood.

The inner portions of the doors 8, 9 are provided with projecting portions 16 extending toward one another and part way across the open upper side of the channel bar 10, and the inner edges of these projecting portions approach as close as practicable to one another, when the doors are closed. as shownin the drawing, but do not. contact with one another when thedoors are closed.

The doors 8, 9 are preferably made from sheet metal and the projecting portions 16, 16 are preferably provided by folding over the inner ends of the doors, as bestshown thus made up of a double thickness of the sheet metal from which the, doors are made, thereby providing increased strength at the inner portions of the doors where they are pivotally connected withthe channel bar by means of the tongues 15 which extend from the extremities of these'bent over portions as clearly shown.-

In addition to providing means for preventing acccss-ofwater tothe interior of the hood it will be appreciated that the sheet metal construction of the channel trough shaped member or bar 10 provides a support for the doors which may be readily and cheaply manufactured, and which at the same time will be of the requisite strength because of its channel form and because of the additional stiffness imparted thereto by the rods 14: at the upper edges of the side portions of said bar, said rods 1st forming 'be appreciated that. the two thicknesses may be secured together if desired by rivets or otherwise, whereby increased strength would be secured. At thesame time no portion of the exposed finished surface of either door comes in contact with any portion of the hinge construction as the doors are opened; the construction and arrangement of the parts being such that the opening movement of the doors is in each instance limited by contact between the under side of the folded over portion of eachdoor and the inner surface of the side wall 12 of the channel shaped supporting bar with which the door in question is pivotally connected, as clearly shown in dotted lines in Figure 3 of the drawing. e In the form of my invention illustrated in Figure 4 the metal from which the door supporting bar is formed is bent so as to provide two troughs or channels 17, 17 separated from one another by an elevated intermediate portion or rib 18. the extreme side portions of the strip being bent upward as at 19, 19 and the doors 20, 21 being hinged to the upper ends of these side portions at 22, 23 by hinge connections of the same construction, and operating in the same way as the hinge connections hereinbefore de scribed; the extremities of the inwardly extending portions 24. 25 of the doors coming into contact with the inner surfaces of the sides 19, 19 to limit the opening movement of the door the same as in the form of myin vention hereinbefore described and illustrated in Figures 1 to '3.

Having thusdescribed and explained my invention I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. In an automobile hood, a trough shaped supporting bar channel shaped in cross section and located at the upper end of the hood and extending between the body of the vehicle and the radiator thereof, said bar being formed from sheet metal and the upper edges of the sides thereof being provided with tongues; rodsextending along the said upper edges and about which said tongues and the radiator thereof, the open side of are bent and two doors formed from sheet metal and the portions of which adjacent said bar are bent and folded upon one an other to thereby provide projecting portions made up of two thicknesses of metal extending across the open upper side of-said bar and toward one another, the under layers of said folded over portions being provided with tongues which are bent about the rods aforesaid, to thereby provide hinge connections between said doors and the upper edges of the sides of said channel bar.

2. In an automobile hood,atrough shaped supporting bar channel shaped in cross section located at the upper end of the hood and extending between the body of the vehicle which bar is uppermost and two doors pivotally connected with the side portions of said bar at'the upper edges of said side portions, which doors have each a projecting portion which extends inwardly beyond said pivotal connections and part way across the open upper side of said bar; the length of said inwardly projecting portions and the arrangement of the doors relative to the sides of the channel bar with. which they are pivotally connected being such that the opening movement of the doors is limited by engagement between the ends of said projecting portions and the inner surfaces of the sides of the channel bar.

3. In an automobile hood, a trough shaped supporting barchannel shaped in cross section located at the upper end of the hood and extending between the body of the vehicle and the radiator thereof, the open side of which bar is uppermost; and two doors 'pivotally connected with the upper edges of the sides of said bar, said doors being formed from sheet metal and each of them being bent and folded adjacent the pivotal connection aforesaid to thereby provide double thicknesses of metal extending inward and toward one another from the points of pivotal connection with said sides, and over the open upper side of said bar, and the free edges of which extending portions lie ad acent one another and adjacent the. middle of the open upper side of said channel bar.

4. In an automobile hood, a trough shaped supportingbar channel shaped in cross'section located at the upper end of the hood and extending between the body of the vehicle and the radiator thereof, the open side of which bar is uppermost; and two doors pivotally connected with the side portions of said bar at the upper edges of said side portions, which doors have each a portion which extends part way across theopen up perside of said bar.

5. In an automobile hood, a trough shaped andextending'between-the body of the vehicle and the radiator thereof, the open side of which bar is .uppermost; and two doors pivotally connected with the side portions of said bar and having each a portion which extends part way across the open upper side of said bar, the inner edges of which extendin portions lie adjacent but do not contact with one another when the doors are closed.

connected with the side portions of saidtrough adjacent the upper edges thereof, which doors are provided with portions extendin beyond said hinge connections and towar one another.

7 A hood construction comprising 'a pair of hood upper sections each formed of a single sheet of metal and-the two having their meeting edgescoming substantially together and then turned back and formed into spaced but aligned knuckles under the top of the hood, and a single trough formed by a channel having its two edge portions turned over to form spaced but aligned knuckles, said knuckles of the hood upper sections and the trough edges adapted to interlock in alignment, and pintles threaded through the two lines of knuckles and sup ported independently of the hood sections and supporting the said trough.

8. In a hood construction, the combination of a pair of hood sections having their edges substantially meeting and folded back under to form knuckles, pintles adapted to be supported independently of the other parts of the hood construction and engaging through said knuckles, and a trough hung from said pintles under the meeting edges of the hood sections and serving to space the pintles and carry off water.

and formed into a plurality of aligned buts aced knuckles arranged to occupy the spaces between the knuckles of the hood sections, and a pair of pintles threaded each through one line. of knuckles of hood sections and trough and having their ends arranged for support upon the cowl and radiator, the said trough serving to both carry off water and hold the upper folded edges of the hood sections assembled in substantially meeting relation, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

JOHN B. COVI.

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