Mc, Inc.

Andrew McIntyre, I

Michael John Duffy

Donald Mossom Austin

An active hinge with a reset mechanism that disables an additional degree of freedom in the hinge's movement to permit the trailing edge of a vehicle hood to lift is disclosed. The active hinge includes a deployment bracket on which a reset clip is mounted, a hood bracket for attachment to the vehicle's hood, and a body bracket for attachment to the vehicle's body. To re-lock movement between the deployment bracket and the hood bracket, an engagement tab on the reset clip enters a notch in the hood bracket whereby the reset clip rotates until a locking tab on the clip engages a hole in the deployment bracket. Curved surfaces mounted on the engagement and locking tabs provide surface-to-surface contact between the reset clip and the deployment bracket, whereby the deployment bracket is not scratched when the reset clip is rotated, thereby precluding rust from developing on the deployment bracket.

Active hinge with reset mechanism

An active hinge with a reset mechanism that disables an additional degree of freedom in the hinge's movement to permit the trailing edge of a vehicle hood to lift is disclosed. The active hinge includes a deployment bracket on which a reset clip is mounted, a hood bracket for attachment to the vehicle's hood, and a body bracket for attachment to the vehicle's body. To re-lock the movement between the deployment bracket and the hood bracket resulting from the hood bracket rotating around a degree of freedom pivot, an engagement tab on the reset clip enters a notch in the hood bracket so that reset clip rotates until a locking tab on the clip engages a hole in the deployment bracket. The locking tab engaging the hole prevents further rotation of the hood bracket in either direction, to thereby maintain the active hinge in a reset position.

A tailgate dampening system for a vehicle including a tailgate lift assist system including a torque rod rotationally grounded between the tailgate at a first end and a first side of the vehicle's frame at a second end is disclosed. The dampening system includes a coupling shaft attached to one end of the torque rod, a bell crank arm attached to the coupling shaft, and a dampening strut attached between the vehicle's frame and the bell crank arm. The crank arm compresses the dampening strut as the crank arm is rotated by the torque rod through the coupling shaft as the torque rod is twisted in response to the tailgate being opened, so as to reduce the rate at which the tailgate falls.

Growing community of inventors

Midland, Canada

Andrew McIntyre, I