Land vehicles: bodies and tops – Tops – Roof structure
Reexamination Certificate
1999-08-19
2001-07-24
Pedder, Dennis H. (Department: 3612)
Land vehicles: bodies and tops
Tops
Roof structure
C296S216030, C296S220010
Reexamination Certificate
active
06264270
ABSTRACT:
The invention concerns a guiding mechanism for a vehicle sunroof consisting of at least two panels with a roof-mounted frame that form an essentially rectangular opening in the vehicle roof with guiding rails that are located on the longitudinal edges of the frame that are essentially parallel with the driving direction of the vehicle and with guiding slides (or carriages) that can be moved forward and backward in the guiding rails, whereas the panels at both ends are connected with one of the guiding carriages each and whereas, preferably, the guiding rails feature at least two parallel guiding tracks.
Such a guiding mechanism is known from the state of the art of DE 41 23 229 A1, whereby several guiding carriages are located along a guiding rail so they can be moved. Each guiding rail features a multitude of oblong connecting link guides and each guiding carriage features recesses so that a sliding block located in a connecting link guide can engage one of the recesses of the guiding carriage. In this manner one guiding carriage is guided via a sliding block in the multitrack connecting link guide. The sliding blocks are disengaged from a drive shaft at varying distances from the forward edge of the opening in the vehicle roof so that the guiding carriages rest in their respective positions. In a fully opened condition the guiding carriages are lined up one behind the other touching each other.
Similar configurations of several guiding carriages in one and the same guiding rail are known from GB 2 258 848 A, DE 44 15 649 C1 and DE 196 08 916 C1, whereas the guiding carriages in the fully opened condition of the sunroof are all located one behind the other. Because of the leverage involved between the upwardly tilted panels and the guiding carriages, a sufficient length of the guiding carriages is required in order to prevent vibrations from occurring that are caused by forces of the wind blast with the panels tilted upward. It follows from the known state of the art of configurations of guiding carriages that the maximal aperture of the sunroof is limited by the combined length of the guiding carriages when they touch each other. In order to minimize this combined length in particular, DE 44 15 649 proposes supporting the up-slanted panels against each other under the condition of short-length guiding carriages. Only through this additional mechanical effort are the panels sufficiently stabilized.
Additionally, the guiding mechanisms known as the state of the art have in common that the panels are slanted upwards, each at the same maximal angle. This is based on the use of the same adjustment mechanisms for each panel in order to make smallest spatial dimensions possible for the guiding mechanism. If different angle positions are to be made possible, the space requirement of the corresponding adjustment mechanisms is considerable.
Therefore, the invention is based on the problem of configuring and developing the guiding mechanism for a vehicle sunroof as it is known from the state of the art in such a manner that the guiding mechanism requires little space and thus facilitates a large maximal aperture of the vehicle sunroof.
The aforementioned technical problem is solved in that the guiding carriages of two adjacent panels can be moved into positions in which the guiding carriages are at least partially positioned side by side and the guiding carriages of two adjacent panels, preferably, are positioned each in different guiding tracks.
According to the invention, it has thus been recognized that by laterally offsetting two guiding carriages that each support adjacent panels, the guiding carriages are positioned side by side in particular in the fully open position so that the adjacent guiding carriages are not positioned behind each other and touching each other. In this manner, the maximal aperture of the vehicle sunroof is not limited by the combined length of all of the guiding carriages. Rather, the up-slanted panels are positioned at a distance from each other that is significantly shorter than the length of a guiding carriage. In this way, a significantly larger maximal aperture of the vehicle sunroof has been accomplished in comparison with the state of the art.
The vehicle sunroof features a sequence of panels for the optional closing or continuous opening of the aperture in the vehicle roof, whereas the panels in the closed position are contiguous and form a composite. When the composite is opened first the most forward panel slants upward and is then pushed backward. Subsequently the following panel is slanted upward and pushed backward together with the first panel. This process continues until all panels are slanted upward and have been moved backwards as far as possible. The closing of the vehicle roof occurs in the reverse sequence, whereby the individual panels are moved into their closing positions and the panels can be swung back into the plane of the vehicle roof.
The idea on which the invention is based on the one hand consists in realizing through the guiding carriage a lever arm that is sufficient for the stability of the up-slanted panels and on the other hand in positioning the guiding carriages side by side in order to attain a maximal aperture of the vehicle sunroof. Notwithstanding the aforementioned configuration of the invention with the adjacent guiding carriages positioned side by side in different guiding tracks, the task described above can also be solved by positioning the guiding carriages of adjacent panels that are positioned movably in one and the same guiding track and that feature extension elements that are supported by a surface outside the guiding track. In this manner, the entire guiding carriage including the extension element is not contained in the guiding track and the extension element can, by resting on a corresponding surface, absorb the leverage exerted by the panel. If the extension element and the part of the guiding carriage that is contained in the guiding track are now positioned in a staggered formation, adjacent guiding carriages can touch each other, whereas the extension element of the first guiding carriage is positioned to the side of the part of the second guiding carriage that is contained in the guiding track. In this manner, a compact configuration of the guiding carriages is achieved, whereas the combined length of the contiguous guiding carriages is less than the combined length of all of the guiding carriages including the extension elements. In this fashion and in spite of the use of only one guiding track, the same advantage is achieved as in the above-discussed configuration variant of the present invention so that a maximal aperture of the vehicle sunroof is accomplished and so that, at the same time, a sufficient stability of the panels is guaranteed.
Each panel, in a preferred configuration of the invention, features a separate swiveling mechanism that is independent from the swiveling mechanism of the other panels. Through the alternating staggered positioning of the guiding carriages, the larger space required for this is compensated so that in spite of independent adjusting mechanisms for the individual panels, a large maximal aperture of the vehicle sunroof is accomplished. Additionally, the advantage is provided that the panels in the open position can be slanted upward at different angles without increasing the space requirement.
Because of the staggered positioning of the guiding carriages, coupling links between the individual guiding carriages are provided in a preferred configuration. For this purpose, coupling elements are proposed, the configuration of which, independently from the staggered positioning of the guiding carriages, has an inventive character.
According to this technical arrangement of the present invention, coupling elements are provided that function between the guiding carriages that are positioned in one and the same guiding track; i.e., not between each of the two guiding carriages of the two adjacent panels. The coupling elements consist on the one hand of recesses and
Meritor Automotive GmbH
Pedder Dennis H.
Vickers Daniels & Young
LandOfFree
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