Abstract:
A hood hinge apparatus for a vehicle, in which a cowl-side body connected with an A-pillar has an inclined structure or an angular structure having a larger inclination than a right angle to reduce a step between the A-pillar and the cowl-side body, and engagement bolts are engaged with a horizontal inclined surface and a vertical inclined surface in different directions for coupling between the cowl-side body and the fixed hinge bracket to prevent injury of a passenger due to excessive dipping caused by generation of body bending during a front offset collision, thereby actively responding to safety regulations in case of a collision.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    The present application claims priority of Korean Patent Application Number 10-2012-0083255 filed Jul. 30, 2012, the entire contents of which application is incorporated herein for all purposes by this reference. 
       BACKGROUND OF INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Field of Invention 
         [0003]    The present invention relates to a hood hinge apparatus for a vehicle, by which crash performance can be improved in case of a front offset collision. 
         [0004]    2. Description of Related Art 
         [0005]    Recently, according to vehicle safety regulations to be executed in Europe and North America in 2014, front/offset crash performance has been improved. 
         [0006]    As part of active adaptation to the enhancement in front/offset crash performance, the occurrence of a collision between a hood hinge and an A-pillar needs to be remedied. 
         [0007]    It is also necessary to prevent injury of a passenger due to excessive dipping caused by vehicle-body bending of a front portion of the hood hinge. 
         [0008]      FIGS. 1 and 2  are a perspective view and a side view of a hood hinge apparatus according to prior art, in which the hood hinge apparatus includes a fixed hinge bracket  2  engaged by a bolt to a cowl-side body  1 , a movable hinge bracket  3  engaged to a hood  5 , and a hinge pin  4  through-coupled to a top end of the fixed hinge bracket  2  and an end portion of the movable hinge bracket  3 , such that the hood  5  is opened and closed by rotation of the movable hinge bracket  3 . 
         [0009]    However, an A-pillar  6  and the cowl-side body  1  are connected in perpendicular to each other and a height-wise step between the A-pillar  6  and the body  1  is large, such that in case of a front collision, the hood hinge directly collides with the A-pillar  6  and much collision energy is generated between the hood hinge and the A-pillar  6  without being transferred from the cowl-side body  1  to the A-pillar  6 . 
         [0010]    As a result, due to generation of the body bending, excessive dipping in the shape of V occurs, increasing passenger&#39;s injury. 
         [0011]    The information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art. 
       SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
       [0012]    Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the foregoing problems, and provides a hood hinge apparatus for a vehicle, in which a cowl-side body connected with an A-pillar is formed to have an inclined structure or an angular structure having a larger inclination than a right angle to reduce a step between the A-pillar and the cowl-side body, and engagement bolts are engaged with a horizontal inclined surface and a vertical inclined surface in different directions for coupling between the cowl-side body and the fixed hinge bracket to prevent injury of a passenger due to excessive dipping caused by generation of body bending during a front offset collision, thereby actively responding to safety regulations in case of a collision. 
         [0013]    According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a hood hinge apparatus for a vehicle, the hood hinge apparatus including a cowl-side body connection portion which is a connection portion with an A-pillar and comprises an angular structure by intersecting a horizontal inclined surface and a vertical inclined surface, a fixed hinge bracket formed by a combination of a horizontal inclination member with a vertical inclination member, the fixed hinge bracket surface-contacting the body connection portion in such a way to form an angular structure, and bolts coupled to the horizontal inclination member and the vertical inclination member, respectively, to engage the fixed hinge bracket with the body connection portion. 
         [0014]    In particular, the hood hinge apparatus further includes a body bead formed on a vertical inclined surface of the body connection portion and a coupling groove formed in the vertical inclination member of the fixed hinge bracket, in which collision energy is transferred from the body connection portion to the A-pillar through coupling between the body bead and the coupling groove, thus improving crash performance. 
         [0015]    The fixed hinge bracket includes an inner member disposed on a plane on which an inner end portion of the horizontal inclination member and an inner end portion of the vertical inclination member intersect each other and a flange portion formed on outer lateral end portions of the horizontal inclination member and the vertical inclination member, thereby improving lateral crash performance in a front offset collision. 
         [0016]    The fixed hinge bracket includes a protrusion portion formed in a bulging way between the inner member and the horizontal inclination member to alleviate an impact on a walker in case of a collision with the walker. 
         [0017]    The methods and apparatuses of the present invention have other features and advantages which will be apparent from or are set forth in more detail in the accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein, and the following Detailed Description, which together serve to explain certain principles of the present invention. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0018]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a conventional hood hinge apparatus. 
           [0019]      FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram for describing occurrence of a collision between a hood hinge and an A-pillar in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0020]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view of a hood hinge apparatus for a vehicle according to the present invention. 
           [0021]      FIG. 4  is a schematic view showing transfer of collision energy from a cowl-side body connection portion to an A-pillar in case of a collision in  FIG. 3 . 
           [0022]      FIG. 5  is a plane view of a fixed hinge bracket in  FIG. 3 . 
       
    
    
       [0023]    It should be understood that the appended drawings are not necessarily to scale, presenting a somewhat simplified representation of various features illustrative of the basic principles of the invention. The specific design features of the present invention as disclosed herein, including, for example, specific dimensions, orientations, locations, and shapes will be determined in part by the particular intended application and use environment. 
         [0024]    In the figures, reference numbers refer to the same or equivalent parts of the present invention throughout the several figures of the drawing. 
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0025]    Reference will now be made in detail to various embodiments of the present invention(s), examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings and described below. While the invention(s) will be described in conjunction with exemplary embodiments, it will be understood that present description is not intended to limit the invention(s) to those exemplary embodiments. On the contrary, the invention(s) is/are intended to cover not only the exemplary embodiments, but also various alternatives, modifications, equivalents and other embodiments, which may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. 
         [0026]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view of a hood hinge apparatus for a vehicle according to the present invention,  FIG. 4  is a schematic view showing transfer of collision energy from a cowl-side body connection portion to an A-pillar in case of a collision in  FIG. 3 , and  FIG. 5  is a plane view of a fixed hinge bracket in  FIG. 3 . 
         [0027]    The present invention relates to a hood hinge apparatus for a vehicle, which is capable of improving front offset crash performance. 
         [0028]    A cowl-side body connection portion  10  (cowl-side outer panel) for connection with an A-pillar  13  according to the present invention is connected to the A-pillar  13  in an angular structure with respect to each other by combining a horizontal inclined surface  11  and a vertical inclined surface  12 , such that in case of a front offset collision, generation of body bending can be minimized when compared to conventional perpendicular connection between the A-pillar  3  and the body. 
         [0029]    For example, the horizontal inclined surface  11  of the cowl-side body is inclinedly formed upwardly toward the A-pillar  13  with respect to a horizontal line in a body&#39;s length-wise direction, and the vertical inclined surface  12  connected to the A-pillar  13  is slightly inclinedly formed downwardly toward the A-pillar  13  with respect to a vertical line in a body&#39;s height-wise direction from an end of the horizontal inclined surface  11 . The horizontal inclined surface  11  of the cowl side and the vertical inclined surface  12  of the connection side of the A-pillar  13  form an angle which is slightly larger than about 90° therebetween. 
         [0030]    The hood hinge apparatus includes a movable hinge bracket  17  connected to a hood  21 , a fixed hinge bracket  14  connected to a vehicle body, and a hinge pin  23  for rotatably coupling the movable hinge bracket  17  to the fixed hinge bracket  14 . 
         [0031]    Herein, the fixed hinge bracket  14  includes a horizontal inclination member  15  surface-contacting the cowl-side horizontal inclined surface  11 , a vertical inclination member  16  surface-contacting the A-pillar connection side vertical inclined surface  12 , an inner member  18  disposed on inner lateral sides of the horizontal inclination member  15  and the vertical inclination member  16 , and a flange portion  19  formed on outer lateral end portions of the horizontal and vertical inclination members  15  and  16 . 
         [0032]    Bolt holes are formed in the horizontal inclination member  15  and the vertical inclination member  16 , respectively, and are engaged by bolts  20  through the bolt holes. 
         [0033]    The bolts  20  are engaged perpendicularly with the horizontal inclination member  15  and the vertical inclination member  16 , respectively. 
         [0034]    For example, an engagement direction of the bolts  20  (the length-wise direction of the bolts  20 ) engaged to the horizontal inclination member  15  is close to the vertical direction, and an engagement direction of the bolts  20  (the length-wise direction of the bolts  20 ) engaged to the vertical inclination member  16  is close to the horizontal direction (body&#39;s length-wise direction). 
         [0035]    An engagement structure of the fixed hinge bracket  14  according to the present invention will be compared with that of the conventional fixed hinge bracket. 
         [0036]    In case of the conventional fixed hinge bracket  14 , two bolts are engaged in parallel on a cowl-side horizontal plane, such that body bending excessively occurs; whereas, in case of the fixed hinge bracket  14  according to the present invention, one of the bolts  20  engaged to the fixed hinge bracket  14  is inclinedly engaged to the A-pillar connection vertical inclined surface  12  downwardly towards the A-pillar  13  with respect to the horizontal line, and the other bolt  20  is inclinedly engaged to the cowl-side body horizontal plane in the height-wise direction forward and backward with respect to the vertical line, that is, the two bolts  20  are engaged to the horizontal inclined surface  11  and the vertical inclined surface  12  with an angular corner formed by the horizontal inclined surface  11  and the vertical inclined surface  12  therebetween, thereby more firmly engaging the fixed hinge bracket  14  with the vehicle body and thus minimizing the body bending caused by the fixed hinge bracket  14  in case of a front offset collision. 
         [0037]    The vertical inclination member  16  of the fixed hinge bracket  14  also includes a coupling groove  16   a,  and a body bead  12   a  protrudes on a vertical inclined surface of the body connected to the A-pillar  13  to correspond to the coupling groove  16   a,  thereby easily engaging the fixed hinge bracket  14  with the vehicle body and serving as a bridge for transfer of collision energy between the fixed hinge bracket  14  and the body in case of a front offset collision. 
         [0038]    The inner member  18  disposed on the inner lateral sides of the horizontal inclination member  15  and the vertical inclination member  16  of the fixed hinge bracket  14  and the flange portion  19  disposed on the outer side of the vertical inclination member  16  are formed to be spaced apart from each other by a width of the vertical inclination member  16  therebetween, thereby improving resistance against a collision exerted laterally in case of a front offset collision. 
         [0039]    In addition, a protrusion portion  22  is formed in a bulging shape on a corner portion at which the inner member  18  and the horizontal inclination member  15  of the fixed hinge bracket  14  are connected, such that if a body part of a walker, e.g., a head portion collides with a hinge of the hood  21  due to a collision with the walker, the bulging protrusion portion  22  absorbs collision energy transferred in upward and downward directions, thereby alleviating an impact on the walker in case of the collision with the walker. 
         [0040]    Therefore, according to the present invention, the cowl-side body connected with the A-pillar  13  is formed to be bent in an inclined structure, and the fixed hinge bracket  14  is also formed in an inclined structure and is bent to surface-contact the cowl-side body in the inclined structure, such that the bolts  20  are engaged to the horizontal inclination member  15  and the vertical inclination member  16  of the fixed hinge bracket  14 , thereby transferring and dispersing collision energy from the hood hinge to the A-pillar  13  by improving the conventional body structure perpendicularly connected to the A-pillar and the conventional engagement structure of the fixed hinge bracket, and thus improving crash performance. 
         [0041]    As is apparent from the foregoing description, the cowl-side body connected with the A-pillar is formed to be bent in an inclined structure, and the fixed hinge bracket is also formed in an inclined structure and is bent to surface-contact the cowl-side body in the inclined structure, such that the bolts are engaged to the horizontal inclination member and the vertical inclination member of the fixed hinge bracket, thereby transferring and dispersing collision energy from the hood hinge to the A-pillar by improving the conventional body structure perpendicularly connected to the A-pillar and the conventional engagement structure of the fixed hinge bracket, and thus improving crash performance. 
         [0042]    For convenience in explanation and accurate definition in the appended claims, the terms front and etc. are used to describe features of the exemplary embodiments with reference to the positions of such features as displayed in the figures. 
         [0043]    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.