1. A hinge (100) for a tailgate of a vehicle, comprising:
‐ a first hinge member (102) and a second hinge member (104), wherein
5 the first hinge member (102) and the second hinge member (104) are
pivoted by a hinge pin (106);
characterized in that the second hinge member (104) comprises:
‐ a first portion (108) having a first mass;
‐ a second portion (110) having a second mass,
10 wherein the first portion (108) and second portion (110) are laterally
separated by an axis (112) passing though the mid-point of the hinge pin
(106); the first mass is different than the second mass; and the axis (112)
passing through the mid-point of the hinge pin (106) and the axis (130)
passing through the Center of Gravity (CG) (114) of the second hinge
15 member (104) are substantively parallel to each other and are laterally
offset by a distance “d”.
2. The hinge (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first mass is greater than
the second mass, and wherein the CG (114) of the second hinge member
20 (104) is disposed in the second portion (110) of the second hinge member
(104).
3. The hinge (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein an area moment of inertia
of the hinge (100) along an axis orthogonal to the axis (112) passing through
the mid-point of the hinge pin (106) is in the range of 0.5 to 5 kgmm-2 25 .
4. The hinge (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein an area moment of inertia
of the hinge (100) along an axis parallel to the axis (112) passing through
the mid-point of the hinge pin (106) is in the range of 1 to 5 kgmm-2.
30
18
5. The hinge (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second hinge member
(104) is adapted to swing between at least a first position and at least a
second position.
5 6. The hinge (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second hinge member
(104) comprises a first end (116) and a second end (118), wherein the first
end (116) of the second hinge member (104) is connected to the first hinge
member (102) via the hinge pin (106), and the second end (118) of the
second hinge member (104) is adapted to be fixedly connected to the tailgate
10 of the vehicle.
7. The hinge (100) as claimed in claim 6, wherein the second hinge member
(104) comprises:
‐ a first supporting element (120) comprising the first end (116), and
15 extending from the hinge pin (106); and
‐ a second supporting element (122) connected to the first supporting
element (120) and comprising the second end (118),
wherein the second supporting element (122) has asymmetric mass
distribution about the axis (130) passing through the CG (114) of the
20 second hinge member (104).
8. The hinge (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first hinge member (102)
comprises a bracket (124) adapted to fixedly couple to the rear pillar of the
vehicle via at least one fastening means.
25
9. The hinge (100) as claimed in claim 8, wherein said at least one fastening
means is selected from the group consisting of welded joints, bolts, rivets,
screws, and combinations thereof
30 10. A tailgate assembly (200) for a vehicle, comprising:
19
‐ a tailgate (202) adapted to rotate about a rotational axis (204) to at least
a first position and at least a second position;
‐ a first hinge (100a) located at a first end (206a) of the tailgate assembly
(200); and
5 ‐ a second hinge (100b) located at a second end (206b) of the tailgate
assembly (200),
wherein the first hinge (100a) is as claimed in claim 1; and the second
hinge (100b) is a mirror image of the first hinge (100a) about a central axis
(208) of the tailgate assembly (200).