阅读说明：本技术 车辆用锁闩装置 (Vehicle latch device ) 是由 佐佐木一匡 末次千里 佐伯晋 乔巴·斯曾特 于 2021-03-19 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明提供一种车辆用锁闩装置,其能够使机罩在稳定的状态下上升。车辆用锁闩装置(1)具有：锁闩主体部(3),其能够在将车辆的机罩(11)卡定的状态下上升；位置保持机构(4),其在平常时将锁闩主体部(3)取位保持在车身侧；和致动器(5),其夹在锁闩主体部(3)与位置保持机构(4)之间,当弹起时使锁闩主体部(3)上升。锁闩主体部(3)和位置保持机构(4)由沿水平方向配置的一对连杆机构(30)连结。(The invention provides a vehicle latch device which can make a hood rise in a stable state. A vehicle latch device (1) is provided with: a latch main body section (3) which can be raised in a state in which a hood (11) of a vehicle is locked; a position holding mechanism (4) which takes the position of the latch main body part (3) and holds the latch main body part on the vehicle body side when the latch main body part is flat; and an actuator (5) that is sandwiched between the latch body (3) and the position holding mechanism (4) and that raises the latch body (3) when it bounces. The latch body (3) and the position holding mechanism (4) are connected by a pair of link mechanisms (30) arranged in the horizontal direction.)

1. A latch device for a vehicle, comprising:

a latch main body portion that can be raised in a state in which a hood of a vehicle is locked;

a position holding mechanism that normally holds the latch main body portion in a vehicle body side; and

an actuator that is sandwiched between the latch body portion and the position retaining mechanism and raises the latch body portion when sprung,

the latch device for a vehicle is characterized in that,

the latch body portion and the position holding mechanism are coupled by a pair of link mechanisms disposed in a horizontal direction.

2. The vehicular latch device according to claim 1,

the position holding mechanism includes a bottom plate, one of the bottom plate and the latch body portion includes a 1 st guide portion formed along a moving direction of the latch body portion,

the other of the bottom plate and the latch body has a 1 st engaging portion which is movably engaged with the 1 st guide portion.

3. The vehicular latch device according to claim 1 or 2,

a slide member moved by the actuator, one of the slide member and the position holding mechanism having a 2 nd guide portion formed along a moving direction of the latch body portion,

the other of the slide member and the position holding mechanism has a 2 nd engaging portion which is movably engaged with the 2 nd guide portion.

4. The vehicular latch device according to claim 2,

a locking hole is formed in one of the bottom plate and the latch body,

the other of the bottom plate and the latch body has a lock member, and the lock member is engaged with the engagement hole after the actuator is raised to maintain the raised state of the latch body.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a vehicle latch device for raising a hood to receive a protection object such as a pedestrian and protect the protection object by alleviating an impact when a vehicle collides with the protection object.

Background

Conventionally, as a pop-up device for reducing an impact by raising a hood to contact a protection object (pedestrian) at the time of a collision between a vehicle and the protection object, for example, vehicle hood pop-up devices described in patent documents 1 and 2 are known.

The vehicle hood pop-up device 1 described in patent document 1 includes a front pop-up device 9 that pops up in front of a hood 13, and a rear pop-up device 14 that pops up in rear of the hood 13. In the front pop-up device 9, the link bracket 51 and the hood lock mechanism 15 are coupled by a set of four-link mechanisms 74.

The four-point link mechanism 74 pivots the links 52 and 53 supported by the link bracket 51 at appropriate vertical intervals in the upward and downward direction about the fulcrums 54 and 55 in the upward direction, thereby raising the upper and lower links 61 integrated with the latch 15 b.

Documents of the prior art

Patent document

Patent document 1: japanese patent laid-open publication No. 2003-220973 (FIGS. 3 and 4)

Disclosure of Invention

However, the vehicle hood pop-up device 1 described in patent document 1 raises the hood 13 by the one set of four-link mechanisms 74, and therefore cannot raise the hood 13 in a stable state.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle latch device capable of lifting a hood in a stable state.

In order to solve the above problem, a vehicle latch device according to the present invention includes: a latch main body portion that can be raised in a state in which the hood 11 of the vehicle is locked; a position holding mechanism that normally holds the latch main body portion in a vehicle body side; and an actuator that is interposed between the latch body portion and the position holding mechanism and that raises the latch body portion when it is sprung, wherein the latch body portion and the position holding mechanism are linked by a pair of link mechanisms arranged in a horizontal direction.

Effects of the invention

The invention can provide a vehicle latch device which can make a hood rise in a stable state.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a front view of a main part schematically showing a normal state of a vehicle latch device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a schematic side view of a main part showing a normal state of the vehicle latch device.

Fig. 3 is a rear view of a main part of the vehicle latch device in a normal state.

Fig. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a state of the vehicle latch device before the bounce.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of a main portion showing a state of the locking portion before the pop-up.

Fig. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a state of the vehicle latch device after releasing the fixing of the locking portion.

Fig. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a state of the vehicle latch device at the time of starting the pop-up.

Fig. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a state of the vehicle latch device when the actuator raises the latch body portion.

Fig. 9 is an explanatory view showing a state of the vehicle latch device when the actuator further raises the latch body portion.

Fig. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a state of the vehicle latch device when the bounce is completed.

In fig. 11, (a) is a schematic diagram showing a state of the vehicle latch device in a normal state, and (b) is a schematic diagram showing a state of the vehicle latch device when the bounce is completed.

Description of the reference numerals

Vehicle latch device

2 base plate

2b locking hole

2f guide (1 st guide)

3 latch body part

3a engaging part (1 st engaging part)

4-position holding mechanism

4a engaging part (2 nd engaging part)

5 actuator

6 sliding part

6a guide part (2 nd guide part)

11 hood (hook)

30 linkage mechanism

34 locking component

Detailed Description

An example of a vehicle latch device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to fig. 1 to 11. The traveling direction of the vehicle is referred to as "front", the backward direction is referred to as "rear", the vertically upper side is referred to as "upper", the vertically lower side is referred to as "lower", and the vehicle width direction is referred to as "left" and "right".

Vehicle(s)

As shown in fig. 1, the vehicle to which the vehicle latch device 1 of the present invention is applied may be a passenger vehicle, a working vehicle, or a bus as long as it is a hood-type vehicle having a hood 11 on a front side of a vehicle body, and a vehicle type is not particularly limited. Hereinafter, a passenger vehicle having a power compartment at a front portion of a vehicle body will be described as an example of the vehicle.

The vehicle includes a pop-up device 100 that raises a hood 11 to protect an object to be protected that collides with the vehicle.

The hood 11 is a hood panel that elastically receives a pedestrian and can cushion an impact when a vehicle collides with a protection object such as a pedestrian (hereinafter, appropriately referred to as a "pedestrian"). The hood 11 has: a hood skin disposed on an upper side of the power compartment; a hood framework elastoplastically engaged with a lower surface of the hood skin; and a striker 12 fixed to a front lower surface of the hood 11.

Pop-up device

The pop-up device 100 has a function of catching a pedestrian by the raised hood 11 when the pedestrian collides with the vehicle, and a function of preventing the hood 11 catching the pedestrian from coming into contact with a power unit (not shown).

The pop-up device 100 includes: a vehicle latch device 1 disposed at the lower left and right sides of the front side of the hood 11; a vehicle hinge device (not shown) disposed at the rear side and left and right lower portions of the hood 11; and a collision detection device (not shown).

< Collision detecting device >

The collision detection device (not shown) is a device that detects a collision of a pedestrian with the front of the vehicle. The collision detection device (not shown) is provided at the front end of the vehicle.

Vehicle latch device

As shown in fig. 3, the vehicle latch device 1 is a device that raises the hood 11 by the actuator 5 in a state where the latch 38a of the latch mechanism 38 is locked to the striker 12 when a collision of a pedestrian with a vehicle is detected by a collision detection device (not shown). The vehicle latch device 1 includes a latch main body portion 3, a position holding mechanism 4, an actuator 5, and a hood lock mechanism 10. The latch device 1 for a vehicle is configured by a hood movable device that raises the latch main body portion 3 and the hood 11 by projecting the piston rod portion 5b upward by high-pressure gas generated by high-speed combustion of the gas generating agent in the actuator 5. The latch device 1 for a vehicle functions to raise the entire hood 11 together with a hinge device for a vehicle (not shown) in this way, thereby improving impact absorbability at the time of collision when a pedestrian collides with the hood 11.

< bottom plate >

The base plate 2 shown in fig. 1 is a metal plate member for vehicle body attachment for fixing the vehicle latch device 1 to a vehicle body. As shown in fig. 3, the floor panel 2 is a substantially square member having a vehicle body fixing hole 2a, an engagement hole 2b, a striker engagement groove 2c, a 1 st link shaft support hole 2d, a cable fixing portion 2e, a guide portion 2f, and a rail portion 2 g. The floor panel 2 is fixed to a vehicle body front portion such as a bulkhead upper portion by bolts (not shown) inserted into four vehicle body fixing holes 2a formed in the upper, lower, left, and right portions.

The locking hole 2b is a hole for engaging with a lock member 34 provided in the latch body 3 after the latch body 3 is raised by the actuator 5 to hold the raised state of the latch body 3 after the lift. The locking hole 2b is a long hole that is long in the vertical direction along the guide portion 2f of the bottom plate 2.

As shown in fig. 3, the striker engagement groove 2c is a groove into which the lower end portion of the striker 12 is inserted when the hood 11 is lowered. The striker engagement groove 2c is formed in the center of the upper end of the base plate 2.

As shown in fig. 1 or 3, the 1 st link shaft support hole 2d is a hole to which the coupling pin 30a is attached for supporting the left and right 1 st links 31, the position holding mechanism 4, and the open lever biasing spring 48a, which will be described later, respectively. As shown in fig. 3, the 1 st link shaft support holes 2d are formed in the left and right end portions of the bottom plate 2 near the lower end portion, respectively.

The cable fixing portion 2e is a portion for fixing a portion of a cable (not shown) having one end portion thereof engaged with the striker releasing mechanism 48, the portion being drawn out from the vehicle latch device 1. The cable fixing portion 2e is constituted by a projecting piece projecting leftward from the bottom plate 2.

The guide portion 2f is a hole into which the engagement portion 3a of the latch body 3 and the engagement portion 4a of the position holding mechanism 4 are slidably inserted in the vertical direction, and restricts the movement of the latch body 3 and the position holding mechanism 4 in the vertical direction. The guide portion 2f is formed of a long hole extending in the vertical direction at the center of the rail portion 2g, and the rail portion 2g is formed in the center of the bottom plate 2 in a hat shape in cross section.

The rail portion 2g is a guide portion formed in a hat shape in section. The rail portion 2g extends in the vertical direction at the center of the base plate 2. A slide portion 33a formed in a hat shape in a cross section on the slide member 33 is engaged with the rail portion 2g so as to be movable in the vertical direction.

< latch body part >

As shown in fig. 8 to 10, the latch body 3 is a locking plate member that can be raised in a state of locking a striker 12 provided on a hood 11 of a vehicle when it is sprung up. The latch body portion 3 and the position holding mechanism 4 are coupled by a pair of link mechanisms 30 disposed to face each other at left and right end portions of the vehicle latch device 1. As shown in fig. 1, the latch main body portion 3 includes an engaging portion 3a (see fig. 10), a 1 st link 31, a slide member 33, a lock member 34 (see fig. 3), a lever support member 35, a lever tip end portion 36, a lever support member link plate 37, a latch mechanism 38, and a striker engagement member 39.

< engaging part >

The engaging portion 3a is a pin that is movably engaged with a guide portion 2f extending in the movement (vertical) direction of the latch body portion 3 as shown in fig. 3, and is locked with an engaging portion 40 described later in a state before being sprung up as shown in fig. 4 and 5. The engaging portion 3a is attached to the center of the lower end portion of the latch body 3 (see fig. 9 and 10). As shown in fig. 4, the engaging portion 3a is engaged with the hooks 41a and 42a to hold the latch body portion 3 in a lowered state.

< linkage >

As shown in fig. 4 and 10, the link mechanism 30 is a coupling mechanism that couples the latch main body portion 3 to the position holding mechanism 4 in a state in which the latch main body portion can be raised and lowered while maintaining a horizontal state. The link mechanism 30 is composed of a six-link mechanism in which the 1 st link 31, the 2 nd link 32, and the connecting pins 30a, 30b, and 30c are arranged in bilateral symmetry. The link mechanism 30 connects the left and right end portions of the latch main body portion 3 and the left and right end portions of the position holding mechanism 4.

The lower end of the 1 st link 31 is rotatably connected to the upper left and right ends of the position holding mechanism 4 by a connecting pin 30 a. The upper end of the 1 st link 31 and the lower end of the 2 nd link 32 are rotatably coupled by a coupling pin 30 b. The upper end of the 2 nd link 32 is rotatably connected to the left and right ends of the latch main body 3 by a connecting pin 30 c.

As shown in fig. 2, the slide member 33 is a metal plate member that is connected to the latch body 3 via the connecting pin 30c with the 2 nd link 32 interposed therebetween and moves up and down integrally with the latch body 3. As shown in fig. 3, the slide member 33 includes a slide portion 33a extending downward from the center of the slide member 33, and a slide pin 33b provided at the lower end of the slide portion 33a (see fig. 5).

As shown in fig. 3 and 5, the slide portion 33a is fitted into the rail portion 2g of the base plate 2 so as to be movable up and down.

The slide pin 33b is inserted into the guide portion 2f extending in the vertical direction so as to be movable vertically through a space provided in advance downward from the engagement portion 3 a.

< locking part >

As shown in fig. 3, the lock member 34 is a member that maintains the raised state of the latch body 3 by engaging the lock portion 34d with the locking hole 2b of the bottom plate 2 (see fig. 10 and 11 b) after the latch body 3 is raised from the lowered state in the flat state by the actuator 5. The lock member 34 has a structure including: a locking member body 34a made of a metal plate having a locking portion 34 d; a lock member support shaft 34b for rotatably supporting the lock member body 34a on the slide member 33; and a locking member biasing spring 34c that biases the locking member body 34a toward the bottom plate 2.

As shown in fig. 1, the rod support member 35 is an inverted U-shaped metal plate member fixed to the distal end surface of the piston rod portion 5b of the actuator 5 via a rod distal end portion 36.

As shown in fig. 1 and 2, the rod tip 36 is a fastener such as a screw that is screwed to the tip surface of the piston rod portion 5b and into which the rod support member 35 is inserted from below from the piston rod portion 5 b.

As shown in fig. 1 or 2, the lever support member connecting plate 37 is a metal plate member for connecting the lever support member 35 to the latch main body portion 3. The lever support member connecting plate 37 is disposed so as to cover the upper portion of the actuator 5. The lever support member connecting plate 37 is provided with a fixing pin 37a for fixing the lever support member 35 and the lever support member connecting plate 37, and a fixing pin 37b for fixing the lever support member connecting plate 37 and the latch main body portion 3.

< hood locking mechanism >

As shown in fig. 1, the hood lock mechanism 10 is a device that maintains a hood 11, which can be opened and closed with respect to a vehicle body, in a closed state. The hood lock mechanism 10 includes a striker 12 provided on the hood 11, a latch mechanism 38 provided on the vehicle body, and a striker locking member 39. The hood lock mechanism 10 maintains the closed state of the hood 11 by engaging the striker 12 with the latch 38a of the latch mechanism 38.

As shown in fig. 4, the latch mechanism 38 is a device having a function of retaining the striker 12 in the locked state by locking the striker 12 with the latch 38 a. The latch mechanism 38 is formed by assembling a latch 38a, a latch spring 38b, a plate member 38c, a release spring 38d, a latch release portion 38e, and the like to the base plate 2 in which a striker engagement groove 2c (see fig. 3) into which the striker 12 is inserted is formed.

The latch 38a is a holding member for holding the lowered striker 12 and maintaining the hood 11 in a state of closing the opening of the power compartment. The latch 38a is pivotally supported by the latch main body portion 3 so as to be rotatable. When the engagement of the latch release portion 38e is released by opening a hood release lever (not shown) disposed in the driver's seat, the latch 38a releases the striker 12 from the lock position of the latch 38a by the biasing force of the latch spring 38b and is lifted.

The latch spring 38b is a spring member that biases the latch 38a in the releasing direction. The latch spring 38b is constituted by, for example, a compression coil spring. One end of the latch spring 38b is hooked on the latch 38a, and the other end is hooked on the latch main body 3.

The latch releasing portion 38e is a member for locking the latch 38a in the lock position.

The release spring 38d is a spring member that biases the plate member 38c and the striker locking member 39 in the locking direction. The release spring 38d is formed of, for example, a compression coil spring. One end of the release spring 38d is engaged with the latch release portion 38e, and the other end is engaged with the spring retaining portion 39c of the striker retaining member 39.

The striker latching member 39 has a striker hook portion 39a, a striker releasing lever portion 39b, and a spring latching portion 39 c.

The striker hook portion 39a is a hook for releasing the hood opening lever (not shown) of the driver's seat by opening operation from the lock position of the latch 38a and locking the striker 12 lifted up. The striker releasing lever portion 39b is an operation portion for opening the hood 11 by operating the striker releasing lever portion 39b to open the striker 12 locked to the striker hook portion 39 a.

The spring locking portion 39c is a portion to which one end of the release spring 38d is hooked.

< position holding mechanism >

As shown in fig. 1, the position holding mechanism 4 is a device for holding the position of the latch body portion 3 on the vehicle body side when it is flat. The position holding mechanism 4 has a link mechanism 30, an engagement portion 40, an engagement portion 4a, an actuator bracket 45, a striker releasing mechanism 48, an actuator 5, a slide member 6, an actuator holding portion 7, and a spring member SP 1. The position holding mechanism 4 is disposed at the front lower end of the latch body 3.

< card department >

As shown in fig. 4, the locking portion 40 is a member for holding the state in which the latch body 3 is lowered by clasping the engaging portion 3a, which is a part of the latch body 3. The locking portion 40 is constituted by a set of members consisting of a 1 st locking portion 41, a 2 nd locking portion 42, and a 3 rd locking portion 43.

As shown in fig. 4 or 5, the 1 st locking portion 41, the 2 nd locking portion 42, and the 3 rd locking portion 43 are plate-like members that are rotatably shaft-supported by the actuator bracket 45 via the shaft support pins 40 a. The 2 nd locking portion 42 and the 3 rd locking portion 43 are connected to each other by a fixing pin 40b so as not to be relatively rotatable. The 1 st locking portion 41, the 2 nd locking portion 42, and the 3 rd locking portion 43 normally rotate the hooks 41a, 42a about the shaft support pin 40a as scissors, and are supported by the locking portion suppressing member 40c in a state where the engaging portion 3a of the latch body 3 is sandwiched (clasped) from a plurality of directions (both right and left sides).

The 1 st locking portion 41 is formed of a member having a substantially S-shape in a rear view. The 1 st locking portion 41 has a hook 41a formed on the upper side, a pin play insertion hole 41b formed on the lower side, and a shaft support pin installation hole (not shown) formed in the center.

The hook 41a is a portion that engages with the engagement portion 3a of the latch body portion 3 from the right side. The hook 41a extends in an inverted J-shape from the center portion of the 1 st latching portion 41 in an upward direction.

The pin play insertion hole 41b is a hole into which the locking portion operating pin 61 provided in the slide member 6 is inserted so as to be movable in the vertical direction. The pin play insertion hole 41b is formed of a hole larger than the outer diameter of the cylindrical locking portion operating pin 61 in the vertical, left, and right directions so that the 1 st locking portion 41 can rotate about the shaft support pin 40 a. The pin play insertion hole 41b is disposed so as to extend obliquely rightward and downward when flat. That is, the pin play insertion hole 41b is inclined so as to be positioned on the right side from the left side in contact with the locking portion operating pin 61.

As shown in fig. 4, the 2 nd locking portion 42 has a hook 42a having a shape symmetrical to the hook 41 a. The hooks 41a and 42a hold the latch body 3 in a lowered state by sandwiching the engaging portion 3 a. When the hooks 41a and 42a clamp the engaging portion 3a, the distal ends of the hooks 41a and 42a are arranged to overlap and hold the engaging portion 3 a. The hooks 41a and 42a are set in a state in which the latch body 3 can be raised by releasing the engaging portion 3 a.

The 3 rd locking portion 43 includes a pin play insertion hole 43a into which the locking portion operating pin 61 is inserted so as to be movable in the vertical direction, and a locking portion suppressing member 40c that suppresses the rotation of the locking portion 40.

The pin play insertion hole 43a is formed of a hole larger than the outer diameter of the engagement portion 4a in the vertical and horizontal directions so that the 3 rd locking portion 43 can rotate about the shaft support pin 40 a. The pin play insertion hole 43a is disposed so as to extend obliquely in the left-lower direction in a normal state. That is, the pin play insertion hole 43a is inclined so as to be located on the left side as it comes into contact with the locking portion operating pin 61 from the right side.

As shown in fig. 5, the locking portion suppressing member 40c is constituted by a convex stopper that suppresses the rotation of the hooks 41a and 42a in the separating direction by coming into contact with the 1 st locking portion 41. As shown in fig. 6 and 7, at the time of collision, the 1 st locking portion 41 is pushed by the locked portion operating pin 61 by the operation of the actuator 5 (see fig. 1) and is rotated, and the locking portion suppressing member 40c is broken and removed by the 1 st locking portion 41, whereby the hooks 41a, 42a can be rotated in the separating direction.

< engaging part of position holding mechanism >

As shown in fig. 1, the engaging portion 4a is formed of a position holding mechanism attachment pin which is engaged with a plurality of guide portions 6a formed on the slide member 6 so as to be movable in the vertical direction. The engaging portions 4a are provided at a plurality of positions, i.e., up, down, left, and right, of the actuator bracket 45 of the position holding mechanism 4, and are inserted into the guide portions 6a of the slide member 6, which are formed of long holes that are long in the up-down direction. Therefore, the slide member 6 can be lifted and lowered in the vertical direction by the length of the guide portion 6 a.

The actuator bracket 45 is a plate member constituting a main body of the position holding mechanism 4. The actuator bracket 45 is formed of a metal bracket that can vertically and movably support the slide member 6 and the actuator holding portion 7 that sandwich the cylinder portion 5a of the actuator 5 by a predetermined distance L5. The actuator bracket 45 is fixed to the base plate 2 by a fixing pin 45a (see fig. 3) and a coupling pin 30 a.

< striking member releasing mechanism >

The striker releasing mechanism 48 shown in fig. 1 is an open lever for releasing the locked state of the striker 12 locked to the latch 38a of the latch mechanism 38 provided in the latch body portion 3. The striker releasing mechanism 48 includes a coupling pin 30a, an urging spring 48a, a releasing portion 48b (see fig. 4), and a cable coupling portion 48 c. The striker releasing mechanism 48 is axially supported coaxially with the striker releasing mechanism 48 and an urging spring 48a that urges the striker releasing mechanism 48 by axially supporting the 1 st link 31 of the link mechanism 30 on the coupling pin 30a of the position holding mechanism 4.

The cable connected to the cable connection portion 48c is connected to a hood opening lever (not shown) disposed in the vehicle interior, and the cable connection portion 48c is pulled by the operation of the hood opening lever to interlock the striker releasing mechanism 48.

When the striker releasing mechanism 48 is rotated about the coupling pin 30a by the operation of the hood opening lever (not shown), as shown in fig. 4, the releasing portion 48b rotates and presses the latch releasing portion 38e, thereby rotating the latch 38a in a direction to release the striker 12.

< actuator >

The actuator 5 is an elevation driving device that is disposed across the position holding mechanism 4 from the latch main body portion 3 and raises the latch main body portion 3 when it is sprung. Further, the actuator 5 extends to lower the actuator holding portion 7 and the slide member 6 against the spring force of the spring member SP1, indirectly pushes the engaging portion 40 by the engaging portion operating pin 61 of the slide member 6, and releases the engaged state in which the engaging portion 40 is engaged with the engaging portion 3 a. The actuator 5 has: a cylinder section 5a that accommodates a gas generating agent that generates high-pressure gas by, for example, combustion, and an ignition device for the gas generating agent; and a piston rod portion 5b that protrudes upward from the inside of the cylinder portion 5a by a predetermined stroke by the high-pressure gas.

< sliding part >

As shown in fig. 1, the slide member 6 is a plate member disposed to be movable in the vertical direction by a predetermined distance L5 with respect to the position holding mechanism 4. An engaging portion operating pin 61 is provided at the lower end of the slide member 6 in a protruding manner.

< locking part operating pin >

As shown in fig. 4 and 5, the locking portion operating pin 61 is a locking portion operating member that moves down together to swing the locking portion 40 when the slide member 6 moves down. The locking portion operating pin 61 is disposed in the pin play insertion holes 41b and 43a of the 1 st locking portion 41 and the 3 rd locking portion 43 so as to be movable in the vertical direction. Since the locking portion operating pin 61 is located at a position where the slide member 6 (see fig. 1) is raised in a normal state, it is arranged at an upper end in the pin play insertion holes 41b and 43a as shown in fig. 4, and a state where the hooks 41a and 42a hold the engaging portion 3a is maintained. When the latch is sprung up, as shown in fig. 6 and 7, the actuator 5 lowers the slide member 6, and the latch operating pin 61 moves to the lower end portion in the pin play insertion holes 41b and 43a, thereby rotating the latch 40 about the shaft support pin 40a in a direction to release the hooks 41a and 42 a. At this time, the 1 st locking portion 41 that rotates cuts off the locking portion suppressing member 40 c.

Action of latch device for vehicle

Next, an operation of the vehicle latch device 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to fig. 1 to 11.

As shown in fig. 1, the vehicle latch device 1 is in a state of being fixed at a lowered position by the locking portion 40 in a normal state. Therefore, the latch body 3 connected to the upper end portion of the piston rod portion 5b across the rod support member 35 and the rod support member connecting plate 37 is in a state of being lowered in a normal state with respect to the bottom plate 2. The hood 11 is in a lowered position, and maintains a state of closing the opening of the power compartment.

The slide member 6, the actuator holding portion 7, and the position holding mechanism 4 connected to the cylinder portion 5a of the actuator 5 are in a raised position state by the spring member SP 1. As shown in fig. 4, the locking portion operating pin 61 of the ascending slide member 6 is positioned at the upper portion in the pin play insertion holes 41b and 43a, and the engaging portion 3a provided integrally with the latch body 3 is held by the 1 st locking portion 41 and the 2 nd locking portion 42, and the state where the latch body 3 is descending is maintained.

Therefore, as shown in fig. 2, in the link mechanism 30, the distance L3 between the connecting pin 30a connecting the 1 st link 31 and the position holding mechanism 4 and the connecting pin 30b connecting the 2 nd link 32 and the latch main body portion 3 becomes the smallest. In a normal state, the interval L2 between the upper end of the latch body 3 and the lower end of the position holding mechanism 4 is also arranged to be narrow and close to each other. This can shorten the length L1 in the vertical direction of the entire vehicle latch device 1, thereby making it compact.

The vehicle latch device 1 is configured to be able to detect that a pedestrian collides with the vehicle by activating an ignition switch (not shown) to drive a collision detection device (not shown). Thereby, the vehicle latch device 1 is also in the activatable state. When a collision of a pedestrian with a vehicle is detected, a collision detection device (not shown) transmits an operation signal to the actuator 5 to operate the actuator.

Then, the actuator 5 ignites the gas generating agent in the cylinder portion 5a shown in fig. 1, and high-pressure gas is generated by combustion of the gas generating agent. The actuator 5 pushes the slide member 6 and the actuator holding portion 7 downward (arrow a) by a distance L5 of a substantially slot pitch circle amount against the spring force of the spring member SP1 by the reaction force at the time of ignition.

As shown in fig. 6, the locking portion operating pin 61 provided in the slide member 6 shown in fig. 1 slides by pressing the inner side surfaces of the inclined pin play insertion holes 41b and 43a, and moves the 1 st locking portion 41, the 2 nd locking portion 42, and the 3 rd locking portion 43 downward (arrow a) to the lower ends in the pin play insertion holes 41b and 43a while rotating about the shaft support pin 40 a. Then, as shown in fig. 7, the locking portion 40 rotated by the locking portion operating pin 61 is in a state where the hooks 41a and 42a are spread.

Therefore, as shown in fig. 7 to 8, the engaging portion 3a held by the hooks 41a and 42a so as not to be movable in the upward direction is instantaneously released by a relatively small amount of movement because the hooks 41a and 42a are spread in the outward (arrow e) direction. In this way, the sensitivity of the vehicle latch device 1 in the released position holding state is high.

The latch body 3 is instantaneously pushed up by the high-pressure gas with the piston rod portion 5b and the like interposed therebetween, whereby the engaging portion 3a integrated with the latch body 3 is disengaged from between the hook 41a and the hook 42a, and moves upward (arrows b, c) in the guide portion 2f together with the slide pin 33 b. This starts the raising of the hood 11 (see fig. 1).

As shown in fig. 7 to 8, in the latch body portion 3, two members, that is, the engaging portion 3a and the slide pin 33b, which move integrally are guided and raised by the guide portion 2f provided at the center of the vehicle latch device 1 so as to extend in the vertical direction. Therefore, the latch main body portion 3 moves straight upward (arrows b, c) in a stable state.

Further, the lower left and right ends of the latch main body 3 and the upper left and right ends of the position holding mechanism 4 are coupled to each other so as to be able to move up and down by the six-link mechanism 30, and thus the hood 11 can be lifted up in a horizontal state when pushed up by the actuator 5. As shown in fig. 10, the vehicle latch device 1 can instantaneously raise the hood 11 by extending the link mechanism 30 to the length L30 and jumping up the latch main body portion 3 by the distance L6 corresponding to the stroke amount of the link mechanism 30. The link mechanism 30 extending in the upward direction is formed in a rectangular shape, and therefore, is hard to deform, and has high rigidity in the vertical and horizontal directions, thereby being capable of firmly supporting the hood 11.

As shown in fig. 11 (a) and (b), the bounce state in which the hood 11 is raised by the vehicle latch device 1 is held in the raised state by the locking portion 34d of the locking member 34 disposed on the slide member 33 integral with the latch body portion 3 being locked in the locking hole 2 b. Thereby, the pop-up operation by the vehicle latch device 1 is completed.

Simultaneously with the operation of the vehicle latch device 1, the pop-up device 100 operates hinge devices (not shown) disposed on the left and right rear sides of the hood 11 to raise the hood 11 as a whole.

When the vehicle collides with a pedestrian, the vehicle latch device 1 can elastically catch the pedestrian by the hood 11 lifted by the actuator 5 via the latch body portion 3, and can efficiently absorb the impact. Since the pop-up device 100 maintains the state in which the hood 11 is raised, the hood 11 can be prevented from descending and coming into contact with the power unit.

As described above, as shown in fig. 1 or 4, the latch device for a vehicle 1 according to the present invention includes: a latch main body portion 3 that can be raised in a state in which the hood 11 of the vehicle is locked; a position holding mechanism 4 that normally holds the latch main body portion 3 in place on the vehicle body side; and an actuator 5 that is interposed between the latch body portion 3 and the position holding mechanism 4 and that raises the latch body portion 3 when it is sprung, and in the vehicle latch device 1, the latch body portion 3 and the position holding mechanism 4 are preferably linked by a pair of link mechanisms 30 that are arranged in a horizontal direction.

Thus, the vehicle latch device 1 can linearly raise the latch body 3 raised by the actuator 5 while maintaining the horizontal state by connecting the latch body 3 and the position holding mechanism 4 by the pair of link mechanisms 30 arranged in the horizontal direction. Therefore, the hood 11 can be smoothly raised in a stable state without rattling. As a result, the vehicle latch device 1 can raise the hood 11 by the actuator 5 when a pedestrian collides with the vehicle, and can protect the pedestrian by the hood 11 in a stable state. Further, by providing the pair of link mechanisms 30 in the vehicle latch device 1, the raised latch main body 3 can be made simple in structure, and the holding rigidity in the vertical and horizontal directions can be improved.

As shown in fig. 1 or 3, the position holding mechanism 4 preferably includes a bottom plate 2, one of the bottom plate 2 and the latch body 3 includes a 1 st guide portion (guide portion 2f) formed along the moving direction of the latch body 3, and the other of the bottom plate 2 and the latch body 3 includes a 1 st engaging portion (engaging portion 3a) movably engaged with the 1 st guide portion (guide portion 2 f).

Thus, the position holding mechanism 4 moves the engagement portion 3a in the guide portion 2f formed in parallel along the moving direction of the latch body 3, and therefore, can smoothly move in a stable state without rattling.

Preferably, the slide member 6 is moved by the actuator 5, one of the slide member 6 and the position holding mechanism 4 has a 2 nd guide portion (guide portion 6a) formed along the moving direction of the latch body portion 3, and the other of the slide member 6 and the position holding mechanism 4 has a 2 nd engaging portion (engaging portion 4a) movably engaged with the 2 nd guide portion (guide portion 6 a).

Thus, the latch body 3 and the position holding mechanism 4 move the engaging portion 4a in the guide portion 6a formed in parallel along the moving direction of the latch body 3, and therefore can move smoothly in a stable state without rattling.

As shown in fig. 10 and 11 (b), it is preferable that an engagement hole 2b is formed in one of the bottom plate 2 and the latch body 3, the other of the bottom plate 2 and the latch body 3 has a lock member 34, and the lock member 34 engages with the engagement hole 2b after the actuator 5 (see fig. 1) is raised to maintain the raised state of the latch body 3.

Thus, when the floor panel 2 or the latch body 2 is raised by the actuator 5 (see fig. 1), the lock member 34 is locked in the locking hole 2b of the floor panel 2 fixed to the vehicle body, and thus the position state of the raised latch body 3 can be maintained. Therefore, the latch main body portion 3 maintains the striker 12 fixed to the hood 11 at a predetermined height, and therefore, the hood 11 can be prevented from falling down and coming into contact with the power unit in the power compartment.

[ modified examples ]

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications and changes can be made within the scope of the technical idea thereof, and it goes without saying that the present invention also relates to the modified and changed inventions.

For example, the vehicle latch device 1 may be provided at one position below the front center portion of the hood 11.

The actuator 5 is not particularly limited as long as it is a device capable of at least raising the latch body portion 3. The actuator 5 may be, for example, an electric motor gear device using an electric motor, a device using a spring force generated by a spring, a device ejecting a plunger by compressed air generated by a compressor, or a device moving a plunger (piston rod) up and down by a piston cylinder device or the like.

In addition, the collision detecting means may be collision predicting means that obtains data for detecting detection of a pedestrian, a distance from the front of the vehicle to the pedestrian, a speed of the pedestrian, a difference (relative speed) between the speed of the vehicle and the speed of the pedestrian, and the like, to predict a situation in which the vehicle collides with the pedestrian.

The collision prediction device may be operated by determining an animal or a foreign object other than an animal as a protection target based on an image obtained by the camera, may be operated by using only a human as the protection target, or may be operated by using a two-wheeled vehicle such as a bicycle as the protection target.

Further, an airbag device that deploys an airbag on the hood 11 from a gap between the hood 11 and the vehicle body raised by the vehicle latch device 1 at the time of a collision to protect a pedestrian colliding with the vehicle may be provided below the hood 11.

When the latch main body portion 3 is coupled to the position holding mechanism 4 using the link mechanism 30, it may be coupled to the base plate 2.