Abstract:
A vehicle hood includes a wall, connecting devices for mounting the hood on a vehicle chassis fixed to the wall nearer a rear edge of the wall than to its other edges, and a locking member fixed to the wall for locking the hood to the chassis in a closed position. The locking member is nearer the rear edge of the wall than a front edge of the wall opposite the rear edge.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    The present invention relates to automobile vehicle hood closure systems.  
           [0003]    2. Description of the Prior Art  
           [0004]    There exist vehicles in which the hood at the front pivots relative to the structure of the vehicle by means of hinges situated in the rear part of the hood, at the same end as the windshield. There is a single system for locking the hood to the chassis, positioned centrally at the front, or a duplicated system, with symmetrical front lateral positions. The system generally comprises a lock connecting the hood to the structure of the vehicle. This connection to the structure creates a rigid area at the front of the vehicle which, in the event of a frontal impact with a pedestrian, can cause trauma to the hip, in the case of an adult, or to the head, in the case of a child.  
           [0005]    One object of the present invention is to provide an automobile vehicle front hood closure system that reduces injury in the event of an impact with a pedestrian.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0006]    To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a vehicle hood including a wall, connecting devices for mounting the mobile hood on a vehicle chassis fixed to the wall nearer a rear edge of the wall than to its other edges, and a locking member fixed to the wall for locking the hood to the chassis in a closed position, which locking member is nearer the rear edge of the wall than a front edge of the wall opposite the rear edge.  
           [0007]    Thus the rigid area associated with the locking member is moved to the rear, i.e. to the same end as the connecting means, so that the opposite (front) end is free of any rigid area and is therefore more readily deformable. This increased deformability reduces injury in the event of an impact with a pedestrian.  
           [0008]    The locking member is advantageously equidistant from two lateral edges of the hood.  
           [0009]    The connecting devices advantageously include hinges.  
           [0010]    In this way, the hood is rotatably mounted on the chassis.  
           [0011]    The connecting devices advantageously include slides.  
           [0012]    In this way, the hood is slidably mounted on the chassis.  
           [0013]    The hood advantageously includes a safety catch operative in its closed position.  
           [0014]    The safety catch is advantageously nearer the front edge of the wall than the rear edge of the wall.  
           [0015]    The safety catch advantageously includes a hook adapted to engage in the chassis.  
           [0016]    The invention also provides a vehicle which includes a vehicle hood according to the present invention.  
           [0017]    The invention also provides a vehicle including a chassis and a hood having a wall, connecting devices fixed to the wall and to the chassis so that the hood is mobile on the chassis, a connecting means being nearer a rear edge of the wall than its other edges, and a locking member fixed to the wall for locking the hood to the chassis in a closed position, and nearer the rear edge of the wall than a front edge of the wall opposite the rear edge.  
           [0018]    The locking member advantageously includes a lock adapted to be connected to the chassis.  
           [0019]    The locking member advantageously includes a cable connected to the hood.  
           [0020]    The hood is advantageously mounted on the chassis so that it can rotate and move in translation.  
           [0021]    The hood advantageously includes at least one bracket adapted to cooperate with an orifice formed in a boss projecting from a wing of the vehicle.  
           [0022]    The invention also provides a vehicle hood including a wall, connecting devices for mounting the mobile hood on a vehicle chassis fixed to the wall, the connecting devices being nearer a common first edge of the wall than the other edges of the wall, and a locking member fixed to the wall for locking the hood to the chassis in a closed position, which locking member is nearer the first edge of the wall than an edge of the wall opposite the first edge.  
           [0023]    Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent in the course of the following description of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, which description is given by way of non-limiting example. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0024]    [0024]FIG. 1 is a partial three-dimensional view of the front of a vehicle.  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 2 is a profile view showing how the hood of the vehicle shown in FIG. 1 is connected to the chassis.  
         [0026]    [0026]FIGS. 3 a, b  and  c  are partial three-dimensional views of the front of the vehicle shown in FIG. 1 and show the steps of closing the hood.  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic view of a safety catch for the hood of the vehicle shown in FIG. 1. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0028]    Referring to FIG. 1, the front body shell  1  of a vehicle in accordance with the present invention includes a scuttle  33 , a grille  35 , two wings  32 , two light units  34  at the front ends of the wings  32  and on respective opposite sides of the grille  35 , and a hood  3 , the bodyshell as a whole covering a chassis, of which only a portion  2  is shown.  
         [0029]    The hood  3  includes a wall  40  delimited by a more or less convex front edge  4 , a more or less straight right-hand edge  5 , a more or less concave rear edge  6  and a more or less straight left-hand edge  7 .  
         [0030]    The vehicle has a locking member  10  near the rear edge  6 . The locking member includes a lock  12  which is adapted to be connected to a portion of the chassis of the vehicle that is not shown and includes a receiving notch  13  that is flared at its front end and blind at its rear end. The locking member  10  further includes a loop  11  projecting from the inside face of the wall  40  of the hood  3  and connected to that wall  40 . The loop  11  is adapted to be received in the notch  13  of the lock  12  when the hood  3  is closed, so locking it in its closed position. As in the prior art, the locking member  10  further includes a cable, not shown, which can be operated from the passenger compartment of the vehicle to unlock the hood  3  when it is locked in its closed position: the cable releases the loop  11  from the lock  12  so that the hood can be opened.  
         [0031]    The hood  3  includes a symmetrical pair of brackets  37  near the front edge  4 , with one on each lateral side of the wall  40 , near the right-hand and left-hand edges  5  and  7 , respectively; the respective body  30  of each bracket projects from the lower face of the wall  40 . A circular section stud  36  projects from the body  30  parallel to the wall  40  of the hood  3  and toward the rear edge  6 . The studs  36  are adapted to engage in orifices  38  formed in the front faces of respective bosses  31  projecting from respective inner wings  32 .  
         [0032]    The hood  3  includes connecting devices  20  which connect it to the chassis of the vehicle and enable it to move relative thereto. They are respective connecting devices  20  near the right-hand and left-hand edges  5 ,  7  of the wall  40 , near the rear edge  6 . Note that FIG. 1 does not show the connecting devices  20  mounted on the hood  3  completely, but that FIG. 2 does.  
         [0033]    Referring to FIG. 2, each of the connecting devices  20  includes two arms  21  and  22 . The arm  21  can rotate on the chassis of the vehicle about a horizontal pin A 1  perpendicular to the direction of motion of the vehicle. A rear portion of the arm  21  includes a slot  24  in which a pin A 4  parallel to the pin Al can slide. The arm  21  has a second part that extends the first part toward the front at an angle α. The second part includes a slot  23  in which a pin A 3  attached to the hood  3  and parallel to the pins A 1  and A 4  slides. The arm  22  is fastened at one end to the pin A 4 . At its other end it has a second pin A 2  which is parallel to the pins A 1 , A 3  and A 4  and connects the arm  22  to the hood  3  by an arrangement that can rotate about the pin A 2 . The arm  22  further includes a support  25  projecting toward the rear on the same side as the pin A 1  when the arm  22  is mounted in the connecting device  20 . The support  25  is fastened to the arm  22  and receives a spring  26  whose rear end is fastened to the chassis of the vehicle and whose front end bears on the arm  22 . In this example the spring  26  is a coil spring. In a different embodiment, not shown, the support  25  can rotate relative to the arm  22  about an axis parallel to one of the pins A 2 , A 4 .  
         [0034]    Referring to FIG. 4, the vehicle includes a safety catch  41 ,  42 . The safety catch includes a housing  42  formed in the front portion  2  of the chassis of the vehicle, above the grille  35 . The opening of the housing  42  is partly closed at the top by a tongue  46 . The safety catch further includes a latch  41  having at the rear a hook  43  that is received freely in the housing  42  via its opening and at the front a manipulator arm  44 . The latch  41  is mounted on the hood  3  so that it can rotate about a horizontal pin A 5  perpendicular to the direction of movement of the vehicle and extending between the arm  44  and the hook  43 . A return spring  48  connects the latch  41  and the hood  3  so that the hook  43 , when it is not manipulated in any way, is held as close as possible to the wall of the hood  3 .  
         [0035]    Referring to FIGS. 3 a  to  3   c , assume that the hood  3  is raised to its open position, as shown in FIG. 3 a . The pins A 3  and A 4  are at the end farthest from the pin A 1  of the respective slots  23  and  24  because of the thrust that the spring  26  applies to its support  25 , which is connected to the arm  22 . The connecting devices  20  are therefore as shown in FIG. 2. Closure of the hood begins with a downward rotation about the pin A 1  of the connecting devices  20 , which rotation continues until the hood  3  reaches the position shown in FIG. 3 b . The pins A 3  and A 4  then remain in the same position within their respective slots, because of the thrust of the spring  26 . Also, the loop  11  is then in front of the notch  13  of the lock  12 . Similarly, the hook  43  of the latch  41  is in front of the opening of the housing  42  but disengaged from it.  
         [0036]    Closure then continues through movement of the hood in translation in a direction slightly above the horizontal and toward the rear of the vehicle. The pins A 3  and A 4  slide in their respective slots  23 ,  24  towards their rear end. The movement in translation:  
         [0037]    compresses the springs  26 ;  
         [0038]    engages the hook  43  of the latch  41  freely in the housing  42 , the spring  48  ensuring that the hook  43  is raised well behind the tongue  46 ;  
         [0039]    engages the loop  11  in the notch  13  of the lock  12 , up to the point at which locking of the lock  12  is triggered; and  
         [0040]    engages each of the studs  36  in the opening of the respective boss  31  in the respective wing  32 .  
         [0041]    The hood  3  is therefore locked in a closed position, as shown in FIG. 3 c.    
         [0042]    Now assume that the hood is in its locked closed position, as shown in FIG. 3 c . Operating the unlocking cable overrides the lock  12 , releasing the loop  11 . Because of the thrust of the springs  26 , the hood begins to move in translation in a direction slightly below the horizontal and toward the front of the vehicle, and the hook  43  then abuts against the tongue  46 . Action on the arm  44  of the latch  41  then releases the hook  43  by disengaging it from the housing  42 . The movement of the hood in translation continues because of the thrust of the spring  26 . The loop  11  disengages from the notch  13  of the lock  12  and the studs  36  disengage from the openings in the bosses  31 . The movement in translation is interrupted when the pins A 3  and A 4  abut against the front ends of the respective slots  23 ,  24 . FIG. 3 b  shows the position of the hood at this moment. Then, upward movement in rotation about the pin A 1  raises the hood to its open position.  
         [0043]    Of course, many modifications can be made to the present invention without departing from the scope of the invention.  
         [0044]    In particular, the connecting devices can be hinges so that the hood is mounted on the chassis to rotate about only one axis.  
         [0045]    The return spring of the safety catch can be a tension spring or a torsion spring mounted on the pin.  
         [0046]    The latch can be fastened to the hood at the end opposite the hook, the body of the latch serving as a return spring.