Patent Publication Number: US-2022212606-A1

Title: Removable mounting arrangement of a roof rail on the roof of a motor vehicle

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims priority to PCT Application No. PCT/EP2019/076185, filed on Sep. 27, 2019 which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE 
     The disclosure relates to a removable mounting arrangement of a roof rail on the roof of a motor vehicle, the roof rail being attached to the roof at at least two connecting points. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE 
     It is known to install a roof rail on roofs of motor vehicles at the two longitudinal edges of the vehicle roof. Such a roof rail is typically made of a bar extending over the entire length having a constant cross section, and separate feet or adapters for mounting the roof rail on the vehicle roof at the ends thereof. Two-footed roof rails, three-footed roof rails, and multiple-foot roof rails are known, the bar running spaced apart from the vehicle roof when the roof rail is mounted on the vehicle roof. Such a bar can also be achieved for a roof rail made as a single part of a bar and feet at the ends thereof, as shown in the document WO 95/11144 A1, namely made of an extruded profile. Furthermore, in addition to an elevated roof rail, a roof rail mounted flush on the vehicle roof is also used, as described in the document DE 202014102150 U1, wherein the bar and the feet are made of an extruded profile, wherein the feet at the ends thereof are produced by bending. 
     In order to mount a known roof rail on the roof of the motor vehicle, various mounting methods are known, for example connecting elements such as connecting screws passing through openings in the roof are disposed on the rail profile or on an adapter connected to the rail profile. Such or similar designs require that the rail be attached from the interior of the vehicle, so that installing and potentially removing can be performed in practice only at specialized repair shops. 
     Furthermore, designs are known for subsequently mounting a roof rail on the roof of a motor vehicle. For such subsequent mounting, studs are disposed on the roof of the motor vehicle, for example. In this case, as in the document DE 20200601836 U1, installing can be done from above. To this end, the roof rail profile comprises a receiving space open from above for covering with a suitable cap after mounting. Such caps differ in material and thus in appearance from the rest of the rail, producing an undesirable, non-uniform overall appearance. 
     SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE 
     In certain aspects, he disclosed mounting arrangement provides an improved design enabling simple mounting, even for a decorative roof rail. Said mounting arrangement of a roof rail on the roof of a motor vehicle comprises both a flush-mounted roof rail and a two-footed or multiple-footed roof rail, a connection being made for each type of roof rail by means of at least two connecting points, namely at least one connection each to the front and the rear ends of the roof rail. One or more further connecting points can optionally be provided in the region between the two ends of the roof rail. 
     The roof rail itself is made of a railing profile of an aluminum material, preferably an extruded profile. The roof rail comprises a mounting part for each connecting point. Said mounting part can be a separate component or an integral part of the railing profile. In any case, said mounting part comprises an angled mounting wall having recesses for mounting elements, preferably connecting bolts. An adapter is further present for connecting said roof rail to the roof of the motor vehicle. Said adapter is or shall be connected to the roof. The adapter can be connected to the mounting part of the roof rail and comprises an angled contact surface having recesses for the mounting elements. Said contact surface is parallel to the angled mounting wall of the mounting part of the rail profile. The angled contact surface of the adapter preferably faces upward and the mounting wall of the mounting part faces downward at one side of the roof rail, such as the outer side, so that installing can be done easily from said side. To this end, an opening is provided on said side of the roof rail, so that the mounting elements can be introduced from the outside, through the opening, into the mounting wall of the mounting part. For mounting the roof rail on the roof, the roof rail having the mounting part is placed on the adapter mounted on the roof, wherein the corresponding mounting wall of the mounting part slides on the associated angled contact surface of an adapter until reaching the mounting position. In the mounting position, the mounting wall of the mounting part is then supported on the contact surface of the adapter and the mounting elements, such as connecting bolts, can be passed through the aligned recesses of the mounting wall and the angled contact surface for connecting, preferably in a bolted connection. Other mounting elements are also conceivable. 
     In a further embodiment, the side mounting is performed from the outer side of the roof rail, said side facing toward the center of the vehicle when installed. In this case, the mounting part comprises a mounting wall running at an angle downward to said outer side and the matching angled contact surface of the adapter then faces upward at an angle to the other outer side of the roof rail. 
     In a preferred embodiment, the adapter mounted on the roof additionally has two supporting feet holding the angled contact surface at the two longitudinal ends thereof, wherein the supporting feet are connected to the roof of the motor vehicle. Said embodiment of an adapter is preferably a sheet metal component. Further embodiments of an adapter are produced by means of pressure die-casting or injection molding. An adapter can be made both of metal and of a plastic. 
     Tolerance compensation is advantageously provided by means of the adapter. For height compensation (Z-direction), a blocking element is disposed on the adapter and blocks the lowering, sliding motion of the mounting wall of the mounting part on the contact surface when the mounting position has been reached. Such a blocking element can be formed easily for a sheet metal component by bending over the bottom edge of the contact surface. Such a bend, for example a tab, can also extend only over a partial length of the bottom edge of the contact surface. A short partial length is sufficient and has the further advantage that, if a corresponding recess is provided in the bottom edge of the mounting wall, such that the tab engages in said recess in the mounting position, a compensation in the Y-direction is thereby provided. The tab being supported in the recess on the mounting part without clearance provides compensation in the longitudinal direction of the rail profile, that is, in the X direction. Additional compensation can be provided in the X-direction if two recesses for the mounting elements are disposed on the adapter, wherein all recesses on all adapters are implemented as elongated holes except for one recess on one adapter. The one recess is implemented as a locating hole. 
     When the roof rail is connected to the roof at the connecting points provided, the openings at the roof rail enabling access to the mounting parts are closed off by means of a cover. The cover is connected to the roof rail by means of a form-fit or force-fit connection. The cover can be adapted to the shape and size of the opening and retained by means of a clip connection at the edge of the opening. The manner of connecting the cover to the roof rail also depends on where the opening is present on the roof rail. If the opening is directly at the rail profile, then corresponding grooves can be provided on the extruded rail profile, in order to retain the top and bottom edge of such a cover in said grooves and optionally also to displace the cover correspondingly along said grooves for a mounting procedure in order to expose or close off the opening. The opening can also be present at a separate housing for receiving the separate mounting part, particularly for a two-footed or multiple-footed roof rail, and for covering the receiving area for such a mounting part from the outside. It is known that such a housing can be an extruded profile, a sheet metal component, or a plastic part. A housing is preferably made of an aluminum material. 
     A cover is produced from the same material as the housing or the rail profile, for example, and has the same surface and same color as the housing or the rail profile on which the cover is mounted. The cover can, however, also be a design element and have a different surface and/or a different color. The cover can furthermore have a logo and/or lettering. It is also possible to provide a reflective surface for the cover. If a transparent material is used for the cover, then the light of an additional lighting element disposed in the housing or in the rail profile can also shine outward at this point. 
     According to an advantageous embodiment, the adapter is permanently connected to the roof of the motor vehicle at each connecting point provided, for example by means of a welded or bolted connection. This can be a connection in the roof channel of a roof of the motor vehicle, but also on the vehicle roof or on the side frame of the vehicle. The adapter can particularly be preinstalled on the motor vehicle and optionally covered by a bead or a strip and a roof rail is mounted on the roof if needed. 
     The novel mounting arrangement for a roof rail on the roof is implemented such that the roof rail can also be mounted on the roof of a motor vehicle subsequently, and can be removed from the roof again if a removable connection, such as a bolted connection, is used. A simple design leading to improved mounting is thereby provided. Mounting from the side of the roof rail is namely possible. Particularly advantageous mounting arrangements can also provide tolerance compensation in all three spatial directions. 
     Furthermore, embodiments and advantages of the disclosed arrangement are found in the description, subclaims, and drawing below. The invention is shown in embodiment examples in the drawing. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a part of a mounting arrangement according to the invention in the mounting position on the roof. 
         FIG. 2  shows the individual components of the mounting arrangement from  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  shows the assembled mounting arrangement without a roof. 
         FIG. 4  shows a further embodiment of an adapter. 
         FIG. 5  shows a flush-mounted roof rail mounted on the roof 
         FIG. 6  is a cross-section through  FIG. 5 . 
         FIG. 7  is a further cross-section through  FIG. 5 . 
         FIG. 8  shows the individual components of a further mounting arrangement. 
         FIG. 9  shows the foot region of the roof region from  FIG. 10 . 
         FIG. 10  shows the assembled mounting arrangement on the roof. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       FIG. 1  shows a part of a first mounting arrangement of a multi-footed roof rail  10  mounted on the roof  20  of the motor vehicle. In the present case, the roof rail  10  is fixed in the region of the roof channel  21 , that is, the mounting part  40  mounted on the roof rail  10  and connected to the adapter  30 , protrudes past the bottom side of the roof rail  10 , as shown in  FIG. 3 , and engages in the roof channel  21  where the adapter  30  is fixed.  FIG. 1  shows a view of the outer side  15  of the roof rail  10 . The roof rail  10  is installed or removed from the outer side  15 . Such mounting from the side substantially facilitates the mounting of the roof rail  10 . The roof rail  10  shown here comprises an extruded aluminum profile as a rail profile  11  curved at the ends  12  of the rail. A separate mounting part  40  is attached to the rail profile  11  in said curved region. As can be seen in  FIG. 1 , the mounting part  40  is covered toward the outside by a housing  70 . Access to the mounting part  40  is provided via an opening  16 , said opening being closed by a cover  60  after mounting. 
     The individual components can be seen in  FIG. 2 .  FIG. 2  shows the rail profile  11  again, in the present case without the mounting part  40  and housing  70 . In the region of the curved end  12  of the rail profile  11 , the separate mounting part  40  is connected to the rail profile  11 . To this end, the mounting part  40  comprises mounting feet  43  having curved ends. The curves at the ends can be fixed by means of a bolted connection at the rail profile  11 , for example, or welded to the rail profile  11 . When the mounting part  40  is attached to the rail profile  11 , the angled mounting wall  41  faces downward toward the outer side  15 , as can be best seen in  FIG. 3 . When the rail profile  11  is placed on the adapter  30  mounted on the roof  20 , the mounting wall  41  slides downward along the angled contact surface  31  of the adapter  30  and, in the present embodiment example, easily reaches the mounting position, as a blocking part  34  in the form of a bent tab is provided on the adapter  30  and stops the downward sliding motion of the mounting part  40 . The two recesses  42  of the mounting part  40  together with the two recesses  32  of the adapter  30  each form a common through hole for the mounting elements  50 . Said tab  34  further engages in a recess  44  at the bottom edge of the mounting part  40 , whereby the roof rail  11  is also positioned in the longitudinal direction. The blocking part  34  causes the mounting part  40  and thus the roof rail  10  is retained at a specified distance from the roof  20  in the mounting position. The adapters  30  provided for mounting the roof rail  10  on the roof  20  are mounted on the roof prior to installation, for example by means of bolted connections or welded connections. In this case, support feet  33  are provided, the bent ends thereof being mounted to the roof. The height of the support feet  33  for such an adapter  30  can be selected depending on the height of the roof channel  21 . In an advantageous embodiment, such adapters  30  can already be mounted on the motor vehicle and the roof channel  21  having the adapters  30  can be covered by a roof strip or a bead, so that each motor vehicle of the same series provides the option for subsequently installing a roof rail  10  when purchased. 
     In the preferred embodiment, the recesses  42  of the mounting wall  41  are additional recessed in wells, bringing about additional tolerance compensation. 
       FIG. 4  shows a further embodiment of an adapter mounted on the roof  20  of the motor vehicle. A recess  32  is implemented here as a location hole and the recess  32 ′ as an elongated hole. If such an adapter is disposed at the first connection point on the roof channel, for example, and all further adapters  30  are provided only with elongated holes as recesses  32 ′, then said measure can be used for providing tolerance compensation in the longitudinal direction (X-direction). 
     Such a roof rail  10  is connected to the mounting part  40  as a preassembled unit. In the present case, the mounting part  40  is covered by a housing  70 , so that said mounting part is completely covered on the outer side  14  thereof facing away from the center of the vehicle. From the opposite outer side  15  of the roof rail  10 , the mounting part  40  is visible only if the opening  16  is not closed off by the cover  60 . The opening  16  at the roof rail  10  is an opening  71  in the housing  70  in the embodiment example from  FIG. 2 . If the roof rail  10  is placed on a prepared roof  20  where the adapters  30  are mounted, and if the mounting walls  41  slide along the contact surfaces  31  into the mounting position thereof, then it is possible to introduce mounting elements  50 , in the present case connecting bolts, through the opening  16  and into the stacked recesses  42 ,  32  for producing a connection. The opening  71  in the housing  70  is then covered by the cover  60 . The cover  60  in the present case is retained on the housing  70  by means of a clipped connection. The cover  60  comprises two hooks, not shown, at the bottom edge on the back side thereof. The cover  60  is inserted in the opening  16 ,  71  by means of said hooks. The cover  60  further comprises two hooks  61  in the region of the top edge on the back side thereof for engaging behind the top edge of the opening  16 ,  71 . The opening  71  on the housing  70 , that is, the opening  16  on the roof rail  10 , is then closed off and the roof rail is mounted on the roof.  FIG. 3  shows a part of the roof rail  10  without a roof in order to make the assembled components  30 ,  40 ,  50  visible. 
       FIG. 5  shows a further mounting arrangement. Identical reference numerals have been selected here for comparable components. The roof rail  10  in  FIG. 5  is a flush-mounted roof rail  10  and is made of an extruded aluminum profile. Said roof rail  10  is mounted in a roof channel  21  of the roof  20 . In this case, the mounting occurred from the outer side  14  of the roof rail, facing toward the center of the vehicle roof after installation. This is shown in  FIG. 5 , and the covers  60  are visible on the side  14  at each of the front and rear ends  12  of the rail profile  11 . Said roof rail  10  is connected to the roof  20  at two connecting points. 
       FIG. 6  shows a cross-section through the flush-mounted roof rail  10  adjacent to the connecting point. It is evident that the rail profile  11  is a multi-chambered profile. A hollow chamber is closed off by the side wall  17 . In the region of said side wall  17  is the opening  16  for obtaining access to the angled mounting wall  41 , as can be seen in  FIG. 7 . Behind said side wall  17  is the angled mounting wall  41 , part of the rail profile  11  in the present case. The mounting part  40  is thus an integral part of the rail profile  11 . In the present case as well, an adapter  30 , already mounted on the roof channel  21  by means of mounting means  51  is used for mounting the flush-mounted roof rail  10  on the roof  20 . Said adapter  30  comprises an angled contact surface  31 , facing upward in the present case, but facing toward the outer side  15  facing toward the outer side of the vehicle. In the present mounting arrangement, installing is done from the outer side  14  of the roof rail  10 . No tab is shown on the adapter  30 . The blocking element  34  for stopping the sliding motion of the mounting wall  41  along the contact surface  31  is formed here by a platform surface on which the bottom side of the rail profile  11  extending from the bottom edge of the mounting wall  41  rests in the mounted position. 
     As can be seen in  FIG. 7 , in the present case as well, an opening  16  is present for accessing a mounting element  50  to the mounting wall  41 , in order to thus connect the rail profile  11  to the adapter  30 . Said opening  16  is in the side wall  17 , said wall being substantially thinner than the other walls of the rail profile  11 . It is preferable that the side wall  17  is provided with ribbing in order to facilitate treating the surface after introducing the opening  16 . A mounting element  50  is introduced through the opening  16  for mounting. Both the mounting wall  41  and the contact surface  31  comprise corresponding recesses  32 ,  42  for the mounting element  50 , in the present case a connecting bolt. After the mounting element  50  has been screwed in, the opening  16  is closed off by means of a cover  60 . Said cover  60  is a sliding element guided in the grooves  19  for opening or closing the opening  16  in the present example, and the top and bottom edge thereof engage in C-shaped grooves  19 . 
     In a further embodiment, the thin side wall  17  from  FIG. 6  can be separated out along the entire length of the rail profile  11  and a bead-like cover  60  can be retained in the C-shaped groove  19  over the entire length thereof. 
       FIG. 8  shows a further mounting arrangement. Identical reference numerals have been selected here for comparable components. The roof rail  10  in  FIG. 5  is a flush-mounted roof rail  10  and is made of an extruded aluminum profile. Said roof rail  10  is mounted on the roof  20  by means of an adapter  30 . In the present case, the adapter  30  is an aluminum pressure die casting engaging into a hollow chamber having an angled wall through the bottom side of the rail profile  11  from below. Said angled wall is the mounting wall  41  for contacting the angled contact surface  31  of the adapter  30  in case of mounting, see  FIG. 10 . The adapter  30  can also be a composite component. As can be seen in  FIG. 10 , in the present case as well, an opening  16  is present for accessing a mounting element  50  to the mounting wall  41 , in order to thus connect the rail profile  11  to the adapter  30 . Opening  16  alone can be covered, or, as shown in  FIG. 9 , a cover  60  can be disposed in the foot region and cover the openings  16 . Said covers  60  can be disposed both on the outer side  14  and on the outer side  15 . 
     For all embodiments of the mounting arrangement shown, the mounting wall  41  and the contact surface  31  are provided at an angle of approximately 45 degrees from the roof surface. Side installation, namely introducing the mounting elements, is thereby facilitated. 
     The above description is intended to be illustrative, not restrictive. The scope of the invention should be determined with reference to the appended claims along with the full scope of equivalents. It is anticipated and intended that future developments will occur in the art, and that the disclosed devices, kits and methods will be incorporated into such future embodiments. Thus, the invention is capable of modification and variation and is limited only by the following claims. 
     REFERENCE LIST 
       10  Roof rail 
       11  Rail profile 
       12  Rail end, foot region 
       13  Middle foot region 
       14  Outer side 
       15  Outer side 
       16  Opening 
       17  Side wall 
       18  Ribbing 
       19  C-groove 
       20  Roof 
       21  Roof channel 
       30  Adapter 
       31  Contact surface 
       32   32 ′ Recess 
       33  Support foot 
       34  Blocking element 
       40  Mounting part 
       41  Mounting wall 
       42  Recess 
       43  Mounting foot 
       44  Recess 
       50  Mounting element 
       51  Connection point 
       60  Cover 
       61  Hook 
       70  Housing 
       71  Opening 
       72  Clip edges