Abstract:
A sliding roof cover for the roof opening of a motor vehicle roof which is supported to be moved along and be raised on guide rails which run lengthwise on either side of the roof opening. The sliding cover including a bearing on each guide rail having a front and a rear swiveling guide arrangement for raising or lowering the front edge and/or rear edge section of the cover when opening or closing the cover, and the two swiveling arrangements being coupled to one another. Each swiveling guide arrangement has a swiveling arm coupled to the cover and two guide elements which are spaced apart from one another and are movably supported on a guideway located on the roof-mounted guide rail. The two guide elements of each swiveling arm are guided in a deflection section of the guideway such that they swivel the swiveling arms for lifting or lowering the front or rear section of the cover.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The invention relates to a sliding roof cover for the roof opening of a motor vehicle roof which is supported to be able to move and be raised on guide rails which run lengthwise on either side of the roof opening, the bearing means of the cover on each guide rail having a front and a rear swiveling means for lifting or lowering the cover on its front edge or its rear edge when opening or closing the cover, and the two swiveling means being coupled to one another. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     FR-A-2 679 174 (corresponds to U.S. Pat. No. 5,276,461) discloses one such sliding roof cover with a bearing means which has on each side of the roof opening a front swiveling arm and a rear swiveling arm which are each connected to the cover by a first swiveling means which is pointed towards the vehicle interior and which are connected to the guide means by a second swiveling means which is pointed towards the outside of the vehicle in order to guide the cover forward or backward, the first and the second swiveling means being made such that displacement of the second swiveling means over a short distance out of the position in which the swiveling means is located with the cover closed results in the rear swiveling arm being swiveled and raising the rear section of the cover and thus moving the cover into its partially-opened position. 
     In the bearing means of FR-A-2 679 174, both the front and the rear swiveling arm are connected via three cams, which are each displaced in an appropriate guide groove a guide rail which is permanently attached on the movable cover. The grooves are made such that the swiveling motion of the front swiveling arms take place independently of the swiveling motion of the rear swiveling arms, in order to raise the rear section of the guide rails and thus the rear section of the cover before the forward section of the cover so that the cover travels into its partially-opened position. The bearing means of this cover thus contains individual components of relatively complex structure. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The object of the invention is to devise a generic sliding roof cover with a bearing means which has a simple structure, which operates reliably, and which can be easily installed on the motor vehicle roof. 
     The object is achieved in a generic sliding roof cover of the invention by providing front and rear swiveling means where each swiveling means has a swiveling arm coupled to the cover. Each swiveling arm in turn is provided with two guide elements which are spaced apart from one another and which are movably supported on a guideway which is located on the roof-mounted guide rail and are guided in a deflection section of the guideway such that they swivel each swiveling arm for lifting or lowering the either front or rear cover section. 
     This sliding roof cover has a simple and very reliable structure since each swiveling arm has two guide elements which fit into the same guideway and it is connected to the cover by a single journal. One such bearing means can be used with both a motorized cover and also a cover which is actuated by hand with a handle. 
     Preferably, the rear guideway is constructed and the second guide element is located on the rear swiveling arm such that a slight displacement of the first guide element in the direction to the rear causes swiveling of the rear swiveling arm, by which the rear cover section is raised and the cover is moved into its partially opened position. The course of the guideway thus determines the swiveling behavior of the swiveling arm. Feasibly, the rear guideway for the rear swiveling arm has a forward deflection section which is curved, for example concavely, and rises preferably in the manner of a parabola. However, other curvatures of the guideway of the deflection section can be provided to establish a special dynamic behavior. 
     When the radius of curvature of the concavely curved forward deflection section of the rear guideway increases toward the rear, the initial displacement of the rear swiveling arm causes the rear swiveling arm to first clearly be swiveled or raised. As the rear swiveling arm continues to move, the swiveling motion decreases continuously until the swiveling arm has assumed a uniform swiveled setting. 
     In a particular space-saving and simple configuration, the front guide element is guided in the deflection section of the rear guideway when the rear swiveling arm swivels,. 
     A particularly preferred embodiment of the sliding roof cover is illustrated in which each swiveling arm on its forward end has a journal which projects toward the vehicle interior and which can be swiveled relative to the cover, and on its back end has a rear guide element which projects towards the outside of the motor vehicle and which fits into a guideway attached to the motor vehicle roof, and a second forward guide element which projects toward the outside of the vehicle and which is located between the journal and the rear guide element and fits into the same guideway as the rear guide element. 
     When the forward guide element of the rear swiveling arm is located closer to the rear guide element than the coupling element, e.g., a journal for the cover, motion in the deflection section achieves multiplication of the raising motion. 
     For an arrangement which saves installation space, it is possible for the front guide element to be located underneath a line which connects the journal to the rear guide element. This can result in the rear swiveling arm being essentially horizontal when the cover is in its closed position. 
     In another preferred embodiment, the front guideway when viewed from its front end, has a deflection section with a first section which is curved roughly concavely and thereafter has a second section which is preferably curved roughly convexly so that the front edge of the cover executes a corresponding motion which first raises it and then lowers it again. 
     When the second guide element of the front swiveling arm is located closer to the journal than the first guide element and particularly when near the line which connects the journal to the first guide element, the swiveling motion of the swiveling arm follows the path of the guideway in the deflection section with virtually no multiplication of the motion. 
     In still another embodiment, the sliding roof cover has a drive means connected to the cover. Since the cover is driven directly, the requirement of a comparatively complex linkage of the drive means to one of the swiveling means is obviated. 
    
    
     Other details and advantages of the invention result from the following description of one embodiment with reference to the drawings. 
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 shows in a vertical lengthwise section two partial views of a motor vehicle roof with a sliding roof cover, the cover being shown in solid lines in its closed position and in broken lines in its partially-opened position; 
     FIG. 2 shows, in a view similar to FIG. 1, a forward swiveling arm and a rear swiveling arm located on the front and rear guideways of a lateral guide rail; 
     FIG. 3 shows, in a view comparable to FIG. 2, the front swiveling arm and a rear swiveling arm in the position after slight displacement to the rear along the guideways; 
     FIG. 4 shows, in a schematic view in four successive positions, the front part of the cover which passes out of its closed position into its partially opened position and further into its open position; 
     FIG. 5 shows, in a partial view comparable to FIG. 1, the rear section of the cover in solid lines in its closed position and in broken lines its open position; and 
     FIG. 6 shows schematically in a perspective plan view a partial view of the cover with a guide rail. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     A movable cover  1  of a sliding roof on a motor vehicle, which is capable of being opened, is shown in its closed position with solid lines (see FIG. 1) such that the movable cover closes a roof opening  2  which is formed in the motor vehicle roof  3 . In the closed position, the front cover section  4  compresses a front seal  5  and a rear cover section  6  compresses a rear seal  7  which are for example formed as tube seals. The front and rear seals  5  and  7  are shown in their uncompressed state. On the side edges of the roof opening  2  are lateral seals which are not shown. 
     The cover  1  can be pushed in the lengthwise direction  8  of the motor vehicle from the front to the back towards the rear part of the motor vehicle roof and upon doing so passes out of the position shown by solid lines in FIG. 1 into the position shown in the same FIG. 1 by broken lines. In that rearward position, the rear cover section  6  is raised over the roof  3 , while the front cover section  4  adjoins the front seal  5  in order to prevent flow of the wind into the vehicle interior at high driving speed and thus prevents the resulting noise. 
     When the cover  1  is pushed further to the rear in direction  8 , the front cover section  4  is raised over the front seal  5  and the entire cover  1  is moved to the rear into its open position shown schematically in FIG. 5, in which the cover  1  is located above the motor vehicle roof  3 . 
     In the opposite lengthwise direction  9  of the motor vehicle (from the back to the front on the motor vehicle roof  3 ), the cover  1  moves successively out of its open position back into the partially opened position and finally into its closed position as shown in FIG.  1 . 
     In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to  5 , the cover  1  on each side of the motor vehicle roof  3  has a bearing means  10  with a front swiveling arm  11  and a rear swiveling arm  12  each of which are connected to the cover  1  by a first guide arrangement which is pointed toward the vehicle interior and by a second guide arrangement which is pointed toward the outside of the motor vehicle. Each swiveling arm is guided to the front in direction  9  or to the rear in direction  8  to move the cover  1 . Since there are bearing and guide means which are each identical on the right and the left side of the cover  1 , only one of these bearing and guide means are shown and described. 
     The first and second guide arrangement are arranged and guided such that displacement of the second guide arrangement a short distance to the rear in the direction  8  from a closed position of the cover  1  results in the rear swiveling arm  12  being swiveled up and in this way raises the rear cover section  6  and moves the cover  1  into its partially open position. 
     The rear swiveling arm  12  can be swiveled in the vertical lengthwise plane of the motor vehicle roof  3 , and on its front end  13  has a journal  14  which forms the first guide arrangement which projects transversely in the direction toward the vehicle interior and is pivotally mounted on the cover  1 . The rear swiveling arm  12  has on its back end  15  a second guide arrangement which contains a first guide element  16  which projects transversely in the direction to the outside of the motor vehicle and fits into a rear guideway  17  of the guide rail  43  which is located on the motor vehicle roof  3  (see FIG.  6 ). A second guide element  18  of the second guide arrangement, which similarly projects transversely in the direction to the outside of the motor vehicle, is located between the journal  14  and the first guide element  16  and fits into the same rear guideway  17  of the guide rail  43  and the first guide element  16 . The guide elements  16  and  18  are formed for example as guide fingers, but can also be sliding or rolling elements or the like. 
     The rear guideway  17  is formed with an initial deflection section  27  and the second guide element  18  is attached to the rear swiveling arm  12  such that a slight displacement of the first guide element  16  in the backwards direction  8  leads to swiveling of the rear swiveling arm  12  so that the rear cover section  6  is raised and the cover  1  is moved into its partially opened position. 
     As is shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the rear guideway  17 , proceeding from its forward end  17   a , has a curved deflection section  27  which has a curvature which rises, as an example, essentially parabolically. The curved deflection section  27 , preferably having a radius of curvature which becomes larger with increasing movement in the backwards direction  8 , becomes a nearly linear section toward the end of the guideway  17  (see FIGS.  2  and  6 ). 
     In the embodiment shown, the second guide element  18  is located on the rear swiveling arm  12  closer to the first guide element  16  than the journal  14  (see FIGS. 2 and 3) so that relative movement of the journal  14  and the second guide element  18  relative to the first guide element  16  is increased in a ratio which corresponds to the ratio of the respective lengths of the swivel arms. Furthermore, the second guide element  18  is located underneath a straight line  44  which connects the journal  14  to the first guide element  16 . With this structure, the result is that the rear swiveling arm  12  lies essentially horizontal when the cover  1  has assumed its closed position shown in FIG.  2 . In this embodiment, the installation height of the entire bearing means  10  is minimized. The slight displacement of the first guide element  16  in the direction  8  to the rear leads to displacement of the axis  19  of the journal  14  out of its initial position  19   a  along the line  20 , indicated by the broken line in FIG. 3, so that the rear cover section  6  is raised. 
     The front swiveling arm  11  is in the same lengthwise vertical plane of the motor vehicle roof  3  and on its front end  21  bears a journal  22  which forms the first guide arrangement projecting transversely toward the vehicle interior and is pivotally mounted on the cover  1 . The front swiveling arm  11  furthermore bears on its back end  23  a second guide arrangement having a first guide element  24  which, like the rear swiveling arm  12 , projects transversely in the direction toward the outside of the motor vehicle and fits into an assigned front guideway  25  of the guide rail  43  which is attached to the motor vehicle roof  3 . The second guide arrangement of the front swiveling arm  11  moreover bears a second guide element  26  which projects transversely in the direction toward the outside of the motor vehicle, and is located between the journal  22  and the first guide element  24  and is movably held in the same front guideway  25  as the first guide element  24 . The guide elements  24  and  26  can for example be made as guide fingers. 
     The front guideway  25 , proceeding from its front end  25   a , contains a deflection section having a first section  28  which is roughly concavely curved, followed by a second section  29  which is preferably roughly convexly curved, followed by a third section  30  which is roughly concavely curved, and then passes into a guide section which runs essentially parallel to the motor vehicle roof  3 . 
     The second guide element  26  on the front swiveling arm  11  is located closer to the journal  22  than the first guide element  24  and preferably close to the line  44  which extends from the journal  22  to the first guide element  24  (see FIGS.  2  and  3 ). As a result, each front swiveling arm  11  is essentially horizontal when the cover  1  is in the closed position. FIG. 3 shows how the axis  31  of the journal  22 , proceeding from its initial position  31   a , moves along a path  32  which is based on the described path of the front guideway  25 . 
     With the configurations of the swiveling arms  11  and  12  described above, the front seal  33  which is attached to the front cover section  4  in FIG. 4 is shown schematically in four successive different positions  33 A,  33 B,  33 C, and  33 D, which are assigned to the four successive positions of the cover  1  moving from its closed position in the backwards direction  8 . 
     In the closed position of the cover  1 , the seal  33  assumes a position  33 A in which the seal  33  is pressed against the edge  34  of the roof opening  2 . The cover  1  lies in its lower position according to the first section  36  of the curve  35  such that the front seal  5  is compressed. 
     In the first intermediate position  33 B, the cover  1  with the seal  33  is moved back to the rear in the direction  8  and is raised up; this corresponds to the second section  37  of the curve  35  in which the compression of the seal  5  is reduced. 
     In the position  33 C, which corresponds to the partially open position of the cover  1 , the seal  33  has moved further to the rear in the direction  8 , but is lowered and exerts increased compressive pressure on the front seal  5 , as is schematically indicated by the section  38  of the curve  35 . 
     In the partially open position of the cover  1 , the front cover section  4  is pressed securely against the front seal  5  such that sealing occurs against the flow of air caused by the driving speed of the vehicle. The front cover section  4  moreover reaches a sufficiently lowered position such that the occurrence of disturbing wind noise for the passengers is prevented. 
     Finally, in position  33 D, the seal  33  and the front cover section  4  are clearly raised above the seal  5  and the roof  3  in order to at least partially clear the roof opening  2 ; this corresponds to the rear ascending section  39  of the curve  35 . During the backwards motion described above, the bottom  40  of the cover  1  assumes a succession of assigned positions  40 A,  40 B,  40 C, and  40 D. 
     FIG. 4 clearly shows that the position  40 B of the cover  1  is relatively higher than the position of the cover  1  when in partially open position  40 C, thereby enabling displacement of the cover  1  in the direction  8  to the rear. During this movement of the cover, the front seal  5  is less strongly compressed which facilitates displacement of the cover  1  and prevents damage to the seal  5 . 
     The front seal  5  is located a sufficient distance from the front edge  34  of the roof opening  2  so that when seal  33  is in the position  33 C, which corresponds to the partially open position of the cover  1 , the bottom  40  of the cover in its position  40 C which still adequately compresses the front seal  5  to achieve the aforementioned sealing against wind noise. 
     In the embodiment shown in the figures, the first guide element  16  of the rear swiveling arm  12  and the first guide element  24  of the front swiveling arm  11 , when viewed in a lengthwise cross-section, have the shape of a rhombus which provides improved flat guidance of the swiveling arms  11  and  12  in the guideways  17  and  25 . This rhombus shape is easily formed as a cap  41  which is situated on and encompasses the end of core  42  of the first guide elements  16  and  24 . 
     If the cover  1  is actuated using a handle (not shown) and the handle is pushed to the rear, the slight displacement motion of the cover  1  is transferred immediately to the rear swiveling arm  12 , by the journal  14 , which is swiveled upward by the walls of the rear guideway  17  as a result of the guidance of the first guide element  16  and the second guide element  18 . 
     The cover  1  can be moved by means of a motorized drive (not shown) which drives the rear swiveling arm  12  and/or the front swiveling arm  11  by means of driving carriages (not shown) which are pivotally connected near the axes of the first guide elements  16 ,  24  to the swiveling arms  11 ,  12 . 
     Preferably, however, the drive cable  46  of a drive means for moving the cover  1  is connected to the cover (see FIG.  6 ). Thus, the bearing means of the cover  1  mounted on the respective guide rail  43  contains only the front and rear swiveling arms  11  and  12 . Other components are not necessary, so that an especially simple structure is made possible. in the embodiment in which a drive cable is attached to a driving carriage which is supported on the lateral guide rail  43 , water can collect in the guide rail or in a gutter, which is located outside the edge-side seal of the roof opening, and can seep along the drive cable to the drive motor. However, the configuration shown in FIG. 6, in which the guide rail  43  is separate from the drive means, has a simpler structure and contains essentially only the two guideways  17  and  25  thereby avoiding the problem of water seepage. The guide rail  43  illustrated is constructed with sunken guideways  17  and  25  and is composed of, for example, steel or aluminum. 
     Due to the differently configured deflection sections of the guideways  17 ,  25 , different motion sequences of the front edge and of the rear edge of the cover  1  can be set. Thus, for example, the front guideway  25  can have a front, initially downwardly leading deflection section such that the front cover section  4  is lowered into the ventilation position before is moved horizontally or somewhat ascendingly to the rear.