Abstract:
A visor and transparent window assembly for a utility vehicle cab roof includes a latch mechanism which is selectively operable to retain the transparent panel closed to the roof or to tilt the transparent panel upwardly. The visor overlying the transparent panel is engageable by the latch mechanism to hold the visor to the transparent paneling in close overlying relationship. Plural gas struts are connected between the visor and the utility vehicle roof to assist in the tilting open of the visor. The visor and the transparent panel are hingedly connected to the roof along a common axis so that the transparent panel and the visor can be opened together as a unit without binding. The latch mechanism includes a hook end which can selectively engage the visor to the transparent panel such that the visor and the transparent panel are latched closed to the roof together or can be pivoted together to an open position.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The present invention relates to roof window panel and visor structures for utility vehicles. Particularly, the invention relates to a tractor cab roof having a selective multi-position visor in combination with an overhead multi-position window panel.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    Enclosed operator stations or “cabs” for utility vehicles, having an overhead multi-position transparent window panel are known. Typically, the window panel allows the operator to observe vehicle functions such as elevated loader or hoisting operations. Additionally, the window panel can be partially opened or removed to provide improved cab ventilation. Some known cabs provide an open hole in the cab roof, covered by an opaque panel. The opaque panel is hinged, providing a two-position protective covering. The panel is hinged on a side toward a front of the cab and opens toward the rear of the cab, offering no overhead viewing for loader operations.  
           [0003]    Cabs equipped with overhead transparent window panels have increased sun loads placed within the operator station. Additionally, an open or partially opened window panel affords little or no protection to the operator while operating in adverse conditions, e.g. cold, rain, snow.  
           [0004]    The present inventors have recognized the desirability to provide an operator station or cab having a roof with a window opening, covered by a transparent window panel and protected by an openable hinged roof panel for maximum roof utility and operator comfort. The present inventors have recognized the desirability to provide a roof window system that allows operator viewing of front overhead operations.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0005]    The present invention provides a multi-position hinged roof panel or “visor” and a multi-position window panel beneath the multi-position roof panel. Advantageously, as viewed from the operator&#39;s seat, the overhead window panel is placed in an opening in a cab roof coinciding with the line-of-sight of a raised loader bucket. The hinged roof panel overlies the window panel. The window panel shares a common hinge axis with the hinged roof panel. The common axis allows the window panel to function dependently or independently of the visor, providing the operator with a choice of various options.  
           [0006]    An operable, multi-position latch, accessible from within the cab, integrates the visor and the panel into a single entity for movement, when the latch is placed in one position. When the latch is placed in another position, the latch allows the window panel to partially open or close independently of the visor. For example, in weather situations such as rain, the operator can unlatch the window panel from the visor, and using the latch selectively, can position the window panel for optimum protection and/or ventilation.  
           [0007]    The visor is supported by gas struts to facilitate rotation about the hinge axis while limiting a maximum open position of the visor. The visor serves as a shield with respect to the window panel. When closed, the visor provides maximum weather protection to the operator. When the visor is open, an extruded raised gutter around the perimeter of the window opening provides weather protection to the operator. If the operator desires to have a completely open roof panel, the latch is rotated to a position which latches the window panel with the visor. The struts assist with opening the window panel to a full visor opened position. Depending on the position of the utility vehicle, even when raised the visor provides protection from the sun and some protection from precipitation.  
           [0008]    An alternate embodiment of the visor provides lights along the front face. If operating the raised loader in an environment void of adequate lighting, the visor can be released to direct lighting toward the operation at hand.  
           [0009]    The present invention provides an aesthetically pleasing visor which blends with the vehicle cab roof. The invention provides the operator with various selectable positions of the visor and the window panel, selectable for maximum operator comfort. The present invention minimizes sun load within the operator&#39;s station. The visor of the invention provides some protective cover for open roof/open window panel while operating in adverse weather conditions. The visor allows a manual operation for reduced cost compared to power roofs. The visor can also be equipped to provide directional lighting for overhead operation.  
           [0010]    Numerous other advantages and features of the present invention will become readily apparent from the following detailed description of the invention and the embodiments thereof, from the claims and from the accompanying drawings. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0011]    [0011]FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a tractor incorporating a roof visor and window panel system of the present invention;  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 2 is an exploded top perspective view of the roof of the tractor shown in FIG. 1;  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 3 is an exploded bottom perspective view of the system shown in FIG. 2;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 4 is an exploded fragmentary perspective view of the system shown in FIG. 2;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of a multi-position latch mechanism of the system shown in FIG. 2;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 6 is a perspective fragmentary view of the system of FIG. 2 shown in a visor closed and window panel closed position;  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the system shown in FIG. 2, shown in a visor partially open and window panel closed orientation;  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 8 illustrates the system in FIG. 2 shown in a visor completely open, window panel closed orientation;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the system of FIG. 2 shown in a visor partially open, window panel partially open orientation;  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 10A is an enlarged perspective view of the latch assembly shown in the system of FIG. 2;  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 10B is an enlarged perspective view of a catch assembly to be used to engage the latch assembly of FIG. 10A;  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 11 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of the latch assembly of FIG. 10A with the window panel and the visor latched together and open;  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 12 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of the window panel and the visor latched together and closed to the roof;  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 13 is an enlarged fragmentary side view of a strut connected to the visor;  
         [0025]    FIGS.  14 A- 14 C illustrate the progressive engagement of the latch assembly of FIG. 10A with the visor;  
         [0026]    FIGS.  15 A- 15 B illustrate the disengagement of the latch assembly form the visor; and  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 16 is a sectional view taken generally along line  16 - 16  of FIG. 12 with the visor bracket not shown for clarity.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0028]    While this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms, there are shown in the drawings, and will be described herein in detail, specific embodiments thereof with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the specific embodiments illustrated.  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 1 illustrates a utility vehicle  100  such as a tractor, that includes a hood  102  covering the engine (not shown) of the tractor  100 , and a chassis or frame  104  supported on front wheels  106  and larger rear wheels  108 . A cab  112  is supported on the chassis and is substantially enclosed by glass panels  114 ,  116  on a facing side of the tractor and similar panels (not shown) on an opposite side of the tractor, and a wind screen  118  on a front side of the cab  112 . A roof  120  closes a top of the cab. An openable roof panel or visor  122  is shown in a tilted-open position. A transparent window panel  126  is arranged below the visor  122  and is shown in a tilted-open orientation.  
         [0030]    FIGS.  2 - 4  illustrate the roof  120  in exploded fashion. The visor  122  is attached via screws  132  to hinges  136   a ,  136   b  located on opposite ends of the visor  122 . The hinges  136   a ,  136   b  are substantially L-shaped and are pivoted on a hinge pins  138   a ,  138   b . The window panel  126  is mounted to shaped hinges  142   a ,  142   b  via fastener assemblies  143  described below, and shown in FIG. 3. The hinges  142   a ,  142   b  are shaped in mirror-image fashion. The window panel  126  includes a transparent glass or plastic pane  145  surrounded by a seal  146 , such as a rubber seal.  
         [0031]    The shaped hinges  142   a ,  142   b  include an end-leg  148  which is pivotally carried by the respective hinge pins  138   a ,  138   b . Thus, both the visor  122  and the window panel  126  are pivoted about the same hinge pins  138   a ,  138   b . The visor  122  and the window panel  126  can thus pivot together or pivot separately about the same axis.  
         [0032]    Elongated legs  152   a ,  152   b  of the L-shaped hinges  136   a ,  136   b  include studs  165   a ,  165   b  (shown in FIG. 4) for receiving clip-on style ends of gas struts  162   a ,  162   b , respectively. A typical clip-on style end  167 , clipped to a stud  165   a , is shown in FIG. 13. The end  167  is C-shaped to releasably grip the stud and allow rotation of the end on the stud. Opposite ball joint ends  164   a ,  164   b  of the gas struts are fit into sockets  166   a ,  166   b  of the roof  120  adjacent a framed opening  170  of the roof  120 . Rubber boots  169   a ,  169   b  fit over the struts  162   a ,  162   b  to provide some weather protection. A surrounding sealing surface  172  is provided to mate with the seal  146  on the window panel  126  when in a closed position.  
         [0033]    The hinge pins  138   a ,  138   b  are mounted to hinge bases  174   a ,  174   b  which are attached by screws to recessed landings  178   a ,  178   b , respectively formed in the roof  120 .  
         [0034]    A multi-position latch assembly  204  is provided. The latch assembly includes a shaft  206  which penetrates through components of the assembly and also through an aperture  208  of the window panel  126 . The latch assembly is shown and described more completely in FIG. 5.  
         [0035]    Fasteners  209  are received in apertures of outwardly extending tabs  211  of each of the hinges  142   a ,  142   b  and have extra length such that the fasteners  209  can extend to be threadedly engaged into aligned holes  210  in the elongated leg  152   a ,  152   b  of the visor hinges  136   a ,  136   b , to couple the window hinges  142   a ,  142   b  to the visor hinges  136   a ,  136   b . If this is done, and the visor  122  is removed, the gas struts  162   a ,  162   b  connected to the visor hinges  136   a ,  136   b , can be used to assist the raising of the window panel  126  rather than assisting the raising of the visor  122 .  
         [0036]    The window panel  126  is attached to the shaped hinges  142   a ,  142   b  by fastener assemblies  143 . Each assembly  143  includes a fastener  220  (FIG. 2) and plural stacked components such as washers  221   a ,  221   b , a gasket  222 , a nut  224  and a plastic cap  225  for covering the nut  224  (FIG. 3). Washers  221   a ,  221   b  are placed on opposite sides of the pane  145 . The gasket  222  is placed directly below the top washer  221  a on top of the pane  145 . The fastener  220  penetrates a hole  226  through each respective hinge  142   a ,  142   b , and a hole in the pane  145  and the washers  221   a ,  221   b , and the gasket  222 . The fastener  220  is threaded into the nut  224 . The nut  224  is tightened and covered with the plastic cap  225 . The window panel  126  is thus securely fastened to the respective hinges  142   a ,  142   b.    
         [0037]    [0037]FIGS. 5 and 10A illustrate the latch assembly  204 . The assembly includes a top hook member  232  mounted on the shaft  206 . The shaft  206  fits through a bearing  260  inside a collar  236  which is fixed to a flange  240 . The flange  240  includes fastener holes for receiving two fasteners  242 . A seal  246  and a seal  248  are located on a top and bottom side of the window panel  126  respectively. Below the glass window panel  126  is a bottom flange  252  which receives the threaded fasteners  242  into threaded holes to tightly clamp the parts  240 ,  246 ,  248 ,  252  onto the glass window panel  126 . The assembly includes a bolt  256  which fixes the hook member  232  to the shaft  206 . The shaft  206  is received within the bearing  260  which is spring loaded upwardly by a coil spring  262  which resides within a hub  264  of a latch lever  270 . The latch lever  270  includes a handle  272 , an upper latch  276  and lower latch  278 . The handle  272  is fixed to the shaft  234  by a set screw  279 .  
         [0038]    [0038]FIG. 6 illustrates the visor  122  and window panel  126  pivoted downwardly in a closed condition.  
         [0039]    [0039]FIG. 7 shows the visor  122  pivoted upwardly, with assist from the gas struts  162   a  (not shown) and  162   b . The hook member  232  is shown disengaged from the visor  122 .  
         [0040]    [0040]FIG. 8 illustrates the visor  122  tilted a complete 180° from its closed configuration to a completely open configuration shown. The struts  162   a ,  162   b  are disconnected from the studs  165   a ,  165   b  and are laid flat on the roof  120 . The clip-on style ends  167  of the struts  162   a ,  162   b  and the studs  165   a ,  165   b  are designed to separate if sufficient force in a backward direction is exerted on the visor  122 . This prevents damage to the roof or visor if the visor strikes an overhead object.  
         [0041]    [0041]FIG. 9 illustrates the visor  122  tilted upwardly at approximately a 45° angle, and held upwardly by the gas struts  162   a ,  162   b . The window panel  126  is held titled upwardly by approximately 20°, held upwardly by the latch  278  (not shown).  
         [0042]    [0042]FIGS. 10A and 10B illustrate the latch assembly  204  and a corresponding catch assembly  300 . The catch assembly  300  includes a mounting plate  301  that is mounted to the roof  120  adjacent the opening  170 . The mounting plate  301  is vertically oriented and carries a latch part  308  having horizontally extending, shallow H-shaped shelves  310 ,  312 . The mounting place  301  is attached to the roof  120  via sheet metal screws  320 . A groove  313  defined between the shelves  310 ,  312  can receive either the upper latch  276 , or the lower latch  278  depending the position desired for the window panel  126 . The shallow H-shaped shelves  310 ,  312  provide a detent position  315  between the legs  310   a ,  310   b ;  312   a ,  312   b  of the shelves for holding either of the latches  276 ,  278  between the shelves  310 ,  312 . The latch part  308  is preferably a unitary plastic part having a base  316  which is fastened via two screws through threaded holes in the mounting plate  301 . Thus, the upper latch  276 , when engaged in the slot between the shelves  310 ,  312  tightly closes or battens down the window panel  126  to the roof  120  as shown in FIG. 7. If the lower latch  278  is placed between the shelves  310 ,  312 , the window panel  126  is held elevated, tilted upwardly as shown in FIG. 9.  
         [0043]    [0043]FIG. 11 illustrates the latch assembly  204  wherein the hook member  232  is turned to engage a bracket  350  mounted to the visor  122 . The window panel  126  is not shown for clarity but the pane  145  is partially shown between the seals  246 ,  248 . The bracket includes a frame  352  bolted via fasteners  353  to the visor  122  and supporting a cross rod  356 . Cross rod  356  is spring loaded by a torsion spring  299  (shown in FIGS.  14 A- 15 B) to allow engagement of the cross rod  356  into a slot  360  of the hook member  232 . The hook member  232  can be rotated to disengage the cross rod  356 . In the position shown in FIG. 11, both the visor  122  and the window panel  126  are raised. The latch assembly  204  is carried upwardly by the struts  162   a ,  162   b  to be suspended on the window panel  126 .  
         [0044]    [0044]FIG. 12 illustrates the latch assembly  204  in an orientation with the visor  122  engaged by the hook member  232  and the upper latch  276  engaged into the groove  313  of the bracket  300 . The window panel  126  (not shown for clarity) and the visor are securely closed to the roof  120  over the opening  170 . If the handle is pivoted a limited amount in the rotary direction R, the upper latch  276  can be removed from the slot  313 , the handle  272  can be raised, with assist from the struts  162   a ,  162   b , and the lower latch  278  can be inserted into the slot  313  by reverse rotation in the direction Q. The visor  122  and window panel  126  can thus be held in a tilted open position.  
         [0045]    A rotation from the orientation shown in the direction R by more than the limited amount will not only disengage the latch  276  from the slot  313  but will disengage the hook member  232  from the cross rod  356  of the visor  122 . The window panel can then be operated independently from the visor  122 . The released visor  126  assumes a tilted open orientation under force from the struts  162   a ,  162   b.    
         [0046]    [0046]FIG. 14A- 14 C illustrate the progressive engagement of the hook end  232  with the cross rod  356 . The cross rod  356  is pivotable about a line between its opposite ends in the frame  352 . The cross rod  356  is urged to pivot downwardly by the spring  299  (FIG. 14A). The hook end  232  has a rounded head which contacts the cross rod  356  and forcibly urges the cross rod  356  to pivot upwardly (FIG. 14B) until the cross rod slips into the groove  360  by pivoting downwardly, urged by the spring  299  (FIG. 14C). The hook member  232  cannot elevate further to become disengaged due to the overhead interference with the visor  120 .  
         [0047]    [0047]FIGS. 15A and 15B illustrate the disengagement of the hook end  232  from the cross rod  356 . In FIG. 15A, the latch  276  is in an orientation to be disengaged from the groove  313  of the catch assembly  300 . The window panel  126  and the visor  122  can be lifted together. In FIG. 15B, the latch  270  has been further rotated and the hook end  232  disengages from the cross rod  356 . The visor  122  separates from the window panel  126 .  
         [0048]    [0048]FIG. 16 illustrates the groove  360  extending around the hook end  232  from point A to point B.  
         [0049]    From the foregoing, it will be observed that numerous variations and modifications may be effected without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. It is to be understood that no limitation with respect to the specific apparatus illustrated herein is intended or should be inferred. It is, of course, intended to cover by the appended claims all such modifications as fall within the scope of the claims.