The present subject matter described herein relates to a hood inner panel. In particular, the present subject matter relates to a hood inner strengthening structure in the hood inner panel for providing effective load distribution to meet the strength requirements of a hood slam.
BACKGROUND
[0002] The vehicle hood has a hood outer member and a hood inner member that is attached to the underside of the hood outer member. The hood inner member defines a number of structural reinforcements. These structural reinforcements are provided to give rigidity to the hood.
[0003] A striker and cushion area are provided on the front of the hood inner panel. The striker and cushion area get connected and fixed to the vehicle body when the hood is closed. The hood closes the opening of the engine room and when the hood is closed, the latch mechanism is engaged with the striker to lock the hood with the vehicle body along with the cushion area.
[0004] When the hood is closed, the striker and the cushion area are subjected to a significant stress, and while the vehicle travels, the striker and the cushion area are continuously vibrated in vertical, horizontal, diagonal, and rotational directions, as well as at the striker's base end (root). The joint-fixing portion of the striker and the cushion area are subjected to a variety of loads thereby affecting the rigidity of the hood.
[0005] The existing structure for the hood inner panel doesn't provide sufficient reinforced structure. The cushion area implemented around the front edge of the hood inner panel does not have sufficient reinforcement to cater to different loads of the hood. This amounts a varying stress flow leading to deformation around the

cushion area. Moreover, the design that is implemented for a reinforced structure is costlier taking in account of bigger striker reinforcements with more number of joineries.
[0006] The technical issues with the existing structure of hood panel is that the frontal portion of the hood inner panel deforms along the bend line because of the weight and cause an issue at later stage of vehicle lifecycle by causing a definitive bend line due to the bending movement, additionally there is no proper channel for uniform flow of forces/stresses in case of hood slam i.e. around the area of cushion hitting zone, etc.
[0007] Therefore, it is required to provide a strengthening reinforcement at the different areas of the hood inner panel to reduce the vibrations and improve stress/force flow and avoid bending line formation.
OBJECTS OF THE DISCLOSURE
[0008] It forms an object of the present disclosure to overcome the aforementioned and other drawbacks/limitations in the existing solutions available in the form of related prior arts.
[0009] It is a primary object of the present disclosure to provide a hood inner strengthening structure at the different areas of a hood inner panel.
[0010] It is another object of the present disclosure to provide a cost effective way of strengthening the hood inner panel.
[0011] It is yet another object of the present disclosure to improve stress/force flow and avoids bending line formation across the width of the front portion of the hood inner panel.
[0012] It is yet another object of the present disclosure to improve stress handling capacity of the hood inner panel.
[0013] These and other objects and advantages of the present subject matter will be apparent to a person skilled in the art after consideration of the following

detailed description taken into consideration with accompanying drawings in which preferred embodiments of the present subject matter are illustrated.
SUMMARY
[0014] A solution to one or more drawbacks of existing technology and additional advantages are provided through the present disclosure. Additional features and advantages are realized through the technicalities of the present disclosure. Other embodiments and aspects of the disclosure are described in detail herein and are considered to be a part of the claimed disclosure.
[0015] The present disclosure provides a solution in the form of a hood inner strengthening structure provided on a front edge and cushion areas of a hood inner panel of a vehicle to distribute stress. It includes a first reinforcing bead extending along a width of the front edge of the hood inner panel having a front portion and a rear portion, wherein the front portion and the rear portion are joined to one another by a plurality of longitudinal ribs and a plurality of second reinforcing beads extending from the first reinforcing bead and surrounding an outer periphery of cushion areas forming a non-uniform triangular depression region, wherein the second reinforcing beads has a curved surface on the back side of the cushion areas and a bead surface on the front of the cushion areas, wherein the bead surface extends and joins the rear portion of the first reinforcing bead and the curved surface joins the extended curved bead provided behind the cushion areas of the hood inner panel.
[0016] In an aspect, the plurality of longitudinal ribs is located at an inclined area of the hood inner panel.
[0017] In an aspect, the first reinforcing bead and the inclined area has a curved joining interface that continues along the width of the hood inner panel.
[0018] In an aspect, the curved joining interface is located between middle longitudinal ribs of the plurality of longitudinal ribs.

[0019] In an aspect, the extended curved bead moves along the side of the hood inner panel.
[0020] In an aspect, the non-uniform triangular depression region also facilitates as a drain hole
[0021] In an aspect, the first reinforcing bead and the second reinforcing beads are embossed.
[0022] The foregoing summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. In addition to the illustrative aspects, embodiments, and features described above, further aspects, embodiments, and features will become apparent by reference to the drawings and the following detailed description.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS
[0023] It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only typical embodiments of the present subject matter and are therefore not to be considered for limiting of its scope, for the present disclosure may admit to other equally effective embodiments. The detailed description is described with reference to the accompanying figures. In the figures, a reference number identifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. The same numbers are used throughout the figures to reference like features and components. Some embodiments of system or methods or structure in accordance with embodiments of the present subject matter are now described, by way of example, and with reference to the accompanying figures, in which:
[0024] Fig. 1 illustrates a hood inner strengthening structure according to the present disclosure;
[0025] Fig. 2 illustrates a first reinforcing bead present along a width of a front edge of the hood inner panel of hood inner strengthening structure according to the present disclosure;

[0026] Fig. 3 illustrates second reinforcing beads extending along the first reinforcing beads of the hood inner panel of hood inner strengthening structure according to the present disclosure;
[0027] Fig. 4 illustrates extended curved bead provided behind cushion areas of the hood inner panel according to the present disclosure;
[0028] The figures depict embodiments of the present subject matter for illustration only. A person skilled in the art will easily recognize from the following description that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the disclosure described herein.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION
[0029] The detailed description of various exemplary embodiments of the disclosure is described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the embodiments are described herein in such details as to communicate the disclosure. However, the amount of details provided herein is not intended to limit the anticipated variations of embodiments; on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims.
[0030] It is also to be understood that various arrangements may be devised that, although not explicitly described or shown herein, embody the principles of the present disclosure. Moreover, all statements herein reciting principles, aspects, and embodiments of the present disclosure, as well as specific examples, are intended to encompass equivalents thereof.
[0031] It should also be noted that in some alternative implementations, the functions/acts noted may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two figures shown in succession may be executed concurrently or may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality/acts involved.

[0032] Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which example embodiments belong. It will be further understood that terms, e.g., those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.
[0033] In the following detailed description of the embodiments of the disclosure, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which are shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the disclosure may be practiced. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the disclosure, and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. The following description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense.
[0034] Hereinafter, a description of an embodiment with several components in communication with each other does not imply that all such components are required. On the contrary, a variety of optional components are described to illustrate the wide variety of possible embodiments of the present disclosure.
[0035] The present invention discloses about a hood inner strengthening structure that is located on the front edge and the adjacent area of the hood inner panel. The hood inner strengthening structure improves the stress flow and reduces bending line formation, leading to increase of stress handling capacity of the hood inner panel.
[0036] Referring to FIG. 1 it shows the hood inner strengthening structure (100) having a first reinforcing bead (103) that extends along a width of a front edge (101) of the hood inner panel (106). The first reinforcing bead (103) has a front portion (201) and a rear portion (202). The front portion (201) and the rear portion (202) are joined to each other by longitudinal ribs (not illustrated in Fig.l as they are explained in Fig.2). The hood inner strengthening structure (100) further has a

second reinforcing beads (104a, 104b) positioned at left side and right side of the hood inner panel (106) that surrounds cushion areas (102a, 102b).
[0037] Referring to FIG. 2 it shows the first reinforcing bead (103). The first reinforcing bead (103) is divided into the front portion (201) and the rear portion (202). The front portion (201) is positioned at the front edge (101) of the hood inner panel (106) and the rear portion (202) is located adjacent to a base of a striker area mounting.
[0038] Further, the longitudinal ribs (203a, 203b, 203c, 203d) are given between the front portion (201) and the rear portion (202) to join both the portions (201, 202). The ends of the longitudinal ribs (203a, 203b, 203c, 203d) are attached to the front portion (201) and the rear portion (202). The middle longitudinal ribs (203b, 203c) are located near the striker mounting area and the end longitudinal ribs (203a, 203d) are located adjacent to the cushion areas (102a, 102b).
[0039] The longitudinal ribs (203a, 203b, 203c, 203d) have an embossed surface and are further positioned at the inclined area (105). The longitudinal ribs (203a, 203b, 203c, 203d) act as a connecting pathway and stiffening area for the front edge (101) of the hood inner panel (106) to stiffen the overhang zone at the frontal width of the vehicle hood.
[0040] The rear portion (202) of the first reinforcing bead (103) and the inclined area (105) has a curved joining interface that continues along the width of the hood inner panel (106). The curved joining interface is provided in between the middle longitudinal ribs (203b, 203c). The curved joining interface acts as strengthening feature and propagates toward the width and past the hood cushion engaging zone.
[0041] The longitudinal ribs (203a, 203b, 203c, 203d) improve the stiffness of front edge (101) of the hood inner panel (106) where the striker is mounted and reduces the deformation around the bend line that is either formed on the front portion (201) or the rear portion (202) when the hood is opened or closed.

[0042] Further, the front portion (201) and the rear portion (202) of the first reinforcing bead (103) continue from the front to the adjacent area of the hood inner panel (106). Therefore, the load distribution on the vehicle hood is uniform as the forces or the load obtained from the striker mounting area are transferred from the rear portion (202) of the first reinforcing bead (103) (as it is located at the nearest vicinity of the striker mounting area) to the front portion (201) of the first reinforcing bead (103) with the aid of the longitudinal ribs (203a, 203b, 203c, 203d). The ribs (203a, 203b, 203c, 203d) provide a medium of transferring the loads from the rear portion (202) to the front portion (201) as well as a medium for maintaining rigidity in the front edge (101) of the hood inner panel (106).
[0043] The load from the cushion areas (102a, 102b) is also transferred from the second reinforcing beads (104a, 104b) to the rear portion (202) of the first reinforcing bead (103) that is continuing from the front edge (101) to the sides of the hood inner panel (106).
[0044] Referring to FIG. 3, it shows the second reinforcing beads (104a, 104b) located adjacent to the left side and right side of the first reinforcing bead (103). Each of the second reinforcing bead from the second reinforcing beads (104a, 104b) continue from the ends of the first reinforcing bead (103).
[0045] The second reinforcing beads (104a, 104b) completely surrounds the cushion areas (102a, 102b) forming a non-uniform triangular depression region (301a, 301b). The cushion areas (102a, 102b) is located inside the non-uniform triangular depression region (301a, 301b) along with a drain hole and the non-uniform triangular depression region (301a, 301b) also acts as a guide path for the drain hole to drain the paint during a paint job.
[0046] Further, the second reinforcing beads (104a, 104b) has an embossed surface and is divided into a curved surface (302a, 302b) and a bead surface (303a, 303b). The bead surface (303a, 303b) is provided at the front of the cushion areas (102a, 102b) and the curved surface (302a, 302b) surrounds the sides and the back portion of the cushion areas (102a, 102b).

[0047] The bead surface (303a, 303b) joins and the first reinforcing bead (103) and merges into the hood inner panel (106) longitudinally. Further, the curved surface (302a, 302b) extends from the sides of the second reinforcing beads (104a, 104b) at the back side of the cushion areas (102a, 102b). The curved surface (302a, 302b) further merges and breaks into an extended curved bead (304) that is located behind the cushion areas (102a, 102b) to further improve the bending resistance of a hood inner frontal corner area.
[0048] The stress that occurs due to the loading is passed from the second reinforcing beads (104a, 104b) surrounding the cushion areas (102a, 102b) to the extended curved bead (304) that is located behind the cushion areas (102a, 102b). Additionally, due to the joining of the second reinforcing beads (104a, 104b) with the extended curved bead (304) from back side and the joining of the second reinforcing beads (104a, 104b) from the front side to the hood inner panel (106) forms a rigid structure around the cushion areas (102a, 102b) to evenly distribute the stresses.
[0049] Further, the second reinforcing beads (104a, 104b) is shaped in such away that it increases bending resistance and normalizes the load distribution all around the hood cushion hitting zone.
[0050] Therefore, whenever the loading occurs, the stress or the impact load is evenly distributed around the cushion areas (102a, 102b) to the adjacent beads (103, 304) and local stresses are eliminated. Moreover, when at the time of loading, the cushion areas (102a, 102b) hits the hood inner panel (106), the bend line is avoided.
[0051] Referring to FIG. 4, it shows that the extended curved bead (304) is provided on the hood inner panel (106) towards the rear of hood inner panel (106). The curved surface (302a, 302b) of the second reinforcing beads (104a, 104b) join and merges in the extended curved bead (304) at the back side the cushion areas (102a, 102b).

[0052] The extended curved bead (304) is rigid and the stresses obtained on the cushion areas (102a, 102b) due to loading are further transferred from the second reinforcing beads (104a, 104b) to the extended curved bead (304).
[0053] Therefore, due to the joining of the second reinforcing beads (104a, 104b) with the extended curved bead (304) from back side and the joining of the second reinforcing beads (104a, 104b) from the front side to the hood inner panel (106) forms a rigid structure around the cushion areas (102a, 102b) the stress or the impact load is evenly distributed around the cushion areas (102a, 102b) to the adjacent beads (103, 304) and local stresses are eliminated. Further, at the time of loading, when the cushion areas (102a, 102b) hits the hood inner panel (106), the deformation along the bend line is avoided.
[0054] The loads are firstly transferred from the striker mounting area and the cushion areas (102a, 102b) to the rear portion (202) of the first reinforcing bead (103) and these loads are then transferred to the longitudinal ribs (203a, 203b, 203c, 203d) that are adjoined to the rear portion (202) of the first reinforcing bead (103) and lastly the longitudinal ribs (203a, 203b, 203c, 203d) transfer the loads to the front edge (101). Therefore, the loads transferred are uniform and the vibration impact around the hood inner panel (106) is reduced.
TECHNICAL ADVANTAGES
[0055] With the help of the solution as proposed herein in the context of the present disclosure, the impact of vibration levels is getting decreased.
[0056] The design of the present disclosure is able to transfer the loads uniformly from the striker mounting area and the cushion area.
[0057] With the help of the present disclosure, there is no deformation around the front hood.
[0058] It will be understood by those within the art that, in general, terms used herein, and especially in the appended claims (e.g., bodies of the appended claims) are generally intended as "open" terms (e.g., the term "including" should

be interpreted as "including but not limited to," the term "having" should be interpreted as "having at least," the term "includes" should be interpreted as "includes but is not limited to," etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitation, no such intent is present. For example, as an aid to understanding, the following appended claims may contain usage of the introductory phrases "at least one" and "one or more" to introduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles "a" or "an" limits any particular claim containing such introduced claim recitation to disclosures containing only one such recitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases "one or more" or "at least one" and indefinite articles such as "a" or "an" (e.g., "a" and/or "an" should typically be interpreted to mean "at least one" or "one or more"); the same holds true for the use of definite articles used to introduce claim recitations. Also, even if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should typically be interpreted to mean at least the recited number (e.g., the bare recitation of "two recitations," without other modifiers, typically means at least two recitations or two or more recitations). Furthermore, in those instances where a convention analogous to "at least one of A, B, and C, etc." is used, in general, such construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., "a system having at least one of A, B, and C" would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). In those instances, where a convention analogous to "at least one of A, B, or C, etc." is used, in general, such construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., "a system having at least one of A, B, or C" would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that virtually any disjunctive

word and/or phrase presenting two or more alternative terms, whether in the description, claims, or drawings, should be understood to contemplate the possibilities of including one of the terms, either of the terms or both terms. For example, the phrase "A or B" will be understood to include the possibilities of "A" or "B" or "A and B."
[0059] It will be further appreciated that functions or structures of a plurality of components or steps may be combined into a single component or step, or the functions or structures of one-step or component may be split among plural steps or components. The present disclosure contemplates all of these combinations. Unless stated otherwise, dimensions and geometries of the various structures depicted herein are not intended to be restrictive of the disclosure, and other dimensions or geometries are possible. Also, while a feature of the present disclosure may have been described in the context of only one of the illustrated embodiments, such feature may be combined with one or more other features of other embodiments, for any given application. It will also be appreciated from the above that the fabrication of the unique structures herein and the operation thereof also constitute methods in accordance with the present disclosure. The present disclosure also encompasses intermediate and end products resulting from the practice of the methods herein. The use of "comprising" or "including" also contemplates embodiments that "consist essentially of or "consist of the recited feature.

We claim:

1. A hood inner strengthening structure (100) provided on a front edge (101)
and cushion areas (102a, 102b) of a hood inner panel (106) of a vehicle to
distribute stress, the strengthening structure comprising:
a first reinforcing bead (103) extending along a width of the front edge (101) of the hood inner panel (106) having a front portion (201) and a rear portion (202),
wherein the front portion (201) and the rear portion (202) are joined to one another by a plurality of longitudinal ribs (203a, 203b, 203c, 203d); and
a plurality of second reinforcing beads (104a, 104b) extending from the first reinforcing bead (103) and surrounding an outer periphery of cushion areas (102a, 102b) forming a non-uniform triangular depression region (301a, 301b),
wherein the second reinforcing beads (104a, 104b) has a curved surface (302a, 302b) on the back side of the cushion areas (102a, 102b) and a bead surface (303a, 303b) on the front of the cushion areas (102a, 102b).
2. The hood inner strengthening structure (100) as claimed in claim 1,
wherein the bead surface (303a, 303b) extends and joins the rear portion
(202) of the first reinforcing bead (103), and
wherein and the curved surface (302a, 302b) joins the extended curved bead (304) provided behind the cushion areas (102a, 102b) of the hood inner panel (106).
3. The hood inner strengthening structure (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the plurality of longitudinal ribs (203a, 203b, 203c, 203d) are located at an inclined area (105) of the hood inner panel (106).
4. The hood inner strengthening structure (100) as claimed in claim 3, wherein the first reinforcing bead (103) and the inclined area (105) has a

curved joining interface that continues along the width of the hood inner panel (106).
5. The hood inner strengthening structure (100) as claimed in claim 3, wherein the curved joining interface is located between middle longitudinal ribs (203b, 203c) of the plurality of longitudinal ribs (203a, 203b, 203c, 203d).
6. The hood inner strengthening structure (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the extended curved bead (304) moves along the side of the hood inner panel (106).
7. The hood inner strengthening structure (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein non-uniform triangular depression region (301a, 301b) also facilitates as a drain hole.
8. The hood inner strengthening structure (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first reinforcing bead (103) and the second reinforcing beads (104a, 104b) are embossed.