An adjustable hinge assembly

摘要

A hinge assembly 15 for a vehicle tailgate 14 comprises a first hinge member 21 fastened to the tailgate 14 and a second hinge member 22 fastened to a hollow flange 23 of a vehicle roof 13 by means of adjustment device 24 comprising an adjustment nut 25 and a locking screw 26. The second hinge member 22 has a hollow cylindrical shank portion 35 having a left-hand external screw thread 36 and a right-hand internal thread 38, the adjustment nut 25 having a left-hand thread 39 engaged with the external thread 36 of the hollow shank portion 35 and the locking screw 26 having a right-hand thread 41 engaged with the internal thread 38 of the hollow shank portion 35. The adjustment nut 25 has a tubular spigot 42 with a friction ring 46 for gripping the shank of the locking screw 26. To set the hinge assembly 15, the first and second hinge members 21 and 22 are provided as a sub-assembly complete with the pivot pin 27 and with the adjustment nut 25 threaded as far as it will go onto the shank portion 35 of the second hinge member 22. The first hinge member 21 is then fastened to the tailgate 14 and the tailgate moved into the required position using an assembly fixture (not shown). The locking screw 26, with the washer 59 in place, is then inserted into the bore 43 of the adjustment nut 25 so that the thread 41 winds into the friction ring 46 with a self-tapping action until the friction grip between the locking screw 26 and the adjustment nut 25 provides sufficient torque for the locking screw 26 to rotate the adjustment nut 25 in the clockwise direction to move it into contact with the flange 23. The locking screw 26 continues to rotate without further rotation of the adjustment nut 25 to clamp the hinge assembly 15 to the flange 23.