The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 14, 2012
Filed:
Oct. 19, 2010
Andrew R. Mcintyre, Midland, CA;
David J Smallwood, Barrie, CA;
Andrew R. McIntyre, Midland, CA;
David J Smallwood, Barrie, CA;
M & C Corporation, Sterling Heights, MI (US);
Abstract
A tailgate damping and detent system is disclosed for a vehicle, including a tailgate lift assist system with 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. 'Damping' is achieved by increasing the diameter of the torque rod. The increased torque rod diameter overcompensates for the weight of the tailgate, so that this increased load decelerates the tailgate starting from the neutral balance point to the fully open position. The speed of the tailgate approaches zero at the end of the travel of the tailgate to the fully open position, which greatly reduces the 'slam' at the end of travel. The tailgate is held in the open position by a link detent system. There is a slot in the gate side of the link that a spring loaded pin latches into.