Patent ID: 7780208

Claim:
A lock assembly for a vehicle hood having lock parts which provide effective support counter to a closing direction of the hood whenever the hood is in a normal closed position, said lock assembly comprising: a retaining part configured to be fixedly mounted on the vehicle hood; a first member which is one of a latch and a counter latch part that is displaceable supported on the retaining part and is configured to latchingly engage with a corresponding element situated on a body of said vehicle for retaining said hood in a closed position; and a second member which is one of a preloaded spring and a deformable impact-absorbing pad, and which holds said first member in a normal support position relative to said retaining part when said vehicle hood is in said normal closed position; wherein, support forces produced by said second member in the event of an impact acting on the closed hood in the closing direction are restricted to a predefined design limit; in the event of a load which exceeds said support forces, the hood is moveable beyond said normal closed support position.