Control device for a movable part, designed for opening and closing an opening, especially a sliding/tilting roof for a vehicle

A control device for a movable part, especially a sliding/tilting roof of a vehicle, comprises a motor for driving the movable part, wherein the terminals of the motor can be selectively connected to different poles of a power source by means of make-and-break contacts of corresponding relays, which make-and-break contacts each connect the corresponding terminal of the motor with the negative pole of the power source when the corresponding relay is not excited, and with the positive pole of the power source when the corresponding relay is excited. A first switch is provided, which is actuated through a control member driven by the motor and which interrupts the connection of the motor with the poles of the power source when the movable part reaches its closed position. A second manually operable switch with non-connected rest position is provided for alternately connecting one side of the excitation windings of both relays with the positive pole of the power source, whereas the other side of the excitation windings are directly connected with the negative pole of the power source. A switching circuit is provided, in which the first switch is connected and which, when the movable part reaches the closed position, excites the relay, which is not excited for operating the movable part.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The invention relates to a control device for a movable part, designed for 
opening and closing an opening, especially a sliding/tilting roof of a 
vehicle, comprising a motor for driving the movable part, wherein the 
terminals of the motor can be selectively connected to different poles of 
a power source by means of a pole reversing switch and wherein a first 
switch is provided, which is actuated through a control member driven by 
the motor and which interrupts the connection of the motor with the poles 
of the power source when the movable part reaches its closed position. 
Such a control device is known from DE-B-2.454.723. In this known control 
device the pole reversing switch is a double-pole manually operable switch 
which, with operating motor, carries the motor current and which has to be 
mounted within the reach of the driver of the vehicle. The first switch 
controls in this case an impulse relay, a contact of which is connected in 
the connection line of the motor. Although this known control device is 
relatively simple, it shows a plurality of disadvantages. First, it is a 
disadvantage to mount a switch for switching high currents within the 
reach of the driver, because the required cables must have a relatively 
big diameter and interferences can be caused in other adjacent electronic 
devices. Moreover, a double-pole manually operable pole reversing switch 
is relatively expensive. The impulse relay used in the known control 
device is a relatively expensive relay which is susceptable of failure. 
Moreover, the switching operation of such an impulse relay is rather 
audible so that the automobile manufacturer, making high demands upon the 
comfort in the passengers cabin of the motor-car is forced to mount the 
relay on a remote location in the motor-car which increases the mounting 
costs. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is the object of the invention to provide a control device of the above 
mentioned type wherein said disadvantages are obviated in a simple but 
nevertheless effective manner. 
It is a further object of the invention to provide a control device which 
can be manufactured with relatively simple, standard components. 
A further object of the invention is to provide a control device with a 
substantially noiseless operation. 
To this end the control device according to the invention is characterized 
in that the pole reversing switch contains a make-and-break contact of a 
relay on both sides of the motor, which make-and-break contacts each 
connect the corresponding terminal of the motor with the one pole of the 
power source when the corresponding relay is not excited and with the 
other pole of the power source when the relay is excited, wherein the 
excitation windings of both relays on one hand are connected with the one 
pole of the power source and on the other hand are alternately connectable 
with the other pole of the power source via a second, manually operable 
switch with non-connected rest position, wherein a switching circuit is 
provided, in which the first switch is connected and which, when the 
movable part reaches the closed position, connects the excitation winding 
of the relay, which is not connected by the second switch with the other 
pole of the power source for operating the movable part, with this other 
pole. 
In this manner a control device is obtained, wherein the motor current is 
switched by relays, whereas the manually operable second switch, which is 
made as a singlepole switch, only has to carry the excitation currents of 
the relays. Instead of the impulse relay two standard relays are used 
which are substantially less susceptable of failure than an impulse relay. 
Moreover, such relays operate substantially noiseless so that the relays 
can be mounted near the sliding/ tilting roof. 
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention the switching circuit 
is provided with a diode bridge and an auxiliary relay with a make 
contact, wherein the anode/cathode junctions of the diode bridge each are 
connected with that side of one of the excitation windings of the relays, 
which is connected with the second switch, while the excitation winding of 
the auxiliary relay is connectable with both other junctions of the diode 
bridge through the first switch, wherein the make contact of the auxiliary 
relay is connected in parallel to the contact of the first switch, which 
is closed when the movable part is in its open position. Thereby the 
control device can be made completely with standard components of high 
reliability so that the control device can be made at low costs and a 
failure free operation is guaranteed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a control device for a sliding/tilting 
roof 1 for opening and closing an opening in a roof of a motor-vehicle not 
further shown. The sliding/tilting roof 1 can be driven by means of an 
electromotor 2 which is connected to the sliding/tilting roof 1 through a 
schematically indicated coupling 3. The terminals of the electromotor 2 
each are connectable to the negative pole 6 and the positive pole 7 of a 
voltage source not shown through a make-and-break contact 4 and 5, 
respectively. The make-and-break contacts 4 and 5 together form a pole 
reversing switch, through which the electromotor 2 can be connected to the 
voltage source for operation in a first or the opposite rotation 
direction. 
The make-and-break contacts 4 and 5 belong to relays 41 and 51, 
respectively, the excitation windings of which are directly connected to 
the negative pole 6 on the one side, whereas the other side of the 
excitation windings 41 and 51 can be connected to the positive pole 7 
through a manually operable switch 8. The switch 8 has an open rest 
position determined by a spring not shown, the rest position being shown 
in FIG. 1. 
To the side of the excitation windings 41, 51 connected to the switch 8, 
the anode/cathode junctions of a diode bridge 9 are connected, while the 
two further junctions of the diode bridge 9 are connected to the contacts 
10 and 11 of a switch 12, through which the excitation winding of an 
auxiliary relay 13 can be connected to said two junctions of the diode 
bridge 9. The other side of the excitation winding of the auxiliary relay 
13 is directly connected to the negative pole 6. The switch 12 is operable 
by a schematically shown control member 14 driven by the motor 2. In the 
position of the switch 12 shown in FIG. 1, the sliding/tilting roof is in 
an open position. The auxiliary relay 13 has a make contact 15 connected 
in parallel to the contact 10 of the switch 12. 
When the sliding/tilting roof 1 has to be moved from the closed position 
shown in FIG. 3 to the open position shown in FIG. 2, the manually 
operable switch 8 is actuated for exciting the relay 41, whereby the 
make-and-break contact 4 connects the corresponding terminal of the 
electromotor 2 to the positive pole 7, while the other terminal of the 
electromotor remains connected to the negative pole 6 through the 
make-and-break contact 5. At the corresponding anode/cathode junction of 
the diode bridge 9 a positive voltage will appear which is led to the 
contact 10 of the switch 12. As the sliding/tilting roof 1 is in the 
closed position, the contact arm of the switch 12 is contacting the 
contact 11 so that the auxiliary relay 13 will not yet be excited. The 
positive voltage on the excitation winding 41 cannot be led to the 
excitation winding 51 through the diode bridge 9. As soon as the 
sliding/tilting roof 1 leaves the closed position, the contact arm of 
switch 12 switches over to the contact 10 so that the auxiliary relay 13 
will be excited and the make contact 15 will be closed. The opening of the 
sliding/tilting roof 1 is ended by releasing the switch 8 or by reaching a 
not shown stop, in which case the electromotor 2 can be switched off in 
the usual manner. 
In order to move the sliding/tilting roof 1 into the closed position again, 
the switch 8 is operated for exciting the excitation winding 51, whereby 
the make-and-break contact 5 connects the corresponding terminal of the 
motor 2 to the positive pole 7 and the other terminal remains connected to 
the negative pole 6 through the make-and-break contact 4. The motor now 
rotates in the reversed direction and moves the sliding/tilting roof 1 
from the open position shown in FIG. 2 to the closed position of FIG. 3. 
By actuating switch 8 a positive voltage is led to the contact 10 again 
through the corresponding anode/cathode junction of the diode bridge 9, so 
that the auxiliary relay 13 is excited and the make contact 15 is closed. 
When the closed position of FIG. 3 is reached, the contact arm of switch 
12 is switched over from contact 10 to contact 11, wherein, however, the 
auxiliary relay 13 remains excited through the make contact 15. Moreover, 
the positive voltage on contact 10 is passed to the excitation winding 41 
through the make contact 15, the contact 11 and the diode bridge 9, so 
that the make-and-break contact 4 is switched over. Thereby the motor 2 is 
short circuited through its connections to the positive pole 7 and the 
movement of the sliding/tilting roof 1 is stopped. 
When the switch 8 is now released and actuated again for exciting the 
excitation winding 51, the sliding/ tilting roof 1 will be pivoted to the 
position shown in FIG. 4. Also in this case the auxiliary relay 13 will 
only be excited when the sliding/tilting roof is moved out of the closed 
position so that the relay 41 will not be excited. 
In order to pivot the sliding/tilting roof 1 to the closed position of FIG. 
3 again, the switch 8 is actuated for exciting the excitation winding 41. 
At reaching the closed position the contact arm of switch 12 will be 
switched over from contact 10 to contact 11, wherein the auxiliary relay 
13 remains excited through the make contact 15 so that in this case relay 
51 is excited by the positive voltage on contact 10, through the make 
contact 15, the switch 12 and the diode bridge 9. 
From the foregoing it appears that the invention provides a control device 
for a sliding/tilting roof, which is fully made with standard components 
so that the control device can be manufactured at relatively low costs. 
Further, the manually operable switch 8 can be made as a single-pole 
switch which only has to carry the excitation currents for the relays 13, 
41 and 51, so that this switch can be mounted within the reach of the 
driver of the motor vehicle without any objections. The connection wires 
to be connected to this switch may have a relatively small diameter, which 
results in a further reduction of the cost price. Moreover, the used 
standard relays have a substantially noiseless operation so that they can 
be mounted near the sliding/tilting roof without any objections. Such 
standard relays moreover have a very reliable operation so that a failure 
free operation of the control device is guaranteed. 
The invention is not restricted to the above described embodiment which can 
be varied in a number of ways within the scope of the claims.