US3005226A - Guide shoes for guiding movable roofs along guide rails - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 24, 1961 J. WERNER 3,005,226

GUIDE SHOES FOR GUIDING MOVABLE ROOFS ALONG GUIDE RAILS Filed Oct. 28, 1959 United States Patent 3,005,226 GUIDE SHOES FOR GUIDING MOVABLE ROOFS ALONG GUIDE RAILS Johannes Werner, Ofienbach, Germany, assignor to H. T. Golde, G.m.b.H. & Co. KG, Frankfurt am Main, Germany Filed Oct. 28, 1959, Ser. No. 849,352 Claims priority, application Germany Oct. 29, 1958 6 Claims. (Cl. 16-93) This invention relates to a guide shoe for guiding a movable roof along a guide rail.

In structures known at the present time, the sliding roof of a motor vehicle is guided by guide shoes which slide in or on guide rails fixed to the vehicle. Each guide shoe includes a lining which is interposed between the adjacent rail and the shoe, in order to avoid direct sliding of metal on metal and to damp the sound of sliding. The lining is made of a material, for example leather or felt, having suitable sliding properties, and bears simultaneously on opposite sides of the guide rail. The thickness of this lining is reduced both by the load applied to the lining material and by the wear which occurs in the course of time. #In consequence, the roof may begin to rattle or tilt slightly.

According to the present invention, there is provided a guide shoe, for guiding a movable roof along a guide rail, comprising a first guide shoe part having two opposite side surfaces for positioning near two opposite side surfaces of a guide rail, two parts of flexible lining material disposed adjacent the respective opposite side surfaces aforementioned of the first guide shoe part for sliding on the aforementioned two opposite side surfaces of the guide rail, means connecting said portions of lining material with said first guide shoe part, portions of one of said two opposite side surfaces aforementioned of the first guide shoe part defining, together with portions of one part of lining material facing said one of said two opposite side surfaces, a gap therebetween, a wedging member Occupying said gap for producing a wedging action between said one of said two opposite side surfaces and said one part'of lining material, and spring means mounted adjacent the driving surface of said wedging member for acting on said driving surface and so forcing said wedging member to produce the wedging action.

In order that the invention may be clearly understood and readily carried into effect, reference will now be made, by way of example, to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a guide shoe for guiding a sliding roof of a vehicle along a guide rail,

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view taken on the line lI-II of FIGURE 1 and showing the guide shoe mounted on a guide rail,

FIGURE 2a is a view similar to FIGURE 2, but showing the shoe removed from the rail,

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken on the line III-III of FIGURE 1 and showing the guide shoe mounted on the guide nail, and

FIGURE 4 is a partial sectional view on the line I'I-II of FIGURE 1 showing another embodiment with adjustable spring load.

Referring to the drawings, the guide shoe 1 includes a trough-shaped part, for receiving the guide rail 10, composed of portions of joined members 2 and 5. A piece 4 of flexible lining material having U-shaped crosssection is mounted in the trough-shaped part with the two parts thereof providing the limbs of the U being disposed inwardly of the respective side walls of the trough-shaped part and arranged to slide on respective 3,005,226 Patented Oct. 24, 1961 opposite sides of the rail 10. The member 5 has wings 5b which are inclined slightly away from the intended position of the rail 10, to which are connected, by means of rivets 11, corresponding wings of the piece 4. A gap is formed between one of the two parts of the lining providing the limbs of the U and the side wall of the trough-shaped part formed by portions of the member 5. The gap is occupied by a wedging member 3 which is arranged to co-operate with the adjacent side wall of member 5 and the adjacent part of lining material 4 so as to produce a wedging action between them. A coil spring 6 is mounted adjacent the rear or driving surface 312 of the wedging member and is arranged to act on the driving surface and force the member 6 to produce the wedging action.

The member 5 is formed with slots 1a which permit the shoe to be adjustably connected to the sliding roof by means of nuts and bolts (not shown). The wedging member is basically of triangular cross-section and the co-operating side wall of the trough-shaped part is inclined inwardly from the base wall of the trough-shaped part. The just-mentioned side wall is provided with a central slot 5a through which projects a nose 3a formed on the member 3. The face 31; of the nose furthest from the mouth of the trough-shaped part forms the driving surface for one end of the coil spring 6 which at its other end bears against an upwardly-projecting tongue 8 of the member 5. The tongue 8 faces the driving surface 3b of the member 3. A pin 7 extends oo-axially through the spring 6 and, at one end, is fixed rigidly to the surface 3b of the member 3 and, near the other end, passes a bore in the tongue 8. The free end of the pin 7 has a head 7a, and the force exerted by the spring 6 can be adjusted in any desired manner, for example by fitting onto the pin 7, at locations between the spring and the tongue 8, one or more U-shaped or split spacer rings 11 (as shown in FIG. 4).

When the thickness of the lining 4 is reduced during use, the wedging member 3, due to the force exerted by the spring 6 in the direction of the arrow P (see FIG- URE 3), is caused to move. [Due to the sloping form of the adjacent side wall of the trough-shaped part, such movement causes the surface of the member 3 that contacts the lining 4 to be shifted in the direction of the arrow S. As a result, the lining 4 is always pressed tightly against the rail 10 so that the shoe will slide correctly along the guide rail 10.

The slope angle of the wedge 3 is kept so small that, in the event of a large force acting on the surface of the member 3 contacting the lining 4, it is impossible for the member to move in a manner to compress the spring, i.e. the wedge is self-locking. The angle selected for the wedge is thus smaller than the angle of friction between the wedge 3 and the adjacent side wall of the trough-shaped part.

The use of the wedge 3 permits a guide shoe to be of a low overall height as is necessary under the cramped conditions found in sliding-roof guide systems, the nose 3a and the tongue 8 being the highest points.

I claim:

1. A guide shoe for a movable roof for guiding it along a guide rail, comprising a guide-shoe member having portions defining engaging surfaces positioned near the opposite sides of the guide rail, a substantially U- shaped compressible lining material adjacent said sides of the rail for sliding engagement therealong, means connecting said lining material with said guide-shoe member, a wedging member interposed between one of said portions of the guide-shoe member and one of the limbs of said U-shaped lining material, said wedging member being adadpted to be reciprocated ina direction substantially at right angles to the guide rail so as to urge said limb of the lining material against the guide rail for frictional engagement therewith.

2. A guide shoe according to claim 1 wherein the wedging angle of said wedging member is less than the angle of friction between one of said engaging surfaces and the contacting surface of said wedging member.

3. A guide shoe according to claim 1 wherein said guide-shoe member comprises an upstanding tongue and said wedging member comprises a guide element reciprocable in said tongue, further comprising means for adjusting the free displacement of said guide element towards and from the guide rail.

4. A guide shoe according to claim 3, further comprising biasing means interconnecting said tongue and said wedging member along said guide element, for securing said wedging member and said lining material in the frictionally engaged position with the guide rail.

5; A'guide shoe according to claim 4 wherein said tion of said guide shoe member defines a slot therein, a

portion of said wedging member defines a nose narrowing towards the guide rail and protruding through said slot, whereby said wedging member is positively guided in a direction perpendicular to that of the guide rail.

' References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 518,494 Evans Apr. l7, 1894 1,500,130 Heringer July 8, 1924 2,521,836 Deal Sept. 12, 1950 2,602,693 Murphy July 8, 1952

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