Land vehicles: bodies and tops – Tops – Let-down type top
Reexamination Certificate
2001-09-04
2003-11-18
Pedder, Dennis H. (Department: 3612)
Land vehicles: bodies and tops
Tops
Let-down type top
C296S107170, C296S107180, C296S107130, C296S107200
Reexamination Certificate
active
06648397
ABSTRACT:
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a lowerable motor vehicle roof, especially of a hardtop convertible, with at least one openable front roof part which is movably supported lengthwise on the side roof members, and a rear roof part or rear element which can be moved into the storage position in the body.
2. Description of Related Art
Lowerable hardtop roofs generally comprise two or more roof parts which are permanently joined to one another and which are connected to one another via a linkage and can be moved by means of the latter into a storage space. For larger lowerable motor vehicle roofs, as for example motor vehicles with a rear bench seat have, these fixed roof parts require a large stowage or storage space, for example, in the trunk compartment. The retractable roof of the Mercedes SLK contains two roof parts which are hinged to one another and when lowered into the body are folded together around a transverse axis and are stored in the trunk compartment, requiring a large storage space.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A primary object of the present invention is to devise a motor vehicle roof of the initially mentioned type which can be lowered with an improved sequence of motion and which has a reduced requirement for storage space.
This object is achieved in a motor vehicle roof in accordance with the present invention in that at least the front roof part, when the roof is being lowered, is located first in a storage space in the body or on part of the roof, and the roof is then lowered into its storage position.
This object is furthermore achieved in the aforementioned motor vehicle roof also in that, according to the invention, each of the two side roof members is movably supported on the body and/or on the rear element and can be moved independently of the rear element or jointly with the rear element into the storage position.
Finally, this object is also achieved in the aforementioned motor vehicle roof in that, in accordance with the invention, the rear element is movably supported on the body and can be moved independently of the side roof members or jointly with the side roof members into the storage position.
When the roof part is formed by the louvered roof parts of a louvered roof, depending on the size of the motor vehicle roof, the louvered roof can be composed of several louvered roof parts which each have a shorter length in the lengthwise direction of the roof so that they can be stored in the storage space in a space-saving arrangement. Since the louvered roof parts are first located in the storage space before the roof is completely lowered, for example, the partially opened or completely stored louvered roof can clear a roof opening of varied size as the driving position.
In a motor vehicle roof according to the second and third above cited versions, it is advantageous if at least one front roof part is located first in the storage space in the body or on part of the roof when the roof is being lowered and then the roof is lowered into its storage position.
In general, it is advantageous if at least one roof part is pushed on guides and is lowered into the storage space in the body and the guides are located on the side roof member and/or on the rear element.
According to one advantageous version, it is provided that the storage space is located behind a bench seat, especially a rear bench seat, and the roof parts are located stacked therein roughly in a vertical alignment.
According to an alternative embodiment, it is provided that the storage space is located under the cover of a convertible top compartment or a hat rack and the roof parts are then located stacked therein especially roughly in a horizontal alignment.
According to another alternative embodiment, it is provided that the roof elements are located behind one another along a guide behind a bench seat, especially a rear bench seat, and/or under a trunk compartment.
According to a further alternative embodiment, it is provided that the roof parts are guided on the side roof member and are stacked thereon and can be lowered with the side roof member into the body.
According to an additional alternative embodiment, it is provided that the roof parts are stacked on the side roof member, moved under the rear element and especially folded and lowered with the rear element into the body.
According to yet another alternative embodiment, it is provided that the roof parts are pushed on guides into the rear element of the roof, stacked thereon and lowered with the rear element into the body.
According to one aspect of the invention which can be advantageously applied to the all versions noted above, it is provided that each side roof member can be moved by means of a lengthwise guide to under the rear element and can be lowered with the rear element into the body.
In doing so, the lengthwise guide advantageously has a slide rail which is located in the side roof member and/or in the rear element.
According to an alternative embodiment, it is provided that each side roof member can be moved along the lengthwise guide and lowered into the body.
In another advantageous embodiment, it is provided that each side roof member is supported by a rod means which is located in the closed state at the position of the B column and which is movably supported to lower the side roof member into the body on body-mounted guides, the side roof member being pivotally supported on the rod means. Here, it is especially advantageous if the side roof member is pivotally supported by means of a four-bar mechanism on the body, which mechanism preferably has two rods which, in the closed state of the roof, are located on the body essentially at the position of the B column so that they are covered by it and cannot occupy any viewing areas on the side windows.
According to an alternative embodiment, it is provided that the side roof member is pivotally supported by means of a four-bar mechanism on the rear element.
According to another alternative embodiment, it is provided that the rear element is movably supported by means of a four-bar mechanism on the body. Here, it is especially advantageous if the four-bar mechanism is designed such that the rear element is lowered by means of a dipping motion of its rear edge into the body.
The rear element is advantageously movably supported laterally on two guides with curved paths which fix the lowering motion of the rear element.
The rear element is preferably movably supported by means of a pivot rod and by means of a slide element which is guided in a guideway.
In all embodiments, as a result of the compact stowage possibilities, it is advantageous if the roof part or parts are the louvers of a louvered roof.
The motor vehicle roof in accordance with the invention is characterized by optimum design of the convertible top in the closed state, which enables large rear side windows and imparts a coupe character to the motor vehicle. It can be easily applied to four-seat motor vehicles. The opening process can take place without opening a trunk compartment flap or stowage space flap so that a special mechanism and a special drive are not necessary for this purpose.
The system of the invention can be designed without a cover of the convertible top compartment so that an optimum joint picture, i.e., a smooth transition surface, results, and a separate mechanism and a separate drive are not necessary for the cover of the convertible top compartment.
In the stored state, the motor vehicle roof has a compact package size, with a large trunk compartment, and last but not least, has good accessibility as a result of the large loading diagonal.
Finally, in contrast to the initially mentioned prior art, partial opening while driving is possible.
Embodiments of the motor vehicle roof are explained in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2141842 (1938-12-01), Lohrman
patent: 2210590 (1940-08-01), Jobst
patent: 5078447 (1992-01-01), Klein et al.
patent: 5558388 (1996-09-01), Furst et al.
patent: 5975620 (1999-11-
Hutterer Philipp
Schütt Thomas
Nixon & Peabody LLP
Pedder Dennis H.
Safran David S.
Webasto Vehicle Systems International GmbH
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