Abstract:
A guide arrangement for a roof element on an opening vehicle roof which includes a guide web connected to the roof element and a guide claw, having two opposing guide surfaces, which engages the guide web in such a manner that the guide surfaces lie on the guide web. The guide claw also includes an elastic element which provides adjustment for one of the two guide surfaces, such that the separation between the two opposing guide surfaces may be altered to provide tolerance adjustment.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   This invention relates to a guide arrangement for a roof element for a motor vehicle roof. 
   2. Description of Related Art 
   One such generic guide arrangement is known from published German Patent Application DE 195 14 585 A1, a T-shaped guide web being formed on the bottom of a mounting element attached to the roof cover and the two guide surfaces being formed by a first cam and an abutment cam which is offset with respect to the first cam in the lengthwise direction. The guide claw can be made in one piece out of plastic and is movably guided in the lengthwise direction of the roof along a roof-mounted guide rail. 
   German Patent DE 100 24 442 C1, and U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,968,514 and 3,005,226 disclose guiding the cover of an openable motor vehicle roof along a roof-mounted guide rail by means of guide blocks which are attached to the cover, each guide block surrounding a horizontally projecting bridge in a U-shape, the guide block being provided with a flexible lining or plastic element in the engagement area. 
   In a slotted guide in which a link pin is movably guided in a link slot, tolerance equalization can be achieved by the link pin and the link slot being designed with an overlap, the slot width widening relative to the pin diameter. This is possible because the slot is relatively long and therefore the material which surrounds the slot acts as a spring. In a bridge guide (for example, a T-guide) this type of tolerance equalization cannot be achieved, because the bridge cannot be used as an elastic element. As a result, the problem arises that either the bridge guide or the guide claw rattle, because the width of the bridge, is less than the spacing of the retaining claws. Additionally, the problem arises that the two parts stick or can move only with a great application of force, which results in the wear of the contact surfaces being very large such that, after a certain number of actuations, rattling of the parts will occur. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The object of this invention is to devise a guide for a guide web in which good tolerance equalization is easily and expediently achieved in order to prevent both rattling and also stiffness or excess wear of the guide and guide web. 
   This object is achieved by a guide arrangement of the embodiments of the invention where the guide claw is provided with an elastic element and the distance between the two guide surfaces of the guide claw is variable for purposes of tolerance equalization. 
   The invention is explained in detail below by way of example using the attached drawings. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  shows a schematic perspective of the guide arrangement of the invention according to a first embodiment; 
       FIG. 2  shows a perspective view of the guide claw from  FIG. 1 ; 
       FIG. 3  shows a cross section through the guide arrangement from  FIGS. 1 and 2 ; 
       FIGS. 4  to  7  show views like  FIG. 3 , however of modified embodiments of the invention; 
       FIG. 8  is a side view of the guide claw according to another modified embodiment of the invention; 
       FIG. 9  is a view like  FIG. 3 , but of a modified embodiment of the invention; and 
       FIG. 10  shows a section taken along line X—X from  FIG. 9 , however, with the guide web being omitted. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     FIG. 1  shows a guide arrangement with a carrier element  10  and a sliding element  12  in a schematic perspective. The carrier element  10  is intended for fixed mounting on the bottom of a cover (not shown) which is designed for closing or selectively clearing a roof opening which has been made in a motor vehicle roof, which can be, for example, a sliding roof, a sliding and lifting roof, or a spoiler roof. The sliding element  12  is designed to be movably guided by means of the engagement of sliding blocks (not shown) which can be mounted on sliding block sections  14  on the sliding element  12  in a body-mounted guide rail  11  in the lengthwise direction of the roof. The sliding element  12  can be driven by a compressively-stiff drive cable. 
   The carrier element  10  is provided on its bottom with a guide web  16  which is T-shaped in cross section, i.e., on either side of the carrier element  10 , a section  18  of the guide web  16  projects laterally. The on the top  20  or bottom  22  of the sections  18 , each section has a contact surface which slidably adjoins the corresponding upper or lower contact surfaces  26 ,  28  which are provided on the section of the sliding element  12  which is made as the guide claw  30 . The claw  30 , in this way, extends around the guide web  16 . 
   The guide web  16  is made such that it runs at a different level in the vertical direction of the roof. In this way, when the guide claw  30  is pushed in the lengthwise direction with respect to the carrier element  10 , a raising or pivoting motion of the carrier element  10 , and thus of the cover attached to it, can be induced and controlled. 
   The carrier element  10  can be made, for example, as a sheet-metal part, and the guide web  16  can be spray-jacketed, for example, with POM. However, the entire carrier element  10  can also be made of plastic, for example, POM. 
   The structure of the guide claw  30  is explained in greater detail below in connection with several embodiments. 
   In the embodiment as shown in  FIG. 3 , the guide claw  30  comprises a profile  32  having two side walls  34 ,  36  and a bottom  38 . The walls  32 ,  34  are bent to the inside in their upper section in order to form solid upper contact surface  26  of the claw  30  on the bottom of the section which is bent to the inside. An axle  40  is mounted by means of the corresponding holes in the transverse direction between the two walls  34 ,  36  and is formed by a rivet. The rivet  40  is surrounded by a spacer sleeve  42  which, in turn, is surrounded by a rotary sleeve  44 . The riveted-in spacer sleeve  42  is used to stabilize the walls  34 ,  36  of the profile  32 , and thus, to stabilize the entire claw  30 . The rivet  40 , the spacer sleeve  42  and the two walls  34  and  36  are joined positively and non-positively to one another. 
   The rotary sleeve  44  is surrounded by a sleeve-like elastic element  46  which is made of elastic material and which, for its part, is surrounded by a sliding sleeve  48 . The sliding sleeve  48  forms the lower contact surface  28  of the claw  30  which is engaged with the lower contact surface  22  of the guide web  16 . The rotary sleeve  44  is used to support the elastic element  46  and the sliding sleeve  48  to be able to turn relative to the rivet  40  or the spacer sleeve  42 , by which the sliding friction is converted essentially into rolling friction when the claw  30  engages the guide web  16 . In this way, the required drive forces and the wear are clearly reduced. 
   Since the elastic element  46  can be compressed, the axis of rotation of the sliding sleeve  48  can be shifted with respect to the axis of rotation of the rotary sleeve  44 , by which the opposing contact surfaces  28 ,  26  of the claw  30  can be moved in order to equalize production tolerances in the guide web  16  or the guide claw  30 , so that both tightness and excessive play can be reliably prevented. 
   In the embodiment as shown in  FIG. 4 , the rotary sleeve  44  is omitted; this is possible if the elastic element  46  slides directly on the axle  140  or if the rotational capacity of the contact surface  22  or the sliding surface  28  can be eliminated. In the embodiment shown in  FIG. 4 , the axle  140  is injection molded into the claw  30 . 
   In the embodiment as shown in  FIG. 5 , the sliding sleeve  48  is omitted; this is possible when the material of the elastic element  46  interacts with the material of the guide web  16  in a favorable manner in order to keep the friction, and thus the wear, low. The contact surface  28  is made directly on the outside of the elastic element  46 . The axle  240  is made in the embodiment as shown in  FIG. 5  as a screw axis. 
   In the embodiment shown in  FIG. 6 , the axle  340  is made integral with the elastic element  46 , and the axle  340  can be rotatably or pivotably supported in the holes  50 ,  52  in the walls  34 ,  36 . Alternatively, the axle  340  can be permanently connected to one or both walls  34 ,  36  if the rotational capacity of the contact surface  28  can be eliminated. 
     FIGS. 9 &amp; 10  show an embodiment in which both the spacer sleeve and also the rotary sleeve are omitted. The elastic element  46  is made of rubber and surrounds a pin  40  made as a rivet, the elastic element  46  being able to turn on the surface  47  on the pin  40 . The elastic element  46  bears a sliding sleeve  48  of harder material on its outside periphery which forms the contact surface  28 . The engagement of the pin  40  prevents the two side walls from being able to move apart. The sliding sleeve  48  prevents the two side walls  34 ,  36  from being able to move further inside toward one another, as corresponds to the width of the sliding sleeve  48 . 
   The axle can, as shown, be made, for example, as a rivet or as a screw, and the rivet and the spacer sleeve can also be replaced by a pressed-in bolt. The contact surface  28 , if it can turn around the axis, can be made as a circular cylinder or roller surface; if the rotational capacity can be eliminated, the contact surface  28  can also assume a different shape. 
     FIG. 7  shows a modified embodiment in which, above the bottom  38  of the guide claw  30 , the elastic element  446  is provided as a block of elastic material and forms the contact surface  28 . The elastic element  446  is supported by the bottom  38  of the guide claw  30 . 
   In the embodiments described so far, the elastic element  46 ,  446  is preferably formed from a suitable plastic material or rubber. 
     FIG. 8  shows an embodiment in which the elastic element  546  is formed by a spring which is flexible in the direction indicated with the arrows and which on its top forms the lower contact surface  28  which is opposite the upper contact surface  26 . Furthermore, the sliding blocks  54  for the sliding element  12  are indicated in FIG.  8 . 
   In all embodiments, the guide web is not limited to the described T-shaped cross sectional shape. Instead, it can have for example also an L-shaped cross sectional shape.