Sunroof

Sunroof apparatus is provided for a passenger motor vehicle, which apparatus includes a rigid movable cover member for closing a sunroof opening. In order to minimize the space taken by the drive mechanism for moving the cover member to open positions from the closed position thereof, a single incompressible drive cable is provided which has one end attached to a guide element at one lateral side of the cover member and the other opposite end attached to a guide element at the opposite lateral side of the cover member. A cable driving mechanism such as an electric motor is disposed intermediate the ends of the cable for drivingly moving the same in respective opposite directions. The cable is guided and attached to the guide elements so that, upon movement of the cable in one direction, the guide element at one side of the vehicle is pulled in a first axial direction of the vehicle and the guide element at the opposite lateral side of the vehicle is pulled in the same axial direction. In preferred embodiments, the guide elements are constructed so as to accommodate sliding, tilting, and combined sliding and tilting movement of the cover member with respect to the adjacent roof panel structure in response to movement of the guide elements.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The invention relates to a sunroof or the like with an opening surrounded 
by a roof frame, said opening being closable by a slidable and/or tiltable 
rigid cover, said cover being guided swivelably on both sides in the 
vicinity of its rear edge and possibly also slidable along the roof frame 
by means of guide elements, said guide elements being engaged by the ends 
of an incompressible cable connected to a drive means. 
Sliding covers of motor vehicle sunroofs are generally slid by means of two 
incomprssible cables, said cables each having one end attached to the rear 
guide elements of the sliding cover and running parallel to one another in 
the vicinity of the forward edge of the roof opening, whereby the drive 
means, for example a pinion driven by a hand crank or an electric motor, 
is provided at the level of the center of the forward edge of the roof 
opening between the parallel segments of the cable, said pinion pulling or 
squeezing both cables when actuated, whereby the rear end of the cover is 
pushed by the guide elements either beneath the fixed rearward part of the 
roof or pulled forward to close it, or, in a sliding and tilting roof, 
swiveled outward into a tilted position past the closed position. The 
exertion of the sliding forces on both sides of the sliding cover 
minimizes the danger or the cover tilting during sliding. A less 
advantageous feature of this design, however, is the fact that the 
required overlap of the two cables in the vicinity of the forward edge of 
the roof opening requires a relatively large amount of space for cable 
guidance and considerable lengths of cable and corresponding lengths for 
cable guide tubes are required. An electrial drive is relatively 
complicated in design, since a hollow shaft motor, extremely suitable by 
virtue of its design for driving a cable and requiring a small amount of 
space, requires an intermediate drive to drive two cables, as disclosed by 
German Offenlegungsschrift 18 01 436. 
It is known from German Offenlegungsschrift 17 84 826 that a sliding cover 
can be slid by means of a single cable, said cable engaging the cover at 
its lengthwise central plane. However, the danger of tilting and resultant 
jamming of the cover during sliding is relatively great in this design, 
even if one cable end is not engaged directly with the cover but a carrier 
bridge, said brige being guided in lateral tracks mounted in the roof 
frame and connected by a swiveling mechanism with the rear end of the 
cover. In addition, a carrier bridge of this kind makes the design more 
expensive and reduces the clear opening in the roof in the case of a 
sliding cover whose near edge is also tiltable outward out of the plane of 
the roof. Moreover, when the cable is driven by a manually operated crank 
mechanism, a relatively long cable is required, since this cable must 
first be guided sufficiently rearward that the cover can be fully 
retracted, then guided laterally, and finally brought forward to the 
center of the front edge of the roof opening, since the hand crank must be 
mounted at this point. 
An object of the invention is to provide a sunroof in which reliable and 
operationally safe operation of the cover is achieved by means of a single 
cable of the shortest length possible. 
This object is achieved according to the invention by disposing the cable 
in such manner that it pulls on one guide element and pushes the other 
guide element in the same direction when the drive means is actuated. 
In the design proposed according to the invention, no overlapping of the 
cables is required, thus ensuring the minimum possible space requirements 
an the minimum possible cable length. Nevertheless, the fact that the 
cable engages both sides of the cover ensures reliable and jam-free 
guidance. The use of a single cable makes it possible to drive the cover 
electrically by means of a simple hollow-shaft motor without additional 
drive stages. 
To adjust the cover, especially when installing the latter, a device for 
adjusting one end relative to the guide element is provided, between at 
least one end of the cable and the corresponding guide element. This 
device also allows subsequent adjustment of the cover when the cable has 
lengthened somewhat following a long period of operation. The adjusting 
device in preferred emnbodiments includes a threaded rod which constitutes 
an extension of the cable end, said rod extending through a bore in the 
guide element and being lockable on both sides of the guide element 
against the latter by means of lock nuts. 
An embodiment of the invention is described below with reference to the 
drawings, in conjunction with a sliding and tilting roof in which the 
cover can be pushed out of the closed position, both rearward beneath the 
fixed part of the roof and forward, with its rear edge tilted above the 
roof plane. However, the invention can be used for roofs which only slide, 
in which the cover can only be slid backward out of the closed position, 
and for tiltng roofs, in which the cover can only be tilted upward out of 
the closed position. 
These and further objects, features and advantages of the present invention 
will be come more obvious from the following description when taken in 
connection with the accompanying drawings which show, for purposes of 
illustration only, a single embodiment in accordance with the present 
invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
Reference is made first to FIG. 1, where 1 represents the vehicle roof, 
provided with a rectangular opening 2, closable by a right cover 3. Cover 
3, in a manner to be described hereinbelow, can either be lowered with its 
rear edge downward from the closed position shown in FIG. 1 and then slid 
beneath the rearward part of the roof, or can be tilted above the roof 
plane with its rearward end upward. To accomplish these movements, cover 3 
is swivelable on both sides near its forward end by means of sliding shoes 
(not shown) about an axis running transversely to the lengthwise axis of 
the vehicle. Near its rear edge 4, cover 3 is articulated on both sides 
with guide elements 5, 5' represented schematically in FIG. 1; said 
elements being guided in lateral tracks 6 provided in roof frame 1a. 
To move cover 3, an electric motor 7 in the form of a "hollow-shaft" motor, 
is provided in the embodiment. The design of such a hollow-shaft motor is 
represented schematically in German Offenlegungsschrift 17 84 826 cited 
hereinabove. An incompressible cable 8 extends through the hollow drive 
shaft of motor 7, said cable being guided in a guide tube 9 and/or in the 
vicinity of tracks 6 in a cable guide 9' connected with the latter. The 
cable 8 further has its ends connected at one end to guide element 5 and 
at the other end to guide element 5'. When motor 7 is energized to move 
the sliding cover rearward from the closed position, guide element 5 is 
pulled backward by cable 8, i.e. toward the top in FIG. 1, while guide 
element 5' is pushed by cable 8 in the same direction. On the other hand, 
if sliding cover 3 is to be transported from a retracted position back to 
the closed position, or from the closed position into a tilted position, 
the direction of rotation of motor 7 is reversed by a switch (not shown), 
so that guide element 5 is pushed by cable 8 and guide element 5' is 
pulled. 
In order to be able to adjust the cover 3 correctly, i.e. with its 
lengthwise axis exactly perpendicular to the lengthwise central axis of he 
vehicle, an adjusting device is provided between at least one end of cable 
8 and the corresponding guide element 5 or 5', said adjusting device being 
shown separately in FIG. 4. This adjusting device in the embodiment shown 
consists of a threaded rod 10 constituting an extension of th cable end, 
said rod extending through a bore 11 in guide element 5 or 5' and being 
adjusted in its position relative to guide element 5 and/or 5' by means of 
lock nuts 12. This adjustment is required following installation of cover 
3, but can also be carried out later following possible lengthening of 
incompressible cable 8. 
FIGS. 2 and 3 show the construction of one of the guide elements and its 
connection to cover 3. The guide element 5, 5' is provided with a 
plate-shaped body portion 14, said body portion 14 being mounted to a 
bridge 18 so that it swivels about a pin 16, said bridge 18 in turn 
carrying a primary sliding shoe 20 and a secondary sliding shoe 22, said 
shoes being guided in track 6. One end of incompressible cable 8 is also 
attached to and movable with bridge 18. Only threaded rod 10 with lock 
nuts 12 is visible in FIG. 3. Plate portion 14 is provided with an 
auxiliary sliding shoe 24 in the vicinity of the end which faces away from 
pivot pin 16, said shoe 24 likewise being guided in track 6, but capable 
of extending out from sliding track 6 through a cutout to accommodate 
tilting of the cover. Plate 14 is also provided with a cutout 26, with 
which a pin 28 mounted on track 6 can engage. A mounting plate 34 is 
mounted on cover 3 by means of brackets 32, said plate being provided with 
an arcuate link slot 36, engaged by a pin 30 mounted on plate 14. If cover 
3 is to be swiveled from the closed position shown in FIG. 2 with its 
rearward end 4 tilted upward, in other words out of the plane of roof 1, 
bridge 18 is moved leftward in FIG. 2 by means of the incompressible 
cable. Fixed pin 28 then engages recess 26 in plate 14. During the first 
stage of the movement, plate 14 is displaced only linearly until pin 30 
strikes the left end of link slot 36. As bridge 18 continues moving 
leftward, plate 14 is swiveled upward about pin 16 as a result of the 
cooperation between pin 28 and slot 26, tilting cover 3. If cover 3 is to 
be returned to is closed position, bridge 18 is pushed rightward in FIG. 
2, whereupon the above sequence of movements taks place in reverse order. 
If cover 3 is to be pushed rearward beneath the fixed part of the roof 
from the closed position, bridge 18 is pushed rightward in FIG. 2 by means 
of the incompressible cable, whereby the rear edge 4 of cover 3 is first 
lowered by pin 30 as a result of is cooperation with link slot 36 until 
pin 30 strikes the righthand end of link slot 36, whereupon cover 3 is 
carried rightward as bridge 18 continues moving. 
The invention is not limited to the example shown. Thus, a hand crank can 
be provided instead of driving cable 8 by electric motor 7. Preferred 
embodiments of the invention can also be applied to sunroofs whose covers 
are only tiltable or only slidable. Only an appropriate modification of 
guide elements 5, 5' would then be necessary. 
While I have shown and described various embodiments in accordance with the 
present invention, it is understood that the same is not limited thereto 
but is susceptible of numerous changes and modifications as known to those 
skilled in the art and I therefore do not wish to be limited to the 
details shown and described herein but intend to cover all such changes 
and modification as are encompassed by the scope of the apppended claims.