The automotive industry never ceases to amaze us. There will always be room for an invention, an idea that makes the motorist’s daily life easier or simply a new type of motorization. This time, the innovation takes the form of a patent application filed by the manufacturer Mazda.
It is the website CarBuzz that discovered the idea via the website of the USPTO (or United States Patent and Trademark Office). Mazda would have the intention to introduce an automated two-speed tailgate, an option that would allow a faster opening when the situation allows it. It is also a hands-free tailgate.
In fact, the vehicle would decide how fast the tailgate opens, depending on the user’s position when they move their feet to activate the tailgate. Mazda’s idea is based on the distance of the smart key from the vehicle. If the user is close to the vehicle, the liftgate would open at a rate of between 11.8 and 15.7 inches per second. But if the person decides to take a step back, the liftgate could decide to open faster, with an approximate rate of 17.7 to 21.6 inches per second, or nearly 50 percent faster.
The manufacturer claims that this configuration reduces the likelihood of “contact between the opening and closing body and the obstacle” and that “the movement made by the user can be reliably detected.”
Fortunately, the two-speed automated liftgate also provides for the detection of another person (who does not have the vehicle key on them) to reduce the likelihood of an accident with the door. If this is the case, the system would ensure that the opening speed is at its slowest.
This is certainly an unusual innovation, but one that could make people’s lives easier in some very specific situations, we must admit. And since this innovation comes from a manufacturer such as Mazda, which even includes a device that includes G-vector control in its vehicles to reduce driver fatigue, this patent filing is not surprising.
Source: CarBuzz
