Vehicle Hood Hinge Angular Cowl Structure for Crash Energy Transfer
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Solution Overview
Problem
In vehicle front offset collisions, the conventional hood hinge apparatus leads to excessive body bending and collision energy transfer between the hood hinge and A-pillar, resulting in passenger injury due to a large height-wise step between the A-pillar and cowl-side body, which existing designs fail to adequately address.
Innovation Solution
A hood hinge apparatus with a cowl-side body connection portion featuring an inclined angular structure, incorporating horizontal and vertical inclined surfaces, and engagement bolts that transfer collision energy from the cowl-side body to the A-pillar, minimizing body bending and improving crash performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If the cowl-side body and A-pillar are connected in a perpendicular structure, then the structural simplicity is maintained, but the collision energy cannot be effectively transferred and excessive body bending occurs during front offset collision
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies asymmetry by changing the connection structure from a simple perpendicular arrangement to an angular structure with inclined surfaces. The horizontal inclined surface and vertical inclined surface create an asymmetric geometry that enables effective collision energy transfer from the cowl-side body to the A-pillar during front offset collisions, resolving the technical contradiction between structural simplicity and crash performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the geometric parameters of the connection structure by introducing inclined surfaces with specific angles. The horizontal inclined surface and vertical inclined surface create an angular structure that optimizes the force transmission path, allowing collision energy to be effectively transferred while reducing body bending, thus improving crash performance without excessive structural complexity.
2Strength
If engagement bolts are used to couple the fixed hinge bracket with the angular structure, then collision energy transfer is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by dividing the coupling function into multiple engagement bolts that connect different parts of the angular structure. The bolts engage with both the horizontal inclined surface and vertical inclined surface, creating segmented connection points that collectively enable effective collision energy transfer from the cowl-side body to the A-pillar while maintaining structural integrity.
3Strength
If the fixed hinge bracket is designed with horizontal and vertical inclination members, then the angular structure for energy transfer is achieved, but the manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies merging by combining the horizontal inclination member and vertical inclination member into a single integrated fixed hinge bracket assembly. This unified structure achieves the angular geometry needed for effective collision energy transfer while simplifying manufacturing compared to assembling separate inclined components, thus resolving the contradiction between energy transfer capability and manufacturing ease.
Data Source
AI summary
A hood hinge apparatus for a vehicle, in which a cowl-side body connected with an A-pillar has an inclined structure or an angular structure having a larger inclination than a right angle to reduce a step between the A-pillar and the cowl-side body, and engagement bolts are engaged with a horizontal inclined surface and a vertical inclined surface in different directions for coupling between the cowl-side body and the fixed hinge bracket to prevent injury of a passenger due to excessive dipping caused by generation of body bending during a front offset collision, thereby actively responding to safety regulations in case of a collision.