Abstract:
A motor vehicle roof with a cover ( 14 ) which has a closed position in which it closes a roof opening ( 12 ) in a fixed roof skin ( 10 ), and which can be raised for ventilation purposes, and with an adjustable headliner part ( 16, 116 ) which can be both moved from a closed position in which it blocks viewing of the cover from the motor vehicle interior ( 18 ) and an open position in which it exposes the roof opening or the cover. The headliner can also be raised with the cover to increase the ventilation function. A coupling mechanism is provided for coupling the headliner to the cover for entraining the headliner to rise with the cover but is disengageable for uncoupling of the headliner part from the cover for enabling longitudinal movement of the headliner relative to the cover into said at least one pushed-back position. Engagement and disengagement the coupling mechanism can be position dependent or can be manually actuated.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates to an openable motor vehicle roof with a cover which, in its closed position. closes a roof opening in a fixed roof skin and which can be raised for ventilation purposes, and which is provided with an adjustable headliner part which can be moved from its closed position in which it blocks the view from the motor vehicle interior relative to both the cover or the roof opening, in order to expose the roof opening or the view of the cover, and which can also be raised with the cover to increase the ventilation function. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     A generic openable motor vehicle roof of the initially mentioned type is known from German Patent DE 195 13 971 C2, in which the cover can be selectively raised from the closed position or can be pushed back to the rear to under the fixed roof skin in order to expose the roof opening. The cover and the headliner part are each provided with a separate adjustment mechanism and are driven by two separate drives which each comprise an electric motor and compressively-stiffdrive cables. There is an electrical control circuit to coordinate displacement and swinging processes of the headliner part and the cover in order to preclude collisions. Within the framework of this collision protection, the cover and the headliner part can, however, be adjusted independently of one another. 
     The disadvantage in this motor vehicle roof is the complex configuration, especially the requirement of two separate drives. 
     A simpler openable motor vehicle roof is known from German Patent DE 43 30 599 C1, which has a cover that can be selectively raised from its closed position or can be pushed to the rear to underneath the fixed roof skin and a headliner part which can be pushed in the lengthwise direction of the roof but which cannot be raised. A driver arrangement provides for the headliner part being automatically entrained by the cover when the latter is pushed back in order to expose the roof opening. When the cover is not pushed back, i.e., with the cover closed or raised, the sliding part is manually pushed in order to control the light incidence through the transparent cover into the vehicle interior. Another vehicle roof having these same general characteristics is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,671,564. 
     The disadvantage in these motor vehicle roofs is that the headliner part cannot be raised to increase the ventilation function with the cover raised. 
     German Patent DE 25 51 335 C3 discloses an openable motor vehicle roof with an opaque cover which can be selectively raised from its closed position or which can be pushed to the rear to underneath the fixed roof skin and on which a headliner part is attached to block the view of the cover. However, this system is not suited for transparent covers. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A primary object of this invention is to devise a motor vehicle roof with a raisable transparent cover and a headliner part which can both be pushed back and also raised, and which still is made as simply and economically as possible. 
     This object is achieved by a motor vehicle roof of the initially mentioned type in which the headliner part is coupled to the cover when it is in a certain position area relative to the cover such that it is entrained by the cover when the cover is raised. 
     In the approaches according to the invention, it is advantageous that, in spite of optimum functionality of the headliner part, i.e., the displacement function to expose the roof opening or the view of the cover and the raising function to increase the ventilation function, a simple structure of the motor vehicle roof is possible since an additional drive for the headliner part can be dispensed with. 
     In a first approach, there is a permanent driver function for the headliner part, i.e., it depends only on the relative position between the headliner part and the cover whether the headliner part is entrained by the cover when the latter is raised. This approach ensures especially simple operation of the headliner part. 
     In another approach, the driver function for the headliner part is only selectively provided, i.e., the operator himself can decide whether the headliner part is to be entrained by the cover or not when the latter is raised. This allows greater flexibility of operation. 
     In both cases, the headliner part is preferably entrained when the cover is raised when it is in or near the closed position. 
     According to one preferred embodiment, the headliner part can be locked to the cover, this preferably taking place in the closed position of the cover, and the headliner part and the locking taking place or being released preferably by shifting the headliner part with respect to the cover. 
     In the first approach, with a permanent driver function, in the preferred embodiment, the headliner part, with the cover raised, can be moved out of the raised position or into the raised position. This has the advantage of very simple operation since the operator need not be concerned with the position of the cover or the headliner part since the headliner part can be moved completely independently of the cover position. In particular, the headliner part can be moved directly from the raised position without the cover having to be lowered first into its closed position for this purpose. 
     The headliner part is preferably guided for its displacement in a guide means which comprises a guide element which is pivotably-mounted in the raising direction of the headliner part. This represents an especially simple and reliable implementation. 
     Furthermore, the cover is preferably coupled to the guide element such that the cover entrains the guide element in its raising motion. This provides for reliable operation. 
     Here, preferably, the pivot bearing of the guide element can be moved in the displacement direction of the cover. This easily enables a sliding function of the cover which, in doing so, can entrain the headliner part via the guide element even during the sliding motion. 
     Preferably, the guide element is made as a crank with a guide slot into which a counterpiece on the headliner part fits. In the preferred embodiment, the cover and the guide element are coupled by engagement of a journal into a recess. 
     According to an alternative development of the approach with a permanent driver function, the headliner part cannot be moved in the raised state, but it can be moved independently of the cover position in the unraised state. This represents an especially simple configuration. 
     Preferably, the cover and the headliner part are coupled in a certain position area by means of sliding engagement, the sliding direction being essentially perpendicular to the raising direction. This is achieved, preferably, by the journal being formed on the cover and fitting into a crank which is made on the headliner part. 
     According to a preferred embodiment of the approach with a selective driver function, coupling takes place between the headliner part and the cover via a closure which alternately opens and closes when activated (“click-clack closure”). 
     In an alternative embodiment of this approach, the coupling takes place by the cover and the headliner part being caused to engage by sliding by means of an actuation element, the sliding direction being essentially perpendicular to the raising direction. 
     Here, the headliner part is preferably supported such that, upon decoupling from the cover which is in the raised position, it is lowered in a damped manner in order to prevent excess noise development. 
     The actuating element is preferably made as a lever with a rod. 
     In the following, four embodiments of the invention are explained in detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIGS. 1 to  3  each show a schematic side cross-sectional view of a first embodiment of the invention in closed, raised and headliner pushed-back positions, respectively; 
     FIG. 4 is an exploded view of the driver mechanism of the motor vehicle roof shown in FIGS. 1 to  3 ; 
     FIGS. 5 to  8  show different perspective views of the driver mechanism of FIG. 4 in the mounted state, 
     FIGS. 9 to  11  each show a schematic side cross-sectional view of a second embodiment of the invention in closed, headliner pushed-back, and raised positions, respectively; 
     FIGS. 12 to  14  each show a schematic side cross-sectional view of a third embodiment of the invention in closed, headliner pushed-back, and raised positions, respectively; 
     FIGS. 15 to  17  each show a schematic side cross-sectional view of a fourth embodiment of the invention in closed, headliner pushed-back, and raised positions, respectively; and 
     FIGS. 18 &amp; 19 show how an optional rain gutter for the rear edge of the roof opening can be coupled to the headliner. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     FIGS. 1 to  8  show a first embodiment vehicle roof in accordance with the present invention which has a permanent driver function. In a fixed roof skin  10 , a roof opening  12  is formed which is closed by a transparent cover  14  in its closed position (FIG.  1 ). Underneath the cover  14  is a headliner part  16  which, in its closed position shown in FIG. 1, completely covers the transparent cover from below in order to prevent excess light incidence through the cover  14  into the motor vehicle interior  18 . 
     A handle depression  24  is formed on the bottom of the headliner part  16  in the front area, and by means of handle depression  24 , the driver or passenger can move the headliner part with respect to the cover  14 . On the back end of the headliner part  16 , a sliding block  26  is attached which fits, by sliding, into a crank slot  28  which is formed in a guide clement  32 . Guide element is pivotably mounted at its rear end to a pivot bearing  30  so as to be able to swing up and down at its front end. The pivot bearing  30  can be moved in the lengthwise direction of the roof in a roof-mounted guide rail  36  together with a guide element  34  which carries the pivot bearing point  30 , the pivot bearing  30  joining the rear end of the guide element  32  with the guide clement  34 . 
     A driver element  38  is attached on the back end of the cover  14  and has a journal pin  40  which fits into a recess  42  (FIGS. 4-6) which has been made in the guide element  32 . The recess  42  is made such that the journal is movably guided essentially in the direction of movement of the headliner part  16  and the raising direction of the cover  14  and the headliner part  16 . When the cover  14  is raised by means of a conventional drive, for example, a raising mechanism which is driven by compressively stiffdrive cables via an electrical motor and a rack, the rear edge of the cover moves up and in doing so lifts the swivelling guide element  32  with its front end which extends into the roof opening  12  upward via the driver element  38 . Also the back end of the headliner part  16  is raised via engagement of the sliding block  40  in the crank slot  28  of the swivelling guide element  32  such that the raising motion of the cover  14  causes essentially parallel entrainment of the headliner part  16 , by which it is likewise raised (see FIG.  2 ). By the entrainment of the headliner part  16  into a raised position, on the back end of the roof opening  12  a ventilation opening a is formed to ventilate the motor vehicle interior  18 . 
     If the driver or passenger wants light to enter through the transparent cover  14 , he can manually push the headliner part  16  to the rear by means of the handle depression  24  in order to clear the roof opening  12  and thus the view of or through the cover  14  (see FIG.  3 )). Both in the closed position of the cover  14 , which is shown in FIG. 1, and also in the ventilation position of the cover  14 , which is shown in FIG. 2, this is easily possible by the sliding block  26  first sliding to the rear in the crank slot  28  of the swivelling guide element  32  and then in the guide element  34  and finally the roof-mounted guide rail  36 . The guide elements  32  and  34  remain stationary in doing so. If the displacement of the headliner part  16  from the raised position shown in FIG. 2 is started, the headliner part  16  is first lowered with its rear edge first as a result of the upwardly swivelled position of the swivelling guide element  32  so that the headliner part  16  can finally be pushed underneath the fixed roof skin  10  to the rear. The cover  14  need not be lowered for this purposes. The headliner part  16  which has been pushed to the rear can initially be easily pushed again underneath the cover  14  in the reverse manner even with the cover  14  raised, the swivelled guide element  32  with the cover raised  14  providing for the corresponding raising motion of the headliner part  16 . 
     The capacity of the guide elements  32  and  34  to move allows the cover  14  to be lowered from the closed position with its rear edge and subsequently moved to the rear underneath the fixed roof skin  10 , the guide elements  32  and  34  likewise being pushed to the rear and in doing so entraining the headliner part  16  to the rear. 
     FIGS. 4 to  8  show the driver mechanism for raising the headliner part  16  in more detail. In doing so, the sliding block  26  is attached to the headliner part  16  by means of two fastening elements  44  and  46  and unillustrated screws. The swivelling guide element  32  is made in the manner of a lever, the pivot bearing  30  being formed by a recess  48  in the guide element  32  at its rear end and in which is suspended in a corresponding journal pin  50  of a fastening element  52  which is supported to move in the lengthwise direction of the roof. The driver element  38  is formed by an element  54  which has an opening  42  for the journal pin  40  of the swivelling guide element  32 , and an element  56  which is permanently joined to it and which is connected to the underside of the cover  14 . The fastening element  52  on which the swivelling guide element  32  is supported is connected to another slider element  58  which is supported to be able to move in the lengthwise direction of the roof and on which the guide element  34  is formed. A leaf spring  60  downwardly prestresses the front free end of the swivelling guide element  32  and is attached to the element  54  to prevent rattling noise and the like. 
     The cover-mounted element  56  has a journal  62  which, when the cover is not raised, is deposited in a recess  64  of the movable slider element  58  and thus provides for a frictional connection in the lengthwise direction of the roof. When the cover  14  is pushed back, the headliner part is entrained to the rear via the slider element  58  and the guide element  32  by contact of the shoe  26  with the front end  66  of the crank slot  28 . 
     The cover  14  can also be made as a pure raisin, cover. In this case the swivelling guide element  32  is coupled permanently to the roof. It is also noted that while parts  38 ,  52 ,  54  and  58  are shown as separate elements, parts  38  and  54  could be made as a single part as could parts  52  and  58 . 
     The second embodiment which is shown in FIGS. 9 to  11  with a permanent driver function differs from the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to  8  mainly in that there is no pivoting guide element so that when the cover is raised, the headliner part is raised at the same time and the headliner part cannot move to the rear. 
     A driver element  138  is attached to the underside of the cover  14  in the rear area and comprises an arm  162  which has a journal  140  on its lower end. When the cover  14  and the headliner part  116  are located in or near their closed position shown in FIG. 9, the journal  140  of the driver element  138  fits, by sliding, into a guide slot  142  of a guide  164  that is attached on the top of the headliner part  116  in its rear area, the guide slot  142  extending essentially in the direction of the displacement of the headliner part  116 . 
     Furthermore, on the front end of the cover  14 , a catch receiver  20  is formed on its underside into which a catch projection  22 , which is provided on the upper side of the front end of the headliner part  116 , fits in the position which is shown in FIGS. 9 &amp; 11, so that the cover  14  and the headliner part  116  are locked to one another. The receiver  20  or the projection  22  are made elastic so that their interlocking relationship can be established or released by parallel displacement of the headliner part  116  with respect to the cover  14   
     When the cover  14 , proceeding from the closed position shown in FIG. 9, is raised at its rear end, via engagement of the journal  140  of the driver element  138  in the guide  164  on the headliner part  116 , the cover entrains the rear end of the headliner part  116  so that the headliner part  116  is likewise moved into a raised position. As shown in FIG. 11, the headliner part  116  can be made such that, in this entrainment, the rear part of the headliner part  116  is bent upward with respect to the front part into a raised position. 
     In this position, the headliner part  116  cannot be pushed to the rear since the raising of the cover causes locking between the cover  14  and the headliner part  116 . 
     If the headliner part  116 , proceeding from the raised position shown in FIG. 11 is to be released to expose the cover  14 , first the cover  14  with the headliner part  116  must be lowered again into the closed position which is shown in FIG. 8, from which the headliner part  116  can then be pushed back to the rear by means of the handle depression  24 , the headliner part  116  being initially guided with respect to the cover  14  by the journal  140  moving in the guide slot  142 . As shown in FIG. 10, the headliner part  116  can be pushed almost completely underneath the fixed roof skin  10  in order to substantially fully expose the cover  14 . 
     If the cover  14  is raised, proceeding from the closed position while the headliner part  116  is pushed so far to the rear that the journal  140  of the driver element  138  is disengaged from the slot  142  on the headliner part, there is no entrainment of the headliner part  116  into a raised position. In this case, the headliner part  116 , even with the cover  14  raised, remains movable independently of the cover  14 . In this case, care must be taken to insure that the cover  14  is only lowered when the headliner part  116  is not located so far forward that the journal  140  would come down onto the guide  164  or the guide  164  must be made to allow entry of the journal  140  from above. 
     A third embodiment is shown in FIGS. 12 to  14  which is similar to the second embodiment shown in FIGS. 9 to  11 , differing however in that the driver function for the headliner part  116  can be selectively disengaged by means of an actuating element. 
     For this purpose, the guide  164  is not fixed to the headliner part  116 , but rather can be moved longitudinally with respect to the headliner part  116  in the displacement direction of the headliner part  116  by means of an actuating clement, the actuating clement comprising a selection knob  170  which is attached in the area of the handle depression  24  and which has a lever  171  at it top end which, in the engaged position of FIGS. 12-14, is directed perpendicularly to the plane of the drawing, but which is swung forward with turning of the knob  170  to shift a rod  172  which is actuated by it and which is coupled to the movable guide  164 . Thus, depending on the position of the selection knob  170 , the guide  164  is pushed forward or backward with respect to the headliner part  116 , the displacement path being chosen such that, in the a first position, e.g., the closed position of the cover  14  and the headliner part  116 , which is shown in FIG. 12, the journal  140  of the driver element  138  fits into the guide slot  142  of the slide element  164 , by which the cover  14  and the headliner part  116  are coupled, as in the second embodiment shown in FIGS. 9 to  11 , for entrainment in the raising motion of the cover  14 , while in second position, the journal  140  is removed from the rearwardly shifted guide slot  142  (as shown by the broken line in FIG.  12 ), so that, in this case, even when both the cover  14  and also the headliner part  116  are in the closed position, no entrainment of the headliner part  116  takes place when the cover  14  is raised. 
     As shown in FIG. 14, if journal  140  is not disengaged from guide slot  142  when the cover  14  is brought into the raised position, the headliner part  116  is entrained so as to be raised with it. In this case, however, the selection knob  170  can still be actuated so that the end of the headliner part  116  can be released by the journal  140  being disengaged from the guide slot  142 . To prevent fast independent lowering of the back end of the headliner part  116 , the rear area of the headliner part  116  is connected to a corresponding mechanism which causes damped automatic lowering of the headliner part  116  when the selection lever  170  is activated and with corresponding decoupling from the cover  14 , e.g., a sliding block/guide element arrangement  26 ,  28 ,  32 ,  34  similar to that shown for the first embodiment could be constructed such that sliding block  26  in guide slot  28  functions as a pneumatic cushion device when sliding block  26  moves into guide slot  28 . Alternatively, a spring or elastic member similar to member  202  as is described relative to the rain gutter arrangement of FIGS. 18 &amp; 19, below, can be used. 
     Instead of a crank lever  171 , an eccentric disk or other means can be provided to produce the forward and back movement of rod  172 . Furthermore, preferably, a ball joint or other universal coupling is provided at each end of the rod  172  for connecting it to the crank lever  171  and the guide element  164  to allow for the varying angles which will occur when the headliner  116  is moved from the FIG. 12 position into the FIG. 14 position, and when the headliner  116  is lowered after being released when the cover is in the FIG. 14 position. 
     The fourth embodiment, which is shown in FIGS. 15 to  17 , like the third embodiment shown in FIGS. 12 to  14 , is a motor vehicle roof with a selective driver function, the fourth embodiment, however, differing from the third embodiment in that the coupling for the entrainment function takes place not via selective sliding engagement between the cover and headliner part, but via a closure  180  mechanism provided on the rear end of the cover  14  and the headliner part  116 . The closure mechanism  180  comprises an element  182  which is attached to the underside of the cover  14 , a counterpiece  184  which is formed on the top side of the headliner part  116  and which cooperates with the element  182 , and an actuating lever  186 . The closure mechanism  180  is made such that, by pressure actuation, it alternately engages or disengages (click-clack closure). Various types of devices can be used for the closure mechanism  180 , such as a magnetic or electromagnetic coupling, rotation of the lever  186  causing a magnetic connection between parts  182  and  184  to be made or broken, such as by changing the polarity of the magnet or turning on/off an electromagnet. 
     Proceeding from the closed position which is shown in FIG. 15, when the closure mechanism  180  is engaged, the headliner part  116 , with its rear end entrained, is raised when the cover  14  is raised (see FIG.  17 ). When, in such a raised position, the closure mechanism  180  is disengaged by actuating the actuating lever  186 , the rear end of the driver element moves down automatically, there preferably being a damping mechanism as mentioned for the third embodiment in order to prevent unnecessary noise development. Then, the headliner part  116  can be pushed to the rear to underneath the fixed roof skin  10  in order to expose the cover  14 . When the closure  180  is opened in the closed position shown in FIG. 15, the headliner part  116  is not entrained at all when the cover  14  is raised, so that the headliner part  116 , with the closure  180  disengaged, can be slide rearward from its closed position shown in FIG. 15 to underneath the fixed roof skin  10 , see FIG.  16 . 
     Finally, with the cover  14  raised and the headliner part  116  not entrained, the headliner part  116  can be moved manually into a raised position by first pushing the headliner part  116  entirely forward into the closed position in which it locks on its front end to the cover  14 , and then the rear end of the headliner part  116  can be manually brought up to the raised cover  14  and the closure mechanism  180  engaged by operation of the actuating lever  186 . 
     In all these embodiments, the cover  14  can be basically made as a raising cover or as a sliding-raising cover, in the latter case, the driver or coupling mechanism between the cover and headliner part being made for corresponding relative vertical displacement when the rear edge of the cover is lowered to retract underneath the fixed roof skin. 
     Furthermore, all of the described embodiments can be equipped with a rain gutter arrangement as will now be described with reference to FIGS. 18 &amp; 19. 
     A rain gutter  190  is pivotably journaled by a pin  191  to a slide  192 . At its front end, the rear drip rail  190  is linked by a lever  193  to a guide member  194  that is fixed to the cover  14 . By means of the lever  193 , the rain gutter  190  is tilted so as to raise its front edge above the rear fixed roof skin  195  when the cover  14  has been tilted upward. As shown in FIG. 19, the rain gutter has a guide means  196  at its underside. The guide means  196  has a guiding slot  197  which guides a pin  198  which is fixed to a coupling device  200  that is slidably arranged on the headliner  16  perpendicular to the plane of projection. An upper guiding surface  197 A of slot  197  has an arc-shaped rear portion  197 B, so that it always remains in close contact to the adjacent upper guiding surface  199 A of a rear horizontal guide channel  199  during the tilting movement of the rain gutter  190 . The rear horizontal guide channel  199  serves for guiding the rear slider  201  of headliner  16  when it is pushed back. 
     The front of the rear horizontal guide channel  199  has a wedge-shaped portion perpendicular to the plane of projection by means of which the pin  198  is brought out of contact with the slot  197 , and simultaneously, the slider  201  is brought into engagement with the guide channel  199  if the headliner is lowered manually and pushed back with the cover  14  tilted upward. 
     On the upper side of the headliner  16  is an elastic or spring type resilient member  202 , such as a tension spring, which is fixed on one end to a rear portion of the headliner  16  which is tilted, while its other end (not shown) is fixed to the upper side of a front portion of the headliner  16  which is not tilted (for instance, above the grip member  24  in FIG.  17 ). The resilient member  202  pulls the rear end of the headliner  16  toward the front, and thus, keeps pin  198  in supporting engagement with the lower guiding surface of slot  197 , so that the rear end of the headliner  16  cannot slide down along the slot  197  as a result of its own weight. 
     In the closed position of the roof, the rain gutter lies horizontally under the rear edge of the cover  14  and rear fixed roof skin  195  and does not interfere with sliding of the headliner  16  rearward to expose the cover  14 .