Vehicle hood hinge assembly
AssigneeTesla, Inc.
InventorsRafath Rahman, Jarad Hutchinson, Norman Tieu, Tyron François, Daniel Myles Wood
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A hinge assembly is provided to lift a hood of a vehicle relative to a vehicle body in anticipation of, during, or right after a collision has occurred to cushion contact with a pedestrian. The hood selectively covers a compartment of the vehicle when in a secured position. The hinge assembly includes a hinge configured to guide the hood from the secured position to both of an open position or to a pedestrian deployment position relative to the vehicle body. An actuator moves the hood from the secured position to the pedestrian deployment position. A controller controls the actuator based at least in part on a characteristic of the pedestrian.
Claims20
A method for controlling a vehicle hood hinge assembly, comprising:
- receiving, by a controller, a first signal indicative of an imminent or occurred pedestrian collision;
- receiving, by the controller, a second signal indicative of a wrap around distance of the pedestrian;
- determining, by the controller, a deployment height for a hood based on the wrap around distance;
- and
- actuating the hood to the determined deployment height prior to head impact of the pedestrian with the hood.
A vehicle safety system, comprising:
- a hood configured to selectively cover a compartment;
- a multi-stage actuator coupled to the hood;
- a sensor configured to detect body loading of a pedestrian during a collision;
- and
- a controller configured to:
- determine an initial deployment position for the hood;
- detect, via the sensor, a reduction in the deployment position due to body loading of the pedestrian;
- and
- adjust operation of the multi-stage actuator to compensate for the detected reduction in deployment position.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.