Land vehicles: bodies and tops – Tops – Roof structure
Reexamination Certificate
1999-12-01
2001-02-13
Pedder, Dennis H. (Department: 3612)
Land vehicles: bodies and tops
Tops
Roof structure
C160S267100, C160S370220
Reexamination Certificate
active
06186587
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a blind arrangement with a blind web which can be unwound from a winding roller in order to at least partially cover an opening relative to the interior of a vehicle, especially a motor vehicle, and which can be wound back onto the winding roller in order to at least partially expose the opening, the blind web being provided in the transverse direction with arches and has a tension arch on its front end, the arches being guided laterally in guideways and provide convexity to the blind web in the transverse direction. Furthermore, this invention relates to a vehicle roof with such a blind arrangement.
2. Description of Related Art
Blind arrangements of the initially mentioned type are used, for example, in motor vehicles having a roof opening in a fixed roof surface which is closed and opened by means of a transparent cover. The blind arrangement is located underneath the roof opening in order to be able to regulate the light incidence through the roof opening. The use of these blind arrangements is, however, not limited to vehicle roofs. Rather, these blind arrangements can be used in the same way in windows or other compartments to be separated from the passenger compartment, for example, to separate a sleeping compartment or a high roof. To simplify the description of the blind arrangement to which the invention relates, reference will be made solely to the application thereof to vehicle roofs below.
In earlier blind arrangements, flat blind webs were used in which the blind web was tensioned by means of a stiff tension arch attached to its front edge above the roof opening. In order, on the one hand, to stiffen the blind web and so to reduce its sagging, and on the other hand, in a vehicle roof that is arched in the lengthwise direction of the vehicle, in order to not limit the head space underneath the blind arrangement by a blind web tensioned between the winding roller and the tension arch, the blind web is advantageously provided with arches which are guided laterally in guideways. Since vehicle roofs, however, are generally arched not only in the lengthwise direction of the vehicle, but also in its transverse direction, for optimum use of the space available in the passenger compartment, it is desirable to have a blind arrangement in which provisions are made for convexity of the blind web in the transverse direction of the vehicle.
International Patent Application Publication WO-A-96/01191 describes a blind arrangement of the initially mentioned type in which the distance of the guideways in which the arches are guided is selected such that, near the winding roller, it corresponds to the length of the arch, but then shortens in a transition area as the distance from the winding roller increases, so that the arches are curved transversely to the blind web upon passage through the transition area. The main defect of this approach is that inherently high frictional forces occur between the arches and the guideways. Another defect lies in the tolerance sensitivity of this structure which follows from the fact that, especially when using the blind arrangement in vehicle roofs, only a relatively slight convexity is to be produced in the transverse direction of the vehicle. However, the greater the radius of convexity to be spanned, the greater the ratio of the height of convexity to the constriction of the guideways and the narrower the tolerances to be maintained for a special desired transverse blind arch both in production and also installation of the profile components which have narrowing guideways.
Published Japanese Patent Application 63-258213 describes another attempt at an approach to the aforementioned problem. Here, the blind web is provided with arches in the transverse direction which are made of an elastic material and which, in the released state, have a convexity according to the desired transverse blind convexity. To be able to wind the blind web onto a winding roller to save space, there is a hold-down sheet in order to bend the arches when winding onto the winding roller. As a result of the high friction losses which inherently occur when bending the arches straight, in this construction approach for winding of the blind web onto the winding roller, a separate return motor is necessary; for several reasons, for example, the amount of space required, installation complexity, costs, etc. this is a disadvantage.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Based on the problems which occur in the known blind arrangements, one object of the present invention is to devise a blind arrangement of the initially mentioned type which can be produced and installed more easily and economically.
This object is achieved in a blind arrangement of the initially mentioned type by the fact that, between the guideways, there is a hook-out guide which runs at a distance from the surface running transversely through the guideways, and which is arranged such that the blind web is curved in the transverse direction when the arches engage the hook-out guide. In the embodiment of the blind arrangement in accordance with the invention, thus, the convexity of the arches and thus of the blind web is accomplished by the side edges of the blind web being fixed along the guideways as a result of the arches connected to the blind web, while by means of the hook-out guide located between the guideways at a distance from the surface which runs transversely through the guideways, a force is applied to a part of the blind web located between the guideways perpendicularly to the blind web. The approach in accordance with the invention is less sensitive to tolerances and produces less friction than the blind arrangements known from the prior art.
If on the edges of the blind web a different convexity in the lengthwise direction of the blind web is to be achieved than in the area of the blind web which lies between the guideways, this can be achieved by the hook-out guide being provided with a different convexity than the guideways.
To further reduce the friction losses in the curving of the blind web, the hook-out guide on its end facing the winding roller can have a ramp onto which the arches run when the blind web is wound up. The ramp then represents a bending area in which the respective arch which engages the ramp is gradually bent to the desired convexity, proceeding from the straight state of the arch on the winding roller.
While embodiments of the blind arrangement in accordance with the invention with only one hook-out guide are especially suitable for applications in which the opening to the interior of the vehicle is divided anyway, for example, in a vehicle roof which has two roof openings separated by a center strut which runs in the lengthwise direction of the vehicle, it can be advantageous when there are two hook-out guides adjacent to the guideways so that the opening to the interior of the vehicle which is covered or to be cleared by means of the blind web is not adversely affected by a hook-out guide which traverses the opening.
If the tension arch is not to be wound at the same time onto the winding roller, which will be the case in most applications of the blind arrangement in accordance with the invention, the friction which occurs in the movement of the blind web can be further reduced if the tension arch is curved beforehand such that, when the blind web moves, it does not engage the hook-out guide.
Furthermore, if the positions of the arches with reference to the blind web are selected such that the arches are in different peripheral positions when the blind web is rolled onto the winding roller, a diameter of the wound blind web which is as small as possible can be achieved. The diameter of the wound blind web can be further reduced when the arches are curved, especially when the radius of the provided convexity of the individual arches corresponds roughly to the distance of the arch from the axis of the winding roller in the wound state of the blind web.
Arches, especially those which have a straight shape
Nixon & Peabody LLP
Pedder Dennis H.
Safran David S.
Webasto Karosseriesysteme GmbH
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