Patent Application
20090178241
The present invention relates generally to a vehicle door hinge, and, more particularly, to a bracket in the door hinge assembly that limits the angular displacement of the door when in its open position.
A vehicle chassis cab, such as an extended cab for a pickup truck, may be up-fitted with a wide body, such as a flat bed or a camper, that extends laterally beyond the outer surface of the cab. The rear doors of the cab (the RAP doors) are hinged such that they swing rearward in an angular range of about 170 degrees in order to improve access to the cab in pickup truck applications. When this vehicle chassis cab is used with a wide body, however, this range of door travel allows the door to contact the wide body, and that contact may damage the outer sheet metal on the door assembly.
Frequently the wide vehicle body is retrofitted to the vehicle chassis at a location other than the assembly plant where the vehicle chassis is assembled. Therefore, original equipment that would limit the range of door travel and prevent damage to the door is not known to be required and is not installed at the assembly plant. Moreover, it is not desirable to limit the opening angle for the pickup truck applications of this chassis.
A need exists, therefore, for a technique to adapt the door hinge originally installed in the vehicle, such that the door travel is limited to an angular range within which contact between the door, while being opened, and the retrofitted, wide body is prevented.
An embodiment contemplates a hinge assembly for opening and closing a door that provides access to the interior of a motor vehicle body. The hinge assembly includes a body-side hinge strap secured to the body and defining a first axis, a door-side hinge strap secured to the door and defining a second axis spaced laterally from the first axis, a hinge mid-strap supported on the body-side hinge strap to pivot about the first axis and being pivotably supported on the door-side hinge strap at the second axis, and a lockout bracket secured to the door-side hinge strap and secured to the hinge mid-strap at a location between the first axis and the second axis for preventing the door from pivoting about the second axis.
The lockout bracket, which can be added to a vehicle door hinge at a vehicle dealership or up-fitter, reduces the angular range of door travel from about 170 degrees to about 90 degrees. The lockout brackets eliminate the need for an additional hinge assembly, thereby saving cost, eliminating design complexity and minimizing installation time.
An embodiment contemplates a method for reliably restricting the angular range of door travel on a vehicle such that contact between the door and a specialized, unusually wide vehicle body is prevented.
The upper body-side hinge strap 16 supports an upper hinge mid-strap 20, which pivots at one end about the axis 22 of a pin 24 secured to the upper body-side hinge strap 16, and pivots near its opposite end about an axis 26 of a pin 28. The pin 28 is carried on an upper door-side hinge strap 30, secured to the door 12. Similarly, the lower body-side hinge strap 18 supports a lower hinge mid-strap 32, which pivots at one end about the axis 22 at a pin 34 secured to the lower body-side hinge strap 18, and pivots near its opposite end about the axis 26 at a pin 36. The pin 36 is carried on a lower door-side hinge strap 38 secured to the door 12.
A tube 40 interconnects the upper and lower hinge mid-straps 20, 32, such that their angular movement is coordinated mutually.
As
A J-nut 54 is secured to the arm 42 of the lower door-side hinge strap 38 by tangs that elastically engage the outer and inner surfaces of the arm 42. The J-nut 54 is aligned with a hole through the thickness of the arm 42 of the lower door-side hinge strap 38 and a hole through the leg 46 of the lockout bracket 44. A bolt 58, fitted through these holes, connects the lower lockout bracket 44 to the lower door-side hinge strap 38. In this way, the lower hinge mid-strap 32 is connected by the lower lockout bracket 44 to the lower door-side hinge strap 38, thereby preventing articulation of the door 12 about the axis 26.
As
A J-nut 84 is secured to the arm 72 of the upper door-side hinge strap 30 by tangs, which elastically engage the outer and inner surfaces of the arm 72. The J-nut 84 is aligned with a hole through the thickness of the arm 72 of the upper door-side hinge strap 30 and a hole through the leg 76 of the upper lockout bracket 74. A bolt 88, fitted through these holes, connects the lockout bracket 74 to the upper door-side hinge strap 30. In this way, the upper hinge mid-strap 20 is connected by the lockout bracket 74 to the upper door-side hinge strap 30.
In operation, as the door 12 is opened from the closed position shown in
If the lockout brackets 44, 74 were absent from the hinge assembly 10, the door 12 could be opened further by a secondary pivoting of the door-side hinge straps 30, 38 through about 80 additional degrees about the axis 26, thereby fully opening the door 12 and locating a door panel (not shown) nearly parallel to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle.
But the upper and lower lockout brackets 44, 74, secure the door-side hinge straps 30, 38 to the body-side hinge straps 16, 18, thereby preventing the secondary pivoting about the axis 26. This prevents the door panel from striking a body panel of a wide body (not shown) that is located behind the cab and extends laterally beyond the width of the cab.
While certain embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail, those familiar with the art to which this invention relates will recognize various alternative designs and embodiments for practicing the invention as defined by the following claims.
