Abstract:
The invention provides a cab roof of a vehicle with a movable panel. The cab is provided with a front windscreen, a rear deck or rear walls, and door frames at both sides. The door frames are connected with the front windscreen at the front side, with the rear decks or rear walls at the rear side, forming the enclosing sidewalls of the cab. The connecting cover is hinged with the enclosing sidewalls at the front end, and is provided with rear windscreen at the rear end. The entire cab roof is consisted of the connecting cover and the rear windscreen. A telescopic bellow is at the bottom of the cab roof, which connects the enclosing sidewalls at the lower portion. A raising and lowering device is at the bottom of the rear side of the cab roof. The vehicle can be used as a car where passengers can be seated in the rear seats, and as well as a sports car where the cab roof drops on the enclosing sidewalls by pressing the telescopic bellow. The vehicle, which can play the two roles, is applied to various kinds of cars and sports cars.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   This application is a U.S. national application under 37 C.F.R. § 371(b) of international application serial no. PCT/CN2004/001304 filed Nov. 15, 2004, which claims priority to Chinese application serial no. 200310116713.6 filed Nov. 18, 2003. 
   FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention relates to a movable roof panel of a car and, more particularly, to a roof cover plate for the cabin of a car. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   As we all know, in a full-size passenger car and a sport car, a front windshield and a rear structure are provided at the front side and the rear side of a cabin respectively. The rear structure, such as a separator wall or plate, separates the cabin from the trunk of the car. A rear windshield is provided above the rear side of the rear structure. Door frames are provided at both sides of the cabin. A surrounding border of the cabin is formed by connecting the car door frames with the front windshield at the front side and connecting the car door frames with the rear structure and the rear windshield at the rear side. A fixed cabin roof cover plate is provided above the front windshield, the door frames and the rear windshield. In a compact car, a front windshield and a rear surrounding border are provided at the front side and the rear side of a cabin respectively. The door frames are provided at both sides of the cabin. A surrounding border of the cabin is formed by connecting the car door frames with the front windshield at the front side and connecting the car door frames with the rear surrounding border at the rear side. A fixed cabin roof cover plate is provided above the front windshield, the door frames and the rear surrounding border. The front and rear parts of the roof cover plate of the car cabin have substantially the same height. In comparison with a sport car, the car with a fixed cabin roof cover plate, which has substantially the same height in the front and rear, provides lower traveling speed, poor stability and high fuel consumption. To reduce the resistance and the fuel consumption, and to increase the traveling speed and improve stability, the backward slope of the cabin roof plate of a sport car is large, the rear part of the cabin roof plate is much lower than the part. The sport car with a fixed cabin roof plate, which has large backward slope and has a much lower height in the rear side than in the front side, can not provide enough space in the back seat for adult people, and only children and pets can be fitted into the back seat. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The invention is made to solve the following problems of passenger cars and sport cars, that is: compared with the sports car, a passenger car with a fixed cabin roof cover plate which has substantially the same height in the front side and the rear side, has low traveling speed, poor stability and high fuel consumption; the sport car with a fixed cabin roof cover plate has large backward slope, and the rear part of cabin roof cover plate is much lower than the front part, thus the back seats do not have enough space for adult people and only children and pets can be fitted into the back seat. This object of the invention is to provide a cabin roof cover plate of a car which can provide fast traveling speed, excellent stability, less fuel consumption, simple structure, low manufacturing cost, having enough space in the back seat for adult people, so that a car can be used as both a passenger car and a sport car. 
   To achieve the object of the invention, there is provided a roof cover plate for the cabin of a car, a front windshield be provided at the front side of the cabin, a rear structure or rear surrounding border being provided at the rear side of the cabin, and car door frames being provided at the left and right sides of the cabin, an surrounding border of the cabin being formed by connecting the car door frames with the front windshield at the front side and connecting the car door frames with the rear structure or the rear surrounding border at the rear side, wherein the front end of a cover panel being hinged to the upper portion of said surrounding border of the cabin, and the cover panel being provided with a rear windshield at its rear portion, the cover panel and the rear windshield forming an integral roof cover plate of the cabin, an extendable and retractable enclosure plate being provided under the roof cover plate of the cabin, the lower end of the extendable and retractable enclosure plate being connected with the surrounding border of the cabin, a raising and lowering device being provided under the rear end of the roof cover plate of the cabin. 
   The invention has the following advantages. Since the front end of a cover panel is hinged to the upper portion of the surrounding border of the cabin, the cover panel and the rear windshield form an integral roof cover plate of the cabin, an extendable and retractable enclosure plate is provided under the roof cover plate of the cabin, and the lower end of the extendable and retractable enclosure plate is connected with the surrounding border of the cabin, the height of the roof cover plate of the cabin can be adjusted in the up and down direction, and can be adjusted to a certain level which can make the passenger in the back seat feel comfortable, without be limited by the height of door frames on both sides of cabin. The backward slope of the door frames may be very large, the rear side of the door frames can be much lower than the front side. All theses features can provide faster traveling speed, excellent stability, less fuel consumption, simple structure, low manufacturing cost. In the case that the roof cover plate is raised, it provides enough space in the back seat for adult people, and such car can be used as a passenger car. In the case that the roof cover plate is lowered onto the surrounding border of the cabin by pressuring the extendable and retractable enclosure plate, the car can be used as a sport car. Therefore, the car like this can function as a passenger car and a sport car. A raising and lowering device is provided under the rear end of the roof cover plate, so this facilitates raising and lowering the roof cover plate. This invention is applicable to various kinds of passenger cars and sport cars. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS 
       FIGS. 1 and 2  show an embodiment of the present invention,  FIG. 1  is a front view and  FIG. 2  is an enlarged partial sectional view taken along line A-A in  FIG. 1 ; 
       FIGS. 3 and 4  show another embodiment of the present invention,  FIG. 3  is a front view and  FIG. 4  is an enlarged partial sectional view taken along line B-B in  FIG. 3 ; 
       FIGS. 5 ,  6  and  7  show yet another embodiment of the present invention,  FIG. 5  is a front view,  FIG. 6  is an enlarged partial sectional view taken along line C-C in  FIG. 5 , and  FIG. 7  is an enlarged partial sectional view taken along line D-D in  FIG. 5 . 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
   Embodiment 1 
     FIGS. 1 and 2  show the roof cover plate for the cabin of a car. A front windshield  1  is provided at the front side of the cabin, and a rear structure  6  is provided at the rear side of cabin. The car door frames  3  are provided at the left and right sides of the cabin. The car door frames  3  are connected with the front windshield  1  at the front side, and are connected with the rear structure  6  at the rear side, thus forming the surrounding border of the cabin. The front end of a cover panel  2  is hinged to the upper portion of the surrounding border which is located above the front windshield, as shown in  FIG. 1 . The connection of the cover panel  2  at a location above the front windshield can be achieved by means of a hinge, rubber or plastic etc. which functions as a hinge joint, so that the cover panel  2  can be raised and lowered. The cover panel  2  is provided with a rear windshield  5  at its rear portion, and forms an integral roof cover plate of the cabin together with the rear windshield  5  so as to be raised and lowered simultaneously. An extendable and retractable enclosure plate  4  is provided under the roof cover plate, and the lower end of the extendable and retractable enclosure plate  4  is connected with the surrounding border of the cabin to form a sealed cabin. The cabin roof cover plate can be lowered onto the surrounding border of the cabin by pressing the extendable and retractable enclosure plate  4 . The extendable and retractable enclosure plate  4  may be made of plastic, rubber, canvas or corrugated plate etc. As shown in  FIG. 1 , the extendable and retractable enclosure plate  4  is a corrugated plate which can extend and retract in the up and down direction, so that the cabin roof cover plate can be raised or lowered. The backward slope of the door frames  3  can be large; the rear portion of the door frames  3  can be much lower than the front portion, such configuration contributes to the faster traveling speed, excellent stability, less fuel consumption, simple structure, and low manufacturing cost. When raising the cabin roof cover plate, there is enough space in the back seat for adult people, the car can be used as a passenger car. When the cabin roof cover plate is lowered onto the surrounding border of the cabin by pressing the extendable and retractable enclosure plate  4 , the car can be used as a sport car. Thus, such a car can be used as a passenger car or a sport car. A raising and lowering device is provided under the rear end of the cabin roof cover plate. As shown in  FIG. 2 , the raising and lowering device comprises a motor  14  installed on the rear structure  6 . A fixed base  7  can be provided on the rear side of the rear structure  6  and can be fixed to the rear side of the rear structure  6  through bolts  8 , and the motor  14  is hinged to the fixed base  7  through a hinge shaft  9 , so that the raising and lowering device is hinged to the rear structure  6 . The motor  14  is provided with a worm  13  which engages with a worm wheel  12 , the worm wheel is formed with a nut at its center; and a push rod  10 , which is a thread rod, is connected with the nut and is hinged to the rear end of the cabin roof cover plate at its upper end. The push rod  10  can be hinged to the rear end of the cabin roof cover plate by means of self-contained cardan joint. The fixed base  7  can also be fixed on the door frames  3 , and the motor  4  is hinged to the fixed base  7 , so that the raising and lowering device is hinged to the door frames  3 . During the operation, the motor  14  is operated so as to rotate the worm  13  in counterclockwise direction or clockwise direction, the worm  13  in turn rotates the worm wheel  12 , thus raising or lowering the push rod  10  so as to raise or lower the cabin roof cover plate while extending or retracting the extendable and retractable enclosure plate  4 . This facilitates raising and lowering the cabin roof cover plate. 
   Embodiment 2 
     FIGS. 3 and 4  show the roof cover plate for the cabin of a car. A front windshield  1  is provided at the front side of the cabin, and a rear structure  6  is provided at the rear side of the cabin. The car door frames  3  are provided at the left and right sides of the cabin. The car door frames  3  are connected with the front windshield  1  at the front side, and are connected with the rear structure  6  at the rear side, thus forming the surrounding border of the cabin. The front end of a cover panel  2  is hinged to the upper portion of the surrounding border of the cabin. As shown in  FIG. 3 , a fixed cover panel  15  is fixedly connected to the upper end of the front windshield  1  and the upper end of the front portion of the car door frames  3 , the front end of the cover panel  2  is hinged to the rear end of the fixed cover panel  15 , and the front end of the cover panel  2  can be hinged to the rear end of the fixed cover panel  15  by means of a hinge, rubber or plastic etc. which functions as a hinge joint, so that the cover panel  2  can be raised and lowered. The cover panel  2  is provided with a rear windshield  5  at its rear portion, and forms an integral roof cover plate of the cabin together with the rear windshield  5  so as to be raised and lowered simultaneously. An extendable and retractable enclosure plate  4  is provided under the roof cover plate, and the lower portion of the extendable and retractable enclosure plate  4  is connected with the surrounding border of the cabin to form a sealed cabin. The cabin roof cover plate can be lowered onto the surrounding border of the cabin by pressing the extendable and retractable enclosure plate  4 . The extendable and retractable enclosure plate  4  may be made of plastic, rubber, canvas or corrugated plate etc. As shown in  FIG. 3 , the extendable and retractable enclosure plate  4 , which can be formed by plastic or rubber or canvas and etc, can extend and retract in the up and down direction, so that the cabin roof cover plate can be raised or lowered. The backward slope of the door frames  3  can be large; the rear portion of the door frames  3  can be much lower than the front portion, such configuration contributes to the faster traveling speed, excellent stability, less fuel consumption, simple structure, and low manufacturing cost. When raising the cabin roof cover plate, there is enough space in the back seat for adult people, the car can be used as a passenger car. When the cabin roof cover plate is lowered onto the surrounding border of the cabin by pressing the extendable and retractable enclosure plate  4 , the car can be used as a sport car. Thus, such a car can be used as a passenger car or a sport car. A raising and lowering device is provided under the rear end of the cabin roof cover plate. As shown in  FIG. 4 , the raising and lowering device comprises a hydraulic cylinder  18  provided on the rear side of the rear structure  6 . A fixed base  7  can be provided on the rear side of the rear structure  6  and can be fixed to the rear structure  6  through bolts  8 , and the hydraulic cylinder  18  is hinged to fixed base  7  through a hinge shaft  9 , so that the raising and lowering device is hinged to the rear structure  6 . The hydraulic cylinder  18  is provided with a push rod  10  which is a piston rod, the upper end of the push rod  10  is hinged to the rear end of the cabin roof cover plate. A fork-like base  16  can be provided at the rear end of the cabin roof cover plate. The push rod  10  is hinged to the fork-like base  16  through a hinge shaft  17 . The fixed base  7  can also be fixed on the car door frames  3 , and the hydraulic cylinder  18  is hinged to the fixed base  7 ,  50  that the raising and lowering device is hinged to the car door frames  3 . During the operation, the hydraulic cylinder  18  is operated to raise or lower the push rod  10 , so as to raise or lower the cabin roof cover plate while extending or retracting the extendable and retractable enclosure plate  4 . This facilitates raising and lowering the cabin roof cover plate. 
   Embodiment 3 
     FIGS. 5 ,  6  and  7  show the roof cover plate for the cabin of a car. A front windshield  1  is provided at the front side of the cabin, and a rear surrounding border is provided at the rear side of cabin. The car door frames  3  are provided at the left and right sides of the cabin. The car door frames  3  are connected with the front windshield  1  at the front side, and are connected with the rear surrounding border at the rear side, thus forming the surrounding border of the cabin. The front end of a cover panel  2  is hinged to the upper portion of the surrounding border which is located above the front windshield  1 , as shown in  FIG. 5 . The connection of the cover panel  2  at a location above the front windshield can be achieved by means of a hinge, rubber or plastic etc. which functions as a hinge joint, so that the cover panel  2  can be raised and lowered. The cover panel  2  is provided with a rear windshield  5  at its rear portion, and forms an integral roof cover plate of the cabin together with the rear windshield  5  so as to be raised and lowered simultaneously. An extendable and retractable enclosure plate  4  is provided under the roof cover plate, and the lower end of the extendable and retractable enclosure plate  4  is connected with the surrounding border of the cabin. The cabin roof cover plate can be lowered onto the surrounding border of the cabin by pressing the extendable and retractable enclosure plate  4 . The extendable and retractable enclosure plate  4  may be made of plastic, rubber, canvas or corrugated plate etc. As shown in  FIG. 5 , the extendable and retractable enclosure plate  4  is a corrugated plate which can extend and retract in the up and down direction, so that the cabin roof cover plate can be raised or lowered. The backward slope of the door frames  3  can be large; the rear portion of the door frames  3  can be much lower than the front portion, such configuration contributes to the faster traveling speed, excellent stability, less fuel consumption, simple structure, and low manufacturing cost. When raising the cabin roof cover plate, there is enough space in the back seat for adult people, the car can be used as a passenger car. When the cabin roof cover plate is lowered onto the surrounding border of the cabin by pressing the extendable and retractable enclosure plate  4 , the car can be used as a sport car. Thus, such a car can be used as a passenger car or a sport car. Raising and lowering devices are provided under rear end of the cabin roof cover plate, and as can be seen from the figures, the cabin roof cover plate and the extendable and retractable enclosure plate  4  are each provided with their own raising and lowering devices, which are respectively provided under the rear end of the cabin roof cover plate and the rear end of the extendable and retractable enclosure plate. As shown in  FIG. 6 , the raising and lowering devices, which are provided under the rear end of the cabin roof cover plate, comprise a hydraulic cylinder  18  which is provided on each of the car door frames  3  at the rear side of the car door frames  3 . A fixed base  7  can be provided on each of the car door frames  3  at the rear side of the car door frames  3 , and the fixed bases can be fixed to the left and right door frames  3  through bolts  8 , and the hydraulic cylinders  18  are hinged to the fixed bases  7  through a hinge shaft  9 , so that the raising and lowering devices are hinged to the left and right door frames  3  at the rear side of the left and right door frames  3 . The hydraulic cylinders  18  are each provided with a push rod  10  which is a piston rod, the upper end of the push rod  10  is hinged to the rear end of the cabin roof cover plate. Fork-like bases  16  can be provided on the cabin roof cover plate, and the push rods  10  are hinged to the fork-like bases  16  through a hinge shaft  17 . As shown in  FIG. 7 , the raising and lowering devices, which are provided under the rear end of the extendable and retractable enclosure plate  4 , comprise a hydraulic cylinder  21  which is provided on each of the car door frames  3  at the rear side of the car door frames  3 . A fixed base  19  can be provided on each of the car door frames  3  at the rear side of the car door frames  3 , and the fixed bases can be fixed to the door frames  3  through bolts  20 , and the hydraulic cylinders  18  are hinged to the respective fixed bases  19  through a hinge shaft  25 , so that the raising and lowering devices are hinged to the left and right door frames  3  at the rear side of the left and right door frames  3 . The hydraulic cylinders  21  are each provided with a push rod  22  which is a piston rod, the upper end of the push rod  22  is hinged to the underside of the rear end of the extendable and retractable enclosure plate  4 . Fork-like bases  24  can be provided on the extendable and retractable enclosure plate  4 , and the push rods  22  are hinged to the fork-like bases  24  through a hinge shaft  23 . During the operation, the hydraulic cylinders  21  of the raising and lowering devices of the extendable and retractable enclosure plate  4  are operated to raise the push rods  22 , and the hydraulic oil in the hydraulic cylinders  18  of the raising and lowering device of the cabin roof cover plate is discharged from the oil pipe, so as to raise the extendable and retractable enclosure plate  4  and the cabin roof cover plate, thus a sealed cabin is formed and the car can be used as a passenger car. The hydraulic cylinders  18  of the raising and lowering devices of the cabin roof cover plate are operated to lower the push rods  10 , and the hydraulic oil in the hydraulic cylinder  21  of the raising and lowering devices of the extendable and retractable enclosure plate  4  is discharged from the oil pipe, the cabin roof cover plate is lowered onto the surrounding border of the cabin by pressing the extendable and retractable enclosure plate  4  and forms a sealed cabin, and such car can be used as a sport car. When the raising and lowering devices of the extendable and retractable enclosure plate  4  do not operate, and the hydraulic cylinders  18  are operated to raise the push rods  10  and thus raise the cabin roof cover plate, a cabin opening to the outside is formed, then it is possible to load and unload goods or ventilate the cabin. The cabin roof cover plate can be conveniently raised and lowered.