Vehicle hood hinge assembly

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12337790-B2
Application number	US-202218292516-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 12, 2022
Priority date	Sep 13, 2021
Publication date	Jun 24, 2025
Grant date	Jun 24, 2025

Abstract

A hinge assembly is provided to lift a hood of a vehicle relative to a vehicle body in anticipation of, during, or right after a collision has occurred to cushion contact with a pedestrian. The hood selectively covers a compartment of the vehicle when in a secured position. The hinge assembly includes a hinge configured to guide the hood from the secured position to both of an open position or to a pedestrian deployment position relative to the vehicle body. An actuator moves the hood from the secured position to the pedestrian deployment position. A controller controls the actuator based at least in part on a characteristic of the pedestrian.

First claim

What is claimed:

1. A hinge assembly configured to lift a hood of a vehicle relative to a vehicle body in anticipation of, during, or right after a collision has occurred to cushion contact with a pedestrian, the hood being configured to selectively cover a compartment of the vehicle when in a secured position, the hinge assembly comprising:
a hinge configured to guide the hood from the secured position to both of an open position or to at least a first pedestrian deployment position relative to the vehicle body;
an actuator configured to move the hood from the secured position to at least the first pedestrian deployment position;
a sensor configured to send a signal indicative of the collision, the signal related to a vehicle parameter or a pedestrian characteristic; and
a controller configured to customize both the first pedestrian deployment position and a time frame for moving the hood to the first pedestrian deployment position based on the signal, and trigger the actuator.

2. The hinge assembly of claim 1 , wherein the hinge is further configured to guide the hood from the secured position to both the first pedestrian deployment position and a second pedestrian deployment position, the second pedestrian deployment position being different than the first pedestrian deployment position.

3. The hinge assembly of claim 2 , wherein the first pedestrian deployment position corresponds to a first height from the vehicle body, and wherein the second pedestrian deployment position corresponds to a second height from the vehicle body.

4. The hinge assembly of claim 1 , wherein the time frame is based at least in part on an expected head impact time (HIT).

5. The hinge assembly of claim 1 , wherein the actuator is further configured to move the hood from the secured position to the first pedestrian deployment position in a second time frame, the second time frame being different than the time frame.

6. The hinge assembly of claim 1 , wherein the actuator is a multi-stage actuator.

7. The hinge assembly of claim 1 , wherein the sensor is an optical sensor.

8. The hinge assembly of claim 1 , wherein the sensor is passive.

9. The hinge assembly of claim 1 , wherein the sensor is active.

10. The binge assembly of claim 1 , wherein the sensor is a photodetector, a camera, LiDAR, radar, an accelerometer, or a pressure sensor.

11. The hinge assembly of claim 1 , wherein the sensor is infrared.

12. The hinge assembly of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to transmit both a first trigger signal or a second trigger signal to the actuator depending on a characteristic of the pedestrian.

13. The hinge assembly of claim 12 , wherein a rate at which the hood moves to the first pedestrian deployment position depends on whether the controller transmits the first trigger signal or the second trigger signal.

14. The hinge assembly of claim 12 , wherein the characteristic of the pedestrian includes at least one of a height, a width, a weight, a position of the pedestrian relative to the vehicle, or an orientation of the pedestrian relative to the vehicle.

15. A vehicle hood assembly comprising:
a hood configured to cover a compartment of a vehicle body, the hood being movable between a first position and a second position;
a hinge configured to guide the hood from the first position to both of the second position and a pedestrian deployment position relative to the vehicle body;
an actuator configured to move the hinge;
a sensor configured to send a signal indicative of a collision with a pedestrian, the signal related to a vehicle parameter or a pedestrian characteristic; and
a controller configured to customize both the pedestrian deployment position and a time frame for moving the hood to the pedestrian deployment position and control the actuator based at least in part on the signal.

16. The vehicle hood assembly of claim 15 , wherein the sensor is configured to sense a general size of the pedestrian.

17. The vehicle hood assembly of claim 15 , wherein the sensor is configured to sense both a first size of the pedestrian or a second size of the pedestrian, the second size being different than the first size, and wherein the signal is indicative of whether the pedestrian is the first size or the second size.

Assignees

• Tesla Inc

Inventors

• Rahman Rafath
• Hutchinson Jarad
• Tieu Norman
• François Tyron
• Wood Daniel

Classifications

• E05Y2900/536

  Hoods · CPC title

• E05Y2400/44

  Sensors not directly associated with the wing movement · CPC title

• E05F15/75

  responsive to the weight or other physical contact of a person or object · CPC title

• B60R2021/01252

  Devices other than bags · CPC title

• E05D3/145

  specially adapted for vehicles · CPC title