The present invention relates to a vehicle having a front trunk and more particularly to user access to the trunk.
Some vehicles include a front trunk, which may be due to the engine being located other than under a hood at the front of the vehicle, or due to the vehicle operating as a battery electric, in which case there is no engine under the hood.
In particular vehicle models, there may be customer options for an engine-based powertrain (gasoline, diesel, etc.), a hybrid electric powertrain or a pure battery electric powertrain. Due to cost efficiency, esthetics and functionality, the overall shape of the vehicle front end and structure may be maintained for all of the various powertrain options. For such vehicles, a hood and engine compartment is needed to receive and support the engine for the engine driven configuration of the vehicle. However, for the battery electric powertrain, then, the area where the engine is typically located may act as a front trunk for storage since no engine is present. Ease of access to this front trunk area is desirable.
An embodiment contemplates a vehicle including a front trunk between fenders, a grille movable to provide an opening to the front trunk, front and rear bins, slidable out of the front trunk to allow the front bin to pivot on the rear bin, and a light mounted on the front bin such that light projects into the front and rear bins when adjacent and only into the front bin when the front bin is pivoted away.
An embodiment contemplates a method of operating a storage assembly in a front trunk of a vehicle comprising: activating a bin light mounted on a front bin that directs light into the front bin and an adjacent rear bin; sliding the front and rear bins forward relative to the front trunk; and pivoting the front bin away from the rear bin while increasing intensity of light emitted from the bin light.
An advantage of an embodiment is that essentially the same vehicle structure and front end look may be employed for various drivetrain configurations of a vehicle, while providing ease of access to a front trunk for a battery electric powertrain configuration of the vehicle. The ease of access to the front trunk is provided while providing features that add to the functionality of the front trunk, such as lighting and movable storage bins.
The grille 20 may be sized and shaped to match a grille in an engine driven model of this vehicle in order to maintain the same look and allow for essentially the same front end vehicle body structure for both models. While the grille 20 may be configured to look the same as other models from outside of the vehicle 10, it may have a solid inner surface in order to keep water out of a front trunk 22 and provide other functionality. The solid inner surface may be feasible in this battery electric vehicle 10, rather than having perforations or openings, since no air flow is needed for engine cooling. When the front trunk 22 is open, the grille 20 moves out of the way of a front opening 24 of the front trunk 22, which allows for access to a storage assembly 26.
The storage assembly 26 includes movable front 28 and rear 30 bins and a lighting system 32 that fit within the front trunk 22 when the hood 18 and grille 20 are closed.
The bins 28, 30 are configured to slide forward from a retracted position (see
The bins 28, 30 are releasably secured together by a pivot 34 on one side and a latch 36 on the other. The pivot 34 allows the front bin 28 to pivot about a vertical axis relative to the rear bin 30 when the latch 36 is released (see
The lighting system 32 may include front trunk mounted lights 42 that are in fixed positions relative to the front trunk 22, with these lights generally directing light laterally within the front trunk 22, without regard to the position of the bins 28, 30. The direction of light emanating from the various light sources herein is illustrated with phantom lines (in
The lighting system 32 also includes bin-mounted lighting 46 that is mounted on the front bin 28. This lighting 46 may, for example, include an acrylic shell that extends along the rear of the front bin 28, with a printed circuit board (PCB) and light emitting diodes (LEDs) mounted within the shell. The bin-mounted lighting 46 is oriented to project light down into both bins 28, 30, as can be seen by the direction of the light (shown in phantom in
The bin-mounted lighting 46 also provides an additional lighting feature when the front bin 28 is pivoted away from the rear bin 30. After the latch 36 is released and the front bin 28 begins to pivot, the bin-mounted lighting 46 pivots with the front bin 28, thus changing the orientation of the lighting 46 (see
As for activating the lighting in the front trunk 22, the lighting system 32 may be turned on by a switch that detects the hood 18 moving from a closed position. Additionally, the lighting may be controlled by a keypad or touch screen on the exterior of the vehicle 10, a key fob, vehicle interior button or touch screen, remote cellular device such as a phone, etc.
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.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
2576385 | Bigsby | Nov 1951 | A |
2784027 | Temp | Mar 1957 | A |
4375306 | Linder | Mar 1983 | A |
4469364 | Rafi-Zadeh | Sep 1984 | A |
4705315 | Cherry | Nov 1987 | A |
8562058 | Kim et al. | Oct 2013 | B1 |
8844779 | Cha | Sep 2014 | B2 |
8925777 | Casucci | Jan 2015 | B1 |
9789823 | Salter | Oct 2017 | B2 |
9863621 | Dai | Jan 2018 | B2 |
20090021357 | Evans et al. | Jan 2009 | A1 |
20110031771 | Ding | Feb 2011 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
202557425 | Nov 2012 | CN |
104586097 | May 2015 | CN |
102910111 | Dec 2015 | CN |
106882152 | Jun 2017 | CN |
207045245 | Feb 2018 | CN |
817201 | Jul 1959 | GB |
2016055654 | Apr 2016 | JP |