Retractable Top for Off-Road Vehicles
First Claim
1. A soft top for an off-road vehicle that has a rear compartment bounded on its sides by belt rails and a passenger compartment forward of the rear compartment, the soft top being attachable to the vehicle and, when attached, selectively movable between a retracted configuration folded on itself and overlying the rear compartment of the vehicle and a deployed configuration unfolded and covering the rear compartment and the passenger compartment, the soft top comprising:
- a frame comprising;
a pair of base plates each attachable to a respective one of the belt rails;
a pair of vertical arms each pivotally attached at a forward end of a respective one of the base plates and extending to a distal end;
a pair of rear sections each pivotally attached at the distal end of a respective one of the vertical arm members and extending to a distal end;
a pair of forward sections each pivotally attached at the distal end of a respective one of the rear sections and extending to a distal end;
each rear section and forward section being substantially collinear to define horizontal arms when the soft top is in its deployed configuration;
a header extending between the distal ends of the pair of forward sections and being attachable to the wind screen of the off road vehicle when the soft top is in its deployed configuration; and
support bows extending between the horizontal arm member;
a fabric cover supported by the frame over the rear compartment and passenger compartment when the soft top is in its deployed configuration and being folded upon itself when the soft top is in its retracted configuration; and
a deployment mechanism interconnecting the vertical arms, the rear sections of the horizontal arm members and the forward sections of the horizontal arm members, the deployment mechanism being configured to unfold the soft top in a substantially vertical direction over the rear compartment of the vehicle and subsequently to pivot the unfolded soft top downwardly to its deployed configuration covering the passenger and rear compartments.
9 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A retractable top is disclosed for off-road vehicle such as Jeep® Wrangler® and CJ® brand vehicles. The top includes a frame and a fabric cover designed to cover and move with the frame. The frame includes a base plate that is secured to the belt rail surrounding the rear compartment of the vehicle. The top is deployable between a stowed configuration folded upon itself over the rear compartment of a vehicle and a deployed configuration covering the passenger and rear compartments of the vehicle. During deployment, the top unfolds in a substantially vertical direction over the rear compartment substantially to its full extent. This avoids collision with the rear doors and roll bars of the vehicle. Once so deployed, the entire top pivots downwardly into place covering the passenger and rear compartments of the vehicle.
29 Citations
32 Claims
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1. A soft top for an off-road vehicle that has a rear compartment bounded on its sides by belt rails and a passenger compartment forward of the rear compartment, the soft top being attachable to the vehicle and, when attached, selectively movable between a retracted configuration folded on itself and overlying the rear compartment of the vehicle and a deployed configuration unfolded and covering the rear compartment and the passenger compartment, the soft top comprising:
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a frame comprising; a pair of base plates each attachable to a respective one of the belt rails; a pair of vertical arms each pivotally attached at a forward end of a respective one of the base plates and extending to a distal end; a pair of rear sections each pivotally attached at the distal end of a respective one of the vertical arm members and extending to a distal end; a pair of forward sections each pivotally attached at the distal end of a respective one of the rear sections and extending to a distal end; each rear section and forward section being substantially collinear to define horizontal arms when the soft top is in its deployed configuration; a header extending between the distal ends of the pair of forward sections and being attachable to the wind screen of the off road vehicle when the soft top is in its deployed configuration; and support bows extending between the horizontal arm member; a fabric cover supported by the frame over the rear compartment and passenger compartment when the soft top is in its deployed configuration and being folded upon itself when the soft top is in its retracted configuration; and a deployment mechanism interconnecting the vertical arms, the rear sections of the horizontal arm members and the forward sections of the horizontal arm members, the deployment mechanism being configured to unfold the soft top in a substantially vertical direction over the rear compartment of the vehicle and subsequently to pivot the unfolded soft top downwardly to its deployed configuration covering the passenger and rear compartments. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 32)
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- 27. A retractable top comprising a frame attachable to the belt rail and the rear wheel wells of an off-road vehicle having a rear compartment and a passenger compartment, and a fabric cover supported by the frame, the frame including pivot points and linkages that cooperate to deploy the retractable top first upwardly over the rear compartment and then pivot it downwardly over the passenger compartment of the vehicle.
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31. A method of deploying a retractable top from a retracted position folded over a rear compartment of an off-road vehicle to a deployed position covering the rear compartment and a passenger compartment of the off-road vehicle, the method comprising the steps of:
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(a) progressively unfolding the retractable top in a substantially vertical direction over the rear compartment of the off-road vehicle; (b) when the retractable top is substantially completely unfolded, rotating the retractable top downwardly over the passenger compartment of the vehicle; and (c) attaching a forward edge of the retractable top to a top edge of a windscreen of the off-road vehicle.
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Specification