The present invention relates to devices for facilitating the assembly of swan-neck shaped hinges to a vehicle body. In particular, the invention relates to a device for adjusting the position of the hinge box of a swan-neck shaped trunk lid hinge with respect to a tablet that forms the top ceiling of the vehicle's trunk space. Specifically, the device facilitates such adjustment in the case where the hinge box is fixed to the tablet surface from within the trunk. Swan-neck shaped hinges are often used for connecting a closing element, such as a vehicle door or trunk lid, to the body of a vehicle. Typically, the swan-neck shaped element is fixed to a hinge box providing a rotation axis, around which the hinge articulates its movement. Besides providing the articulation of the hinge element, the hinge box generally comprises a flat surface, which can be readily fastened to a corresponding flat surface of the vehicle body.

In known trunk designs, the top tablet of the trunk comprises a pair of holes, through which the swan-neck shaped elements are passed during assembly of the vehicle. The flat surface of the hinge box element contacts the top tablet from above and locks onto the top tablet by its own weight. Gravity makes sure that the hinge box element closely contacts the top tablet. After adjusting the position of the hinge elements in the lateral and longitudinal directions with respect to the vehicle body, the hinge box element is permanently fixed to the body, by joining the hinge body's flat surface to the top tablet of the trunk. The trunk lid itself is fitted to the hinge element or elements in a further step.

The present invention finds application in the scenario in which the trunk lid is first joined to the swan-neck shaped hinge elements during assembly, prior to mounting the hinge elements to the vehicle body. It is therefore not possible to pass the swan- neck shaped elements through the holes in the trunk's top tablet from above. Rather, the hinge boxes need to be passed through the top tablet's holes from within the trunk in an upward movement. The flat surface of the hinge box, which needs to be fastened to the top tablet's undersurface, approaches the top tablet from below. Gravity does not help in providing a tight fit between the two elements in the vertical direction. It rather tends to pull the hinge elements further down, away from the top tablet to which it needs to be fixed. In order to enable the accurate assembly of the lid to the vehicle body, it is therefore important to make sure that the position of the hinge box is correctly positioned in the X direction, which corresponds to the lateral direction of the vehicle body, in the Y direction, which corresponds to the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body, and in the Z direction, which corresponds to the vertical direction, which is essentially perpendicular to the trunk's top tablet. Accurate positioning of the hinges is essential for providing an accurate closure of the trunk by the lid after assembly. The geometry of the lid with respect to the vehicle is of high importance for the quality perception of the final product.

Patent document FR 2928883 discloses an assembly method for mounting a swan- neck shaped trunk lid hinge to a corresponding hinge box, which is fixed to the body of a vehicle. The hinge box comprises means for adjusting the position of the hinge with respect to the hinge box in the Z direction. However, the document does not disclose a device or a method for adjusting the position of the hinge box with respect to the body of the vehicle.

Patent documents FR 2955825 and FR 2674564 respectively disclose assembly devices for mounting a trunk lid to the body of the vehicle. None of the documents discusses the adjustment of a hinge box with respect to the vehicle body along the Z axis.

It is an objective of the present invention to provide a device and method which overcome at least some of the disadvantages of the prior art.

According to a first aspect of the invention, a device for adjusting the position of the hinge box of a swan-neck shaped hinge along the normal direction of a surface of a vehicle body is provided. The device comprises a helical spring wound around an axis. The device is capable of axially coupling to a part of said hinge box protruding through an opening in the vehicle body surface. The spring ends extend tangentially from the axis for taking support on said surface. The spring ends are arranged for pushing the axis away from said surface when a rotation is applied on said axis. Preferably the swan-neck shaped hinge is the hinge of a trunk lid.

Preferably, the device may further comprise a handle for applying a rotation on said axis. The handle may preferably extend radially from the axis.

The spring ends may be of equal length. They may preferably comprise a contacting portion extending along the axial direction. It may be preferred that the device's axial coupling means comprise a portion of general hollow cylindrical shape for coupling with a protrusion on the hinge box. The axial coupling means may further comprise a radial opening for receiving and coupling with a corresponding protrusion on said hinge box.

According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for assembling a trunk lid hinge box to the body of a vehicle. The method comprises the steps of:

- providing a swan-neck shaped trunk lid hinge including at least one hinge box;

- providing a vehicle body comprising a trunk and top trunk tablet;

- from within the trunk, arranging said hinge box so that a top part protrudes on the upper surface of said top trunk tablet through an opening therein;

- engaging the device according to the present invention with said hinge box, by taking support on said upper surface;

- adjusting the position of the hinge box along the normal direction of said surface by applying a rotational movement on the axis of said device;

- fixing said hinge box to said vehicle body.

The device according to the present invention allows pulling the hinge box, together with its flat surface, towards the undersurface of the trunk's top tablet. The device is capable of coupling to the hinge box once the top part of the hinge box protrudes through the top tablet from below. By taking support on the upper surface of the top tablet, it enables the lifting of the hinge box, and of the hinge assembly, towards the undersurface of the top tablet. Therefore, the adjustment of the hinge's position along the Z axis is facilitated, while it remains possible to adjust the position along both X and Y axes prior to joining the hinge box to the vehicle body. The method according to the present invention therefore provides a repeatable assembly step using a low-cost device. The method improves on the quality of the final product. By using the device according to the present invention along an assembly line, the flexibility of ordering the assembly stations along the line is enhanced, as it is no longer necessary to join the deck lid to the hinge elements after the hinge elements have been joined to the vehicle body. Indeed, the deck lid may be fixed to its corresponding swan-neck shaped hinge elements first. The hinge elements are then positioned accurately along the X, Y and Z directions with respect to the vehicle body, prior to being permanently fixed thereto. The device may be used with any kind of vehicle doors and is adaptable for use with hinge boxes of various dimensions. Several embodiments of the present invention are illustrated by way of figures, which do not limit the scope of the invention, wherein:

Figure 1 is an illustration of the rear part of a vehicle body.

Figure 2 is a lateral cut view of the trunk portion of a vehicle body, and of a trunk lid comprising a swan-neck shaped hinge assembly.

Figure 3 is a detail of a lateral cut view of the trunk portion of a vehicle body, and of the hinge box of a swan-neck shaped hinge assembly.

Figure 4 is a perspective illustration of a preferred embodiment of the device according to the present invention, wherein the device is not coupled to a hinge box. Figure 5 is a perspective illustration of a preferred embodiment of the device according to the present invention, wherein the device is coupled to a hinge box. Figures 6a and 6b are schematic illustrations of a lateral cut view of a preferred embodiment of the device according to the present invention, in a first and second position respectively.

Figure 1 illustrates the rear part of a vehicle body, to which a trunk lid is yet to be fixed. The body 01 comprises a top tablet 03 which limits the trunk opening 05 to the top. The top tablet comprises symmetrically arranged holes 07, which are arranged to receive the hinges of the trunk lid.

Figure 2 shows a lateral cut view of the top tablet 03, to which a swan-neck shaped hinge 1 1 has been fixed. The swan-neck shaped hinge 1 1 is joined at one end to the trunk lid 21 , and at the other end to an axis 17, which is part of the hinge box 15. The hinge articulates its movement around the axis 17. The hinge box assembly further comprises a flat panel surface 13, from which the box protrudes. The generally flat surface 13 is fixed to the undersurface of the top tablet 03. A detailed view of the hinge box assembly and its relative position to the top tablet 03 is shown in Figure 3. It is an object of the present invention to provide a device and method, which facilitate the assembly of the hinge assembly to the vehicle body. The goal is to achieve the position shown in Figure 2 and 3 in a reliable, efficient and reproducible way. As illustrated in Figure 4, the hinge box 15 comprising the rotation axis 17 is passed through the hole 07 in the top tablet 03 from the inside of the trunk space in an upward movement. The device 100 according to the present invention has a general hollow cylindrical shape. It comprises an axis 102 and an helical spring 104, which is wound around the axis. The helical spring 104 comprises two spring ends or legs 106 extending tangentially from the axis 102. The spring legs take support on the top table surface 03. The legs have generally the same length and define an angle between themselves. The body of the device comprises means 108 for coupling with the hinge box 15, and preferably for coupling with the axis 17 in such a way that the axis 17 of the hinge box is aligned with the axis 102 of the device. In a preferred embodiment, the device's axial coupling means are capable of grasping the axis 17 like an open wrench. The coupling means 108 are therefore preferably open-wrench shaped, defining a disc with an opening towards the central axis 102. The coupling means are of generally cylindrical shape. Other coupling means which are capable of grasping the hinge box are within the scope of the present invention and the skilled person will be capable of adapting the disclosed device to couple with specific hinge box shapes.

The spring 104 is loaded so that the legs find support on the surface 03 when the device is coupled to the hinge box. As shown in Figure 4, the device may be coupled to the hinge box by a translation movement that is generally parallel to the top tablet surface 03. In a preferred embodiment, a hinge 1 10 extends radially from the axis 102, and facilitates the rotation of the axis. Figure 5 shows the device 100 together with the hinge box 15 and top tablet 03 in its coupled state. Openings 09 in the top tablet surface allow fixing the hinge box assembly to the top tablet.

The spring ends or legs 106 each preferably comprises a contacting portion 107 extending along the axial direction. This facilitates taking support on the flat surface portion of the top tablet 03. Figure 6a illustrates a wrench shaped embodiment of the device 200 according to the present invention. The device comprises a handle 210 that extends radially from an axis 202. A helical spring is wound around the axis 202 and comprises two ends or legs 206, which are arranged for taking support on the upper surface of the trunk's top tablet 03. The device is coupled to the top part of the hinge box 15, which comprises the hinge's rotation axis 17, with which the wrench-shaped coupling means 208, are engaged. The hinge box assembly further comprises a generally flat surface 13, which is shown beneath the top tablet surface at a normal distance d. The hinge box 15 protrudes upwards through an opening in the top tablet surface.

Figure 6b illustrates the reaction of the device 200 to a rotational movement, which is applied to the axis 202 by operating the handle 210. The spring ends or legs 206 act against the rotation and are pushed towards the surface 03. Thereby, the spring is further loaded and the angle between the spring ends 206 is reduced. As their length remains the same, the axis 202 around which the helical spring is wound is pushed away from the surface 03. The spring means effectively convert the rotational movement partly into an upwards translational movement.

As the axis 202 is coupled to the hinge box 15, the hinge box is also pushed away from the surface 03. At the same time, the flat panel 13 of the hinge box assembly is pulled upwards along the Z axis towards the undersurface of the top tablet 03. The hinge box assembly may be permanently fixed to the top tablet in the resulting position.

Once the hinge assembly has been fixed to the top tablet, the device 200 may be released from the hinge box. This may be achieved by rotating the handle 210 and axis 202 in the opposite direction, so that the wrench-shaped receiving means are able to let the axis 17 of the hinge box go.