1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to hoods for automotive vehicles. More specifically, the invention relates to a hood structure that controls deformation of the hood during a collision.
2. Description of Related Art
Automotive vehicles are designed so that during a frontal impact, various portions of the vehicle will absorb the impact and protect the occupants of the vehicle. One portion that absorbs part of the impact is the hood. In designing a hood to absorb part of a frontal impact, the hood must be designed so that, during a frontal impact, it does not deform in a manner that causes the hood to impinge upon the passenger compartment of the vehicle. In this regard, hoods are generally designed to deform upwardly relative to the vehicle.
Often hoods are designed having a smooth exterior contour to provide a pleasing visual appearance. A recent trend in automotive vehicle design, however, has been to provide the hood with more contour changes and pronounced styling. Such contour changes and styling have an impact on the deformation characteristics of the hood. If pronounced enough, the styling makes it difficult to design the hood so that it will deform in the desired manner during a frontal impact. In fact, the styling may be so pronounced that the styling prevents the hood from deforming upwardly utilizing known techniques for imparting such a predetermined deformation.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds