The present invention relates to a collapsible hood reinforcement of vehicle.
This can also be called collapsible hood latch reinforcement.
]i$ACKGROUND/PRIOR ART
The hood latch reinforcement found to be one of the hardest points when tested
for pedestrian head impact. Pedestrian safety being an important concern with
an ever increasing number of vehicles on roads which thereby makes it more
important to minimize the HIC (Head Injury Criteria) score to meet the
regulatory requirement. In order to achieve reduction in HIC score at hood
latch region, collapsible hood latch reinforcement is· provided.
Now reference may be made to fig.l.The hood reinforcement (H) is welded to
underlying striker reinforcement (S) which is placed between hood outer panel
(0) and inner panel (I). The hood reinforcement is connected to the outer panel
by means of sealant. The striker reinforcement is welded to the inner panel.
Some currently available collapsible hood reinforcement may be discussed
hereinbelow:
According to one known art, an automobile hood structure comprises two
panels including striker reinforcement at bottom. The top panel is a flat
member supported by two legs for deformation. The legs are welded to the
striker. It involves a long process with multiple steps to make the panel.
Therefore it requires more time for manufacturing, which adds to cost.
Iri accordance with another available technology, a vehicular hood structure
comprises three panels including striker at bottom. The middle panel is thinner
than the top panel. The top panel forming a L-Section is provided with a
plurality of openings in width direction of vehicle with a bending line placed
vertically.
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However, its disadvantage 1s that it consists of more number of parts, which
leads to increase in cost.
In view of the above, it is required to devise a novel collapsible hood
reinforcement which can Hddress the existing issues and serve the purpose
efficiently which has been proposed by this patent application.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
1\n object of this invention is to propose collapsible hood reinforcement of
. vehicle which overcomes drawbacks of prior arts.
Another object of this invention is to improve energy absorption of the hood
reinforcement there by reducing head injury to the pedestrian encountering
accident.
Further object of this invention is to propose collapsible hood reinforcement of
vehicle which involves a short process, thereby easing the manufacturing and
reducing the manufacturing cost.
S'QMMARY OF INVENTION
According to this invention there is provided a collapsible hood reinforcement
of vehicle which is welded to underlying striker reinforcement and placed
between hood outer panel and inner panel, wherein the hood reinforcement
comprises a single structure, one side surface of which is provided with a
plura.lity of slots and a notch along both edges thereof for deformation of said
hood reinforcement upon pedestrian head impact.
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~~RIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS
Further objects and advantages of this invention will be more apparent from
the ensuing description when read in conjunction with the accompanymg
drawings of exemplary embodiments of invention and wherein:
Fig. 1 shows: Placement of hood reinforcement in hood of vehicle.
Fig. 2 shows: Perspective view of hood reinforcement of present invention
Fig. 3 shows: Side view of hood reinforcement according to present invention.
Fig. 4 shows: Top view of hood reinforcement in accordance with present
invention.
Fig. S shows: Contact between striker reinforcement and hood reinforcement.
Fig. 6 shows: Rear view of hood reinforcement of present invention.
l.))l.~TAIL DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION WITH REFERENCE TO THE
. l~CCOMPANYING DRAWINGS
The present invention is directed to an improved design of hood reinforcement
·which is capable of absorbing the impact energy efficiently in case of mishap
with pedestrian.
In the present invention,. hood reinforcement is devised for its controlled
deformation to reduce the HIC (Head Injury criteria) at the hood latch region.
. I
'T'hc hood .reinforcement is illustrated in fig. 2 and 3. It constitutes a single
. sheet metal piece, which comprises a mating part ( 1, 2) on both sides disposed
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m parallel to the underlying striker reinforcement (3) and inner panel (Not
Shown). The mating part (1) extends upward vertically at an angle forming a
side surface (4) having a plurality of slots (5) to improve deformation in case of
·accident. The side surface is bent to run parallel to the outer panel to form top
surface (6), which undergoes an angular transition at other end as shown to
form another side surface (7) placed parallel to the striker reinforcement. There
is a slot (8, fig. 4) in width direction of vehicle in top surface. The placement of
the horizontal slot (8) is such that it avoids contact with the striker
reinforcement upon impact thereby further improving deformation of the hood
reinforcement, which can be best seen in fig. 5 indicating the following
features:
Iiood outer panel- 0'
Hood· inner panel -'- I'
I Iood reinforcement- H'
Striker reinforcement- 3
Striker-S'
Prevention of contact between hood reinforcement and striker reinforcement-C
Exact position of the horizontal slot 1s determined relying on the profile of
striker reinforcement.
Now reference may be made to fig. 6, wherein atleastone notch (9, 1 0) is
. provided along both the edges of side surface (4) forming deformation line. The
side surface with vertical slots is preferably tapered as shown to obtain a
·weaker section thereby further contributing to deformation.
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The vertical slots are preferably and substantially having rectangular profile to
facilitate manufacturing, thereby reducing time therefor.
The present invention leads to progressive collapse of the hood reinforcement
·in a controlled manner through the vertical openings and notches provided on
the side surface which act as crush initiators that helps to initialize the
collapse at the time of impact.
1 n case of pedestrian head impact, the notch provided initiates the collapse of
reinforcement and the holes on the vertical wall (side surface) and top surface
enable to absorb the impact energy. Thus impact energy is absorbed by plastic
deformation of the hood latch reinforcement.·
The hood reinforcement of the present invention can be manufactured by the
stamping method without restricting scope of the invention to the same. Thus
other suitable profile of ver~ical slots and method of manufacturing readily
apparent to a person skilled in the art are understood to be within ambit of the
invention.
J~.d.van.tageous Features
Reduced number of process steps which eases manufacturing
Cost effective
Efficiently meeting the pedestrian protection regulation.
It is to be noted that the present invention is susceptible to modifications,
adaptc:-tions and changes by those skilled in the art. Such variant embodiments
employing the concepts and features of this invention are intended to be within
the scope of the present invention, which is further set forth under the
.following claims:-
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\WE CLAIM:
1. A collapsible hood reinforcement of vehicle which is welded to underlying
striker reinforcement and placed between hood outer panel and inner
panel, wherein the hood reinforcement comprises a single structure, one
side surface of which is provided with a plurality of slots and a notch
along both edges thereof for deformation of said hood reinforcement upon
pedestrian head impact.
2. A collapsible hood reinforcement of vehicle as claimed in claim 1 wherein
the hood reinforcement comprises a mating part on both sides disposed
in parallel to the striker reinforcement and hood inner panel.
3. A collapsible hood reinforcement of vehicle as claimed in claim 1 or 2
wherein said one mating part extends upward vertically at an angle
forming the side surface with the plurality of slots.
4. A collapsible hood reinforcement of vehicle as claimed m any of the
proceeding claims wherein the side surface is bent in a direction parallel
to the outer panel to form top surface, which undergoes an angular
transition at other end to form another side surface.
5. A collapsible hood reinforcement of vehicle as claimed m any of the
proceeding claims wherein said another side surface is placed in parallel
to the striker reinforcement.
6. A collapsible hood reinforcement of vehicle as claimed in any of the
proceeding claims wherein the top surface is provided with a slot in
width direction of vehicle constituting horizontal slot.
7. A collapsible hood reinforcement of vehicle as claimed m any of the
proc.eeding claims wherein the placement of the horizontal siot is such
that it avoids contact with the striker reinforcement upon impact thereby
·further improving deformation of the hood reinforcement.
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· 8. A collapsible hood reinforcement of vehicle as claimed in any of the
proceeding claims wherein the vertical slots are preferably having
rectangular profile.
9. A collapsible hood reinforcement of vehicle as claimed in any of the
proceeding claims wherein the side surface with verlical slots is
preferably tapered to obtain weaker section thereby further contributing
to deformation.
10. A collapsible hood reinforcement of vehicle as claimed in any of the
preceding claims is associated with the advantageous features such as
herein described.