Patent ID: 8424961

Claim:
An automotive vehicle body which is to be painted and heated in a paint bake oven during the manufacture of the vehicle; the vehicle body comprising: a pair of body members for defining the sides of a passenger compartment for the vehicle and for supporting a roof over the passenger compartment, the body members being formed of a steel alloy and each having upper, generally horizontal flanges for attachment to a roof; and a unitary sheet metal roof formed of an aluminum-based alloy and having a generally rectangular shape, in plan view, with sides for attachment to the flanges of the body members, the roof further comprising a domed center to overlie the passenger compartment and downwardly-sloping sides terminating in generally horizontal tabbed flanges, outwardly extending, for attachment with rivets to the flanges of the body members with the roof flanges overlying the body member flanges; each downwardly-sloping side being interrupted with at least one generally horizontal step, outwardly extending, to divide each sloping side into at least two segments, a first downwardly-sloping segment, with a first length, above each step, and a second, downwardly-sloping, with a second length, below each step; each sloping side terminating in its flange, the flange having a width, and each horizontal flange comprising spaced-apart tabs, extending from the outer edge of the flange; each tab being sized and positioned to accommodate a rivet for attachment to the underlying body flange; the configuration of the downwardly-sloping segments and the flange tabs cooperating to reduce thermal distortion of the attached roof when the body is being heated.