The present invention generally relates to vehicle door hinge assemblies, and more particularly to a rotary hinge assembly having a rotary damper.
Rotary hinge assemblies which connect a vehicle door to a vehicle body are commonly equipped with a rotary damper in order to enable the vehicle door to open and close smoothly. The rotary damper generally includes a fluid filled chamber and a connecting pin rotatably supported in the chamber for rotation with respect to the chamber. One end of the pin is disposed inside the chamber and is connected to a vane which undergoes rotational movement inside the chamber, while the other end of the pin is connected to the vehicle door. The other end of the pin is connected to the vehicle door in such a way that the vane is able to gain rotational movement within the chamber in response to opening and closing of the vehicle door.
Further, when the vehicle door is opened or closed, the vane in the chamber rotates against a rotational resistance applied by the fluid present in the chamber. Such rotational resistance applied by the fluid attenuates the rotational movement of the vane or the vehicle door in order to enable the vehicle door to open and close smoothly.
An exemplary rotary damper is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 9,027,979 and 7,243,398 which describe a rotary damper employed in a hinge of a vehicle door. The rotary damper includes a fluid filled chamber and a vane connected to the vehicle door. Such fluid filled chamber includes a fluid channel or constricted section through which the fluid has to pass, during the rotational movement of the vane in the chamber, in response to opening and closing of the vehicle door. During the passing of the fluid through the constricted section, the constricted section produces a resistive force against the rotation of the vane or the vehicle door, in order to enable the vehicle door to open and close smoothly.
However, while application of the resistive force against the rotational movement of the vehicle door is performed using the rotary damper described in the aforementioned patents, end users including driver and passengers of the vehicle may be deprived of any option of controlling the resistive force as per their requirement.
This summary is provided to introduce concepts related to rotary hinge assemblies for vehicle doors. The concepts are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify essential features of the claimed subject matter nor is it intended for use in determining or limiting the scope of the claimed subject matter.
In one embodiment, a rotary hinge assembly is described. The rotary hinge assembly includes a fluid chamber filled with a fluid. The fluid chamber includes a constricted section with a throat area which is tunable by a throat tuner to control the fluid flow passing through the constricted section. Within the fluid chamber, a rotary connecting pin is mounted. The rotary connecting pin has two ends including a first longitudinal end and a second longitudinal end. The first longitudinal end is connected to a door to provide the rotational movement to the rotary connecting pin in response to opening and closing of the door. The second longitudinal end is concentrically and rotatably mounted within the fluid chamber. Further, on the second longitudinal end, a vane is connected. The vane is adapted to rotate for displacing the fluid present in the fluid chamber towards the constricted section, when the rotary connecting pin undergoes the rotational movement in response to opening and closing of the door.
According to another embodiment, a vehicle door rotary hinge assembly is provided. The rotary hinge assembly includes a fluid chamber filled with fluid and comprising a constriction section with a throat area, and a throat tuner connected in the throat area to control fluid flow passing through the constriction section. The rotary hinge assembly also includes a rotary connecting pin mounted within the chamber, and a vane connected to the rotary connecting pin and rotatable to displace the fluid towards the constricted section when the rotary connecting pin rotates responsive to opening and closing of a door.
In one embodiment, a vehicle having a rotary hinge assembly is described. The door hinge includes a fixed adapter connected to a body part of the vehicle. With the fixed adapter, a toroidal fluid chamber filled with a fluid is connected. The fluid chamber includes a constricted section with a throat area which is tunable by a throat tuner to control the fluid flow passing through the constricted section. Within the fluid chamber, a rotary connecting pin is mounted. The rotary connecting pin has two ends including a first longitudinal end and a second longitudinal end. The first longitudinal end is connected to a vehicle door to provide the rotational movement to the rotary connecting pin in response to opening and closing of the vehicle door. The second longitudinal end is concentrically and rotatably mounted within the fluid chamber. Further, on the second longitudinal end, a vane is connected. The vane is adapted to rotate for displacing the fluid present in the fluid chamber towards the constricted section, when the rotary connecting pin undergoes the rotational movement in response to opening and closing of the vehicle door.
These and other aspects, objects, and features of the present invention will be understood and appreciated by those skilled in the art upon studying the following specification, claims, and appended drawings.
In the drawings:
The subject matter described herein relates to a rotary hinge assembly for doors, for example, of vehicles. The rotary hinge assembly is often used to provide soft stop positions at a fully opened position or at a fully closed position of the doors. To this end, the rotary hinge assembly generally includes a fluid chamber filled with a fluid and a rotary connecting pin. The fluid chamber may have a toroidal shape and is disposed radially with respect to the central axis of the rotary hinge assembly. Further, the fluid chamber includes a constricted section.
Further, the rotary connecting pin has two ends in lengthwise or longitudinal direction. One end of the rotary connecting pin is disposed outside the fluid chamber and is directly connected to a vehicle door, so as to provide the rotational movement to the rotary connecting pin in response to opening and closing of the vehicle door. The other end of the rotary connecting pin is disposed within the fluid chamber and includes a vane or blade which is present within the fluid chamber. The vane is adapted to move and displace the fluid towards the constricted section, when the rotary connecting pin undergoes the rotational movement in response to opening and closing of the vehicle door. While the fluid is displaced towards the constricted section by the vane, the constricted section allows the fluid to apply a resistive force against the rotation of the vane in order to enable the vehicle door to open and close smoothly. Such smooth opening and closing of the vehicle door minimizes the discomfort, which otherwise would have occurred, to an end user including the driver and passengers of the vehicle.
However, while applying the resistive force against the rotation of the vane or the vehicle door, the end user is deprived of any option of controlling the resistive force against the rotation of the vane or the vehicle door. Also, manufacturers may have to manufacture separate hinges with differing strengths for different vehicles and door types, and thus no single adjustable hinge is available to the end user.
To this end, a rotary hinge assembly for a vehicle door is described in the present disclosure. As per an embodiment of the present disclosure, the rotary hinge assembly includes a housing enclosing a fluid chamber filled with a fluid. In an example, the fluid chamber may be of toroidal shape and the fluid may be gas or liquid. The fluid may be, for example, nitrogen gas.
Further, the fluid chamber includes a constricted section with a throat area which is tunable by a throat tuner to control the fluid flow passing through the constricted section. In an example, the fluid chamber can include one or more constricted sections.
Furthermore, within the fluid chamber, a rotary connecting pin is mounted in such a way that a first longitudinal end of the rotary connecting pin is disposed outside the fluid chamber and a second end of the rotary connecting pin is concentrically and rotatably disposed inside the fluid chamber. The first longitudinal end is connected to a door in order to provide the rotational movement to the rotary connecting pin in response to opening and closing of the door. On the second longitudinal end, a vane or a blade is connected for displacing the fluid present in the fluid chamber towards the constricted section, when the rotary connecting pin undergoes the rotational movement in response to opening and closing of the door.
Thus, according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, the end user is facilitated with an option to adjust the position of the throat tuner inside the constricted section to control the throat area of the constricted section and hence the resistive force of the fluid against the rotation of the blade or the vehicle door. Such an adjustable throat tuner facilitates the end user to dampen the level of squeaking noise, raised by the fast door closing, of the vehicle door. This in turn eliminates the body rattling noise, and allows the end user to feel a soothing or ergonomic sound during closing of the vehicle door. Furthermore, since the door opening and closing speed is controlled by the end user using the throat tuner, the chances of fingers or objects struck while closing the vehicle door can be minimized or eliminated to an extent.
The above mentioned advantages and/or implementations are further described herein with reference to the accompanying figures. It should be noted that the description and figures relate to exemplary implementations, and should not be construed as a limitation to the present invention. It is also to be understood that various arrangements may be devised that, although not explicitly described or shown herein, embody the principles of the present disclosure. Moreover, all statements herein reciting principles, aspects, and embodiments of the present disclosure, as well as specific examples, are intended to encompass equivalents thereof.
The following description relates to an exemplary embodiment of an adjustable damper or damping portion for a rotary hinge assembly for use, for example, in passenger cabins of a vehicle. It will be understood, however, that the herein described inventive concepts can be suitably utilized for other purposes and applications. It will also be readily apparent that various modifications and variations would be contemplated as within the ordinary skill of one in the field and not limited to the exemplary embodiment that is described herein. In addition, various terms are used throughout the course of the following discussion, including “top,” “bottom,” “inner,” “outer,” “distal,” “proximal,” “interior,” “exterior,” and the like. These terms are used in order to provide a suitable frame of reference in regard to the accompanying drawings and should not be regarded as overly limiting, however, except where so specifically indicated herein.
Referring to
The housing 104 is hollow from inside and is sized to define a fluid chamber (not shown in
Yet further, in a central portion of the fluid chamber, a rotary connecting pin 110 having a mast with a first longitudinal end and a second longitudinal end is operatively mounted using a mounting device such as lock nut 112. The rotary connecting pin 110 is mounted in the housing 104 in such a way that the first longitudinal end of the rotary connecting pin 110 is disposed outside the bottom portion of the housing 104, while the second longitudinal end of the rotary connecting pin 110 is disposed inside the housing 104.
The first longitudinal end, of the rotary connecting pin 110, lying outside the bottom portion of the housing 104 is connected to a rotary adapter 114. The rotary adapter 114 is used to connect rotary connecting pin 110 along with the housing 104, or the rotary hinge assembly 102, with a door (not shown in figures) of a vehicle or any other structure. Further, similar to the fixed adapter 106, the rotary adapter 114 may include one or more orifices 116 for allowing insertion therethrough of fasteners, such as bolts, to connect the rotary adapter 114 to the door.
The second longitudinal end of the rotary connecting pin 110 includes one or more blades or vanes projecting radially outwards from the mast of the rotary connecting pin 110 up to an inner peripheral surface of the fluid chamber. With such structure, the second longitudinal end of the rotary connecting pin 110 is rotatably mounted in the fluid chamber so as to dissipate kinetic energy into the fluid present in the fluid chamber, in response to kinetic energy generated by movement of the door between an opened position and a closed position.
In accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, the fluid chamber includes a constricted section (not shown in
The working and operation of the rotary hinge assembly 102 is described in detail in the following description with reference to
In an attached or connected position, each of the two mating half assemblies 104-1 and 104-2 are hollow and sized to enclose a fluid chamber 302 (shown in
Further, the fluid chamber 302 can be of toroidal shape having a constricted section 304 (as shown in
In one embodiment as shown in
Referring to
Further, in one example, the rotary hinge assembly 102 of the present disclosure allows an end user to adjust the throat tuner 118 at the various positions within the constricted section 304. Thus, by having the throat tuner 118 adjustable at various positions within the constricted section 304, the end user can control flow of the fluid passing the constricted section 304. Such user adjustable or controllable throat tuner 118 allows the end user to select a position for the throat tuner 118 as per user's desire of having soothing or ergonomic sound during closing or opening of the door.
Returning back to
The first longitudinal end 110-1 lying outside the housing 104 may be connected to the rotary adapter 114. The rotary adapter 114 is used to connect the rotary connecting pin 110 with a door (not shown in figures), in order to provide rotational movement to the rotary connecting pin 110 in response to movement of the door between an opened position (shown in
Further, the second longitudinal end 110-2 of the rotary connecting pin 110 is concentrically and rotatably mounted or disposed inside the fluid chamber 302. In one example, the second longitudinal end 110-2 of the rotary connecting pin 110 includes a blade or a vane 110-4. The vane 110-4 can be a radially extending structure from the mast 110-3 along cylindrical inner peripheral surface of the fluid chamber 302. With such structural configuration of the vane 110-4, the vane 110-4 remains in sliding contact with the inner peripheral surface of the fluid chamber 302 while the vane 110-4 and the fluid chamber 302 undergoes relative rotation in response to the movement of the door. In an example, the vane 110-4 rotates between the opened position and the closed position defined by an open vane limiter 306-1 and a close vane limiter 306-2 mounted in the fluid chamber 302.
Yet further, the vane 110-4 may include one or more one-way valves 308. The one-way valves 308 are operatively open when the vane 110-4 is moved away from the constricted section 304 in order to open the door. With such one-way valves 308, the fluid is able to achieve a higher flow rate across the vane 110-4 during opening of the door. Such higher flow rate across the vane 110-4 during opening of the door facilitates an end user, including driver and passengers, of a vehicle with a quick egress from a passenger compartment of the vehicle. Such quick egress enhances the end users safety during emergency situations, such as vehicle collision or crash situations.
On the other hand, when the door or the vane 110-4 is to be moved towards the constricted section 304 in order to close the door, the end user can selectively adjust the level of rotational resistance against the expected flow rate of the fluid in the chamber towards the constricted section 304 by moving and adjusting the throat tuner 118 in the constricted section 304. Such adjustment allows the fluid to apply the rotational resistance against the rotational movement of the vane 110-4 in the fluid chamber 302 in order to dampen the level of squeaking noise, raised by the fast door of a vehicle closing. This in turn eliminates the body rattling noise, and allows the end user to feel a soothing or ergonomic sound during closing of the door. Also, in one example, the fluid chamber 302 includes an expanded portion 602 (
Furthermore, in addition to facilitating the improvement in the ergonomic sound to the end users, the rotary hinge assembly 102 described herein enhances the life of the structures to which the rotary hinge assembly 102 is attached or mounted. Furthermore, since the door opening and closing speed is controlled by the end users using the throat tuner 118, the chances of fingers or objects struck while closing the door can be minimized or eliminated to an extent. This in turn enhances the safety and convenience to the end users.
Although examples for the present disclosure have been described in language specific to structural features and/or methods, it should be understood that the appended claims are not necessarily limited to the specific features or methods described. Rather, the specific features and methods are disclosed and explained as examples of the present disclosure.
It is to be understood that variations and modifications can be made on the aforementioned structure without departing from the concepts of the present invention, and further it is to be understood that such concepts are intended to be covered by the following claims unless these claims by their language expressly state otherwise.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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201741005122 | Feb 2017 | IN | national |
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20180230725 A1 | Aug 2018 | US |