Apparatus for hood latch of vehicle

• US 10,669,751 B2
• Filed: 11/29/2016
• Issued: 06/02/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 09/13/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hyundai Motor Company (Hyundai Motor Group), Kia Motors Corporation (Kia Corp.), Pyeong Hwa Automotive Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hyundai Motor Company (Hyundai Motor Group)
• Inventors: Kim, Sang Il, Ahn, Ki Ryun
• Primary Examiner(s): Merlino, Alyson M
• Application Number:
  US15/363,827
• Publication Number:
  US 20180073283A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,281 Days
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 81/06 using rotary motors
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 81/20 for assisting final closing or for initiating opening
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 81/66 the bolt position, i.e. the latching status
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 81/72 the lock status, i.e. locked or unlocked condition
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 83/24 for car bonnets

Abstract

An apparatus for a hood latch of a vehicle may include a hood, wherein the hood is completely closed by an operation of a cinching mechanism when the incomplete closing of the hood is detected to perform the closing of the hood, preventing a safety accident.

Claims

1. A hood latch apparatus of a vehicle, the hood latch apparatus comprising:

a base configured to be provided with a driving motor and an insertion groove into which a striker is inserted;

a latch lever configured to be adjacently positioned to the insertion groove of the base, rotatably mounted to the base for rotation by the striker when the striker is inserted into the insertion groove, and formed to enclose the striker;

a pawl lever configured to be rotatably mounted to the base so as to interlock with the latch lever so as to be locked to the latch lever when the latch lever is rotated to enclose the striker, thereby fixing the latch lever to prevent the latch lever from rotating;

a cinching mechanism configured to be adjacently positioned to the insertion groove while being spaced apart from the latch lever and rotatably mounted to the base together with the latch lever such that at least one portion of the cinching mechanism is rotatable when the striker is inserted into the insertion groove and is additionally rotated by being supplied with power of the driving motor;

a switch portion configured to be turned on or off depending on a rotation state of the latch lever so as to drive the driving motor to provide the power to the at least one portion of the cinching mechanism when at least one portion of the switch portion is configured to be turned on by a rotation state of the latch lever; and

a hook lever configured to be rotatably mounted at the base, configured to have a hook-shaped hook part extended to correspond to the insertion groove, configured to be rotated to a position to allow the insertion of the striker into the insertion groove, and configured to be rotated to a position in which movement of the striker in a direction in which the striker is separated from the insertion groove is limited,

wherein the cinching mechanism includes;

a popup lever configured to be adjacently positioned to the insertion groove while being spaced apart from the latch lever and rotatably mounted to the base so as to cooperate with and be rotatable by the striker when the striker is inserted into the insertion groove; and

a cinching lever configured to be rotatably mounted to the base so as to be adjacent to the popup lever, the cinching lever configured to be rotated by being supplied with the power of the driving motor, and causing further rotation of the popup lever when the cinching lever is rotated by the power of the driving motor.

2. The hood latch apparatus of claim 1, wherein the latch lever is provided with a latch groove to have the striker inserted thereinto, an extending portion extended to correspond to the insertion groove to contact the striker, and a locking protrusion radially protruding along a circumference thereof, and wherein the latch lever is mounted to elastically return to an original position after a rotation of the latch lever.

3. The hood latch apparatus of claim 2, wherein the pawl lever is provided with a projection locked to the locking protrusion of the latch lever in a state in which rotation of the latch lever is prevented and is mounted to elastically return to an original position thereof after a rotation of the latch lever.

4. The hood latch apparatus of claim 3, wherein the pawl lever is provided with a contact end that is extended to be bent and thus the locking protrusion contacts the contact end when rotation of the latch lever is prevented, and a tip portion of the contact end is provided with the projection.

5. The hood latch apparatus of claim 1, wherein the popup lever is provided with a contact part that is extended to correspond to the insertion groove so as to contact the striker when the striker is inserted into the insertion groove.

6. The hood latch apparatus of claim 5, wherein the contact part of the popup lever is provided with a pin protrusion protruding therefrom and the pin protrusion is connected to an elastic member mounted at the base to apply an elastic force so that the popup lever is rotated in a direction in which the striker is separated from the insertion groove.

7. The hood latch apparatus of claim 1, wherein the cinching lever is applied with the power of the driving motor by a pulling force from the driving motor so as to be rotated and is connected to a restoring member mounted at the base in a direction opposite to a direction in which the pulling force is applied.

8. The hood latch apparatus of claim 1, wherein the cinching lever is provided with a guide protrusion protruding therefrom, and

the popup lever is provided with a corresponding protrusion contacting the guide protrusion when the cinching lever is rotated by the power of the driving motor.

9. The hood latch apparatus of claim 1, further including:

a switching lever rotatably mounted to the base so as to interlock with the latch lever when the latch lever is rotated by the insertion of the striker into the insertion groove,

wherein the at least one portion of the switch portion includes a first switch portion turned on or off depending on a rotation of the switching lever and a second switch portion turned on or off depending on a rotation of the pawl lever when rotated by the latch lever.

10. The hood latch apparatus of claim 9, wherein the latch lever is provided with a fixed protrusion protruding therefrom, and

the switching lever is mounted to be elastically rotated in a direction in which the striker is separated from the insertion groove and is provided with a locking portion extended toward the latch lever so as to be engaged with the fixed protrusion.

11. The hood latch apparatus of claim 9, wherein the base is provided with a guide groove extended along a rotation radius of the switching lever, and

the switching lever is provided with a guide protrusion movable along the guide groove so as to guide rotation of the switching lever.

12. The hood latch apparatus of claim 9, wherein the first switch portion is configured to be turned on by contact of the switching lever therewith when the switching lever is rotated as the latch lever is rotated by the insertion of the striker into the insertion groove, and

the second switch portion is configured to be turned on by contact with the pawl lever at a point of rotation of the pawl lever when the pawl lever is rotated by the latch lever as the striker is inserted into the insertion groove, the point occurring before the pawl lever has rotated to a position in which the pawl lever prevents the latch lever from rotating.

13. The hood latch apparatus of claim 9, wherein when both of the first switch portion and the second switch portion are turned on, the driving motor is configured to be driven, and when, either the first switch portion or the second switch portion is not turned on, the driving motor is configured not to be driven.

14. The hood latch apparatus of claim 13, wherein when the striker is not inserted into the insertion groove, thereby the latch lever has not been rotated, the switching lever and the pawl lever are not rotated, so as to cause the first switch portion and the second switch portion to be turned off, and, thus the driving motor is configured not to be driven.

15. The hood latch apparatus of claim 13, wherein when the striker is inserted into the insertion groove, the switching lever and the pawl lever are rotated together as the latch lever is rotated, and thus the first switch portion is configured to be turned on by the switching lever and the second switch portion is configured to be turned on by the pawl lever to drive the driving motor to additionally rotate the at least one portion of the cinching mechanism to allow the latch lever to enclose the striker.

16. The hood latch apparatus of claim 1, further including:

a release lever configured to be rotatably mounted at the base and connected as to cause rotation of the pawl lever and the hook lever when the release lever is rotated.