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EP-4212415-B1 - HOOD ASSEMBLY FOR A MOTOR VEHICLE AND PROCESS FOR THE MOUNTING THEREOF

EP4212415B1EP 4212415 B1EP4212415 B1EP 4212415B1EP-4212415-B1

Inventors

  • PUGLISI, Gabriele

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20230111

Claims (13)

  1. A hood assembly for a motor vehicle (1), the hood assembly comprising - a hood (8) suitable for covering a compartment, for example defined by either a trunk or an engine compartment of the motor vehicle (1), - a hinge (11) comprising a first arm (12), a pin (15) fixed to the first arm (12) in a projecting manner relative to the first arm (12) along a mounting axis (X) and a second arm (13) fixed to the hood (8) and hinged to the first arm (12) around a hinge axis (H), so that the hood (8) can be rotated around the hinge axis (H), - a structural member (10) fixed to the pin (15) and provided with a hole (16), the hole (16) axially receiving the pin (15) along the mounting axis (X), wherein the hinge axis (H) and the mounting axis (X) lie respectively on a first plane and on a second plane parallel to one another, wherein a projection of the hinge axis (H) onto the second plane is orthogonal to the mounting axis (X), wherein said hole (16) is a through hole going through the structural member (10), characterized by further comprising a sleeve (17) fixed to the structural member (10) in a releasable manner inside the hole (16) and in an axially adjusted position along the mounting axis (X), wherein the sleeve (17) goes through the hole (16) and axially receives the pin (15), the sleeve (17) having an end (17b) defining a face (19) arranged so as to abut against the first arm (12).
  2. The hood assembly according to claim 1, wherein the sleeve (17) has an outer thread.
  3. The hood assembly according to claim 2 and further comprising a first threaded locking nut (20) screwed onto the outer thread up to be tightened on the structural member (10) on the outside of the hole (16), thereby locking the position of the sleeve (17), in a releasable manner.
  4. The hood assembly according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the hole (16) has an inner thread to which the outer thread of the sleeve (17) is screwed.
  5. The hood assembly according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the pin (15) entirely goes through the sleeve (17) with a radial clearance and ends with a threaded end (15a), the assembly further comprising a second threaded locking nut (21) screwed onto the threaded end (15a) up to be tightened on the sleeve (17), thereby fixing the pin (15) to the sleeve (17).
  6. The hood assembly according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the structural member (10) extends according to a third plane orthogonal to the mounting axis (X), the structural member (10) being configured to be arranged between a trunk and a passenger compartment of the motor vehicle (1), so as to delimit the passenger compartment relative to the trunk.
  7. The hood assembly according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the second arm (13) and the pin (15) extend according to the mounting axis (X) starting from respective ends (12a, 12b) of the first arm (12), the ends (12a, 12b) being opposite according to the mounting axis (X).
  8. A motor vehicle (1) comprising the hood assembly according to any of the previous claims.
  9. The motor vehicle according to claim 8, wherein the mounting axis (x) extends according to a forward direction of the motor vehicle (1) or is parallel to the mounting axis (X).
  10. The motor vehicle according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the first and the second plane are horizontal or comprise the forward direction.
  11. A process for mounting a hood assembly according to any one of the claims from 1 to 7, the process comprising the steps of - axially inserting the pin (15) into the hole (16), - adjusting the position of the pin (15) along the mounting axis (X), and - fixing the pin (15) to the structural member (10).
  12. The process according to claim 11, wherein the step of fixing the pin (15) to the structural member (10) comprises the steps of - causing the face (19) of the end (17b) of the sleeve (17) to abut against the first arm (12) by axially adjusting the position of the second sleeve (17) according to the mounting axis (X) through the hole (16) and with the pin (15) axially inserted in the sleeve (17), and - fixing the sleeve (17) to the structural member (10) in a releasable manner in the axially adjusted position.
  13. The process according to claim 12, wherein the step of fixing the pin (15) to the structural member (10) further comprises the step of fixing the pin (15) to the sleeve (17) after the step of fixing the sleeve (17) to the structural member (10).

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The invention relates to a hood assembly for a motor vehicle, in particular a sports car, as well as a process for mounting the assembly on a chassis of the motor vehicle. PRIOR ART As known, the bodywork comprises the more external parts of a motor vehicle, which are, therefore, visible to the user. These parts typically also include the hoods, i.e., the tailgates arranged respectively to cover an engine and a trunk of the motor vehicle. Usually, therefore, one of the hoods is located in an area at the front of the motor vehicle, while the other is located in an area at the back of the motor vehicle, according to the forward direction of the motor vehicle. Each of the hoods is mounted on a chassis of the motor vehicle, hinging it to the chassis itself, i.e., via one or more hinges, typically two hinges arranged symmetrically to the sides of a vertical midplane of the motor vehicle. More specifically, each of the hinges normally includes a pin that is fixed inside a corresponding hole made in the chassis. The pin enters the hole with radial clearance. More precisely, the hole is made on a structural portion of the chassis, which extends horizontally and transversally to the forward direction for almost the whole lateral extension of the motor vehicle, i.e., until the areas in which the more external, lateral parts are fixed, for example the mudguards or the doors of the bodywork. In some cases, the axis of the hole is oriented vertically; therefore, the position of the pin and, thus, of each of the hinges on a horizontal plane may be adjusted, before fastening the pin to the chassis, moving the pin horizontally inside the hole. On the other hand, the vertical position of each of the hinges, i.e., the depth to which the pin is inserted in the hole, is adjusted by arranging one or more spacers between the pin and the chassis near the outside of the hole. This type of adjustment of the hinge position in the cases indicated above is simply and effectively possible because the holes are positioned in intermediate areas of the motor vehicle, i.e., sufficiently distant from the lateral ends of the motor vehicle. In fact, for this reason, the holes are relatively easily accessible to an operator, so that the operator can arrange the spacers comfortably. The adjustment of the position of the hinges and, thus, of the hood is extremely important since the precision of the adjustment directly influences the size and visibility of the discontinuities between the externally visible parts of the bodywork. To ensure strong aesthetics, minimising the visible empty spaces is essential, since a user should have a maximum perception of continuity between the externally visible parts of the bodywork. This can only be obtained with great precision of the adjustment of the position of the hinges. For example, the type of adjustment described above ensures the precision required. US2020284078A1 and EP3620358A1 disclose examples of a hood assembly according to the preamble of claim 1. In general, the need is felt to move the holes for fastening the hinges at the lateral ends of the motor vehicle, in particular with the purpose of reserving the intermediate zones to receive other devices. In any case, an application of the type of adjustment described above, near the lateral ends, becomes difficult due to a reduced accessibility of the angle areas between the structural portion that should carry the holes for fastening the hinges and the externally visible lateral parts. As a result, the need is felt to identify at least one alternative way for adjusting the position of the hinges, in any case in the direction of maximising the simplicity and precision of adjustment, in particular when the hinges must be mounted near the lateral ends of the motor vehicle. One purpose of the invention is that of meeting the latter need. DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The purpose is achieved with a hood assembly and a mounting process as defined in the independent claims. The dependent claims define particular embodiments of the invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Below, an embodiment of the invention will be described to better understand the same by way of non-limiting example and with reference to the attached drawings in which: Figure 1 is a plan view of a motor vehicle that comprises a hood assembly according to the invention;Figure 2 is a perspective view, on an enlarged scale, of a portion of the hood assembly of the motor vehicle in Figure 1;Figure 3 is a perspective view, on an even more enlarged scale, of a detail of the portion in Figure 2; andFigure 4 is a cross-section of the portion in Figure 2 according to a vertical plane parallel to a forward direction of the motor vehicle in Figure 1. EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION In Figure 1, the reference number 1 is used to indicate, as a whole, a motor vehicle. The motor vehicle 1 has a front part 2 and a back part 3, according to its forward direction, represented in Figure