Abstract:
The present invention provides a hood latch module that can minimize the volume of the latch module by removing a latch spring of a hood latch and by using a torsion spring with a small volume and can reduce noise generated by vibration of the spring by improving an coupling structure of a pawl and the latch. The hood latch module comprises: a release cable configured to transmit a hood opening force; a pawl coupled to one side of the release cable so as to be rotated; a latch configured to interact with rotation of the pawl to be rotated and to couple and fix a hood striker; and a pop-up spring configured to contact with the hood striker at one side thereof. The pop-up spring is deformed as the hood striker is coupled with and fixed to the latch when the hood is closed and applies a restoring force as the hood striker is released to withdraw the hood striker from the latch when the hood is opened.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    The present application claims priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2010-0084461 filed Aug. 31, 2010, the entire contents of which is incorporated herein for all purposes by this reference. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    The present disclosure relates to a hood latch module using a pop-up spring. More particularly, it relates to a hood latch module that can minimize the volume of the latch module by removing a latch spring from the hood latch module and by using a torsion spring with a small volume. Furthermore, the hood latch module can reduce noise caused by vibration of a pawl spring by improving a coupling structure of a pawl and the latch. 
         [0004]    2. Description of Related Art 
         [0005]    A hood covers an engine compartment generally located at the front side of a vehicle. The front side of the hood is pivotally lifted up about hinges formed at the rear side thereof. A locking unit is often mounted to the front side of the hood to prevent the hood from being opened during driving of the vehicle. The hood can be opened by control of a hood lever provided on either side of the driver&#39;s seat. 
         [0006]    Hereinafter, a general process of opening a vehicle hood is as follows. As a driver manipulates a hood open lever, a release cable operably connected to one end the lever is drawn to rotate a pawl to which the other end of the release cable is connected. Subsequently, coupling between a stopping step of a latch and the pawl is disengaged. Upon such disengagement between the stopping step and the pawl, the latch is then opened to release a hood striker therefrom. Namely, the hood striker is released from the latch so as to be provisionally released state. 
         [0007]    In the provisionally released state, the hood is slightly lifted up with a certain gap, not fully opened, due to constraint of a safety lever. The locking state of the striker is released second by manipulating a safety lever installed in the latch module, allowing the hood to be fully opened. 
         [0008]    Meanwhile, when the coupling of the pawl and the latch is disengaged, the latch should rotate to push away the hood striker. For the sake of the forcible rotation of the latch, a latch spring is generally provided. However, since the latch spring functions both to rotate the latch and to pop up the striker so that the striker can be withdrawn from the latch, it needs a strong elastic force. Thus, a spring having a large volume and a strong elastic force is used for it. Thus, the latch spring increases the volume and weight of the latch module. In particular, there is a difficulty in practically manufacturing a latch module suitable for a compact car. 
         [0009]    Meanwhile, a latch module is generally located at the front side of a hood where the first place to be shocked in case of a head-on collision of a vehicle. Especially, when such a head-on collision is involved with pedestrians, it becomes critical to ensure sufficient void space at the place where the latch module is installed for the sake of pedestrians&#39; safety. However, when the volume of the latch module is large, it is difficult to secure a sufficient shock absorbing space at the front side of the vehicle, which is disadvantageous in protecting the pedestrian during the collision. 
         [0010]    Moreover, in the conventional latch module, one side of the pawl spring is mounted to the pawl and the opposite end thereof is fixed to a base, in which case when vibrations occur during driving of the vehicle, noise is generated in the pawl spring. That is, since the base of the latch module is fixed to the vehicle and the pawl can be moved by an interval within the latch module, the pawl spring connected between the base and the pawl may be shaken due to the vibrations of the vehicle. In that case, the outer surface of the pawl spring needs to be coated with rubber in order to reduce noise. 
         [0011]    The information disclosed in this Background of the Invention 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. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE 
       [0012]    Various aspects of the present invention are directed to reduce the volume of a latch module by improving the structure of the latch module for pop-up of a hood striker and to reduce noise caused by vibration of a vehicle by improving the coupling structure of a pawl spring. 
         [0013]    In one aspect, the present invention provides a hood latch module comprising: a release cable configured to transmit a hood opening force; a pawl coupled to one side of the release cable so as to be rotated; a latch configured to interact with rotation of the pawl to be rotated and to couple and fix a hood striker; and a pop-up spring configured to contact with the hood striker at one side thereof, wherein the pop-up spring is deformed as the hood striker is coupled with and fixed to the latch when the hood is closed and applies a restoring force as the hood striker is released to withdraw the hood striker from the latch when the hood is opened. 
         [0014]    The pop-up spring may be a torsion spring. 
         [0015]    The hood latch module may further comprise a pawl spring configured to connect the pawl and the latch, wherein the latch interacts with the pawl to be rotated through the pawl spring. 
         [0016]    According to the hood latch module using a pop-up spring, the volume of the latch module can be minimized and the weight of the latch module can be reduced by using a torsion spring. 
         [0017]    Further, a structure suitable for manufacturing a latch module of a compact car can be suggested by reducing the volume of the latch module, making it possible to secure a shock absorbing space against a collision accident. 
         [0018]    Furthermore, a hood striker can be stably popped up through a V-shaped groove formed between a latch and a torsion spring without being slid when a first locked state of the hood striker is released, and can be stably supported even in a state in which the first locked state is released. 
         [0019]    In addition, noise of a pawl spring generated by vibrations of a vehicle can be remarkably reduced. 
         [0020]    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 of the Invention, which together serve to explain certain principles of the present invention. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0021]      FIG. 1  is a front perspective view illustrating a hood latch module using a pop-up spring according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, 
           [0022]      FIG. 2  is a rear perspective view illustrating the hood latch module using a pop-up spring according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, and 
           [0023]      FIG. 3  shows front views illustrating an opening operation of the hood latch module according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
       [0024]    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. 
         [0025]    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 OF THE INVENTION 
       [0026]    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. 
         [0027]      FIGS. 1 and 2  illustrate a structure of a hood latch module according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the hood latch module according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention may include a pawl  100 , a latch  200 , a pawl spring  300 , and a pop-up spring  400 . 
         [0028]    In the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the pawl  100  may interact with the latch  200  to be rotated, and may receive a hood opening force of a user through a release cable. 
         [0029]    A pawl stopping step  100   a  and a latch stopping step  200   a  are respectively formed in the pawl  100  and the latch  200  such that the pawl  100  and the latch  200  can be fixed to and coupled with each other with the hood being closed. That is, since the latch stopping step  200   a  is caught by the pawl stopping step  100   a  to maintain the latch  200  fixed with the hood being closed. However, the configuration of the stopping step is not limited to that illustrated in the figures, but may be formed on only one side of the pawl  100  and the latch  200  and various other coupling structures may be used. 
         [0030]    The pawl  100  and the latch  200  are rotated by a predetermined angle as the striker is introduced into the latch when the hood is closed, and are rotated in the opposite direction such that the hood striker can be withdrawn from the latch when the hood is opened. 
         [0031]    The hood latch module according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention may include a pop-up spring  400 . When the hood is opened, as the hood striker is released from the latch  200 , the pop-up spring  400  applies a restoring force to the hood striker to withdraw the hood striker from the latch  200  and thus pop up the hood. 
         [0032]    In the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a torsion spring may be used as the pop-up spring  400 . The torsion spring may be coupled to the hood latch module of the present invention such that one side  400   b  contacts with the hood striker and the opposite side  400   a  thereof remains fixed. The torsion spring generates a restoring force circumferentially when a torsion force occurs, and the hood striker is withdrawn from the latch  200  using the restoring force. Then, the torsion spring occupies a small volume relative to the restoring force, thereby reducing the volume of the latch module having the torsion spring. 
         [0033]    Meanwhile, according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a pawl spring  300  may connect the pawl  100  and the latch  200  to allow the latch  200  to interact with the pawl  100  to be rotated. More preferably, the pawl spring  300  connects the pawl  100  and the latch  200  and applies a tension between the pawl  100  and the latch  200 . Thus, when the pawl  100  is rotated in the clockwise direction as the hood is opened, the latch  200  may also be rotated in the clockwise direction by the pawl spring  300 . On the other hand, when the latch  200  is rotated in the counterclockwise direction as the hood is closed, the latch  200  may also be rotated in the counterclockwise direction. 
         [0034]    In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the reference numeral  500  indicates a base, which may function as a support plate to which elements of the latch module can be fixed. 
         [0035]    Meanwhile, the hood latch module of the present invention may include a safety hook  600   a  and a safety lever  600   b . The safety hook  600   a  is hook-shaped, and performs a second locking operation of allowing the hook striker released first by the latch  200  to be caught by and fixed to the bottom surface of the safety hook  600   a  second. The safety hook  600   a  is opened by the operation of the safety lever  600   b  and thus the second locking state of the hood striker can be released. 
         [0036]      FIG. 3  illustrates a process of opening the hood according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention. First, the hood striker  700  is introduced into the latch  200  with the hood being closed, and the pop-up spring  400  whose side contacts with the hood striker  700  is distorted and compressed. Then, as described above, the latch  200  is fixed as the pawl  100  and the stopping steps  100   a  and  200   a  are coupled to each other. 
         [0037]    Then, if the user operates a hood lever to open the hood, the opening force is transmitted to the pawl  100  through the release cable  10 . The pawl  100  may be rotated in the clockwise direction by the tension of the release cable  10 , and a rotational force may be transmitted to the latch  200  through the pawl spring  300  connected between the pawl  100  and the latch  200 . 
         [0038]    Then, the pawl spring  300  is temporarily expanded, and referring to  FIG. 1 , the coupling state of the pawl stopping step  100   a  and the latch stopping step  200   a  is released as the pawl  100  according to the present invention is rotated in the clockwise direction. In the process of releasing the coupling state of the pawl stopping step  100   a  and the latch stopping step  200   a , the pawl stopping step  100   a  slides along the latch stopping step  200   a  such that the latch  200  can be rotated by a predetermined angle in the counterclockwise direction, and then the pawl spring  300  is temporarily expanded. 
         [0039]    If the coupling state of the pawl stopping step  100   a  and the latch stopping step  200   a  is released, the latch  200  is rotated together in the clockwise direction by the tension of the pawl spring  300 . That is, according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the latch  200  interacts with the pawl  100  through the pawl spring  300  to be rotated together with the pawl  100 . As the latch  200  is released from the pawl  100  in this way, the hood striker  700  is released from the latch  200  into a state in which it can be withdrawn from the latch  200 . 
         [0040]    If the hood striker  700  is released from the latch  200  in this way, one side  400   a  of the pop-up spring  400  is rotated in the counterclockwise direction by the restoring force of the compressed pop-up spring  400 . That is, as one side  400   b  of the pop-up spring  400  which contacts with the hood striker  700  is rotated in the counterclockwise with the opposite side  400   a  of the pop-up spring  400  being fixed to the base  500 , the restoring force of the pop-up spring  400  may be transmitted to the hood striker  700 . The hood striker  700  that contacts with one side  400   b  of the pop-up spring  400  is withdrawn from the latch  200  by the restoring force of the pop-up spring  400 , allowing the hood to be popped up. Then, the hood striker  700  is released from its first locked state by the latch  200 , and is caught by the bottom surface of the safety hook  600   a  according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
         [0041]    Meanwhile, in the process of withdrawing the hood striker  700  from the latch  200 , the pop-up spring  400  and the latch  200  forms a V-shaped groove and the hood striker  700  is positioned in the V-shaped groove when it is withdrawn from the latch  200  to prevent the hood striker  700  from being shaken or slid. Further, the hood is stably supported by allowing the groove to stably support the hood striker  700  even in the first locked state. 
         [0042]    If the safety lever  600   b  is operated in a state in which the first locked state of the hood striker is released, the safety hook  600   a  is rotated and opened in the clockwise direction, and the second locked state of the hood striker  700  by the safety hook  600   a  is also released to completely open the hood. Thereafter, the safety lever  600   b  may be returned to the original position by a spring  610 . 
         [0043]    As described above, the present invention is configured to pop up the hood in the situation in which the first locked state of the hood striker  700  is released, and can minimize the volume of the latch module and reduce the weight thereof by using the pop-up spring  400 , and preferably the torsion spring. The pawl  100  and the latch  200  interact with each other to be rotated together through a single member, i.e. the pawl spring  300  and the pawl spring  300  is directly connected to the latch  200  instead of the base  500 , making it possible to remarkably reduce noise of the pawl spring  300  generated by the vibrations of the vehicle. That is, the pawl  100  and the latch  200  can be moved with a certain gap within the latch module, and the opposite ends of the pawl spring  300  are moved in conjunction with the pawl  100  and the latch  200  in spite of the vibrations of the vehicle as they are coupled with the pawl  100  and the latch  200 . Accordingly, the pawl spring  300  is restrained from being expanded or contracted due to the vibration of the vehicle, thereby reducing noise. 
         [0044]    For convenience in explanation and accurate definition in the appended claims, the terms “upper”, “lower”, “inner” and “outer” are used to describe features of the exemplary embodiments with reference to the positions of such features as displayed in the figures. 
         [0045]    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.