Vehicle having hinge assembly
AssigneeFca US LLC
InventorsJames S Ulewicz, Wayne Reed
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A vehicle includes a vehicle body, a tailgate and a hinge assembly. The tailgate is rotatable relative to the vehicle body between a closed position and an open position. The hinge assembly rotatably coupling the tailgate to the vehicle body. The hinge assembly includes a bracket, a hinge pin and a retention ring. The bracket is attached to a respective one of a plurality of side walls of the vehicle body. The hinge pin is rotatably fixed to a respective end of the tailgate and is removably connected to the bracket. The retention ring is rotatably coupled to the bracket between a locked state in which the hinge pin is prevented from being disconnected from the bracket and an unlocked state in which the hinge pin is permitted to be disconnected from the bracket.
Claims19
A vehicle comprising:
- a vehicle body;
- a tailgate rotatable relative to the vehicle body between a closed position and an open position;
- and
- a hinge assembly rotatably coupling the tailgate to the vehicle body, the hinge assembly including a bracket, a hinge pin and a resiliently flexible retention ring, the bracket attached to a respective one of a plurality of side walls of the vehicle body, the hinge pin rotatably fixed to a respective end of the tailgate and removably connected to the bracket, the retention ring rotatably coupled to the bracket between a locked state in which the hinge pin is prevented from being disconnected from the bracket and an unlocked state in which the hinge pin is permitted to be disconnected from the bracket.
A vehicle comprising:
- a vehicle body;
- a tailgate rotatable relative to the vehicle body between a closed position and an open position;
- and
- a hinge assembly rotatably coupling the tailgate to the vehicle body, the hinge assembly including a bracket having a hinge pin housing extending outward from the bracket, a bushing coupled to the hinge pin housing, a hinge pin, and a retention ring,
- wherein the bracket is attached to a respective one of a plurality of side walls of the vehicle body, the hinge pin is rotatably fixed to a respective end of the tailgate and removably connected to the hinge pin housing via the bushing, and the retention ring is rotatably coupled to the hinge pin housing between a locked state in which the hinge pin is prevented from being disconnected from the bracket and an unlocked state in which the hinge pin is permitted to be disconnected from the bracket,
- wherein the bushing includes a flexible tab that extends through the hinge pin housing toward the bracket that couples the bushing to the hinge pin housing, and
- wherein the bushing and the hinge pin rotate relative to the hinge pin housing and the retention ring when the retention ring is in the locked state and the tailgate is rotated between the open position and the closed position.
A hinge assembly configured to rotatably couple a tailgate to a vehicle body including a plurality of sidewalls, the hinge assembly comprising a bracket, a hinge pin and a resiliently flexible retention ring, the bracket being configured to be attached to a respective one of the plurality of side walls of the vehicle body, the hinge pin is configured to be rotatably fixed to a respective end of the tailgate and removably connected to the bracket, and the retention ring rotatably is coupled to the bracket between a locked state in which the hinge pin is prevented from being disconnected from the bracket and an unlocked state in which the hinge pin is permitted to be disconnected from the bracket.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.