Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha

Kaoru Nagatomi

Sakae Sasaki

Tatsuya Ishizaki

Ken Hanayama

Kazuo Matsuda

A vehicular sensor system of the present invention includes a plurality of bumper sensors mounted to a front bumper of a vehicle in a spaced relationship in a widthwise direction thereof, and a controller for controlling operations of two actuators for lifting up a trailing end of a hood responsive to output signals from the bumper sensors. The controller converts accelerations, detected by the respective bumper sensors, into deformation speeds, with the deformation speeds, associated with the sensors which are adjacent to one another, being added. When an added deformation speed exceeds a predetermined threshold level, the controller controls the actuators to be initiated.

Sensor system for vehicle

A vehicular hood device has a hinge serving also as a coupling link mechanism. The hinge in a usual time allows a hood to make opening and closing movements about a hinge pin connecting a second link to the hood. When an obstacle collided with the vehicle to lift the hood by an actuator, the hinge enables the extended first and second links to determine a hood raise position. The hinge includes a stopper pawl. The stopper pawl has rigidity designed to be deformable by operation of the actuator but not to be bent by a usual hood opening and closing force, thus preventing the hood from floating during normal operation.

Vehicular hood device

A vehicular hood assembly comprising at least one actuator for lifting up a rear end of a hood to a given height when a vehicle s collides with a protective object. The actuator comprises a rod having a constricted portion with lower rigidity than the other part thereof. The actuator is operated responsive to collision of the vehicle with the protective object to cause the rod to lift the hood and when the protective object further encounters a secondary collision with the hood, an impact load exerted to the protective object and the hood is concentrated on the rod to cause the constricted portion of the rod to bend for thereby retaining the hood at its lifted position without causing the rod to return to its original position.

Hood assembly for vehicle

A vehicle hood apparatus having an actuator for lifting a vehicle hood upon collision of an object with a vehicle. The actuator has an actuator block defining a cylinder therein. A locking member is urged to project into the cylinder. Upon such collision, a gas generator is operated to generate gas to raise a piston pin rapidly to lift the hood, whereupon the locking member projects into the cylinder to lock the piston pin in its raised position and hold the hood at its lifted position. As the locking member is included in the actuator, the piston pin does not have its locked position affected by the quality of work done for attaching the actuator to the vehicle body, as opposed to the case where it has to be locked to the vehicle body. As the locking and elastic members are held in the actuator block, the actuator is easier to assemble than when they have to be held on the piston pin.

Vehicle hood apparatus

A vehicle hood apparatus is provided with a hood retaining mechanism including a linkage which is bendable and stretchable for retaining a hood in a lifted position when a vehicle collides with an object to be protected and the rear end of the hood is lifted. The linkage has an upper link and a lower link which are bendably and stretchably connected via a hinge. A stopper is included for preventing the lower link from falling rearward relative to the vehicle when the lower link and the upper link stretch. The hood apparatus further includes a ratchet mechanism for preventing the lower link and the upper link from shifting from the stretching state to a bending state to securely retain the lifted hood.

A vehicle hood operating system has a control unit for controlling an actuator which is designed to lift a hood over a vehicle when an obstacle with which the vehicle has collided is an object to be protected. The control unit controls the actuator such that it lifts the hood when the velocity of the vehicle is equal to, or higher than, a predetermined value at the time of its collision, while at the same time, the speed of deformation caused to a bumper by the collision is equal to, or higher than, its threshold value varying with the vehicle velocity. When the vehicle velocity is lower than the predetermined value, the object to be protected is unlikely to strike against the hood. As the threshold value varies with the vehicle velocity, it is possible to distinguish quickly and accurately if the obstacle is an object to be protected, or not.

Vehicle hood operating system

An obstruction inference apparatus for a vehicle, for inferring the type of an obstruction which the vehicle has hit, which comprises a member deformable in correspondence with an impact force with which the vehicle hits the obstruction, deformation rate detecting means for detecting the deformation rate of this deformable member, timer starting means for starting a timer when the deformation rate detected by the deformation rate detecting means reaches a preset first reference rate in the course of increasing, second reference rate generating means for setting as a second reference rate a value equivalent to a value obtained by multiplying the maximum deformation rate by a preset constant, elapsed time calculating means for stopping the timer when the deformation rate reaches the second reference rate and obtaining the elapsed time from the timer being started to the timer being stopped, and inference signal generating means for, when the elapsed time is within a preset time range, inferring that the obstruction is a specified obstruction.

Obstruction inference apparatus for vehicle

A vehicle hood apparatus comprises a hood-lifting actuator for lifting a rear end of a hood when a vehicle collided with an obstacle, and a hood-returning actuator for returning the hood to its original position. The apparatus also includes a timer for timing a predetermined time elapsed after the hood is lifted by the hood-lifting actuator. When the predetermined time elapsed, the timer outputs a lapse signal. Based on this signal, the hood returning actuator is operated to return the hood to its original position. As a result, a diver's view obstructed by the lifted hood can be instantly cleared.

Growing community of inventors

Wako, Japan

Kaoru Nagatomi