Nissan Motor Company Limited

Masanobu Yoshioka

Kouzo Maeda

Makoto Hikone

Akito Sakai

Susumu Kimura

Yasuhiko Nakagawa

Tetsuo Maki

Katsunori Terasaka

Kenichi Saito

Kazunori Tomimatsu

A hood structure for absorbing an impact applied to a hood of an automotive vehicle at collision has: a hood outer panel for closing an engine room; at least one impact absorb body disposed under the hood outer panel, for absorbing the impact applied to the hood when deformed; and an engine disposed under the impact absorb body, for stopping the deformed impact absorb body. Here, to reduce head injury criterion (HIC) effectively at a shortest possible stoke of the hood outer panel, an impact energy absorption rate of the impact absorb body and a total hollow gap formed between the hood outer panel and the engine are both determined in such a way that an impact energy generated at collision can be absorbed in accordance with an ideal impact energy absorption waveform Cm representative of an ideal relationship between reaction force and stroke of the deformed hood outer panel. The ideal impact waveform Cm can be obtained by calculation on the basis of an amount of impact energy required to be absorbed at collision and in accordance with the HIC derivation formulae (1) and (2). Since the impact absorb body is deformed at collision at a relatively moderate energy absorption rate to generate a secondary reaction force required for the ideal impact waveform Cm, the head impact characteristics can be securely improved.

Front upper structure of automotive vehicle

A protector cap for covering a mounting bolt head has a spacer interposed between the cap and the bolt to position the cap with respect to the bolt head and to isolate the cap from the bolt head. The cap is made of a resin. The spacer is a separate member engaged with the inner surface of the cap.

Protector cap for use in automotive vehicle

A hood structure for absorbing an impact applied to a hood (31) of an automotive vehicle at collision has: a hood outer panel (33) for closing an engine room (35); at least one impact absorb body (43) disposed under the hood outer panel, for absorbing the impact applied to the hood when deformed; and an engine (37) disposed under the impact absorb body, for stopping the deformed impact absorb body. Here, to reduce head injury criterion (HIC) effectively at a shortest possible stoke of the hood outer panel, an impact energy absorption rate of the impact absorb body and a total hollow gap formed between the hood outer panel (33) and the engine (37) are both determined in such a way that an impact energy generated at collision can be absorbed in accordance with an ideal impact energy absorption waveform Cm representative of an ideal relationship between reaction force (F) and stroke (S) of the deformed hood outer panel. The ideal impact waveform Cm can be obtained by calculation on the basis of an amount of impact energy required to be absorbed at collision and in accordance with the HIC derivation formulae (1) and (2). Since the impact absorb body is deformed at collision at a relatively moderate energy absorption rate to generate a secondary reaction force required for the ideal impact waveform Cm, the head impact characteristics can be securely improved.

A safety arrangement for a driver's seat in an automotive vehicle having a steering column extending to the driver's seat. The safety arrangement is comprised of a column bracket to which the steering column is secured. The column bracket is slidably secured to a sliding block 5 fixed to vehicle body side. The column bracket is put into a slidable condition under the action of a solenoid when a driver is restrained by a seat belt, while into a fixed condition under the action of the solenoid when the driver is released from the seat belt. The column bracket is moved forward together with the steering column when an impact force is applied to a knee protector, thereby absorbing impact energy while withdrawing the steering column. Even under the fixed condition of the column bracket, an impact force applied to the steering column can be effectively absorbed by an energy absorbing mechanism provided between the steering column and the column bracket.

Vehicular safety arrangement for driver's seat

To effectively absorb shocks applied to both a rim and a cover pad of a steering wheel simultaneously or separately in spite of a simple construction, the steering wheel comprises a shock absorbing member disposed under the cover pad and sandwiched between upper and lower plates, and a spoke fixing plate for connecting radially inner ends of spokes to a middle peripheral surface of the shock absorbing member. A shock applied to the rim is mainly absorbed by the lower portion of the absorbing member by shearing deformation thereof and a shock applied to the cover pad is mainly absorbed by the upper portion of the absorbing member by compressive deformation thereof. Further, to uniformly absorb shocks applied to the cover pad at various points and in different directions, a support base having a projection is disposed under the lower plate (on which the shock absorbing member is arranged) to reduce the rigidity of the shock absorbing member. Furthermore, it is preferable to connect an additional W-shaped cross-section shock absorbing plate to a hollow cylindrical shock absorbing member via upper and lower plates for providing further uniform shock absorbing characteristics irrespective of points and directions at and in which a shock is applied.

Steering wheel with shock absorber

Improvements are made in a reciprocating-piston, four-stroke spark-ignition internal combustion engine of the type which has main and auxiliary combustion chambers and main and auxiliary intake valve associated respectively with the combustion chambers, wherein the auxiliary intake valve has a valve lift smaller than a valve lift of the main intake valve and wherein the duration of opening of the auxiliary intake valve is arranged to be shorter than that of the main intake valve for each of the intake strokes of the engine. The auxiliary intake stroke is preferably so operated as to start to open after the main intake valve has been opened and to fully close simultaneously as or before the main intake valve is fully closed. The improvements are intended to prevent escape of an air-fuel mixture from the auxiliary combustion chamber into the main combustion chamber during intake strokes of the engine so that the ratio between the volumes of the air-fuel mixtures in the two combustion chambers is maintained constant under varying operational conditions of the engine.

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Yokosuka, Japan

Masanobu Yoshioka