Patent ID: 7845691
Filing Date: 2010-12-07
Classification: B60R,E05B,Y10S,Y10T

Abstract:
1. A collision safety system for use with a motor vehicle, the system comprising: a hood mounted to the vehicle movable between an open position and a closed position extending at least partially over an opening in the vehicle, the hood including a striker bar extending therefrom; a latch mechanism positioned adjacent the hood releasably engaging the striker bar, the latch mechanism including a first spring operative to move the striker bar, a locking cam configured to releasably secure the striker bar and a pawl movable between a latched position engaging the locking cam and a deployed position away from the locking cam; a primary hood release device operatively connected to the pawl by a link; a remote source configured to transmit an activation signal to the primary hood release device to operate the pawl upon detection of an impact condition; an electronic system capable of determining if the activation signal is a true or a false impact condition; and a second spring operatively connected to the pawl; wherein the primary hood release device is a primary voice coil actuator which automatically actuates to move the pawl to release the locking cam upon receipt of the activation signal from the remote source allowing the first spring to engage and bias the striker bar such that the hood moves upward relative to the vehicle body; wherein, when the electronic system determines that the impact condition is false, the voice coil actuator automatically actuates to reposition the pawl to its latched position and the user can manually move the hood to the closed position, making the striker bar to engage and move the locking cam, the locking cam will contact the pawl so as to move the pawl enough to pass by, therefore, when the pawl is biased back to the latched position by the second spring, it will engage and latch the locking cam in order to lock the latch mechanism.