Abstract:
A two-piece hardtop for sport utility vehicles. The hardtop has front and rear roof sections removably securable to each other. The front and rear sections have overlapping portions, each of which has an inverted U-shape with vertically extending legs and a horizontally extending base between them. The U-shapes nest together with side latches being provided between adjacent legs of the front and rear sections to draw the two pieces vertically together and secure them in place. Other features include a sealing member that is provided between the nested roof sections and a gutter that is created between the sealing member and the rear roof section. The gutter helps to effectively direct water away from between the two roof sections and the vehicle. Additionally, an improved air vent is provided that allows air to flow out from the interior of the vehicle without letting water enter the vehicle through it.

Description:
RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/162,661 filed Nov. 1, 1999. 
     
    
     
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    1. Field of the Invention.  
           [0003]    This invention relates to the field of hardtops for sport utility vehicles and more particularly to the field of two-piece hardtops for such vehicles.  
           [0004]    2. Discussion of the Background.  
           [0005]    Sport utility vehicles have become very popular, particularly ones with removable tops. Such removable tops can be either hard or soft and can be made of single or multiple pieces. Soft tops of canvas or vinyl are relatively simple to put on and take off the vehicle as they are lightweight and flexible. Hardtops on the other hand offer more challenges as they tend to be heavier and more cumbersome to handle, particularly one-piece hardtops. As compared to such unitary hardtops, two-piece tops offer the basic advantage that they are easier to manipulate. They also allow the user the option of removing both pieces at once or just the front piece to give different open air experiences. However, unlike one-piece hardtops, two-piece ones present the need to have an effective securing and sealing arrangement between the two pieces. An effective seal is particularly important because the two pieces are normally joined together right above the driver and front passenger and any leak between the two pieces will drip directly on them.  
           [0006]    With this in mind, the present invention was developed. The invention provides improved securing and sealing arrangements between the front and rear roof sections of a removable, two-piece hardtop for sport utility vehicles.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0007]    This invention involves a two-piece hardtop for sport utility vehicles. The hardtop has front and rear roof sections that are removably securable to each other. The front and rear sections have overlapping portions, each of which has an inverted U-shape with vertically extending legs and a horizontally extending base between them. The U-shapes nest together with side latches being provided between adjacent legs of the front and rear sections to draw the two pieces vertically together and secure them in place.  
           [0008]    Other features of the invention include a sealing member that is positioned between the nested roof sections and a gutter that is created between the sealing member and the rear roof section. The gutter helps to effectively direct water away from between the two roof sections and the vehicle. Additionally, an improved air vent is provided that allows air to flow out from the interior of the vehicle without letting water enter the vehicle through it.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0009]    [0009]FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the two-piece hardtop of the present invention mounted on a sport utility vehicle.  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the two pieces of the top secured together.  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 3 is a bottom plan view of the assembled top.  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 4 is a top plan view thereof.  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 5 is a rear elevational view thereof.  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 6 is a front elevational view thereof.  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of the front roof section of the top showing how it can be removably attached to the windshield of the vehicle.  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 7 showing another manner in which the front roof section can be removably attached to a vehicle with a different windshield configuration.  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 9 is a view of the two pieces of the top stacked on each other.  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 10 is a view taken along lines  10 - 10  of FIG. 4 showing the overlapping portions of the front and rear roof sections.  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 11 is a view taken generally along line  12 - 12  of FIG. 10 but with the adjacent legs of the inverted U-shapes of the overlapping portions of the front and rear roof sections slightly spaced from each other.  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 12 is a view taken along line  12 - 12  of FIG. 10 showing the positioning of the overlapping legs of the front and rear roof sections when they are secured to each other.  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 13 is a view taken along line  13 - 13  of FIG. 10.  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 14 is a view similar to FIG. 10 with the overlapping leg of the front roof section removed for clarity to show the indexing structure on the leg of the underlying rear roof section.  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 15 is a view taken along line  15 - 15  of FIG. 11.  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 16 is a view taken along line  16 - 16  of FIG. 12.  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional view of the vent of the present invention taken along line  17 - 17  of FIG. 2.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0026]    As shown in FIG. 1, the present invention involves a two-piece hardtop  1  for a sport utility vehicle  2 . The multi-piece hardtop  1  is completely removable from the passenger vehicle  2  (see FIG. 2) and has front and rear roof sections  3  and  5  that are also removably securable to each other. The front roof section  3  as shown in FIG. 1 is positionable over the forward area of the vehicle where the driver and front passenger would sit. The rear roof section  5  in turn is positionable over the rearward area of the vehicle  2 . When secured to each other, the front and rear roof sections  3  and  5  of the hardtop  1  have the overall appearance shown in FIGS.  2 - 6 . FIG. 2 in this regard is a side elevational view of the assembled hardtop  1 . FIG. 3 is a bottom plan view, FIG. 4 is a top plan view, FIG. 5 is a rear elevational view, and FIG. 6 is a front elevational view.  
         [0027]    Referring again to FIG. 3 and as explained in more detail below, the underside of the front roof section  3  of the hardtop  1  has a pair of windshield clamp members  7  and an arrangement of clamp members  9  and  11  for securing the removable front roof section  3  to the roof rack members  13  on the rear roof section  5 . Side latches  15  are also provided on each B-pillar or leg  5 ″ of the rear roof section  5  of the hardtop  1  and are used to grip and pull the front roof section  3  downwardly into the fully engaged position with the rear roof section  5 .  
         [0028]    More specifically and as best seen in FIGS. 3, 7, and  8 , the windshield clamp members  7  on the underside of the front roof section  3  in FIG. 3 serve to attach the front roof section  3  to the vehicle windshields  4  and  4 ′ of FIGS. 7 and 8. In FIG. 7, the overcenter clamp member  7  is shown with the engaging clip  17  received in a slot  6  in the vehicle windshield  4 . In this drawn and locked position, the front portion  19  of the front roof section  3  of the hardtop  1  is tightly pulled down against the gasket  8  and compresses the gasket  8  to form a tight seal. In FIG. 8, the clamp member  7  has the clip  17  engaged to a footer or C-shaped pull  21  added to the original equipment of the windshield  4 ′. Additionally, gaskets  23  and  25  in FIG. 8 are provided in which gasket  23  is preferably secured to the front portion  19  of the front roof section  3  of the hardtop  1  and the gasket  25  is attached over the lip member  10  of the OEM windshield  4 ′. Each clamp member  7  is positioned between two, longitudinally spaced pivot members  27 . In operation, each clamp member  7  pivots about axis  29  along arc  31  (see FIG. 8) between an engaged and locked position (shown in solid lines in FIG. 8) and an extended, unengaged position (shown in dotted lines in FIG. 8). The overcenter aspect of the clamp member  7  occurs in that the base  17 ′ of the clip  17  travels along arc  31  in a known manner from one side to the other of a neutral axis. The neutral axis in this case runs through the clip engagement point  21  and the pivotal axis  29  in FIG. 8. Although this particular clamp  7  is shown, any number of conventional clamps could be used if desired to draw the front roof section  3  and windshields  4  and  4 ′ together.  
         [0029]    The front roof section  3  of the hardtop  1  is removable from the rear roof section  5  and can be attached to the roof rack members  13  (see FIG. 9) by the arrangement of clamp member  9 /pin  35  and C-shaped clamp members  11 . This is done essentially in the manner of co-owned U.S. Pat. No. 5,725,273 incorporated herein by reference. The front roof section  3  can also be removed and stored separately from the rear roof section  5  if desired. If storage on the rear roof section  5  is not desired, the roof rack members  13  and the clamps  9  and  11  as well as the pin  35  could be eliminated from the hardtop  1 .  
         [0030]    As best seen in FIGS.  10 - 12 , the front roof section  3  of the hardtop  1  is removably securable to the rear roof section  5  by side latches  15 . The rear roof section  5  in turn is normally removably bolted in place to the rear frame of the vehicle  2  such as at  16  in FIG. 1. Referring again to FIG. 10 (which is a view taken along lines  10 - 10  of FIG. 4), the front and rear roof sections  3  and  5  have overlapping portions at  3 ′ and  5 ′ on the top and at  3 ″ and  5 ″ on the sides (see also FIG. 6). As perhaps best seen in this FIG. 6, each of these overlapping portions of the front and rear roof sections has an inverted substantially U-shape. The front roof section  3  in this regard in FIG. 6 has a substantially horizontally extending base  3 ′ of the inverted U-shape running between the vertically extending sides or legs  3 ″ of the inverted U-shape. Similarly, the inverted U-shape of the rear roof section has a base  5 ′ extending between the legs  5 ″ in FIG. 6. The overlapping bases  3 ′ and  5 ′ extend across the top of the hardtop  1  and the overlapping legs  3 ″ and  5 ″ extend down each side. The overlapping legs or sides  3 ″ and  5 ″ are then secured to each other by side latches  15  in FIGS.  10 - 12 .  
         [0031]    The overlapping portions of the front and rear roof sections  3  and  5  in FIG. 10 have a flexible sealing member or gasket  37 ′,  37 ″ therebetween. The sealing member is preferably continuous and has a top portion  37 ′ running across the top between the overlapping bases  3 ′ and  5 ′ (shown in solid lines in FIG. 10). The sealing member also has side portions  37 ″ extending down each side between the overlapping legs  3 ″ and  5 ″ as shown in dotted lines in FIG. 10 (see also FIG. 13). In operation, the rear roof section  5  is preferably first attached at bolts  16  in FIG. 1 to the rear of the vehicle  2  and then the front roof section  3  is positioned as generally shown in FIG. 10 with the bases  3 ′ and  5 ′ and legs  3 ″ and  5 ″ overlapping. The latches  15  on each side are then manually operated to draw the front roof section  3  at the overlapping bases  3 ′ and legs  3 ″ downwardly against the respective gasket portions  37 ′ and  37 ″ into a tight, nesting engagement with the mating base  5 ′ and legs  5 ″ of the rear roof section  5 .  
         [0032]    In doing so, an open gutter  41  in FIG. 10 is purposely created to capture and direct water across the top of the hardtop  1  and down the sides thereof. That is, the gutter  41  formed by the rear roof section  5  in FIG. 10, the sealing or gasket portions  37 ′ and  37 ″, and the front roof section  3  at  3 ′ and  3 ″ will serve to collect any water between the roof sections  3  and  5 . On the top, the gutter  41  will direct the water laterally or horizontally outwardly from between the front and rear roof sections  3  and  5 . The water is then directed vertically down each side between the front and rear roof sections  3  and  5  adjacent the legs  3 ″ and  5 ″ of the overlapping portions (see FIG. 13). From there, the water is directed and discharged away from the sealed front and rear roof sections  3  and  5 . The gutter  41  also has an inverted U-shape and as shown in FIGS. 10 and 13, the bottom of each leg  41 ′ of the U-shaped channel or gutter  41  is inclined downwardly and outwardly at  41 ′ to enhance this discharge. This also helps to prevent any puddling or collecting of the water in the gutter  41 , particularly in the area of  41 ′.  
         [0033]    Referring again to FIG. 10, the base  3 ′ and legs  3 ″ of the front roof section  3  that extend over the underlying base  51  and legs  5 ″ of the rear roof section  5  are pulled downwardly into an engaged position by each side latch  15 . More specifically as best seen in FIG. 11 (which is a view taken generally along line  12 - 12  of FIG. 10 but with the overlapping legs  3 ″ and  5 ″ slightly spaced from each other), each leg  3 ″ of the overlapping portion of the front roof section  3  has a depending hook member  43 . This depending hook member  43  is engagable with the mating hook member  49  on the leg  5 ″ of the overlapping portion of the rear roof section  5 . In operation, the engagable member  49  on leg  5 ″ is initially raised to the position of FIG. 11. Thereafter, the member  49  is lowered to engage hook member  43  and draw the hook member  43  and attached leg  3 ″ downwardly from the position of FIG. 11 to the lowered position of FIG. 12. In doing so, the recessed (e.g., concave) pocket  45  on each leg  5 ″ in FIGS. 11 and 12 (see also FIG. 14) helps to locate or index the mating or protruding (e.g., convex) member  47  on the leg  3 ″ (see again FIGS. 11 and 12). This initial positioning and aligning are done manually after which the hook or clip on the engagable member  49  of side latch  15  in FIG. 11 is lowered from the extended position of FIG. 11 downwardly to the retracted position of FIG. 12. The aligning arrangement of  45  and  47  continues to guide or aid the proper positioning of the roof sections  3  and  5  into the predetermined, final alignment of FIG. 12 as the leg  3 ″ is drawn downwardly by the retracting hook member  49 . In the retracted position of FIG. 12, the hook member  49  on leg  5 ″ is then fully engaged and locked with the hook  43  on the leg  3 ″. In this manner, the base  3 ′ and legs  3 ″ of the overlapping portion of the front roof section  3  are pulled downwardly to nest and sealingly engage the underlying base  5 ′ and legs  5 ″ of the rear roof section  5 . During this movement, lip  53  on the leg  3 ″ in FIGS.  11 - 13  preferably engages the seal member  55 .  
         [0034]    Each side latch  15  itself is conventional and has a cam  57  and follower  59  arrangement (see FIGS. 15 and 16). FIG. 15 in this regard shows the latch  15  in the raised position of FIG. 11 and FIG. 16 shows the latch  15  in the lowered, secured position of FIG. 12. In use, the control handle  61  of the latch  15  is first pivoted outwardly to the position shown in FIGS. 11 and 15. Handle  61  is then turned clockwise in FIG. 15 to rotate the cam  57  about the axis  63 . This lifts or raises the hook member  49  of the latch  15  to the extended position of FIGS. 11 and 15. Subsequently, the handle  61  is turned counterclockwise as in FIG. 16 to lower the hook member  49  to engage the hook member  43  and draw the front and rear roof sections  3  and  5  together. The handle  61  is subsequently pivoted downwardly to the position of FIGS. 12 and 16 to secure the sections  3  and  5  in place. A novel feature of the present invention involves this drawing mechanism and the manner in which the front roof section  3  is so drawn by side latches  15  downwardly onto the rear roof section  5 .  
         [0035]    That is, the underlying leg  5 ″ in FIG. 14 acts as a B-pillar and the engaging hook member  49  of the side latch  15  on the leg  5 ″ actually extends through a hole or cutout  65  in the leg  5 ″ (see also FIGS. 11 and 12) to reach and engage the hook member  43  on the overlapping leg  3 ″. This adds strength to the engagement and does so in a manner that permits each engaged side latch  15  to be within the B-pillar or leg  5 ″ front-to-back. Each side latch  15  is also almost completely received out of the way in recess  50  in FIG. 12 in each inner side of the B-pillar or leg  5 ″. The securing arrangement of side latches  15  with hook members  43  and  49  fully engaged and locked together thus provides an efficient and strong attachment of the front and rear roof sections  3  and  5  to each other.  
         [0036]    As best seen in FIG. 17, the hardtop  1  itself can be made of a foam composite material  71  (e.g., urethane structural foam) encased in skins  73  of hard thermoplastic material (e.g., ABS). As also shown in FIG. 17 (which is a view taken along line  17 - 17  of FIG. 2), a substantially waterproof vent is provided through each rear side of the hardtop  1 . The vent can be made by cutting or milling out staggered sections of the hardtop  1  from each side and then covering the cutouts with vertically staggered diffusers  75  and  77 . As air pressure increases inside the vehicle from shutting a door or running the fan, air can pass from the interior of the vehicle outwardly through the diffuser  75  in fluid communication therewith (as shown by the dotted arrows  79  in FIG. 17). Once inside the vent, the air can pass by the one-way valve (e.g., flexible lip member or seal)  83  and out the diffuser  77  on the exterior side of the vent. To help prevent any backflow of water (e.g., from rain or a carwash) into the vehicle through the vent in the reverse direction, the louver members  85  of the outside diffuser  77  are provided with inwardly and downwardly directed or curved portions  87 . Water entering from the outside along path  89  is then diverted or directed downwardly to a draining area adjacent the bottom member  91  of the vent and out through the bottom of the outer diffuser  77  as shown in FIG. 17. To aid this draining, the bottom member  91  is provided with a downwardly and outwardly curved or inclined portion  93  running substantially between the interior and exterior sides of the vent.  
         [0037]    While several embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described in detail, it to be understood that various changes and modifications could be made without departing form the scope of the invention.