Patent ID: 8474905

Claim:
A roof assembly for a vehicle having a roof opening in its fixed roof, comprising: a movable closure element for closing and at least partly opening said roof opening, a stationary part comprising guide rails extending transversely of the roof opening in a vehicle longitudinal direction, a closure mechanism comprising an electric motor fixed to the stationary part, a flexible drive cable guided in a guide through a defined path at least partly within at least one of said guide rails and being engaged by the electric motor in order to be moved through the guide and along said at least one of the guide rails, and a movable support movably guided in the and connected to the closure element and to the drive cable to adjust the closure element, wherein the guide has an exit opening that is generally perpendicular to the defined path and opens into an at least partly confined space defined in part by a surface of the roof assembly that faces and is spaced apart from the exit opening, the confined space being defined by deformable walls, and wherein the exit opening and proximity of the surface to the exit opening are configured to allow a portion of the flexible drive cable to deviate from the defined path and enter the confined space via the exit opening and engage the surface, thereby allowing a limited movement of the closure element to absorb kinetic energy of the closure element when the drive cable is loaded by the closure element with a pushing force.