Hood Hinge Reinforcing Beads Prevent Width Bending
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing hood hinges for vehicles face challenges in absorbing shock during collisions, leading to potential damage to the engine hood, cowl top panel, and front windshield, as they tend to bend in the vehicle width direction, which can result in the engine hood shifting and causing further collisions.
Innovation Solution
The hood hinge design incorporates a hinge stay with a horizontal and vertical plate portion, where the vertical plate is reinforced with a stay reinforcing bead extending in the vehicle height direction, and the hinge arm has an arm reinforcing bead, increasing rigidity to prevent bending in the vehicle width direction and allowing the hinge arm to rotate and lift the engine hood, reducing the likelihood of collision with the windshield or cowl top panel.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the rigidity of the hinge stay is lowered to improve shock absorbing ability, then the shock absorbing ability is improved, but the hinge stay is likely to be bent in the vehicle width direction causing the engine hood to shift
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by providing reinforcing beads only at specific locations on the hinge stay and hinge arm where strength is needed to prevent width-direction bending, while other areas maintain lower rigidity for shock absorption. The reinforcing beads are strategically positioned to provide localized stiffness without making the entire structure rigid.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the rigidity parameter locally by adding reinforcing beads that increase stiffness in critical areas. This allows the hinge to have different rigidity characteristics in different regions - rigid enough to prevent unwanted bending but flexible enough to absorb shock through controlled deformation in other areas.
2Stability of the object's composition
If the rigidity of the hinge arm and hinge stay is increased to prevent bending in vehicle width direction, then the bending is prevented, but the hinge arm may rotate in a direction that causes the engine hood to collide with the windshield or cowl top panel
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses local quality by positioning reinforcing beads specifically to prevent width-direction bending while maintaining rotational freedom in the vertical plane. The beads are placed on the inner surfaces of the hinge arm and stay, providing localized reinforcement that does not constrain the necessary rotation for hood opening during collision.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies dynamics by allowing the hinge arm to rotate freely in the vertical plane while preventing bending in the width direction. This dynamic behavior enables the hinge to adapt to collision forces by rotating to lift the hood rear end, avoiding collision with fixed components like the windshield.
3Strength
If reinforcing beads are added to increase rigidity, then the rigidity is increased, but the manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes geometric parameters by adding reinforcing beads with specific dimensions and positions. The bead size, spacing, and location are optimized to provide the necessary rigidity increase while minimizing the added complexity. This allows achieving strength goals with a relatively simple structural modification.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies partial action by adding reinforcing beads only at critical locations where strength is needed, rather than reinforcing the entire hinge structure. This selective reinforcement provides sufficient rigidity improvement while keeping the overall design simple and manufacturing relatively easy.
Data Source
AI summary
A hood hinge includes a hinge stay and a hinge arm. The hinge stay includes a horizontal plate portion that is fixed to a vehicle body and a vertical plate portion that supports a second end of the hinge arm. The vertical plate portion is erected and extends in a vehicle height direction from a first end of the horizontal plate portion in a vehicle width direction. The hinge arm of the hood hinge is provided with an arm reinforcing bead and the vertical plate portion of the hinge stay is provided with a stay reinforcing bead that extends in the vehicle height direction. The stay reinforcing bead is not provided on a ridge of a connection portion between the vertical plate portion and the horizontal plate portion.