Land vehicles: bodies and tops – Tops – Roof structure
Reexamination Certificate
2002-07-02
2004-04-27
Pedder, Dennis H. (Department: 3612)
Land vehicles: bodies and tops
Tops
Roof structure
Reexamination Certificate
active
06726274
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an openable motor vehicle roof, for example for a passenger car or a camper or even a camping trailer. Openable motor vehicle roofs are known in a variety of versions. Generally they are used in passenger cars to improve ventilation of the vehicle interior. To do this, openable motor vehicle roofs generally have a cover which can close the opening in the motor vehicle roof and can be raised out of this cover closed position into a cover raised position. In the cover raised position, the cover is raised on at least one side edge relative to the motor vehicle roof so that a ventilation slot is formed. Optionally, these covers can generally be moved over or under the solid roof.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The present invention relates to an openable motor vehicle roof with a sliding head liner which can cover the cover, for example a transparent glass cover, in the cover closed position toward the motor vehicle interior and, moreover, to a certain extent, can follow the cover into the cover raised position, therefore for its part can be moved concomitantly into the raised position of the sliding head liner. In this way, the cover and sliding head liner can jointly clear a ventilation slot.
Moreover the sliding head liner, as the name indicates, can be slid from its closed position in the direction parallel to the roof laterally into its open position so that the cover, or at least a large part of it, is cleared by the sliding head liner. In this way the vicinity can be viewed from within the vehicle interior, for example, through a glass cover and the light conditions in the vehicle interior are improved.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,309,013 discloses an openable motor vehicle roof in which the sliding head liner, with respect to its motion between its closed position and open position, is guided and held using an elongated guide element, along which it can be pushed. The particularity of this openable motor vehicle roof is that part of the guide element is concomitantly moved when the sliding head liner is moved between its raised position and its closed position. This involves the end of the guide element which is assigned to the side of the sliding head liner and the side of the cover which is to be raised. In the area away from this end, the guide element is held stationary in the direction which is vertical with respect to the roof. The mobility of the guide element is intended to enable motion of the sliding head liner between its open position and its raised position with the cover raised. The guide element performs its task therefore not only with the cover closed, but also in the raised state. These additional possibilities have proven effective in practice and are well accepted by users. The ventilation function is improved in this openable motor vehicle roof compared to alternative embodiments in which the sliding head liner must be pushed a distance largely parallel to the roof to establish a ventilation slot with the cover raised or has ventilation slots installed for ventilation purposes. Moreover, the vehicle passengers can better visually perceive the raised position of the cover.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the invention is to improve an openable motor vehicle roof with respect to guiding a sliding head liner.
This object and other objects are achieved by providing openable motor vehicle roof, comprising at least one cover which can close a roof opening and which can be raised out of a cover closed position into a cover raised position; a sliding head liner located under the at least one cover and moveable concomitantly out of a closed position into a raised position when the at least one cover is raised with the sliding head liner, so that the at least one cover and the sliding head liner jointly clear a ventilation gap, the sliding head liner being slideable furthermore from its closed position into an open position so that the sliding head liner can clear the cover or the roof opening at least for a large part, an elongated guide element along which the sliding head liner can be moved into and out of its open position and including a movable end on which the sliding head liner is held in its closed position and, in the liner raised position, is entrained during motion of the sliding head liner between the closed and raised positions, the elongated guide element including a stationary area and a transition area between the stationary area and the movable end; a movable holding device mounted on the elongated guide element to hold the sliding head liner on a side on which the sliding head liner can clear the ventilation gap in the raised position of the sliding head liner, the sliding head liner being pushed in the stationary area away from the movable end through which or into which the holding device is pushed during motion into the open position of the sliding head liner, in the direction perpendicular to the roof and is held stationary with respect to the roof, wherein the guide element is flexible at least in the transition area between the stationary area and the movable end.
The present invention consists especially in that the guide element is flexible at least in the transition area between the area which is held stationary and the movable end. The particularity of the openable motor vehicle roof therefore consists in that, instead of the conventional multi-part guide element which is made hinged between these parts, now a guide element which is flexible in the area between the (vertically to the roof) stationary area of the guide element and the movable end is used. The hinges of the conventional guide element can be replaced by the flexibility of this guide element area. This simplifies the structure of the guide element and thus also of the entire openable motor vehicle roof with the corresponding associated cost advantages. Moreover, hinges are components which require maintenance in terms of lubrication and sensitivity to dirt; this does not apply to a flexible guide element area with suitable material choice.
As used herein, the expression “large part” which can be cleared by the sliding head liner which can be moved into its open position relates to the format of a sliding head liner or cover. For openable motor vehicle roofs with several combined covers, under certain circumstances this can be less than most of the roof opening. Openable motor vehicle roofs are also conceivable in which there are several sliding head liners, and, in that case, the aforementioned statements for one of the sliding head liners applies preferably to all sliding head liners. Then the term “large part” also relates to the format of the individual sliding head liner.
Generally, openable motor vehicle roofs have a structure such that the cover can be raised on exactly one side relative to the roof and remains on the opposite side essentially at roof level. In doing so, the sliding head liner will be raised on the side assigned to the side of the cover which is to be raised. But the invention relates also to other processes, for example to covers which can be raised on all sides. The guide element construction of the present invention must be provided on at least one side of the sliding head liner.
The movements of the cover and the sliding head liner can take place by hand or motor. This is not detailed herein since different possible versions and drive techniques are familiar to one skilled in the art. But it is preferable that the motion of the sliding head liner out of its closed position into its raised potion takes place by the corresponding motion of the cover, the sliding head liner thus being entrained with the cover. This applies of course only to the situation in which the sliding head liner was in its closed position before. If it was in its open position beforehand, it is preferably decoupled from the movement of the cover into the raised position.
One important advantage of the invention is that due to the flexible execution of the transition area between the (perpendicular
Kiedl Martin
Wimmer Ingrid
Nixon & Peabody LLP
Pedder Dennis H.
Safran David S.
Webasto Vehicle Systems International GmbH
LandOfFree
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