Rupturable Bolt Hood Hinge for Walker Impact
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing active and passive hood systems face issues with excessive cost and weight, instability in impact detection, and increased injury risk due to malfunctioning sensors, making them unsuitable for mass production and effective walker protection.
Innovation Solution
A rupturable type hood hinge device with a load sensor and rupturable bolt that senses impact and ruptures to disconnect the hood hinge, allowing the hood to fall and absorb impact, incorporating a damping lever and spring for elastic damping, ensuring accurate collision recognition and reduced injury.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If an active hood system is applied to reduce walker injury, then walker protection is improved, but cost and weight become excessive
Solution Approach 1:
The hood system is divided into two independent parts: a passive hood hinge device with rupturable bolt for automatic impact response, and a separate active pop-up mechanism. This segmentation allows the passive safety function to be achieved with minimal weight, while the active mechanism can be omitted or simplified in cost-sensitive applications.
Solution Approach 2:
The hood hinge device incorporates a self-activating rupture mechanism that automatically responds to impact forces without requiring external sensors or control systems. The rupturable bolt design enables the hood to autonomously pop up or disconnect during collision, eliminating the need for expensive and heavy electronic control components.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If a passive hood technology is used to reduce walker injury, then walker protection is improved, but size and weight become excessive making it difficult to ensure space
Solution Approach 1:
The complex sensor systems, control units, and actuator mechanisms from conventional passive hood systems are extracted and replaced with a simple rupturable bolt mechanism. This extraction reduces the volume and weight of the hood system to minimal levels while maintaining the essential safety function of automatic hood release during impact.
Solution Approach 2:
The design changes the structural parameters of the hood hinge connection by using a rupturable bolt with controlled fracture characteristics. This parameter change allows the connection to transition from rigid to disconnected state under impact, achieving passive safety without requiring large-volume damping structures or complex mechanisms.
3Ease of operation
If conventional hood hinge devices are used to ensure basic hood performance, then hood functionality is maintained, but walker injury is not adequately reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The hood hinge device transitions from a static rigid connection to a dynamic system with two states: connected state for normal operation and disconnected state for impact response. The rupturable bolt enables this dynamic transition, allowing the hood to function normally during everyday use but automatically release or pop up during collision to reduce walker injury.
Solution Approach 2:
The rupturable bolt is pre-designed with controlled fracture characteristics that activate at specific impact force thresholds. This beforehand preparation ensures that when impact occurs, the bolt ruptures in a predictable manner to enable hood release or pop-up, providing pre-planned protection without interfering with normal hood operation.
4Measurement precision
If load sensors are added to accurately detect collision impact, then impact detection precision is improved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
Electronic load sensors and control systems are replaced with a purely mechanical rupture detection mechanism. The rupturable bolt itself serves as the detection element - its fracture state directly indicates impact occurrence, eliminating the need for separate sensors, wiring, and electronic control while maintaining accurate impact detection through its engineered fracture characteristics.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The device effectively reduces walker injury by absorbing impact, enabling mass production with significantly reduced size and weight compared to conventional systems, while maintaining effective impact absorption.
Implementation Method 1
a damping spring that supports elastically a lower part of the hinge bracket
Implementation Method 2
A rupturable bolt hinge-connects a connection portion of the lowering lever and the hinge bracket and is configured to sense the impact caused when the walker collides with the hood
Data Source
AI summary
A rupturable type hood hinge device is provided on a vehicle body for opening or closing an engine room and reduces injury to a walker by reducing impact caused from collision with a hood. The hinge device includes a hinge bracket disposed on the engine room and fixed to the vehicle body and a hinge arm fixed to the hood to be rotatable with respect to the hinge bracket. A lowering lever link-connects one side of the hinge arm and one side of the hinge bracket. A rupturable bolt hinge-connects a connection portion of the lowering lever and the hinge bracket and is configured to sense the impact caused when the walker collides with the hood and at the same time to rupture such that the hood and the hinge arm fall and thereby the impact of the walker is dampened.