Land vehicles: bodies and tops – Tops – Roof structure
Reexamination Certificate
2002-04-25
2004-01-06
Gordon, Stephen T. (Department: 3612)
Land vehicles: bodies and tops
Tops
Roof structure
C296S222000, C296S223000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06672658
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a motor vehicle, especially a limousine or a coupe, with a motor vehicle roof with body-mounted lengthwise roof beams, with a roof opening in the motor vehicle roof, with a movable cover for selectively closing or at least partially clearing the roof opening, and with a rear window which adjoins the motor vehicle roof and a trunk lid.
2. Description of Related Art
When driving in an open passenger car, such as, for example, a convertible, in an accident with overturning of the vehicle, there is a high risk of injury to the passengers. Therefore, in convertibles there are fixed or retractable roll bars for passenger protection when the roof is opened. Limousines and coupes offer high safety in a rollover, but when an openable roof, for example, a sliding roof, is installed, only a limited roof opening is possible, which ordinarily cannot impart the feeling of driving in an open convertible.
Published European Patent Application EP 0 591 644 B1 describes a motor vehicle with a roof which has a roof opening which can be selectively closed or at least partially opened by means of the louvers of a louvered roof. To open the roof opening, the louvers which are movably supported on bilateral roof-mounted guides are moved to the rear to under the fixed roof part which adjoins the roof opening to the rear. In the lowered position, the louvers can be stacked into a package of relatively low height or they are located at a mutual vertical distance like blinds in front of the rear window.
French Patent FR 2 718 485 discloses a sliding headliner for a closed, transparent motor vehicle roof. The sliding headliner contains individual louvers which are movably supported on bilateral lengthwise roof beams. When the sliding headliner is opened, the individual louvers are pushed to the rear to under the transparent motor vehicle roof into a storage position in which they are located on top of one another as a package.
German Patent DE 196 34 507 C1 discloses a motor vehicle roof which can be lowered into the rear of a passenger car. A movable roof arrangement which is provided selectively for closing or clearing a roof opening is made especially as a louvered roof which when opened can be folded up in the form of a package on the roof frame and can be lowered with the motor vehicle roof in the rear of the vehicle.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the invention is to provide the initially described type of motor vehicle with a roof which can be opened over a large area and which still has a high stiffness as passenger protection in a vehicle rollover. Furthermore, the components which have been removed from the roof opening will be stored in a space-saving manner.
The object is achieved in the initially mentioned motor vehicle in accordance with the invention in that the cover and rear window can be moved by guide means into the open position in which they are located on top of one another on the trunk lid.
In this way, a roof opening can be formed which extends as in a convertible from the front window as far as the trunk lid over the entire passenger compartment, but compared to a convertible, the lengthwise roof beams remain in their body-mounted arrangement and thus provide passenger protection if the motor vehicle rolls over and comes to rest on the roof. The lengthwise roof beams are attached via the rear roof columns, for example, the C columns, to the body. Deposition on the trunk lid does not require any space in the vehicle interior or in the trunk.
The object is also achieved in the initially mentioned motor vehicle according to the invention in that the roof opening extends essentially over the entire vehicle interior and can be closed by means of a cover arrangement which has at least two cover elements and that the cover elements are guided on lateral guides and when the roof opening is cleared are moved along the lengthwise roof beams into a rear storage space and deposited therein in the packed position and especially in the essentially upright position. In this motor vehicle, a roof opening can also be formed which, like in a convertible, extends from the front window to the trunk lid over the entire passenger compartment, but compared to the convertible, the lengthwise roof beams remain in their body-mounted arrangement and thus provide improved passenger protection if the vehicle rolls over and comes to rest on the roof.
The rear storage space for the roof dividing elements is preferably in the lowered position so that it is not raised or is not significantly raised over the equator line of the motor vehicle which is formed by the lower edge of the side windows and the trunk lid. Thus, visibility from the vehicle interior to the rear is not obstructed. The storage space is thus behind the rear seats roughly underneath the top edge of the rear seats in a four-seat or five-seat limousine or in one such coupe.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2263216 (1941-11-01), Latchford
patent: 2785922 (1957-03-01), Chika
patent: 4968089 (1990-11-01), Murai et al.
patent: 5242210 (1993-09-01), Fujisawa et al.
patent: 6419308 (2002-07-01), Corder et al.
patent: 6474731 (2002-11-01), De Gaillard
patent: 2002/0084677 (2002-07-01), Dittrich et al.
patent: 1 96 34 507 (1999-11-01), None
patent: 0 101 322 (1984-02-01), None
patent: 0 591 644 (1994-04-01), None
patent: 2 718 485 (1995-10-01), None
Gordon Stephen T.
Morrow Jason
Nixon & Peabody LLP
Safran David S.
Webasto Vehicle Systems International GmbH
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