Hinge structure for back door

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6460222
  • Patent Number
    6,460,222
  • Date Filed
    Wednesday, June 13, 2001
    23 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, October 8, 2002
    22 years ago
  • Inventors
  • Original Assignees
  • Examiners
    • Pezzuto; Robert E.
    • Pechhold; Alexandra K.
    Agents
    • Christie, Parker & Hale, LLP
Abstract
A hinge structure of back door constructed to reduce the sizes of parts comprising hinges of a back door for enabling to obtain an accommodation space, wherein, in a door hinge having a first hinge unit and a second hinge unit rotatively coupled to an inner panel of a door and to a recess of a body, each connected to a rotary axle, the hinge structure for back door comprises a guide member formed at a bottom surface thereof with a coupling hole through which to secure the first hinge unit via a bolt and a nut and formed at both left and right tip ends thereof with a bent piece having a guide hole, a bracket formed at a bottom surface thereof with a coupling hole and formed at both left and left sides thereof with bent pieces formed at one side thereof with a connecting hole, first and second rods having both ends externally expanded for being respectively inserted into the guide hole of the guide member and the connecting hole of the bracket while central units thereof ware made in “⊂” shape, a connecting member for connecting the central units of the first and second rods, and a torsion bar spring for being inserted into a tip end of the second rod and for being mounted between the bent pieces and the bracket.
Description




CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION




This application claims priority of Korea patent Application No.


2000-73409


, filed on Dec. 5, 2000.




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




1. Field of the Invention




The present invention relates to a hinge structure for back door, and more particularly to a hinge structure of back door constructed to reduce the sizes of parts comprising hinges of a back door for enabling to obtain an accommodation space.




2. Description of the Prior Art




In general, a van is equipped with a door for opening and closing for loading and unloading cargoes, and the door is mounted with hinges for opening and closing the door by way of turning to the left and right directions.




In other words, the door is installed with hinges


10


and


10


′ where the hinges


10


and


10


′ function as rotating axles for opening and closing the door as illustrated in FIG.


1


.




Particularly, the hinge


10


mounted at an upper part of the door


1


includes a fixation member


17


secured to an inner panel


3


of the door


1


and having a check rod


12


and a check guide


14


fixed to a recess


4


of body panel


2


, as illustrated in FIG.


2


.




The check rod


12


is coupled at one side thereof via a rotary pin


13


of the fixation member


17


for rotation while the other side thereof is mounted with a roller


11


for rotation.




The check guide


14


has a guide piece


15


at both left and right sides thereof for guiding the roller


11


of the check rod


12


while a tip end thereof is formed with a bent stopper


16


for holding the roller


11


.




Coupling holes (not shown) are respectively formed on the fixation member


17


and the check guide


14


where the fixation member


17


is coupled o an inner panel


3


of the door


1


while the check guide


14


is coupled to a recess


4


of the body


2


therethrough via a nut and a bolt.




As shown in

FIG. 4



b


, when the door


1


is to be opened, the roller


11


at the check rod


12


moves along an upper end of the guide piece


15


at the check guide


14


, and when the roller


11


is received by the stopper


16


, the door


1


is completed in opening to a 180 degree. When the door


1


is to be closed, the roller


11


is guided via the guide piece


15


to cause the door to be closed in the reverse way, as illustrated in

FIG. 4



a.






Meanwhile, the hinge


10


′ mounted underneath the door


1


includes a first hinge unit


11


′ secured to an inner panel


3


of the door


1


and a second hinge unit


12


′ fixed to the recess


4


of the body panel


2


, as illustrated in FIG.


3


.




The first hinge unit


11


′ is made to rotate by being coupled via a rotary pin


13


′ on the second hinge unit


12


′, while coupling holes are respectively formed on the first and second hinge units


11


′ and


12


′ where the first hinge unit


11


′ is coupled to the inner panel


3


of the door


1


whilst the second hinge unit


12


′ is secured to the recess


4


of the body


2


therethrough via a bolt


14


′ and a nut


15


′, such that, when the door is to be opened, the door is rotated outwardly about the rotary pin


13


′ to thereby be opened.




Furthermore, when the door is to be closed, the door performs the reverse operation about the rotary pin


13


′ to thereby be closed.




However, there is a problem in hinge structure for back door thus constructed according to the prior art in that the check rod mounted on the door for opening and closing to the left and right directions is too large in radius of gyration thereof to possess needless space toward the external side of the door while the recess of the body is formed with a space where the check rod is inserted such that, in constructing the recess, the manufacturing process becomes too much complicated to make assembling work difficult.




There is another problem in that the check guide, being burdened with the guide piece for guiding the check rod, takes up too much space to secure same to the body, thereby increasing the number of assembling processes in performing the coupling words for cooperating with check rod.




There is still another problem in that manufacturing process of parts is complicated to consume extra amount of manufacturing cost.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




The present invention is disclosed to solve the aforementioned problems and it is an object of the present invention to provide a hinge structure for back door constructed to reduce the number of parts comprising a hinge of a door, manufacturing processes and manufacturing cost.




In accordance with the object of the present invention, there is provided a hinge structure for back door, the structure comprising:




a guide member secured to a first hinge unit for performing rotation when the door is opened and closed;




a first rod guided along the guide member;




a second rod extensively connected with the first rod; and




a bracket where the second rod is coupled while being secured to a second hinge unit.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS




For fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference should be made to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:





FIG. 1

is a rear view for illustrating an installed position of a back door hinge according to the prior art;





FIG. 2

is a sectional view taken along line A-A′ of

FIG. 1

;





FIG. 3

is a sectional view taken along line B-B′ of

FIG. 1

;





FIG. 4



a


is a perspective view for illustrating a hinge structure when a door in

FIG. 2

is closed;





FIG. 4



b


is a perspective view for illustrating a hinge structure when a door in

FIG. 2

is opened;





FIG. 5

is a perspective view for illustrating an installed statue where a hinge according to the present invention is mounted to a door;





FIG. 6

is an exploded perspective view for illustrating a hinge structure according to the present invention; and





FIG. 7

is a sectional view taken along line C-C′ of FIG.


5


.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION




Now, preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.





FIGS. 6 and 7

are respectively an exploded perspective view of a hinge structure according to the present invention and a sectional view for illustrating an operational state of the hinge structure.




In a door hinge


10


′ having a first hinge unit


11


, and a second hinge unit


12


′ rotatively coupled to an inner panel


3


of a door


1


and to a recess


4


of a body


2


, each connected to a rotary axle


13


′, the hinge structure for back door comprises a guide member


20


formed at a bottom surface


21


thereof with a coupling hole


22


through which to secure the first hinge unit


11


′ via a bolt and a nut and formed at both left and right tip ends thereof with a bent piece


24


having a guide hole


23


, a bracket formed at a bottom surface


31


thereof with a coupling hole


32


and formed at both left and right sides thereof with bent pieces


34


and


34


′ formed at one side thereof with a connecting hole


33


, first and second rods


40


and


40


′ having both ends


41


and


41


′ externally expanded for being respectively inserted into the guide hole


23


of the guide member


20


and the connecting hole


33


of the bracket


30


which central units thereof


42


and


42


′ are made in “⊂” shape, a connecting member


50


for connecting the central units


42


and


42


′ of the first and second rods


40


and


40


′, and a torsion bar spring


60


for being inserted into a tip end


41


′ of the second rod


40


′ and for being mount ed between the bent pieces


34


and


34


′ of the bracket


30


.




The connecting member


50


includes a front unit


51


and a rear unit


52


, where the front unit


51


and the rear unit


52


are detached from each other. The front unit


51


and the rear unit


52


are integrally connected by a side having an oval shape in cross-sectional view while the other side thereof is opened.




As a result, the connecting member


50


has a cross-sectional shape of hollowed dumbbell, and the front and rear units


51


and


52


are oppositely formed at the other side thereof with fixation holes


53


through which the front unit


51


and the rear unit


52


are integrally joined via fixation bolt


54


. It is preferred that central axles of the fixation holes are corresponded.




Furthermore, the connecting member


50


may be formed by simply pressing a predetermined size of steel plate and punching thereto. The bracket


30


is inclined and bent at a right tip end


35


thereof on the basis of a bottom surface


310


The f first rod


40


is curved while its tip end


41


is mounted with a guide rod


43


formed with a coupling hole


44


for insertion therethrough and having a cross-sectional shape of a hat.




Now, operational state of the hinge thus constructed according to the present invention will be described.




When the door


1


is to be opened and while the second rod


40


′ is abutted to the bracket


30


by resilience of the torsion bar spring


60


, the guide hole


23


is guided and moved by the tip end


41


of the first rod


40


in response to movement of the guide member


20


upto approximately 90 degrees when the door rotates the rotary axle


13


′ to an axle, enabling the door


1


to rotate.




After the tip end


41


of the first rod


40


reaches a far end of the guide hole


23


by the relative movement of the guide hole


23


and the first rod


40


to thereby stop further relative movement, turning effect of the door


1


is transmitted to the second rod


40


′ through the guide member


20


, first rod


40


and he connecting member


50


where the second rod


40


′ overcome the resilience of the torsion bar spring


60


and is rotated, such that the door is rotated upto approximately 180degrees to thereby be opened.




Meanwhile, when the door


1


is to be closed, the second rod


40


′ is rotated toward the bracket


30


by the operation of the torsion bar spring


60


to absorb rotating angle of the door


1


, and successively the door


1


is rotated until the second rod


40


′ completely contacts the bracket


30


, where the guide hole


23


at the guide member


20


is guided and moved by the tip end of the first rod


40


to close the door


1


.




As apparent from the foregoing, there is an advantage in the hinge structure for back door thus described according to the present invention in that a hinge of the prior art is simply constructed in reduced sizes of parts to enable to save the number of working processes and to decrease the manufacturing cost according to the reduced sizes of the parts.



Claims
  • 1. A hinge structure for back door, wherein, in a door hinge having a first hinge unit and a second hinge unit rotatively coupled to an inner panel of a door and to a recess of a body, each connected to a rotary axle, the hinge structure for back door comprises a guide member formed at a bottom surface thereof with a coupling hole through which to secure the first hinge unit via a bolt and a nut and formed at both left and right tip ends thereof with a bent piece having a guide hole, a bracket formed at a bottom surface thereof with a coupling hole and formed at both left and left sides thereof with bent pieces formed at one side thereof with a connecting hole, first and second rods having both ends externally expanded for being respectively inserted into the guide hole of the guide member and the connecting hole of the bracket while central units thereof are made in “⊂” shape, a connecting member for connecting the central units of the first and second rods, and a torsion bar spring for being inserted into a tip end of the second rod and for being mounted between the bent pieces and the bracket.
  • 2. The structure as defined in claim 1, wherein the connecting member comprises a front unit and a rear unit, each detached therebetween while the front unit and the rear unit are integrally connected at upper sides thereof, with a cross-sectional view of hollowed dumbbell shape, and with a lower side thereof respectively formed with fixation holes.
  • 3. The structure as defined in claim 1, wherein the bracket is inclined and bent at a right tip end thereof on the basis of a bottom surface.
Priority Claims (1)
Number Date Country Kind
2000-73409 Dec 2000 KR
US Referenced Citations (11)
Number Name Date Kind
1282435 Korb Oct 1918 A
2249403 Stollsteimer Jul 1941 A
2823662 Aylor Feb 1958 A
3673635 Cencioni Jul 1972 A
4068348 Chivers Jan 1978 A
4738003 Mori et al. Apr 1988 A
5035463 Kato et al. Jul 1991 A
5050270 Burgei et al. Sep 1991 A
5632065 Siladke et al. May 1997 A
6141832 Salice Nov 2000 A
6347818 Lyons, Sr. Feb 2002 B1
Foreign Referenced Citations (3)
Number Date Country
2049800 May 1980 GB
2069037 Jan 1981 GB
2070129 Jan 1981 GB