Patent Publication Number: US-2023137099-A1

Title: Multi-panel removable roof system

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims priority of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/959,500 filed Jan. 10, 2020, which is incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention in general relates to a vehicle roof assembly and, more particularly to a removable vehicle roof with a water management system and improved sealing to prevent water and moisture infiltration. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Vehicles are generally constructed around a frame, where a vehicle&#39;s finished surface panels are secured or bonded to substructures to form body panels that are designed for attachment to the irregular surfaces of the frame. These structures typically include a finished surface outer panel bonded at multiple points to a structural inner panel that may be stamped from sheet metal or formed from composite materials such as SMC. The periphery of outer panel (outer skin) and structural inner panel are typically bonded together at the edges. 
     Vehicles with removable hard top panels, especially for sport utility vehicles (SUV) and jeeps have become increasingly popular. The removable nature of the hard top panels requires weather-stripping and a water management system with a discharge path to direct water to a vehicles&#39; exterior thereby ensuring the vehicles occupants remain dry from rain and snow. 
     However, existing designs for sealing removable vehicle hardtop panels are not always affective and are prone to failure overtime, thereby leading to incursion of moisture to a vehicle interior. The moisture incursion is pronounced where the removable panels join together with each other and with the non-removable portion of a vehicle roof. Furthermore, existing designs for removable vehicles roof tops are cumbersome, often requiring tools and/or more than one user to install and remove the roof, and only provide a single installation configuration, thereby limiting customization and utility of the roof system. 
     Thus, there exists a need for an improved removable roof system that is easily configurable by a single user and that provides a seal that prevents incursion of moisture to a vehicle interior. 
     SUMMARY 
     The present disclosure provides a vehicle removable roof system that includes a fixed vehicle structure, one or more removable panels configured to engage with the fixed vehicle structure, and a water management system positioned between the one or more removable panels and the fixed vehicle structure. The removable panels may be formed of a composite sandwich panel assembly, which may include an open area core defining a plurality of pores, a high gloss surface sheet adhered to a first face of said open area core by a first adhesive layer, and a structural skin adhered to a second side of said open area core by a second adhesive layer. The removable panels are configured for installation to and removal from the fixed vehicle structure by a single user and without the use of tools. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The present invention is further detailed with respect to the following drawings that are intended to show certain aspects of the present invention, but should not be construed as a limit on the practice of the present invention. 
         FIG.  1    is a perspective view of a vehicle removable roof system according to embodiments of the present disclosure installed on a vehicle; 
         FIG.  2    is an exploded perspective view of the vehicle removable roof system of  FIG.  1   ; 
         FIG.  3    is an exploded perspective view of the vehicle removable roof system of  FIG.  1   ; 
         FIG.  4    is a perspective view of a vehicle removable roof system according to embodiments of the present disclosure installed on a vehicle; 
         FIG.  5    is an exploded perspective view of the vehicle removable roof system of  FIG.  4   ; 
         FIG.  6    shows an interior side of a removable panel according to embodiments of the present invention; 
         FIGS.  7 A and  7 B  show cross sectional view of a removable panel as indicated in  FIGS.  1  and  4   , respectively; 
         FIGS.  8 A- 8 D  show cross sectional views of the interaction of removable panels as indicated in  FIGS.  1  and  4   , respectively; and 
         FIG.  9    shows a cross sectional view of the interaction of removable panels and a water management system according to embodiments of the present disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention has utility as improved removable roof system that is easily configurable by a single user and that provides a seal with improved moisture resistance and edges suitable for sealing the removable roof assembly to other vehicle components. Embodiments of the inventive vehicle removable roof system offer improved manufacture and long term performance reliability over previous designs. 
     The present invention will now be described with reference to the following embodiments. As is apparent by these descriptions, this invention can be embodied in different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. For example, features illustrated with respect to one embodiment can be incorporated into other embodiments, and features illustrated with respect to a particular embodiment may be deleted from the embodiment. In addition, numerous variations and additions to the embodiments suggested herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art in light of the instant disclosure, which do not depart from the instant invention. Hence, the following specification is intended to illustrate some particular embodiments of the invention, and not to exhaustively specify all permutations, combinations, and variations thereof. 
     It is to be understood that in instances where a range of values are provided that the range is intended to encompass not only the end point values of the range but also intermediate values of the range as explicitly being included within the range and varying by the last significant figure of the range. By way of example, a recited range of from 1 to 4 is intended to include 1-2, 1-3, 2-4, 3-4, and 1-4. 
     Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. The terminology used in the description of the invention herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. 
     Unless indicated otherwise, explicitly or by context, the following terms are used herein as set forth below. 
     As used in the description of the invention and the appended claims, the singular forms “a,” “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. 
     Also as used herein, “and/or” refers to and encompasses any and all possible combinations of one or more of the associated listed items, as well as the lack of combinations when interpreted in the alternative (“or”). 
     Referring now to the figures, an inventive vehicle removable roof system is shown generally at  100  and includes a fixed vehicle structure  102 , one or more removable panels  104 ,  104 ′,  104 ″,  104 ′″,  104 ″″,  104 ′″″ each configured to engage with the fixed vehicle structure  102 , and a water management system  106  positioned between the one or more removable panels  104 ,  104 ′,  104 ″,  104 ′″,  104 ″″,  104 ′″″ and the fixed vehicle structure  102 . 
     According to embodiments the fixed vehicle structure  102  includes roll bars  107  of the vehicle. The fixed vehicle structure  102  may also include vehicle pillars  108 , such as the A-pillar, B-pillar, C-pillar, and D-pillar. According to embodiments, the fixed vehicle structure is tied into the frame of the vehicle. 
     According to embodiments, one or more of the removable panels  104 ,  104 ′,  104 ″,  104 ′″,  104 ″″,  104 ′″″ are formed of any of a composite sandwich panel assembly, aluminum, SMC, stamped steel, or a combination thereof. According to embodiments, the removable panels  104 ,  104 ′,  104 ″,  104 ′″,  104 ″″,  104 ′″″ are formed of a composite sandwich panel assembly that includes an open area core defining a plurality of pores, a high gloss surface sheet adhered to a first face of said open area core by a first adhesive layer, and a structural skin adhered to a second side of said open area core by a second adhesive layer. Further details of a composite sandwich panel assembly that may be used to form one or more of the removable panels  104 ,  104 ′,  104 ″,  104 ′″,  104 ″″,  104 ′″″ are described in International Application Serial No. PCT/US2020/12350 filed on Jan. 6, 2020, which is thereby incorporated by reference. 
     According to embodiments, the removable panels  104 ,  104 ′,  104 ″,  104 ′″,  104 ″″,  104 ′″″ include horizontally oriented roof panels, such as removable panels  104 ,  104 ′, and  104 ″, vertically oriented panels, such as removable panels  104 ′″,  104 ″″,  104 ′″″, or a combination thereof. According to embodiments, any combination of the removable panels  104 ,  104 ′,  104 ″,  104 ′″,  104 ″″,  104 ′″″, including the use of none of the removable panels, may be used at a given time. According to embodiments, each of the removable panels  104 ,  104 ′,  104 ″,  104 ′″,  104 ″″,  104 ′″″ have the same outer dimensions, thereby allowing the removable panels to be interchangeable with one another and therefore easily reconfigurable and customizable. Furthermore, the removable panels  104 ,  104 ′,  104 ″,  104 ′″,  104 ″″,  104 ′″″ are dimensioned, weighted, and otherwise configured for installation to and removal from the fixed vehicle structure  102  by a single user. 
     According to embodiments, one or more of the removable panels  104 ,  104 ′,  104 ″,  104 ′″,  104 ″″,  104 ′″″ includes corrugations, such as those shown on removable panels  104 ,  104 ′, and  104 ″. Such corrugations can provide increased strength and rigidity or the removable panels and may provide a desirable aesthetic appearance to an outer surface of the removable panels. Furthermore, according to embodiments, one or more of the removable panels  104 ,  104 ′,  104 ″,  104 ′″,  104 ″″,  104 ′″″ are generally planar, such as those shown in  FIGS.  2  and  3   .  FIG.  7 A  shows a cross sectional view of a generally planar removable panel  104 . Such planar removable panels are configured to be positioned within the fixed vehicle structure  102 , for example in a nesting fashion. As shown in  FIG.  7 A , the generally planar removable panels  104 ,  104 ′,  104 ″,  104 ′″,  104 ″″,  104 ′″″ may additionally include flanges  105  along the side edges that are configured to engage with the fixed vehicle structure  102 . Alternatively, or in combination therewith, one or more of the removable panels  104 ,  104 ′,  104 ″,  104 ′″,  104 ″″,  104 ′″″ has a first flange  110  extending from a first end and a second flange  112  extending from a second end of the removable panel, such as shown in  FIGS.  4  and  5   .  FIG.  7 B  shows a cross sectional view of a flanged removable panel  104 . According to such embodiments, the flanges  110 ,  112  are configured to extend over the fixed vehicle structure  102  to engage therewith, thereby additionally reducing water and moisture penetration into the vehicle compartment. According to embodiments, such as shown in  FIGS.  8 A- 8 D , the front and back edges of the removable panels  104 ,  104 ′,  104 ″,  104 ′″,  104 ″″,  104 ′″″ additionally include flanges  103  that are configured to engage with one another such that the panels nest together within the fixed vehicle structure  102 . 
     According to embodiments, one or more of the removable panels  104 ,  104 ′,  104 ″,  104 ′″,  104 ″″,  104 ′″″ includes a transparent portion  114 , such as that shown in panels  104 ′″,  104 ″″, and  104 ′″″. According to embodiments, the transparent portion  114  is formed of glass or clear polycarbonate. According to embodiments, the transparent portion  114  is co-molded with the removable panel  104 ,  104 ′,  104 ″,  104 ′″,  104 ″″,  104 ′″″ as described in U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/859,796 filed on Jun. 11, 2019, the details of which are hereby incorporated by reference. Thus, any removable panel containing a transparent portion  114  may be installed within the fixed vehicle frame  102  in a vertically oriented position such that the removable panel functions as a side window or a rear window, or may be installed within the fixed vehicle frame  102  in a horizontally oriented position such that the removable panel functions as a moon roof or sun roof. 
     According to embodiments, the inventive vehicle removable roof system includes a plurality of locks  116 , such as those shown in  FIG.  6   . The locks  116  are configured to interact to secure the removable panels  104 ,  104 ′,  104 ″,  104 ′″,  104 ″″,  104 ′″″ to the fixed vehicle structure  102 . According to embodiments, each of the plurality of locks  116  is a 2-way locating pin positioned on one of the fixed vehicle frame  102  and one of the removable panels  104 ,  104 ′,  104 ″,  104 ′″,  104 ″″,  104 ′″″ for interlocking with a locating receptacle positioned on the opposite of the fixed vehicle frame  102  or one of the removable panels  104 ,  104 ′,  104 ″,  104 ′″,  104 ″″,  104 ′″″. The locks  116  ensure that removable panels  104 ,  104 ′,  104 ″,  104 ′″,  104 ″″,  104 ′″″ are configured for installation to and removal from the fixed vehicle structure  102  without the use of tools. 
     The water management system  106  of the present invention is best shown in  FIGS.  2  and  3   . According to embodiments of the present invention, the water management system  106  comprises a weather strip or sealable gasket. The weather strip or sealable gasket is compressed between the removable panels  104 ,  104 ′,  104 ″,  104 ′″,  104 ″″,  104 ′″″ and the fixed vehicle structure  102  when the removable panels  104 ,  104 ′,  104 ″,  104 ′″,  104 ″″,  104 ′″″ are installed in the fixed vehicle structure  102 , thereby forming a water tight seal. According to embodiments, the water management system  106  is attached to each of the removable panels  104 ,  104 ′,  104 ″,  104 ′″,  104 ″″,  104 ′″″, while according to further embodiments, the water management system  106  is attached to the fixed vehicle structure  102 , as shown in  FIGS.  2  and  3   . According to embodiments, such as shown in  FIG.  9   , flanges  103  of the panels  104 ,  104 ′,  104 ″,  104 ′″,  104 ″″,  104 ′″″ extend over and engage with the water management system  106 . Further details regarding the water management system  106  are described in U.S. Pat. No. 9,180,762 filed Jun. 18, 2014, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. 
     While at least one exemplary embodiment has been presented in the foregoing detailed description, it should be appreciated that a vast number of variations exist. It should also be appreciated that the exemplary embodiment or exemplary embodiments are only examples, and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of the described embodiments in any way. Rather, the foregoing detailed description will provide those skilled in the art with a convenient roadmap for implementing the exemplary embodiment or exemplary embodiments. It should be understood that various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements without departing from the scope as set forth in the appended claims and the legal equivalents thereof.