Multi-linkage Vehicle Door Hinge for Compact Packaging
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional vehicle door hinge designs, such as gull-wing doors, face limitations due to mechanical complexity and the need for significant lateral space to open, which restricts their adoption in passenger vehicles.
Innovation Solution
A multi-linkage vehicle door hinge system utilizing two connected four-bar linkages and a coupler that allows the door panel to move in a compact, parallel path relative to the vehicle's exterior surface, providing efficient door opening and closing with reduced clearance requirements and increased vertical lift, while allowing for optional inward rotation to accommodate limited vertical clearance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If alternative door opening movements (gull-wing, scissor doors) are adopted, then door opening capability is improved, but lateral space requirement and mechanical complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The door hinge system is divided into two separate four-bar linkages (first and second linkages) that are coupled together. Each linkage handles a portion of the motion independently, allowing the complex door movement to be broken down into manageable segments that reduce overall mechanical complexity while maintaining advanced door opening capabilities
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from traditional lateral door opening to vertical door movement by positioning the first four-bar linkage above the door opening and the second linkage below it. This dimensional change allows the door to move vertically rather than laterally, eliminating the need for significant lateral clearance while maintaining ease of operation
2Ease of operation
If gull-wing doors with horizontal hinge axis are used, then door opening capability is improved, but lateral space requirement increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent reorients the door movement from lateral (horizontal) to vertical by positioning linkages above and below the door opening. The first four-bar linkage is positioned above the door opening and the second linkage below it, causing the door panel to move vertically through a substantially vertical path of travel, thereby eliminating the need for significant lateral clearance
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of hinging the door at the traditional side location with horizontal movement, the patent inverts the hinge location to vertical positions (above and below the door opening). This inversion changes the movement direction from lateral to vertical, allowing the door to open without requiring lateral space while maintaining full door opening capability
3Ease of operation
If scissor doors with fixed hinge are used, then door opening capability is improved, but mechanical complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The complex door movement is segmented into two independent four-bar linkages that are coupled together. The first linkage handles the upper portion of the motion while the second linkage handles the lower portion, allowing each segment to be optimized independently and reducing the overall mechanical complexity compared to a single complex scissor mechanism
Solution Approach 2:
The coupled four-bar linkage system serves multiple functions: it provides the vertical lifting motion, controls the door panel's path of travel, and enables compact packaging within the vehicle. This multi-functional design replaces the need for separate mechanisms that would otherwise be required, thereby reducing mechanical complexity while maintaining advanced door opening capability
Data Source
AI summary
A multi-linkage vehicle door hinge and door hinge system for use in passenger vehicle entry/exit doors. The door hinge includes a first four bar linkage connected to a second four bar linkage. The door hinge operates to move a vehicle door panel between a closed position and an open position along a path of travel in a movement envelope that is parallel to the exterior surface of the vehicle. In one aspect, the door hinge provides twice as much lift as is required to package the door hinge in the vehicle. In another aspect, the door panel further rotates toward the vehicle centerline for applications having low vertical clearance. In another aspect, the door hinge includes a six-bar linkage.