Land vehicles: bodies and tops – Tops – Roof structure
Reexamination Certificate
2001-07-12
2003-05-27
Pedder, Dennis H. (Department: 3612)
Land vehicles: bodies and tops
Tops
Roof structure
Reexamination Certificate
active
06568750
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a motor vehicle roof with at least one cover which can be moved above the fixed motor vehicle roof and which can be raised at its rear edge, and with a control mechanism for the cover which has a front lifting mechanism and a front displacement mechanism for the front edge of the cover, and a rear lifting mechanism and a rear displacement mechanism for the rear edge of the cover, the displacement mechanisms comprising control carriages which are connected to the cover and which are movably guided and can be driven in lateral guide rails.
2. Description of Related Art
German Patent DE 42 38 945 C1 discloses a motor vehicle roof with at least one cover which can be raised for opening by means of a raising lever on its rear edge and then can be moved above the fixed motor vehicle roof. The displacement motion takes place by means of a first drive cable and the raising motion takes place by means of a second drive cable which can be moved in the opposite direction relative to it. A raising lever which controls the raising motion via the rear carriage is permanently engaged to one drive cable, while a carriage which is located near the front edge and which is responsible for the displacement motion of the cover is permanently engaged to the other drive cable which can be moved in the opposite direction thereto. By this permanent coupling, complete separation of the raising motion from the displacement motion is only conditionally possible and only a very short path of motion of the drive cable is available for the raising motion.
The defects of the above explained known motor vehicle roof are overcome by a motor vehicle roof of the initially mentioned type which is disclosed in German Patent DE 197 13 348 C1. In particular, this motor vehicle roof ensures a clearly defined position of the cover during the raising motion by locking the control carriage, which executes the displacement motion of the cover, to a roof-mounted guide rail via a locking block. Decoupling of the guide rail and simultaneous coupling to the control carriage define a specific start of the displacement motion, since the first drive cable, after traversing an idle path, with the completed raising motion, moves the locking block to its position locked with the guide rail into the coupling position of the drive cable with the control carriage.
German Patent DE 42 38 946 C1 discloses a motor vehicle with at least one cover which can be raised for opening by means of a raising lever on its rear edge, at least one guide element which is located on the cover engaging the roof-mounted guide. In this roof, the cover is raised by means of a raising mechanism, and in doing so, a guiding pin which is mounted on the cover is transferred to the railing-like roof guide which is located above the fixed roof. In this known roof, with the cover closed, the roof-mounted guide projects over the fixed roof skin so that, overall, a smooth surfaced appearance is not ensured. Furthermore, with the cover opened, the raising levers, which emerge forward from the cranks which are open in the direction of travel, remain upright; this, likewise, adversely affects the visual appearance of the motor vehicle roof. Furthermore, there is the danger that the raising lever is changed by shaking motions in its raised position such that, when the cover is closed, the cover which moves forward, with the cover crank open forward, can miss the corresponding pin on the raising lever under certain circumstances.
These defects are overcome by the construction of the motor vehicle roof of the initially mentioned type which is known from German Patent DE 197 13 347 C1and its corresponding U.S. Pat. No. 6,158,803, and in which the guide element is formed by a support lever which is independent of the raising lever and which is coupled at one end in the rear area of the cover and its other end is supported with at least one sliding element in the roof-mounted guide which is located underneath the fixed motor vehicle roof.
The motor vehicle roofs known from the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 6,158,803 and German Patent DE 197 13 348 C1, however, have the defect that the displacement motion takes place in a relatively complex manner by means of a first drive cable, while a second drive cable is necessary for the raising motion. Moreover, the parts which effect the displacement motion and the raising motion must be coupled via additional locking blocks to the respective drive cable or to the roof-mounted guide rail.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A primary object of the present invention is to devise a motor vehicle roof of the initially mentioned type which has an adjustment and lifting mechanism which is simplified with respect to function and structure.
This object is achieved in a generic motor vehicle roof by the lifting mechanism for the front edge of the cover being integrated into the front control carriage and by the fact that the front and the rear control carriages are securely connected, on each side of the cover spaced apart from one another, to a drive cable and can be driven by it.
Because, in accordance with the invention, the lifting mechanism for the front edge of the cover is completely integrated into the front control carriage and the front and rear control carriages are driven on each side of the cover by a single drive cable to which they are securely attached, spaced apart from one another, a single drive cable per cover side is enough to execute the raising motion and the displacement motion of the cover.
The raising and displacement mechanism in accordance with the invention represents a simple, durable cover mechanism which works reliably, which can be built with a relatively small number of parts, and which is thus economical.
Feasibly, in the motor vehicle roof, there can be cover-mounted sliding elements or sliding pins on either side of the front edge of the cover for guiding the front edge of the cover when the cover is displaced in the roof-mounted guide paths of the guide rails, and there can be guide paths which descend forward for guiding the front edge of the cover in its raising and lowering motion, then the guide paths being formed in cranks which are securely connected to the guide rails, and the top ends of the guide paths running into the forward ends of the lengthwise guide paths of the guide rails.
According to one advantageous embodiment, it is provided that the front lifting mechanism has a sliding element such as, for example, a journal which is guided in the guide path of a lifting crank which is located on the front control carriage, the guide path running in the opposite direction relative to the roof-mounted guide path of the crank and rising in the direction toward the front edge of the cover.
In a development of the invention with support levers which are guided by cranks and which are coupled to the cover on either side of the rear edge of the cover, it is advantageously provided that a raising lever is pivotally coupled to the rear control carriage and is raised by a roof-mounted lifting crank in backward motion of the rear control carriage for lifting the rear cover edge and thereupon is dynamically disengaged from the cover and in doing so transfers the support of the rear edge of the cover to the support lever. Preferably in this version it is provided that the support lever is coupled by one end to the cover, by means of a guiding pin which can be for example also a pivotally supported sliding block, is guided permanently in the guiding member path of the guide rail and on the other end has another support pin which can also be formed as a slip-on sliding block. The guiding member path can be formed in a second, external guide rail which is located offset to the outside by the first inner guide rail.
In the following the invention is detail with reference to the accompanying drawings which show a preferred embodiment of the invention.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5275461 (1994-01-01), Cheron et al.
patent: 6158803 (2000-12-01), Reihl et a
Kohout Erwin
Radmanic Stjepan
Nixon & Peabody LLP
Pedder Dennis H.
Safran David S.
Webasto Vehicle Systems International GmbH
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