Patent Publication Number: US-2015084350-A1

Title: Locking structure of trunk lid

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     The present application claims priority of Korean Patent Application Number 10-2013-0114178 filed Sep. 26, 2013, the entire contents of which application is incorporated herein for all purposes by this reference. 
     BACKGROUND OF INVENTION 
     1. Field of Invention 
     The present disclosure relates to a locking structure of a trunk lid, and more particularly, to a locking structure of trunk lid, in which a striker and a latch are arranged to a vehicle body of a front of the trunk lid (in more detail, rear package tray) unnotedly by a user thereby to improve commerciality of a vehicle and to enlarge a size of a trunk space. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Generally, a trunk space of a passenger car is a space at which luggage is deposited and which is provided a rear space of a rear seat. 
     The trunk space, as shown in  FIG. 1 , is opened and closed with a trunk lid  5  that is connected rotatively to a vehicle body through a trunk hinge  4 . 
     The shape and configuration of the trunk lid  5  may be varied depending on the designs and kinds of a vehicle, but the trunk lid  5  of a sedan type-vehicle is shaped to be bent to cover an upper side and a rear side of the trunk space at a rear of a package tray  6 . 
     Further, the trunk lid  5  is connected a pup-up device such as a gas lifter and torsion bar, etc., so as to be pup-upped to a predetermined height wherein the trunk lid is locked by being connected to a latch  1  that is connected to a striker  2  in a ring shape mounted to a rear panel of a vehicle body and a remote end of the trunk lid  5 . 
     However, according to a conventional configuration the latch mounted to the trunk lid  5  and the striker  2  mounted to a vehicle body are exposed outside (to be noted easily by a user) to make appearance unharmonious and further a wire  3  for opening the latch  1  is connected to the trunk hinge  4 , causing to make the appearance unharmonious. 
     Furthermore, the wire  3  is to be twisted or operation forces of a handle (connected to the wire for releasing the latch) are to be different in accordance with workmanship of an operator. 
     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. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY 
     Various aspects of the present invention have been made in an effort to solve the above-described problems associated with the prior art. 
     Various aspects of the present invention provide for a locking structure of a trunk lid to open and close a trunk space in accordance with the rotation of a trunk hinge one end of which is connected to a vehicle body, the trunk lid being connected to the other end of the trunk hinge, including: a striker connected to the trunk hinge; and a latch for restricting the movement of the striker when the striker is fastened, wherein the latch is mounted to a location where the latch is fastened to the striker while the trunk lid connected to a vehicle body is closed. 
     The latch may be mounted to a lower surface of a package tray, forming a part of a vehicle body, which is arranged to a front of the trunk lid at an upper side of a trunk space. 
     The latch and the striker may be arranged to form a pair wherein the pair of the latch and the striker is mounted to two trunk hinges arranged on both sides of the trunk lid, respectively, and the latches are connected to both sides of a rod connected to the wire, respectively, and the latches are controlled simultaneously to be fastened and released by pulling the wire. 
     The striker may have a bending bar shape wherein it includes two legs ends of which are connected to the trunk hinge and a fastening part that is connected to the respective leg and engaged with the latch, and the heights of the legs are different each other such that the fastening part is engaged vertically with the latch. 
     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 
         FIG. 1  is a view showing a trunk space mounted with a striker and a latch according to a related art; 
         FIG. 2  is a side view showing a trunk space mounted with an exemplary striker and latch according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is a side view showing an operation of an exemplary striker mounted to a trunk hinge in accordance with the opening and closing of a trunk lid according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view showing a trunk lid mounted with an exemplary striker according to the present invention with enlarged details showing each latch on both sides; and 
         FIG. 5  is a view showing an exemplary wire mounted to a vehicle body according to the present invention with an enlarged detail showing a wire connected to a latch according to the present invention; and 
         FIG. 6  is a view showing a comparison of an exemplary wire according to the present invention and a wire according to conventional art. 
       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. 
       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 
     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. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , a trunk lid  40  according to the present invention is opened and closed by an operation of a trunk hinge  30  that is mounted rotatively to a vehicle body wherein a striker  10  is mounted to the trunk hinge  30  and a latch that is engaged with the striker  10  is mounted to a vehicle body. 
     The latch  20  is mounted to a vehicle body wherein the latch is mounted to a location where it is fastened to the striker  10  while the trunk lid is closed, that is, a lower surface of a package tray  60  (or quarter inter-panel), forming a part of a vehicle body, that is arranged to a front of the trunk lid  40  at an upper side of a trunk space (right side in  FIGS. 2 and 3 ). 
     The striker  10  according to various embodiments of the present invention has a bending bar shape to form a “⊂” shape wherein it includes two legs ends of which are connected to the trunk hinge  30  and a fastening part  12  that is connected to the respective leg  11  and engaged with the latch  20 . Here, the heights of the legs  11  are different each other such that the fastening part  12  enters vertically into the latch  20  to be engaged therewith. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5 , the latch  20  ( 20   a,    20   b ) and the striker  10  ( 10   a,    10   b ) are arranged as a pair on the respective trunk hinge  30  on both sides so as to provide uniform fastening force to both sides of the trunk lid  40 . 
     According to the present invention, the trunk lid is opened and closed, like a conventional trunk lid, by pulling the wire  60  through an operation of a handle  90  disposed on a driver&#39;s seat wherein the latches  20   a,    20   b  are connected to both sides of a rod connected to the wire  60 , respectively, and the latches  20   a,    20   b  are controlled simultaneously to be fastened and released by pulling the wire  60 . 
     Accordingly, the both latches  20   a,    20   b  are operated simultaneously by the wire  60  connected to the rod  70  and thus the wire  60  can be arranged in straight line relatively, as shown in  FIG. 6 , comparing to the conventional art. That is, the wire  60  can be arranged in a straight line to a vehicle body  80 , which runs from the handle  90  provided on a driver&#39;s seat to a point where the rod  70  is disposed, using a clip  81 . 
     As a result, the scattering of the operation force of the handle  90 , which is caused in accordance with (workmanship of an operator) in the conventional art, can be minimized and the wire  60  is fixed to a vehicle body to improve the convenience of assembly and durability thereof, comparing to a conventional case where the wire is fixed to a trunk hinge and thus it is bent in accordance with opening and closing of the trunk lid. 
     Accordingly, according to the present invention, the latch  20  and the striker  10  are arranged unnotedly in the trunk space thereby to improve commerciality of a vehicle, convenience of assembly and durability thereof. 
     According to the present invention, the striker that has been mounted to a rear of a vehicle body under a conventional art is moved thereby to enlarge a size of a trunk space by deleting the striker and the surrounding components and further the latch is not exposed outside thereby to improve appearance commerciality of a vehicle. 
     Further, the latch and the striker are mounted to the trunk hinges on both sides to form a pair, respectively, thereby providing uniform fastening force to both sides and further the wire for operating the locking of the latch is connected to a rod thereby operating simultaneously the latches on both sides. 
     Furthermore, the latch is mounted to a package tray (having a closed section in which a space is formed) and both sides of the latch are connected by the rod thereby the wire is arranged in a straight line to reduce poor product rate due to scattering of assembly thereof. 
     Additionally, the striker of the present invention has legs of different heights thereby to be engaged precisely with the latch without increasing a size thereof. 
     For convenience in explanation and accurate definition in the appended claims, the terms upper or lower, front or rear, and etc. are used to describe features of the exemplary embodiments with reference to the positions of such features as displayed in the figures. 
     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.