Vehicle hood hinge assembly

A vehicle hood hinge assembly, comprising:

• a first bracket having a base flange and a side flange that extends upward from the base flange, the side flange having a rear end with a pivot shaft that defines a main pivot axis and a front end of the side flange is spaced apart from the base flange and includes a pivot mount that defines a forward pivot axis;
• a second bracket having a forward end and a rearward end, the rearward end being connected to the pivot shaft of the side flange of the first bracket for pivoting movement about the main pivot axis and the forward end being dimensioned and configured to be attached to a vehicle hood;
• and
• a linear piston device fixed at a first end to the pivot mount of the side flange of the first bracket for pivotal movement about the forward pivot axis, the linear piston device being fixed to a portion of the vehicle front hood spaced apart from and forward of the forward end of the second bracket, the second bracket being spaced apart from the linear piston such that during pivoting movements of the second bracket the linear piston has a noncontacting relationship with the second bracket, the linear piston device and the second bracket being on opposite sides of the side flange of first bracket,
• the second bracket being spaced apart from the first bracket forward of the pivot shaft such that the second bracket (i) pivots about the main pivot axis between an open orientation and a closed orientation, and (ii) further moves past the closed orientation to a downward orientation in response to an impact event without the second bracket forward of the pivot shaft contacting the first bracket.