Abstract:
An automotive vehicle includes one or more swinging doors which may be immobilized in a number of positions, so as to allow the doors to be used to assist passengers upon entering and leaving the vehicle. The motion of the door may be damped, or stopped entirely, either at the discretion of a vehicle occupant, or automatically, in the event that the door is driven by external forces to swing at a high rate.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     The present application claims priority to U.S. provisional application having Ser. No. 60/944,339 filed on Jun. 15, 2007. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a hinged vehicle door which may be selectively immobilized in a number of locations ranging from fully open to fully closed. 
     2. Related Art 
     Hinged doors are frequently used by vehicle occupants to assist during ingress and egress of the vehicle. In essence, the vehicle door is utilized as a steady rest to enable the vehicle occupant to move himself or herself either into or out of a vehicular space, such as a seat. The present inventors have determined that usage of the door in this manner would be enhanced by the ability to immobilize the door in mid-swing. As shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,681,444, it is known to provide an apparatus which allows the door to be checked in any one of a number of positions, from fully opened to fully closed. However, the system of the &#39;444 patent does not immobilize the door; rather, the system of the &#39;444 patent merely increases the amount of force needed to move the door, while clearly providing that this force may be overridden and the door closed against the action of the door check. This renders the system of the &#39;444 patent inapposite to solution of the present problem, because a door which swings free after the application of an indeterminate amount of force could inhibit the ingress/egress process by starting to swing at an inopportune time. 
     It would be desirable to provide an automotive door with a repositionable immobilizer permitting the door to be placed in any position and rotationally locked against further movement, so as to resist a reasonable and predictable level of force imposed by a motorist using the door to assist in entering or leaving a vehicle. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     According to an aspect of the present invention, a vehicle having a swinging door includes a door mechanism with a fixed hinge half attached to a structure such as an A-pillar or hinge pillar. The fixed hinge half has a lower support leg and an upper support leg. A moveable hinge half is secured between the upper and lower support legs. The moveable hinge half has a center section which is attached to an inner panel of the door. A rotary, repositionable immobilizer device includes a hydraulic working chamber having a vane which rotates within the working chamber synchronously with rotation of the vehicle door. The vane is locked in place selectively by means of a valving mechanism attached to the chamber such that the position of the vane establishes two smaller working chambers which vary in size, depending upon the vane&#39;s position. A flow of hydraulic fluid between these two smaller working chambers is controlled by a valve operatively connected with a controller. 
     According to another aspect of the present invention, a switch attached to a vehicle, either on an interior part such as a door trim panel, or associated with an exterior locking device such as a lock cylinder, or at both locations, is attached to a controller which locks the immobilizer device when the switch is activated. Alternatively, a remote controller embodied in a key fob may be used to trigger immobilization of a door according to an aspect of the present invention. 
     It is an advantage of a system according to the present invention that a vehicle door may be selectively immobilized at the discretion of the vehicle&#39;s driver merely by triggering a switch mounted to the door trim panel, or upon a key fob, or upon an outside surface or mechanism of the vehicle, such as a lock cylinder. 
     It is another advantage of a system according to the present invention that a vehicle door may be immobilized without the need for extensive additional hardware, and without the need for repackaging the door hinge assemblies. 
     Other advantages, as well as features of the present invention, will become apparent to the reader of this specification. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a vehicle having a repositionable immobilizer according to an aspect of the present invention.  FIG. 1A  is a partial block diagram showing component parts of a door system according to an aspect of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a sectional view, partially in elevation, of a door having a repositionable immobilizer according to an aspect of the present invention.  FIG. 2  is taken in the direction of the arrows labeled ‘2’ in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is similar to  FIG. 2 , but shows the repositionable immobilizer of  FIG. 2  having a rotary position sensor. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , vehicle  10  has a swinging door,  14 , which is equipped with a repositionable immobilizer according to the present invention.  FIG. 1A  shows an interior trim panel,  94 , which is mounted upon an inner surface of door  14 . Trim panel  94  provides a mounting surface for a manual switch,  98 , which is operatively connected with a controller,  102 . Controller  102 , which may be configured as either a microprocessor controller, or a programmable logic controller, or other type of controller known to those skilled in the art and suggested by this disclosure, operates immobilizer  106  to fix the door position at any point desired by the vehicle&#39;s passenger. Added control capability may be achieved by incorporating a door immobilization function within a key switch,  103 , incorporated in either an outer surface of door  14 , or any other suitable exterior surface. Such switch may be combined, for example, with a door lock cylinder. Switch  103  may be configured as either a conventional key switch or as a touch pad key switch. Thus, as used herein, the term “key switch” refers to either configuration. 
     Moving now to  FIG. 2 , door  14  is shown as being hinged to an A-pillar,  22 , of vehicle  10  by means of a hinge having a fixed hinge half,  18 , with a base,  20 , to which two support legs, namely upper support leg,  30 , and lower support leg,  26 , are attached. Fixed hinge half  18  may be mounted to A-pillar  22  or to another suitable automotive body structure, such as a B-pillar, by means of welding or by threaded fasteners or by adhesives, by any one or any combination of commonly known fastening methods. 
     A repositionable immobilizer according to an aspect of the present invention further includes moveable hinge half  34 , having a center section  36 , which is bored or cored for a hinge pin,  40 . Hinge pin  40  rotates with center section  36  as door  14  is opened or closed. Moveable hinge half  34  is attached to door inner panel  42  by means of cap screws  38 , it being understood that alternatively, moveable hinge half  34  may be attached to door inner panel  42  by means of welding, adhesives, and other types of fastening methods known to those skilled in the art and suggested by this disclosure. 
     The present door swing immobilizer utilizes hydraulic operating principles. A working chamber,  76 , which is filled with hydraulic fluid, has a vane,  80 , mounted for rotation therein. Vane  80  is attached to hinge pin  40 , and working chamber  76  is mounted upon upper portion  30  of fixed hinge half  18 . As door  14  is caused to rotate by an occupant of vehicle  10 , vane  80  rotates within working chamber  76 . In effect, vane  80  defines two variable sub-volumes, or smaller working chambers, within working chamber  76 . Ports  84  connect each of the two variable volumes defined by vane  80  to a control valve,  88 , which is in turn connected with controller  102 . When valve  88  is open, door  14  and vane  80  are free to rotate because hydraulic fluid may easily move from one of the sub-chambers defined by vane  80  to the other of the sub-chambers. However, when valve  88  is closed, vane  80  is hydrostatically locked in whatever rotational position it was placed by the vehicle&#39;s occupant before switch  98  was closed, because hydraulic fluid will be confined within working chamber  76  on both sides of vane  80 . 
     Closure of switch  98  immobilizes vane  80 , and therefore, door  14 . An advantage of the device of  FIG. 2  is that valve  88  may be closed, either completely or partially. If valve  88  is first closed only partially, door  14  may be brought to a soft, hydraulically damped, stop, as opposed to the hard stop which would result from rapid, complete closing of valve  88 . If valve  88  is closed completely vane  80  will be locked in place, thereby immobilizing, or locking, door  14 , thereby preventing door  14  from swinging on its hinges until such time as switch  98  is moved to a released position. Alternatively, if valve  88  is closed only partially, door  14  may be allowed to move, albeit with resistance arising from the forcing of fluid from one of ports  84  and through valve  88  to the other of ports  84 . 
       FIG. 3  is another embodiment of a hydraulically locking rotary device incorporating position sensing of hinge pin  40  and rotor  80 . Rotary position sensor  89  provides a position signal to controller  102 , enabling the controller to track the position of door  14 . This ability is useful for at least two functions. In the first case, a vehicle occupant may use switch  98  to select a position for stopping door  14 , with switch  98  being configured as a rotary dial switch or slide switch, either with, or without, a digital readout or other graphical display. 
     The second door function enabled by position sensor  89  relates to the rate of closing or opening of door  14 . If, for example, a motorist opens the door in the face of a vigorous wind, either door  14  may be damaged, or, at the very least, door  14  may be difficult for the motorist to control. However, the signal from position sensor  89  enables controller  102  to determine the swinging speed of door  14 , so that if door  14  begins to move at too great a rotational speed, valve  88  may be closed partially to damp the door&#39;s motion by hydrostatically inhibiting rotation of vane  80  and door  14 . 
     The foregoing invention has been described in accordance with the relevant legal standards, thus the description is exemplary rather than limiting in nature. Variations and modifications to the disclosed embodiment may become apparent to those skilled in the art and fall within the scope of the invention. Accordingly the scope of legal protection afforded this invention can only be determined by studying the following claims.