Motion assist mechanism for a vehicle tailgate

A vehicle comprising:

• a body having a bed with an opening;
• a tailgate for closing the opening, the tailgate being pivotally mounted to the body at the opening for movement about a generally horizontal pivot axis between a raised closed position extending generally vertically and a lowered open position extending generally horizontally;
• a pair of hinge mechanisms on opposing sides of the tailgate, the hinge mechanisms pivotally mounting the tailgate for the movement about the pivot axis and permitting removal of the tailgate from the body;
• wherein at least one of the pair of hinge mechanisms comprises:
• a housing fixedly connected to one of the body and the closure member and a connection part fixedly connected to the other of the body and the closure member;
• a first and a second lock member, the first and second lock members being provided within the housing along the pivot axis, with the first lock member being mounted for enabling relative pivotal movement between the first lock member and the housing and the second lock member being fixed against pivotal movement relative to the housing;
• the first lock member and the connection part being removably connectable together to permit the removal of the tailgate from the vehicle;
• a resilient member provided within the housing and associated with the second lock member, the second lock member being movable axially along the pivot axis and the resilient member biasing the one second lock member towards the first cam;
• the first and second lock members including cooperating engagement portions configured to engage with one another under the biasing of the resilient member when the tailgate is in the open position, at least one of the cooperating engagement portions being contoured such that a predetermined force in the closing direction is required to cause relative pivotal movement between the first lock member and the housing to axially displace the second lock member against the biasing of the resilient member to permit disengagement of the cooperating engagement portions.

A hinge mechanism for a vehicle tailgate, comprising:

• a housing constructed to fixedly connect the hinge mechanism to one of a vehicle tailgate and a vehicle body;
• a connection part constructed to be fixedly connected to the other of the vehicle tailgate and the vehicle body;
• a first cam provided within the housing and having a sloped engagement surface;
• a second cam provided within the housing and having a sloped engagement surface to cooperate and mate with the sloped engagement surface of the first cam;
• the first and second cams being provided within the housing along a pivot axis, with the first cam being mounted for enabling relative pivotal movement between the first cam and the housing and the second cam being fixed within the housing against pivotal movement relative to the housing;
• the first cam and the connection part being removably connectable together to permit the vehicle tailgate to be installed on or removed from the vehicle body;
• a resilient member provided within the housing, the second cam being movable axially along the pivot axis within the housing and the resilient member being arranged to bias the second cam axially along the pivot axis to mate with the first cam when the hinge assembly is installed, and
• wherein the sloped engagement surface of the first and second cam members are configured such that, upon rotation of the tailgate when the hinge mechanism is installed, the sloped engagement surface of the first cam rotates about the pivotal axis relative to the sloped engagement surface of the second cam to axially displace the second cam against the bias of the resilient member, thus providing a torque for assisting in the rotation of the tailgate.

A hinge mechanism for a vehicle tailgate, comprising:

• a housing constructed to fixedly connect the hinge mechanism to one of a vehicle tailgate and a vehicle body;
• a connection part constructed to be fixedly connected to the other of the vehicle tailgate and the vehicle body;
• a first lock member provided within the housing;
• a second lock member provided within the housing;
• the first and second lock members being provided within the housing along a pivot axis, with the first lock member being mounted for enabling relative pivotal movement between the first lock member and the housing and the second lock member being fixed within the housing against pivotal movement relative to the housing;
• the first lock member and the connection part being removably connectable together to permit the vehicle tailgate to be installed on or removed from the vehicle body;
• a resilient member provided within the housing and associated with the second lock member to bias the second lock member towards the first lock member along the pivot axis when the hinge assembly is installed, the second lock member being movable axially along the pivot axis, and
• wherein the first and second lock members include cooperating engagement portions configured to engage with one another under the biasing of the resilient member in a first position when the hinge mechanism is installed, at least one of the cooperating engagement portions being contoured such that a predetermined force in a second direction is required to cause relative pivotal movement between the first lock member and the housing to axially displace the second lock member against the biasing of the resilient member to permit disengagement of the cooperating engagement portions, thus providing a torque to assist in rotating the tailgate.