Land vehicles: bodies and tops – Tops – Roof structure
Reexamination Certificate
1999-05-04
2001-04-17
Pedder, Dennis H. (Department: 3612)
Land vehicles: bodies and tops
Tops
Roof structure
C296S219000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06217110
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an open roof construction for a vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
Such an open roof construction is known in several versions thereof, wherein the plate may close the entire roof opening or only function as a front panel or as a wind deflector. In order to prevent wind entry at the front edge of the plate in the upwardly pivoted position of the plate, a sealing element is provided, which is secured either to the plate or to the stationary part disposed before said plate, while the other part is in engagement therewith and must remain so. Several vertical adjusting mechanisms have been developed to ensure that the front edge of the plate indeed remains in engagement with the seal. With the increase of the transverse curvature of vehicle roofs and the increasingly round shape of the front edge of the roof opening, and thus of the closing elements of open roof constructions, it is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain the seal on the front side of the plate in the various positions of the plate.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the invention is to further improve the open roof construction of the type referred to in the introduction.
In order to accomplish that objective, the open roof construction according to the invention is characterized in that the plate and the part disposed before said plate are fixedly interconnected by means of a flexible sealing element.
By using a flexible sealing element, which is fixedly connected to the front side of the plate and to the rear side of the part that remains stationary, tightness on the front side of the plate is ensured. Preferably, a stretchable or foldable sealing element is used, which is capable of absorbing variations that occur during the pivoting of the plate both in the transverse direction of the plate and in the distance between the front side of the plate and the rear side of the stationary part.
In one embodiment of an open roof construction in which the invention can be used, the plate forms a wind deflector, which is disposed proximate the front side of the roof opening and which is adjustable between a swung-down, inoperative position and a raised, operative position.
The flexible sealing element may for example be made of a cloth-like material extending over the plate, and in one embodiment of the open roof construction, wherein the open roof construction forms a folding roof, and the closing element is provided with a foldable main closing element, it is advantageous if the main closing element is provided with the same cloth-like material on the upper side, which in that case extends over the entire area of all parts of the closing element.
Preferably, the aforesaid stationary part also consists of a plate, whose upper side is flush with the upper side of the, preferably, plate-shaped wind deflector in the inoperative position of said wind deflector. In this embodiment, the front stationary plate may be sealed in a traditional manner with respect to the frame by means of a sealing section, while the front plate and the wind deflector are interconnected via the flexible sealing element. In the closed position of the wind deflector, the division between the two parts is not visible, since the cloth-like sealing element extends tautly over both plates.
Alternatively, the pivotable plate could also be disposed on the rear side of the main closing element and function as a ventilating flap there.
The invention will be explained in more detail hereafter with reference to the drawings, which show an embodiment of the open roof construction according to the invention.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4291912 (1981-09-01), Fox et al.
patent: 5601330 (1997-02-01), Ulbrich et al.
patent: 41 23 229 (1997-01-01), None
patent: 196 36 683 (1997-10-01), None
patent: 2 257 669 (1999-01-01), None
Inalfa Industries B.V.
Koehler S.
Pedder Dennis H.
Westman Champlin & Kelly P.A.
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