PRODUCTION METHOD OF A GOOSE-NECK PROFILE MADE OF ALUMINUM

MATERIAL AND USED IN AUTOMOBILE TRUNK LIDS

Technical Field The invention relates to the production of trunk hinge profile of goose-neck type from aluminum alloys instead of steel sheet material, with extrusion method.

State of the Art

The trunk is the place where the loads are put in the passenger cars. The goose-neck shaped profile represents trunk hinge profile.

The hinge type which is used in the vehicles as trunk hinge and called "goose-neck type", one side of which is the profile or the pipe connected to the trunk lid and the other side of which is disposed on the vehicle body, and which consists of a bracket connected there to at the rotation axis with the freedom there of is preferred by many automobile manufacturers. Although its narrowing the trunk volume due to its large size is a disadvantage, having low force required for opening the trunk lid is an important advantage. The present hinge profile weight is 1187 grams.

Steel hinge profiles are made with the welded pipe production method based on welding the sheet or band shaped metal materials by bending.

However, as the steel is a heavy material, in order to reduce the amount of waste gases disturbing the ecological balance, minimizing the use of fuel by producing and developing technologies which will provide less fuel consumption is sought. New components are added with the increase in the vehicle comfort and the importance given to the passenger safety and this, in turn, increases the weight of the vehicle.

Due to the reasons mentioned above, weight of the main components of the vehicles should be reduced. In every 100 kg weight decrease, 0.6 liter less fuel is consumed per 100km in the vehicles. Less fuel consumption also means less exhaust emission value and operation cost. An environmentally friendly automobile which will consume less fuel should be lighter in weight. The only method that will provide this apart from the design changes is to use lighter material in the production of automobile.

Due to the aforementioned reasons, aluminum profile is used to reduce the weight of the goose-neck type of trunk hinge profile. While the weight of the present hinge profile is 1187 gr., the weight of the aluminum profile is 490 gr. although the wall thickness thereof is more than the steel profile. When the hinge profile material is converted into aluminum and compared with the present steel sheet profile, an approximately 60% of weight decrease in the hinge profile will be achieved.

To conclude, due to the drawbacks mentioned above and the inadequacy of the existing solutions with respect to the subject, an improvement is required to be made in the related technical field.

Object of the Invention

The invention, configured by being inspired by the present conditions, aims to eliminate the above mentioned drawbacks.

The object of the invention is to reduce the weight of the automobile without compromising on safety, comfort and reliability. The object of the invention is to reduce the amount of waste gases disturbing the ecological balance.

Another object of the invention is to provide less fuel consumption and to minimize the use of fuel.

Thanks to the invention, the automobiles will be more eco-friendly.

The object of the invention is to reduce the unnecessary fuel consumption and thus to provide a more efficient operation with less fuel. The object of the invention is to provide 60% of weight decrease in the hinge profiles by performing the production of the trunk hinge profiles made of steel sheet material from Al-Mg-Si alloys. The object of the invention is to eliminate the bending step during the production of profile material. Profile is obtained by applying welded bend comprising the bending and welding processes to the steel sheet in the invention. As the aluminum profile will be produced by extrusion method, bending steps will be eliminated with the removal of said intermediate process.

Yet another object of the invention is to eliminate the bending and welding processes in the production of welded pipe with the conversion of the trunk hinges into aluminum, since the aluminum hinge profiles are made with extrusion method by using molds with desired geometries. Thus, advantage is provided in the production and labor costs.

The structural and characteristic features and all the advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood thanks to the figures below and the detailed description written with reference to those figures and therefore, the evaluation needs to be done by taking said figures and the detailed description into consideration.

Figures Facilitating Understanding of the Invention

Figure 1 -Perspective view of the 'goose-neck type' of trunk hinge profile according to the invention made of aluminum material.

Figure 2 -Lateral view of the aluminum 'goose-neck type' of trunk hinge profile according to the invention.

Figure 3 -View of the aluminum 'goose-neck type' of trunk hinge profile according to the invention applied on the trunk.

Figure 4 -Different angle view of the aluminum 'goose-neck type' of trunk hinge profile according to the invention applied on the trunk.

Description of the Part References

1. Goose-neck profile

2. Steel brackets

3. Bush Pin

Trunk Lid

Vehicle body The drawings do not need to be scaled and the details that are not necessary for understanding the present invention may have been ignored. In addition, the members that are at least identical to a great extent or at least have identical functions to a great extent are referred with the same number.

Detailed Description of the Invention

In this detailed description of the invention, the preferred embodiments of the connection assembly according to the invention are described only for a better understanding of the subject.

The invention is the trunk hinge profile of goose-neck type used in automobiles and consisting of goose-neck profile (1), steel brackets (2), bush (3), pins (4), characterized in that the goose-neck profile (1) is made of aluminum material.

Rear trunk goose-neck profile (1 ) desired to be produced from aluminum alloys is produced with extrusion method. The profile used in the present hinge, however, is produced by bending of the steel sheet (welded pipe bend). The use of extrusion method will eliminate this intermediate bending process.

The invention relates to the production method of goose-neck profile (1 ) positioned between the trunk lid (5) and the vehicle body (6) in the vehicles, characterized in that

- said goose-neck profile (1 ) is aluminum,

- produced with aluminum extrusion method,

- and then given the shape of goose-neck.

In recent years, the international regulations brought into the automotive sector with respect to reducing the C0 ₂ emission, particularly the Kyoto Protocol, and especially weight reduction studies for vehicles have become important. Aluminum alloys are considered important not only as light material but for the passive safety systems as well. The passive safety system, in case of an accident, comprises the design precautions such as structural improvements and material change taken on the vehicle in order to reduce the negative effects of the accident. The advantage of this invention is to reduce the weight of the vehicle with the use of aluminum hinge profile and as a result to decrease the C0 ₂ emission.

In the invention, goose-neck profile (1), steel brackets (2), bush (3), pins (4), and trunk lid (5) are the main components.

Goose-neck profile (1): Is the main component of the hinge with one side thereof connected to the trunk lid (5) and the other side being on the vehicle body and consisting of a steel bracket (2) connected there to (profile (1)) at the rotation axis with the freedom thereof.

Steel Brackets (2): Are the pieces providing mounting of the goose-neck profile (1) to the automobile.

Bush (3): Is used in the mounting of the goose-neck profile (1) and the steel bracket (2). It facilitates the movement of the hinge by reducing the friction force.

Pin (4): Is used in the mounting of the goose-neck profile (1) and the steel bracket (2).

Trunk Lid (5): Enables the trunk section of the automobile to open. It performs this operation by means of the hinge profile of goose-neck type consisting of goose-neck profile (1 ), steel brackets (2), bush (3), and pins (4).