Front hood assembly
AssigneeEdscha AG
InventorsAndreas Polz, Peter Schlegel, Joerg Schneppenheim, Lazlo Kreth, Ingo Renneisen
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A front hood assembly has a front hood of a motor vehicle that is hinged to the chassis of the motor vehicle via a hinge, the front hood being lockable via at least one hood lock. The hinge is plastically deformed under the impact of a collision with a pedestrian. The assembly provides a protection for pedestrians that is technically feasible and can be implemented at low costs.
Claims13
A front hood assembly for attachment to a vehicle, comprising
- a front hood;
- at least one hood lock for closing said front hood, and a hinge for coupling said front hood to a frame of said vehicle,
- said hinge comprising a first portion attached to said front hood and a second portion rigidly attached to said frame of the vehicle, said first and second portions being attached to one another by a first link and a second link so as to define a four-joint hinge comprising four joints,
- wherein, in the event of impact of said vehicle with a pedestrian, said hinge undergoes a plastic deformation, and
- wherein at least one joint of said four-joint hinge is displaced along a curved path about said hood lock.
A vehicle for resiliently reducing the force of an impact with a pedestrian, said vehicle comprising
- a frame, a front hood, at least two hinges for coupling said front hood to said frame, and at least one hood lock for closing said front hood,
- wherein, in the event of impact of said vehicle with a pedestrian, a rear edge of said front hood is displaced from a raised position in which the front hood is operable using said at least two hinges into a lowered position with respect to said raised position, wherein at least one portion of each of said at least two hinges is adapted to undergo a plastic deformation upon an impact of a pedestrian hitting said hood, and
- wherein said at least one portion comprises at least one joint that is displaced over a curved path about said hood lock,
- wherein said at least two hinges are multiple-joint hinges,
- wherein said at least one joint is one of a plurality of joints of said multiple-joint hinges operable for opening and closing said front hood, and
- wherein said at least one portion is a connecting link of each of said multiple-joint hinges arranged between said frame and said front hood.
A front hood assembly for attachment to a vehicle, comprising
- a front hood,
- at least one hood lock for closing said front hood, and
- a four-joint hinge for coupling said front hood to a frame of said vehicle,
- said hinge comprising a first portion attached to said front hood, a second portion rigidly attached to said frame, a first link pivotably coupled to said first portion by a first joint and to a second portion by a second joint, and a second link coupled to said first portion by a third joint and to said second portion by a fourth joint,
- wherein, in the event of impact of said vehicle with a pedestrian, at least one of said first link and said second link is permanently deformed, and
- wherein at least one of said first joint and said third joint is pivoted about said hood lock.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.