GB2202580A

GB2202580A - Sliding roof for motor vehicle

Info

Publication number: GB2202580A
Application number: GB08707125A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Patrick Desforges
Original assignee: Britax PMG Ltd
Current assignee: Britax PMG Ltd
Priority date: 1987-03-25
Filing date: 1987-03-25
Publication date: 1988-09-28
Also published as: FR2612850A1; GB8707125D0

Abstract

A sliding roof assembly for a vehicle comprises a frame bounding an opening in a vehicle roof and having a pair of side members each of which forms a guide track and extends along the side edge of and behind said opening above the vehicle roof. A panel is supported on the guide tracks for movement between a forward position closing the opening and a position rearwardly of the opening. Means for securing the panel in any desired position between its forward and rearward positions comprise a respective block 76 of resilient synthetic material located in each of the guide tracks so as to be in frictional engagement between a surface 34 of such guide track and a surface 44 of the panel. Control means 62 for each block 76 having means 72 for applying a longitudinal force to the block 76, are arranged to vary the frictional engagement between the block 76 and the track and the panel. <IMAGE>

Description

SLIDING ROOF FOR MOTOR VEHICLE This invention relates to a sliding roof assembly for a vehicle of the type comprising a frame having a front member bounding the front edge of an opening in a vehicle roof, a pair of side members each of which forms a guide track and extends along the side edge of said opening and behind said opening above the vehicle roof, and a panel supported on the guide track for movement between a forward position closing the opening in the vehicle roof and a rearward position in which the panel is disposed rearwardly of the opening above the vehicle roof.

An opening roof of this type is disclosed in patent specification US-A-3993348. A separate latch is provided at each of the front corners of the panel for securing the panel in any desired position relative to the opening. However the two latches have to be operated separately. The panel is of glass and consequently any mechanism interconnecting the two latches would be visible. The present invention aims to provide an opening roof of the foregoing type in which the means for securing the panel in position is located on the track rather than on the panel and so does not intrude into the transparent area of the panel.

According to the invention, in an opening roof of the foregoing type, the means for securing the panel comprises a respective block of resilient synthetic material located in each of the guide tracks so as to to be in frictional engagement between a surface of such guide track and a surface of the panel, and control means for each block having projections extending into the apertures together with means for applying a longitudinal force to the block, thereby to vary the frictional engagement between the block and the track and between the block and the panel.

If each block is normally a loose fit between the panel and the track, each control means has abutment surfaces confronting the ends of the corresponding block and means for applying a force trending to move the abutment surfaces towards one another so as to apply a longitudinal compressive force to the block, thereby to increase the frictional engagement between the block and the track and between the block and the panel.

If each block is normally an interference fit between the panel and the track when in its relaxed condition, each block has a pair of openings extending parallel to said surfaces and spaced apart from one another in the longitudinal direction of the track, and each control means has projections extending into the openings together with means for applying a force tending to move the projections apart from one another so as to apply a longitudinal tensile force to the block, thereby to reduce the frictional engagement between the block and the track and between the block and the panel.

Alternatively, each control means may include both the aforesaid means for applying tensile and compressive forces to its block.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a vehicle roof fitted with an opening roof assembly in accordance with the invention; Figure 2 is a plan view of the opening assembly shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 3 - 3 in Figure 2; Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 4 - 4 in Figure 2; Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 5 - 5 in Figure 2; Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 6 - 6 in Figure 5 with the panel free to slide between its open and closed positions; Figure 7'is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 7 - 7 in Figure 5 with the panel free to slide between its open and closed positions;; Figure 8 is a cross-sectional view, similar to Figure 6 but with the panel secured against sliding movement; Figure 9 is a cross-sectional view, similar to Figure 3, of another embodiment of the invention; and Figure 10 is a cross-sectional view, similar to Figure 6, of the embodiment shown in Figure 9.

Referring first to Figure 1, the roof 10 of a motor vehicle has an opening 12 therein. The opening is bounded along its front edge by a front member 14 of a frame 16 which also includes two side members 18 and 20 extending along respective sides of the opening 12 and a rear member 22. The side members 18 and 20 also extend behind the rear member 22 by a distance substantially equal to the distance between the frame member 14 and such rear member 22. A glass panel 24 is mounted in tracks formed in the side members 18 and 20 so as to slideable between a forward position in which it closes the opening 12 and a rear position in which its front edge 26 projects only slightly in front of the rear member 22, as shown in chain-dotted lines in Figure 2.

Referring to Figures 2 to 7, each of the members 14, 18 and 20 of the frame 16 includes a horizontal portion 28 and an outer trim strip 30 which are secured to the top surface of the vehicle roof 10 by rivet 32 (Figure 5). A one-piece plastics cover 34 clips on to the trim strip 30 and covers the heads of the rivets 32.

A main seal 36 is secured to the inboard edge of the horizontal portion 28 of the front and side members 14, 18 and 20, and also to the rear member 22. The seal 36, which extends continuously round the opening 12 in the vehicle roof 10, is formed of a flexible material which is sufficiently resilient to support the weight of the panel 24. The ' upper surface of the seal 36 may be provided with a low-friction coating to facilitate sliding movement of the panel 24 relative thereto. The cover 34 carries a lip seal 38 which engages with the top surface of the panel 24.

As can be seen from Figure 4, the rear member 22 carries a second lip seal 40 which extends across the rear edge of the opening 12 in the vehicle roof 10 in order to prevent water and foreign bodies lying on the vehicle roof 10 behind the opening 12 from flowing on to region immediately adjacent to the seal 36.

As can be seen from Figure 5, a side member 42 is secured to each side of the panel 24 The member 42 has an outwardly projecting flange 44 with a high-friction strip 46 secured to its upper surface by adhesive. A similar high-friction strip 48 is secured by adhesive to a portion of the frame which confronts the under side of the flange 44. The strips 48 extend rearwardly to points 50 on the side members 18 and 20 located approximately half way between the rear edge of the opening 12 in the vehicle roof and the rear ends of the side members 18 and 20. Behind the points 50, lowfriction strips 52 are secured in place of the highfriction strips 48.

Each of the side members 18 and 20 includes a vertical wall portion 58 extending between the horizontal portion 28 and the cover 34 thereof outboard of the highfriction strips 48. A blocking assembly 60 is mounted on the inside of each of the wall portions 58 behind the rear edge of the opening 12. As can best be seen in Figures 5 to 7 each blocking assembly 60 comprises a base member 62, of L-shaped cross-section, having a vertical limb secured to the wall portion 58 and a horizontal limb projecting from the upper edge of the vertical limb over the flange 44 of the side member 42 which is secured to the panel 24. A stationary peg 66 projects laterally from the vertical limb 62. A movable peg 68 is mounted on a slider 70 so as to extend parallel to the fixed peg.The slider 70 is biased rearwardly by a compression spring 72 and movable forwardly by means of a Bowden cable 74.

Each blocking assembly 60 also includes a rubber blocker 76, the cross-section of which is shaped like two rhombuses interconnected at abutting corners so that the diagonals through such corners are aligned with one another, the rhombuses being hollow. The blocker 76 is mounted with a respective one of the pegs 66 and 68 projecting through each of the openings formed by the two hollow rhombuses and the dimensions of the blocker 76 are such that, when compressed by the spring 72, it pushes down on the corresponding flange 44 so as to press the panel 24 downwardly on the seal 36, pressing the flange 44 into engagement with the high-friction strip 50, the blocker 76 itself engaging with the high-friction strip 46, as shown in Figure 8.

On the other hand, if tension is applied to the Bowden cable 74 to pull the peg 68 forwardly as shown in Figures 6 and 7, the blocker 76 is stretched horizontally and therefore contracts in the vertical direction, moving out of engagement with the highfriction strip 46 on the flange 42 and allowing the seal 36 to lift the panel 24 so as to move the flange 42 out of engagement with the high-friction strip 50, thus freeing the panel 24 to move forwardly and rearwardly.

Reverting to Figures 2 and 3, the other ends of the Bowden cables 74 of the two blocking assemblies 60 are coupled to respective pivot points 76 on a lever 78 which is pivotally mounted on a bracket 80 secured to the centre of the front frame member 14. The lever 78 has a manually operable projection 82 which projects rearwardly below the panel 24. When the lever 82 ,is pulled downwardly, the blockers 76 are stretched rearwardly, thus freeing the panel 24 to slide. Downward movement of the projection 82 also has the effect of exposing a hand grip 84 secured to the underside of the panel 24 which the user can then grip in order to slide the panel.

As an additional precaution to secure the panel 24 in its closed position, the lever 82 carries a formation 86 which engages behind the handle 84 to prevent rearward movement of a panel 24 from its closed position when the handle 82 is in its upper position. The forward limit of the range of movement of the panel 24 is defined by abutment of its front edge with a vertically extending flange 86 on the front frame member 14. Its rearward limit of movement is defined by abutment of the handle 84 with the rear frame member 22.

The embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figures 2 to 8 suffers from the disadvantage that the cables 74 have to pass through the horizontal portion 28 of the front frame member 14 at the locations 88 and 90 (Figure 2). Since it is not feasible to bend the cables 74 to curves of very small radius, the openings at the locations 80 and 88 must be relatively large and are therefore difficult to seal reliably. Figures 9 and 10 illustrate another embodiment of the invention which is not subject to this disadvantage. Ccomponents which are identical with the corresponding components of Figures 2 to 8 being denoted by the same reference numerals and are not described in detail. The front and side frame members thereof have horizontal portions 100 and a cover 102 corresponding to the horizontal portions 28 and the cover 34 of Figures 2 to 5.The cover 102 has a lip seal 104 which performs the same function as the differntly shaped lip seal 38 of Figures 2 to 5. A flange 106 projects downwardly into the opening 12 from the part of the horizontal portion 100 of the front member 116 which projects over the roof opening 12.

Interior vehicle roof trim material 108 is attached to the bottom edge of the flange 106.

A bracket 110 extends between the flange 106 and the horizontal portion 100. An operating lever 112 is journaled on a horizontal pivot pin 114 which is secured to the bracket 110. A bevelled gear 116 is also journalled on the pin 114 fast with the lever 110. The bevel gear 116 engages with a second bevel gear 118 which is mounted on a vertical shaft 120 which extends through the horizontal portion 100 of the front frame member and also through a collar 122 in which it is journaled. The collar 122 is firmly bonded to the horizontal portion 100 so as to also serve the secondary purpose of acting as a water-check member to prevent any water lying on the top surface of the portion 100 from leaking through the hole therein round the shaft 120. On its upper end, the shaft 120 carries a pinion 124, the teeth of which engage with spiral wound cables 126 and 128 which thus serve as racks.The ends of the cables 142 and 144 are connected to blocking assemblies similar to the blocking assemblies 60 of Figures 2 to 8. Downward movement of the lever 110 therefore releases the blocking assemblies in a similar manner to that described above with reference to Figures 2 to 8.

The horizontal member 100 has a seal 130 on its inner edge which is of somewhat different shape to the seal 36 but which serves basically the same purpose.

The panel 122 carries a handle 132 which serves the same purpose as the handle 84 of Figure 4.

Figure 10 is a cross-sectional view taken on a line somewhat behind that of Figure 6, and consequently does not show blocking assemblies equivalent to the blocking assemblies 60, the side member 120, equivalent to a side member 20 is secured to the vehicle roof 10.

At the bottom of the downwardly projecting flange 106 is an inwardly projecting flange 134 on which a sunblind 136 is slidably mounted. An elongate spring clip 138 engages between the top surface of the sunblind 136 and a bottom surface of the horizontal member member 100 and serves both to retain the sunblind 136 in engagement with the flange 134 and to provide sufficient frictionable resistance to sliding movement of the sunblind 136 to ensure that it remains in the position in which it is set. The sunblind 136 is of substantially the same size as the glass panel 24 and can slide over a similar horizontal range of movement. The projecting hand grip 132 on the glass panel 24 prevents the sunblind from being moved to its closed position when the glass panel 24 is in its open position.

Claims

1. A sliding roof assembly for a vehicle comprising a frame having a front member bounding the front edge of an opening in a vehicle roof, a pair of side members each of which forms a guide track and extends along the side edge of said opening and behind said opening above the vehicle roof, a panel supported on the guide track for -movement between a forward position closing the opening in the vehicle roof and a rearward position in which the panel is disposed rearwardly of the opening above the vehicle roof, and means for securing the panel in any desired position between its forward psoition and its rearward position, said means comprising a respective block of resilient synthetic material located in each of the guide tracks so as to to be in frictional engagement between a surface of such guide track and a surface of the panel, and control means for each block having projections extending into the apertures together withy means for applying a longitudinal force to the block, thereby to vary the frictional engagement between the block and the track and between the block and the panel.

2. A sliding roof assembly according to claim 1, wherein each control means has abutment surfaces confronting the ends of the corresponding block and means for applying a force tending to move the abutment surfaces towards one another so as to apply a longitudinal compressive force to the block, thereby to increase the frictional engagement between the block and the track and between the block and the panel.

3. A sliding roof assembly according to claim 1 or 2, wherein each block has a pair of openings extending parallel to said surfaces and spaced apart from one another in the longitudinal direction of the track, and each control means has projections extending into the openings together with means for applying a force tending another in the longitudinal direction of the track, and each control means has projections extending into the openings together with means for applying a force tending to move the projections apart from one another so as to apply a longitudinal tensile force to the block, thereby to reduce the frictional engagement between the block and the track and between the block and the parcel.

4. A sliding roof assembly for a vehicle, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Amendments to the claims have been filed as follows CLAIMS 1. A sliding roof assembly for a vehicle comprising a frame having a front member bounding the front edge of an opening in a vehicle roof, a pair of side members each of which forms a guide track and extends along the side edge of said opening and behind said opening above the vehicle roof, a panel supported on the guide track for movement between a forward position closing the opening in the vehicle roof and a rearward position in which the panel is disposed rearwardly of the opening above the vehicle roof, and means for securing the panel in any desired position between its forward position and its rearward position, said means comprising a respective block of resilient synthetic material located in each of the guide tracks so as to to be in frictional engagement between a surface of such guide track and a surface of the panel, and control means for each block having means for applying a longitudinal force to the block, thereby to vary the frictional engagement between the block and the track and between the block and the panel.

2. A sliding roof assembly according to claim 1, wherein each control means has an abutment surface confronting one end of the corresponding block and the means for applying a force is arranged to bias the abutment surface towards the block so as to apply a longitudinal compressive force to the block, thereby to increase the frictional engagement between the block and the track and between the block and the panel.

3. A sliding roof assembly according to claim 1 or 2, wherein each block has a pair of openings extending parallel to said surfaces and spaced apart from one another in the longitudinal direction of the track, each control means has projections extending into the openings and the means for applying a force is arranged to bias the projections apart from one another so as to apply a longitudinal tensile force to the block, thereby to reduce the frictional engagement between the block and the track and between the block and the panel.