HOOD LATCH STRUCTURE

A hood latch structure may include a base plate mounted in a vehicle, a pole rotatably provided at the base plate, a hood release cable having one end connected to the pole to rotate the pole, and a latch having a first end rotatably mounted at the base plate and a latching groove formed at a center thereof to allow a hood striker to be selectively inserted thereinto, wherein the latching groove may be selectively engaged with the pole.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

A hood latch structure according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is configured to include a base plate100mounted in a vehicle, a pole110provided at the base plate100, a hood release cable120connected to the pole110to rotate the pole110, and a latch130engaged with the pole110to rotate together with the pole110at the time of rotation of the pole110, as shown inFIGS. 2 and 3.

As shown inFIG. 2, the base plate100is formed to have a rectangular plate shape and is mounted at an engine room side of the vehicle.

The pole110is rotatably provided at one end of the base plate100.

Here, a latch130to be described below is rotatably provided at the other end of the base plate100.

The hood release cable120, which connects a handle and the pole110to each other, has one end connected to a hood opening handle provided in the vehicle and the other end connected to the pole110.

As a result, when a passenger operates the handle in the vehicle, the hood release cable120connected to the handle is pulled, such that the pole110connected to the hood release cable120is rotated from the base plate100.

Here, it is preferable that the pole110includes a first rotation spring140so as to be rotatable from the base plate100to allow the pole110to have restoring force after the pole110is rotated.

As shown inFIGS. 2 and 3, the latch130has one end rotatably mounted at the base plate100and the other end engaged with the pole110. Therefore, when the pole110is rotated by the hood release cable120, the latch130engaged with the pole110is also rotated.

Here, the latch130includes a latching groove131formed at the center thereof to allow a hood striker S formed at a hood to be inserted thereinto.

As a result, the hood striker S may be latched to or unlatched from the latch130according to whether or not the latch130is rotated.

In addition, the latch130further includes a second rotation spring150. Here, it is preferable that one end of the second rotation spring150is connected to the base plate100and the other end thereof is connected to the latch130to allow the latch130to have restoring force after the latch130is rotated.

Meanwhile, it is preferable that the pole110is provided with a latching groove111and the latch130is provided with a latching protrusion132, such that the pole110and the latch130may be selectively engaged with each other.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the pole110is provided with a pole protrusion115, and thus when the latch130is rotated by the striker S, the latching protrusion132of the latch130overcomes the pole protrusion115and is locked to the latching groove111of the pole110.

As described above, according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, when the handle in the vehicle is operated in order to open the hood, the hood release cable120pulls and rotates the pole110. When the pole110is rotated, the latch130engaged with the pole110is rotated to unlatch the hood striker S latched to the latch130to enable opening of the hood. As described above, the base plate100is formed to have the rectangular plate shape, and the pole110and the latch130are formed at a minimized size and are not protruded to the outside of the base plate100even at the time of being rotated, thereby making it possible to minimize a size of the hood latch structure according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

As set forth above, according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a size of the hood latch structure is minimized to be advantageous for a layout, such that design performance is improved and a cost is decreased, thereby making it possible to increase marketability.

The foregoing descriptions of specific exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been presented for purposes of illustration and description. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed, and obviously many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings.

The exemplary embodiments were chosen and described in order to explain certain principles of the invention and their practical application, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to make and utilize various exemplary embodiments of the present invention, as well as various alternatives and modifications thereof. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the Claims appended hereto and their equivalents.