Patent ID: 8231170

Claim:
A vehicle roof system for closing and opening a roof opening formed in a fixed roof panel of a vehicle with a moveable roof panel, said vehicle roof system comprising: a front frame secured to a lower surface of the fixed roof panel and extending laterally along a front edge of the roof opening, the front frame formed from a plastic material and comprising a front planar part extending forwardly thereon; a pair of side frames secured to the fixed roof panel and extending longitudinally along either side edge of the roof opening; a pair of guide rails fixedly secured to the respective side frames to guide the moveable roof panel for the closing and opening movements thereof; an electric motor attached to the front frame and having a vertically extending output shaft fitted with a drive gear, wherein the electric motor is mounted on the fixed roof panel at a position laterally offset toward one side of the moveable roof panel; a first push-pull cable guided along the front frame and meshing with a rear side of the drive gear, the first push-pull cable including a drive cable section extending between the drive gear and a first side part of the moveable roof panel and an idle cable section extending from the drive gear to at least a lateral end of the front frame adjacent to a second side part of the moveable roof panel; and a second push-pull cable guided along the front frame and meshing with a front side of the drive gear, the second push-pull cable including a drive cable section extending between the drive gear and the second side part of the moveable roof panel and an idle cable section extending from the drive gear at least to a lateral end of the front frame adjacent to the first lateral side part of the moveable roof panel; wherein the front planar part of the front frame is provided with first and second cable retaining grooves formed therein for retaining the first and second push-pull cables, each of the cable retaining grooves opening upwardly; and wherein the push-pull cables cross each other at three locations on the front frame in plan view.