Roof panel assembly for a motor vehicle

Abstract: A Tiltable and slidable roof panel assembly for a motor vehicle comprises a roof panel (3) supported by a front support (4) and a rearward lifter means (5) on a respective guide rail (6) extending along a side of an aperture (2) in the vehicle roof (1) and rearwardly beyond the aperture of the fixed roof. The lifter means (5) is adapted to be driven by driving means (8), on the one hand in a sliding movement along the guide rail (6) in order to slide the panel (3), and on the other hand in an up and down movement to enable the panel (3) to move between its closed position and an upwardly displaced venting position and between its closed position and a downwardly displaced position prior to the sliding movement of the panel. Said lifter means (5) includes a set-out lever (9) being at least pivotally in engagement with the panel through a first pivot (13) on the one hand and being pivotally and slidably connected with the guide rail (6) by a second pivot (11) on the other hand. An auxiliary lever (9) is in engagement with the set-out lever (10) spaced from the second pivot (11) during the pivoting movement of the panel. The movements of the set-out lever (10) are controlled by a forcing guide (10, 17, 23, 18, 24). The set-out lever (9) and the auxiliary lever (10) are guided during the pivoting movement of the panel (3) such that they both pivot and slide with respect to each other, whereby during the relative sliding movement between the set-out lever (9) and the auxiliary lever (10) one of these is substantially prevented from sliding relative to the guide rail (6) by means of a locking stop (30,31,20,33).

Description: The present invention relates to a tiltable and slidable roof panel assembly for a motor vehicle in accordance with the preamble of claim 1. Such a roof panel assembly is known from DE-A-34 42 601. This prior art roof panel assembly has a panel, a front support (not shown) and a lifter mechanism. The lifter mechanism is equipped with a pin cooperating with a guide slot of the guide rail. The guide slot includes a front portion extending upwardly and slightly backwardly inclined. Said pin and slot portion together form a mechanism to displace the panel a small distance rearwardly during the upward tilting movement of the panel from the closed position. DE-A-23 12 901 discloses a roof panel assembly with guide tracks for the panel. The guide tracks include an inclined front portion. The front shoe of the panel is horizontally adjustable with respect to the sliding panel after loosening screw and nut fasteners. By sliding the front shoe within the inclined portion of the guide track, with the panel in its front position, the panel is adjusted vertically to adapt its height to that of the fixed roof. Therefore, the inclined front portion has only a function during assembly of the roof and for this purpose it is imperative that in the front position of the panel the front shoe is positioned on the inclined front portion. US-A-4,763,949 discloses a manually operated tilting-sliding roof. This prior art roof comprises a stationary main frame having guide tracks, a slidable window frame adapted to slide relative to the stationary main frame, and a panel pivotally mounted on the window frame. The front leg of the window frame has an upper seal to form a water tight seal between the upper side of the window frame and the lower side of an upper flange of the main frame on the one hand and between the upper side of the window frame and the lower side of the panel on the other hand. In the embodiment of Fig. 41, the guide tracks of the main frame include a ramp portion and a horizontal front portion to move the panel upwardly in cooperation with an eccentric locking mechanism to lock the panel and urge the seal upwardly in engagement with the frame flange. The object of the present invention is to provide a roof panel assembly including means to effect correcting movements of the front side of the panel in vertical and longitudinal direction of the roof panel assembly in a simple and reliable manner. For this purpose, the roof panel assembly according to the invention has the features of the characterizing portion of claim 1. Preferred embodiments are defined in the dependent claim. The invention will hereafter be elucidated with reference to the drawing showing an embodiment of the invention by way of example. Fig. 1 is a very schematic plan view of the exemplary embodiments of the roof panel assembly according to the invention which is constructed as a tilting sliding roof. Fig. 2, 3 and 4 are very schematic longitudinal sectional views of the tilting-sliding roof of Fig. 1, in the closed position, tilted position and sliding position, respectively. Fig. 1 shows a roof panel assembly constructed as a tilting sliding roof and intended to be placed under the fixed roof 1 of a motor vehicle which is provided with a roof aperture 2. The tilting-sliding roof is provided with a rigid panel 3 which is either transparent or opaque. This panel 3 is supported on both short sides by a front support 4 and a lifter means 5 provided at a distance behind it. The front support 4 and the lifter means 5 are slidably accommodated in a respective stationary guide rail 6 extending in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle on each side of aperture 2 and along a distance behind it. The stationary guide rails 6 are mounted on a stationary frame 7 which may be attached to the lower side of the fixed roof 1 of the vehicle. For adjusting the lifter means 5 a drive means, in this case constructed as a pull and push cable 8, engages the lifter means 5, said drive means being drivable manually or by an electric motor. As is shown in Fig. 2, 3 and 4, the panel 3 of the tilting-sliding roof is adjustable between a closed position (Fig. 2) in which the panel 3 closes the aperture 2 in the fixed roof 1, and a rearwardly inclined tilted venting position (Fig. 3) on the one hand and between the closed position of Fig. 2 and a downwardly tilted and backwardly slid position of the panel 3 (Fig. 4) on the other hand. As illustrated by Fig. 2-4 each lifter means 5 of the panel 3 includes a set-out lever 9 and an auxiliary lever 10 cooperating with the set-out lever 9 and being in engagement therewith and being driven by the pull and push cable 8. The set-out lever 9 is guided in the stationary guide rail 6 in a slidable manner during the sliding movement of the panel 3 and in a pivotable manner during the tilting movement of the panel 3 and this is accomplished by means of a transverse pin 11 projecting to both sides and a guide cam 12 configured concentrically around the transverse pin 11 and projecting to both sides of the set-out lever 9, the transverse pin 11 and guide cam 12 being positioned at the front and lower end of the set-out lever 9. At its rear, upper end the set-out lever 9 is provided with a pivot pin 13 engaging slidably and pivotally into a short longitudinal slot 14 in a section 15 under the panel 3. Between the pivot pin 13 and the section 15 of the panel 3 there is provided a spring means 16 continuously loading the panel 3 forwardly with respect to the pivot pin 13. In this manner the set-out lever 9 always forms a connection between the stationary guide rail 6 and the panel 3. A cam 20 is provided to prevent the set-out lever 9 to pivot during the backward sliding positions of the panel 3 in a manner not shown. As already mentioned, the panel 3 is provided near the front side with a front support 4 guided in the stationary guide rail 6. More particularly the front support 4 includes a bracket 34, mounted onto the lower side of the panel and carrying on the lower end a slide pin 35 projecting in transverse direction to both sides. This slide pin 35 has both of its ends in engagement with said guide groove 27 of the stationary guide rail 6, wherein the slide pin 35, however, projects not so deep into the double guide groove 27 so that the slide pin 35 does not come in contact with the stop 30 for the transverse pin 11 of the set-out lever 9. The guide groove 27 comprises on its front end a forwardly and upwardly inclining ramp section 36 and a horizontal end portion 37 connecting thereto. At the front end of the end portion 37 of the guide groove 27 of the stationary guide rail 6 there is formed a stationary support wall 38 adapted to cooperate with the bracket 34 of the front support 4 in a manner which will be indicated further on. The support wall 38 may be attached to the stationary guide rail 6 or to the frame 7 in a manner adjustable in longitudinal direction in order to be adapted to the length of the panel 3. The operation of the front support 4 of the panel 3 is as follows. As shown in Fig. 2, when the panel 3 is in the closed position, the slide pin 35 of the support 4 is entirely at the front of the end portion 37 of the guide groove 27 of the stationary guide rail 6, while the bracket 34 abuts to the support wall 38 of the stationary guide rail 6 with its front edge. When the panel 3 is tilted to the venting position of Fig. 3 by means of the lifter means 5, the rotation of the bracket 34 of the panel 3 and its engagement with the support wall 38 of the stationary guide rail 6 causes the slide pin 35 to be pushed slightly rearwardly within the end portion 37 of the guide groove 27 so that the panel 3 is displaced slightly rearwardly during its tilting movement. As a result the forward movement of the front edge of the panel 3 as a consequence of the tilting movement of the panel 3 about the slide pin 37 is compensated and a seal 39 at the front edge of the panel 3 is prevented from being damaged due to the displacement of said front edge with respect to the fixed roof 1. It is noted that spring 16 keeps the panel 3 loaded forwardly during the displacement of the pivot pin 13 of the set-out lever 9 through the short longitudinal slot 14 in the section 15 under the panel 3. In the position of the panel 3 according to Fig. 4, the slide pin 35 of the front support 4 has been displaced slightly downwardly due to the displacement along the ramp section 36 of the guide groove 37 of the stationary guide rail 6, as a result of which the panel 3 is also displaced slightly downwardly so that the panel 3 may be slid completely backwardly under the fixed roof 1. From the foregoing it will be clear that the correcting movements of the front side of the panel 3 in vertical direction and in longitudinal direction of the roof panel assembly can be obtained in a very simple manner and by very simple means.

Claims: Tiltable and slidable roof panel assembly for a motor vehicle, comprising a roof panel (3) being supported by a front support (4) on a respective guide rail (6) extending along a side of an aperture (2) in the vehicle roof (1), wherein the front support (4) enables a tilting movement of the panel (3) about a horizontal pivoting axis extending perpendicular to the guide rail (6) from a closed position to an upwardly inclined venting position and to a downward position on behalf of a sliding movement, the panel being supported at a distance behind the front support (4) by adjustable lifter means (5) adapted to be driven along the respective guide rail (6) and being adapted to enable a displacement of the roof panel (3) between its closed position and its upwardly and downwardly displaced position, the front support (4) being adapted to adjust the height of the front side of the panel (3) during the movement of the panel (3) from and to its closed position, the panel and the guide rail (6) being provided with cooperating means (34, 38) for displacing the pivoting axis of the front support (4) a small distance rearwardly during the upward tilting movement of the panel (3) from the closed position towards the venting position, characterized in that the cooperating means (34) of the panel (3) is provided at the front support (4), and the guide rail (6) is provided on its front end with a short ramp section (36) for adjusting the front support (4) in vertical direction during the displacement thereof within the guide rail (6), and with a horizontal end portion (37) supporting the front support (4) of the roof panel (3) when it is in its forward closed position. Roof panel assembly according to claim 1, wherein said means (34,38) include a bracket (34) fixed to the panel (3) and being in engagement with a support wall (38) of the guide rail (6) at a distance from the pivot (35) of the front support (4).

Inventors: HUYER JOHANNES NICOLAAS, HUYER, JOHANNES NICOLAAS
Applicants: VERMEULEN HOLLANDIA OCTROOIEN, VERMEULEN-HOLLANDIA OCTROOIEN II B.V.
Application year: 1991
Main classification: B60J7
IPC codes: B60J7