Land vehicles: bodies and tops – Tops – Roof structure
Reexamination Certificate
2002-03-01
2003-11-25
Pedder, Dennis H. (Department: 3612)
Land vehicles: bodies and tops
Tops
Roof structure
C296S216030, C296S216050
Reexamination Certificate
active
06652022
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a motor vehicle roof with two movable covers, a front cover which is pivotally supported at its rear edge on a slide element which can be moved along a guide, and a rear cover which borders the front cover and which is pivotally mounted.
2. Description of Related Art
Published German Patent Application DE 197 13 347 A1 discloses an openable motor vehicle roof in which the front cover can be raised at its rear edge above the fixed motor vehicle roof and can be moved by means of rear support levers on slide elements in guides at either side of the fixed rear cover plate. The disadvantage in such a motor vehicle roof is that only the front cover can be pivoted into the ventilator position, while there is no draft-free ventilation possibility for the rear vehicle passengers due to the fixed rear cover.
Published German Patent Application DE 38 02 380 A1 discloses a motor vehicle roof with two covers, both of which can be raised at their rear edge and can be moved as spoiler covers to clear the roof opening. These spoiler covers generally have the disadvantage that the covers are supported only roughly in the front third. Therefore, these roofs are of only limited suitability for motor vehicles with a high top speed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The primary object of the present invention is to devise a motor vehicle roof which enables highly variable ventilation possibilities with the covers being guided in stable manner.
This object is achieved by the rear cover having guides for guiding the rear slide element of the front cover.
In contrast to the initially mentioned published German Patent Application DE 197 13 347 A1, the invention has the advantage that the rear cover is, likewise, a movable cover with a rear edge that can be swung upward, so that there are also good ventilation possibilities for passengers in the rear area of the vehicle interior. Stable support of the front cover and the two covers traveling compactly over one another, and with clearance of a correspondingly large roof opening, are enabled by the rear cover having guides for guiding the rear slide element of the front cover.
Preferably the rear slide element of the front cover enters the guide on the rear cover only when the front cover is moved to the rear.
There are different possibilities for execution of the rear cover. The rear cover can be movable in the manner of an externally guided sliding roof or a spoiler roof along roof-mounted guides above the rear part of the fixed motor vehicle roof; it can, on the other hand, also be movable in the manner of a sliding-lifting roof underneath the rear part of the fixed motor vehicle roof. In any case, its rear edge can be swung out into a ventilator position.
The front cover can be moved, especially preferably, also when the rear cover with its rear slide element has been pivoted and/or displaced in its guides.
Preferably, the front cover and the rear cover can be moved independently of one another, at least for the most part. Only when the two covers are located in the raised position in which one cover has been partially moved over the other does it make sense for the pivoting motion of the covers out of this position to take place synchronously.
The front cover and the rear cover can each be advantageously moved by a motorized drive, especially an electric motor. The two drives are preferably triggered by a common control device which, depending on the respective position of the two covers, allows certain movements of the drives and blocks other movements. In this way, blockages and damage to the mechanism can be effectively prevented.
One embodiment of a motor vehicle roof in accordance with the invention is explained in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2002/0125743 (2002-09-01), Bohm et al.
patent: 2003/0011215 (2003-01-01), Arnold et al.
patent: 38 02 380 (1988-08-01), None
patent: 44 15 649 (1995-06-01), None
patent: 197 13 347 (1999-05-01), None
patent: 298 20 613 (2000-03-01), None
Pfalzgraf Manfred
Schätzler Walter
Morrow Jason
Pedder Dennis H.
Webasto Vehicle Systems International GmbH
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