Land vehicles: bodies and tops – Tops – Roof structure
Reexamination Certificate
2000-09-13
2002-07-16
Pedder, Dennis H. (Department: 3612)
Land vehicles: bodies and tops
Tops
Roof structure
C296S221000, C296S224000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06419310
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to an open roof construction for a vehicle.
In Dutch patent application No. 1011863 (EP 00201260.7) (not pre-published), from which the present invention departs, the element and the counter element consist of two cams formed on the panel and two camways formed on a link slide, respectively. Although the twin construction provides a solid structure, it has the drawback that if the two cams or camways are not properly aligned, the cams may jam in the camways, which may interfere with the smooth operation of the operating mechanism.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the invention is to further improve the open roof construction of the kind referred to in the introduction.
By constructing either one of said element and said counter element as twin elements, parts such as the element of the operating mechanism can remain identical on the left and on the right, which simplifies production and inventory. Jamming problems are also avoided by using only one element or counter element for the correction mechanism, as a result of which the correction mechanism is less sensitive to production tolerances, while a smooth operation of the operating mechanism is nevertheless ensured.
In an advantageous embodiment said element comprises a cam, and said counter elements comprise camways, wherein said cam is preferably formed on the closure element and said camways are formed on the element in the form of a link slide.
In one embodiment, the invention is especially advantageous if the link slide is divided in longitudinal direction, being made of two interconnected halves. In a construction of this kind the camways may be shifted in a horizontal direction with respect to each other due to the fact that the two parts of the link slide are not entirely correctly aligned. Since the camways will generally exhibit a fairly steep slope, the cams may easily jam if two cams are used, which will result in variations in the required driving force, an increased noise level of the driving mechanism and a loss of “sense of quality” in the driving mechanism. This problem is avoided with the open roof construction according to the invention.
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Inalfa Industries B.V.
Koehler S.
Pedder Dennis H.
Westman Champlin & Kelly P.A.
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