Built-in drive

ELECTRICALLY DRIVEN REAR LIDS Trunk lids that open and close at

the push of a button – more and more car owners appreciate this kind of comfort. Edscha engineers have developed a particularly economical and comfortable electric solution that will go into production in the autumn of 2003.

POWERFUL

This is it how it looks, the pop- up multilink hinge with integrated electrical drive that provides much greater comfort than conventional systems.

N ot even hinges are what they used to be. Their task has remained largely the same ever since automobiles were

invented and Edscha began equipping them: that task is reliable and flexible connection of car body parts. However, the demands on their service life and safety, their functionality and their comfort have risen enormously.

ELECTRIFYING OPENING

Consequently, the design engineers of the Edscha Hinge Systems Division have for years been working on new and improved, more comfortable opening systems: from pantographic side doors and sliding doors (pages 18 f.) to multipiece rear lids and extending load compartment floors. They haven’t neglected the driver motors either: in Sep-

tember the first electrically powered rear lid system from Edscha – the first of its kind in the market – goes into production.

Design chief Andreas Polz explains the advantages for drivers: “Our systemoffers distinctly more comfort than the usual electrohydraulic

systems, since the trunk lid control is more sensitive and the lid responds reliably even

at ambient temperatures of minus 40 or plus 80 degrees Celsius. Not least, the stalled-condition detection feature developed by us and based on Hall sensors sets new standards in software-controlled sensitivity and variabili- ty.” The OEM will also notice the advantages: up to 30 percent lower costs, in part thanks to the use of a special Edscha motor, as well as a step towards independence from hydraulic

fluids, which have to be disposed of at considerable expense to comply with the end-of- life vehicle regulations.

Even in comparison with other electric- only drives, the Edscha system affords clear advantages: the drive integrated in the popup hinge permits stopping and reversing the direction of motion at any time. Motor power is controlled by means of pulse-width modulation (PWM) depending on temperature; and a voltage equalizer ensures practically constant operation irrespective of battery charge level. Although a trouble-prone and cost-raising coupling was dispensed with, opening and closing the trunk lid is nonetheless child’s play if ever the vehicle power supply fails.

INVOLVOED

The system was installed in a test car by mid 2002. The first to be convinced by Polz to employ a customized version of the Edscha system was Volvo – in the ‘Versatility Concept Car’, Volvo’s highlight at the 2003 Geneva Motor Show. The Scandinavian designers set particular store by stylish, comfortable cruising in this forward-looking high-class station wagon. Edscha hinges feature not only in the electrically operated rear lid, but also in the hinges to the side doors which open in opposing directions.

However, the Edscha system will first be entering the market in a different make. As of autumn 2003, Korean manufacturer Ssang- yong, a former subsidiary of the Daewoo group, will be fitting out its flagship ‘Chair- man’ with it. Several thousand of these luxury cars annually – thanks to Ssangyong’s earlier

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