Abstract:
A sliding roof system includes a cover adapted to be moved rearwardly above a roof element, a guide rail, and a front raising mechanism that raises a front edge of the cover outwardly. A rear raising mechanism raises a rear edge of the cover outwardly, and is coupled with the front raising mechanism.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    The application claims priority to European Patent No. 06 005 051.5, which was filed on Mar. 13, 2006. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The invention relates to a sliding roof system comprising a cover adapted to move rearward above a roof element, a guide rail, and a front raising mechanism with which a front edge of the cover can be raised outwards. 
         [0003]    A sliding roof system of this type is typically part of a panorama roof in which both the cover and the roof element are made of transparent plastic or glass. The roof element may either be immovably attached to a car body or a roof, or could be configured such that the roof element can be raised or moved. Also, it is possible that the cover will be raised outwards only at a rear edge, so that the cover assumes a so-called venting position, or the cover could be completely moved outwards and then to the rear, so that the cover lies above the roof element. In this condition an opening, which otherwise is closed by the cover, is exposed by the roof element to a greater or lesser extent. 
         [0004]    If the cover is to be brought to the rear above the roof element, there arises the problem of how to hold the cover in an open position. It is not possible to use a complex guide at the rear edge of the cover, which is situated above the roof element when the cover is retracted, because this type of guide would have to be connected with a guide rail underneath the roof element. This is why there are attempts to arrange the entire raising mechanism for the cover in a region of a front edge only. In this configuration, the raising mechanism will always stay in front of the roof element, i.e. in an area which is freely accessible when the cover is open. The problem is that a comparably stable and, for this reason, even a large raising mechanism is required if all the loads acting on the open cover during use can only be supported at the front edge of the cover. Such a raising mechanism needs a certain space, which limits a traverse path of the cover to the rear. Finally, a maximum displacement of the cover to the rear is limited by dimensions of the raising mechanism; the rear edge of the raising mechanism cannot be moved to be located behind the front edge of the roof element. 
         [0005]    There are solutions in which a spring-loaded supporting lever is used at the rear edge of the cover. This lever diverts a portion of the loads that act on the raised cover, into a guide rail underneath the roof element, and thereby slightly relieves the front raising mechanism. Nevertheless, the front raising mechanism has to be designed to be comparably massive with this solution, too. 
         [0006]    It is the object of the invention to provide a sliding roof system of the type initially mentioned where in a region of the front edge of the cover, a raising mechanism is used that is comparably filigree and, for this reason, has a short construction. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    The subject invention provides a rear raising mechanism that can raise a rear edge of a cover outwardly, and which is coupled with a front raising mechanism. The invention is based on a fundamental idea to concentrate an actual coupling of the cover with a drive for the cover, i.e. the raising mechanism, essentially in a region of a front edge of the cover. At the same time, the rear raising mechanism is used at the rear edge of the cover to raise this rear edge in a defined manner. Through the employment of front and rear raising mechanisms, it is possible to calculate very precisely the loads that will act on each raising mechanism. The front and rear raising mechanisms therefore can be designed in a very precise manner, and it is possible to use slender raising mechanisms which need little space. Particularly, the front raising mechanism can have a short construction, which allows the cover to be moved very far across the roof element. 
         [0008]    Advantageous embodiments of the invention will be apparent from the sub-claims. 
         [0009]    These and other features of the present invention can be best understood from the following specification and drawings, the following of which is a brief description. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0010]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a vehicle roof comprising a sliding roof system with a cover in a partially open position. 
           [0011]      FIG. 2  is a schematic side view of the sliding roof system with the cover in a closed position. 
           [0012]      FIG. 3  is a view corresponding to that of  FIG. 2 , with the cover being in a fully open position moved to the rear. 
           [0013]      FIG. 4  shows a section along plane IV-IV of  FIG. 2 . 
           [0014]      FIG. 5  shows in a perspective view some components of the sliding roof system. 
           [0015]      FIG. 6  shows in a perspective view some components of a rear raising mechanism. 
           [0016]      FIG. 7  shows in a first perspective view a cover support with the components of the rear raising mechanism that are attached to the cover support. 
           [0017]      FIG. 8  shows the components of  FIG. 7  in a further perspective view. 
           [0018]      FIG. 9  shows the rear raising mechanism in a further perspective view. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0019]      FIG. 1  shows a vehicle roof  2  in which an opening  3  for a cover  4  is formed. A roof element  5  is arranged behind the cover  4 . The cover  4  and the roof element  5  are comprised of a transparent material, in particular plastic or glass. 
         [0020]    As far as terms such as “top”, “front” or the like are used for the explanation of a sliding roof system, it is referred to the usual terminology concerning a vehicle. Thus, “front” means in a direction of travel, and “top” designates a direction facing away from the wheels. 
         [0021]    The sliding roof system has two guide rails  10  extending along edges of the opening  3  as far as to underneath the roof element  5 . As the sliding roof system is constructed to be mirror-inverted with reference to a middle longitudinal axis of a vehicle, only one side of the sliding roof system will be described in the following. 
         [0022]    A carriage  12  can be shifted in the guide rail  10  by a drive cable (not shown) that is guided to be resistant to tensile forces and bending, and by a drive motor (not shown) in the guide rail  10 . The carriage  12  has a lifting slot  14 , which starting from the rear at first extends slightly upwards, and in a front region of the carriage  12  extends somewhat steeper in an upward direction. The lifting slot  14  is engaged by a lifting pin  16 , which together with the lifting slot  14 , forms a lifting slot guide. The lifting pin  16  is firmly attached to a cover support  18  to which the cover  4  is mounted. The lifting pin  16  furthermore engages a slide guide track  20 , which is indicated in  FIG. 2  in broken lines, and is firmly attached in the guide rail  10 . The slide guide track  20  has at a front end a comparably steeply ascending portion and following thereto a portion that extends to the rear parallel to the direction of extension of the guide rail  10 . 
         [0023]    Pivotally coupled with the carriage  12  is a lever  22  that engages a sliding motion slot  26  on the cover support  18  with a sliding pin  24 . Together with the sliding motion slot  26 , the sliding pin  24  forms a swivel motion slot guide. Coupled with the sliding pin  24  is a push bar  28  that extends along the cover support  18  starting from the sliding pin  24  to the rear. The push bar  28  has a rear end provided with a conversion pin  30  that engages a conversion slot  32  on the cover support  18 . The conversion pin  30  together with the conversion slot  32  forms a conversion slot guide. As seen from the front to the rear, the conversion slot  32  firstly extends obliquely upwards and then horizontally to the rear. 
         [0024]    Shortly in front of the rear end of the push bar  28  that engages in the conversion slot  32 , the push bar  28  has a swivel motion slot  34  which, as seen from the front to the rear, first extends straight to the rear and then runs downward in an oblique direction. The swivel motion slot  34  is engaged by a pivot pin  36 , which together with the swivel motion slot  34 , forms a swivel motion slot guide. The pivot pin  36  is attached to a swiveling lever  38  which has an end facing away from the pivot pin  36  attached to a shaft  40 . The shaft  40  is rotatably supported on the cover  4  or on an element connected with the cover  4 . This is indicated in  FIG. 4  by a bearing block  41 . 
         [0025]    Also connected with the shaft  40  is a raising lever  42 , which is rotated relative to the swiveling lever  38  by approximately 90°. An end of the raising lever  42  facing away from the shaft  40  is provided with a sliding piece  44  that is firmly guided in a vertical direction in a raising track  46 , but can be moved in longitudinal direction. The raising track  46  may be part of the guide rail  10  or an element affixed to the guide rail  10 . In particular, the raising track  46  may be arranged as a separate element in a wet zone, while the guide rail  10  is arranged in a dry zone. 
         [0026]    In an initial position (see all Figures except for  FIGS. 1 and 3 ) in which the cover  4  is closed, the carriage  12  has moved to the front to a maximum extent. The lifting pin  16  is located at the rear, lower end of the lifting slot  14  and at the front, lower end of the slide guide track  20 . Thus, the front edge of the cover  4  is blocked both in the longitudinal and vertical direction. 
         [0027]    Due to the coupling between the carriage  12  and the push bar  28  via the lever  22 , the push bar  28  is in a forward position in which the sliding pin  24  is situated at the front end of the sliding motion slot  26 . At the same time the conversion pin  30  is situated at the front, lower end of the conversion slot  32 . 
         [0028]    Thereby the pivot pin  36  is located at the rear, lower end of the swivel motion slot  34 , so that the raising lever  42  assumes an approximately horizontal position. With the raising lever  42 , which on the one hand engages in the raising track  46  with the sliding piece  44 , and on the other hand, is secured on the cover  4  by the shaft  40 , even the rear edge of the cover  4  is blocked in the vertical direction. 
         [0029]    When the cover  4  is to be opened, the carriage  12  is moved to the rear in the guide rail  10 . By this process, the lifting pin  16  initially moves in an upward direction by a slight distance only, whereby the front edge of the cover  4  only performs a slight movement in the upward direction and to the rear. The lever  22 , however, shifts the push bar  28  relative to the cover support  18  to the rear. On the one hand, this has the effect that the conversion slot guide pushes the rear area of the push bar  28  in the upward direction. This results in the pivot pin  36  being moved to the rear and to the top. On the other hand, the displacement of the push bar  28  has the effect that the swivel motion slot  34  moves relative to the shaft  40 , so that the pivot pin  36  in the swivel motion slot  34  is further shifted to the rear and to the top. In the illustration of  FIGS. 2 and 3 , the swiveling lever  38  performs a counter-clockwise movement. This results in the raising lever  42  also being moved in a counter-clockwise direction. Such rotation causes the cover  4  to be raised upwards because the raising lever  42  rests at a lower end via the sliding piece  44  against the raising track  46 . The raising movement of the rear edge of the cover  4  is finished before the lifting slot  14  has moved the lifting pin  16  upwards to such an extent that the lifting pin  16  enters the part of the slide guide track  20  that extends straight to the rear, and the cover  4  can be entrained to the rear by the carriage  12 . The cover  4  will then be moved to the rear outside the roof element  5  and above the roof element  5 . 
         [0030]    If the cover  4  is to be closed again, the carriage  12  is shifted to the front, with the entire motion sequence proceeding in the reverse order. 
         [0031]    The special advantage of the sliding roof system which has been described is that the rear edge of the cover  4  is supported on the roof solely by the raising lever  42 , which has a very slim construction. This narrow raising lever  42  can easily be moved along a sealing in the slot, which is provided laterally alongside the roof element  5 . Due to the forced coupling with the front raising mechanism, in particular formed by the lifting slot guide and the carriage  12 , the rear raising mechanism is able to be controlled and operated in a very precise manner. 
         [0032]    Although a preferred embodiment of this invention has been disclosed, a worker of ordinary skill in this art would recognize that certain modifications would come within the scope of this invention. For that reason, the following claims should be studied to determine the true scope and content of this invention.