Patent ID: 7621583
Filing Date: 2009-11-24
Classification: B60J

Abstract:
1. A retractable hard top for a vehicle, the vehicle having a decklid that covers a rear compartment of the vehicle and is pivoted between an open position and a closed position on a rear edge of the decklid, wherein the decklid has a pair of clearance slots, the retractable hard top comprising: a roof panel spanning a passenger compartment of the vehicle and extending longitudinally from a windshield header to a rear window and transversely across the vehicle; a pair of buttress panels projecting rearwardly of the rear window at a lower end extend through the clearance slots of the decklid and are provided on opposite sides of the roof panel, wherein each buttress panel is pivotally attached to the vehicle on the lower end; a pair of buttress-to-roof links pivotally attached to the roof panel; a pair of rear rails that are provided on opposite sides of the roof panel, wherein each rear rail is pivotally connected to the vehicle on a lower end at a location that is spaced from the point at which the buttress panel is attached to the vehicle and is pivotally attached on an upper end where the buttress-to-roof link is attached to the roof panel; a rear window that is shifted from a closed position in which the window extends from the roof downwardly to the vehicle and an open position in which the rear window is retracted downwardly into the vehicle; and wherein as the decklid is raised the clearance slots allow the front edge of the decklid to move from a position adjacent to the bottom of the buttress panels to a position above the buttress panels, the rear window being retracted from the closed position to the open position, the buttress panels being pivoted about the lower ends thereof rearwardly to an inverted position, and the roof panel being pivoted relative to the upper end of the buttress panels to a storage position extending between and above the buttress panels.