Vehicle Anti-Pinch Moonroof Control System and Method

• US 20150360545A1
• Filed: 06/13/2014
• Published: 12/17/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 06/13/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Inventors: Nania, Adrian
• Granted Patent: US 9,278,610 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60J 7/0573 power driven arrangements, e.g. electrical
• CPC Class Codes: B60J 7/06 with non-rigid element or elements
• CPC Class Codes: E05F 15/42 Detection using safety edges

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided for a vehicle roof closure that can prevent pinching of obstructions within a roof opening. Example vehicles include a roof having an opening, a panel disposed adjacent to the opening and moveable by a first motor, a shade disposed below the panel and moveable by a second motor having a lower output than the first motor, and a controller configured to close the shade before closing the panel during a close panel operation, and stop the shade if an obstruction is detected within the opening. Example methods include upon receiving a command to close a panel over an opening, causing a shade motor to start closing a shade disposed below the panel by unrolling the shade; stopping the shade motor upon detection of an obstruction within the opening; and causing a panel motor to start closing the panel upon receiving a shade closed signal.

Claims

1. A vehicle comprising:

a panel disposed adjacent to the a roof opening and moveable by a first motor;

a shade disposed below panel and moveable by a second motor having a low harmless impact output lower than the first motor; and

a controller configured to;

during a close panel operation, close the shade before closing the panel, and

stop the shade if an obstruction is detected within the opening.

2. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein closing the shade includes unrolling the shade to cover the opening.

3. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to open the shade after stopping the shade.

4. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the controller is further configured to retrieve a vehicle occupancy status, and initiate closing of the shade only if the vehicle occupancy status is positive.

5. The vehicle of claim 1, further including an occupancy sensor configured to detect an occupant in close proximity to the vehicle and to determine a vehicle occupancy status based thereon.

6. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the shade includes a flexible fabric.

7. The vehicle of claim 1, further comprising a pair of opposing side rails disposed adjacent to the opening for slidably receiving respective sides of the rollable shade.

8. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the close panel operation is initiated upon receiving a command from an actuator configured to enable remote user control of the panel.

9. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the close panel operation is automatically initiated by the controller upon receiving a pre-designated indication.

10. The vehicle of claim 1, further comprising an obstruction detector positioned relative to a front edge of the shade.

11. The vehicle of claim 10, wherein the obstruction detector is a pressure sensor disposed adjacent to a front end of the opening, the front end receiving the front edge of the shade.

12. The vehicle of claim 10, wherein the obstruction detector is a capacitive sensor configured to detect an obstruction between the front edge of the shade and a front end of the opening.

13. A method of controlling a vehicle roof closure, comprising:

upon receiving, at a processor, a command to close a panel over an opening, causing a shade motor to start closing a shade below the panel by unrolling the shade only if an occupancy status is positive;

stopping the shade motor upon detection of an obstruction within the opening; and

upon receiving a shade closed signal, causing a panel motor to start closing the panel.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising causing the shade motor to open the shade after stopping the shade motor.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the shade includes a flexible fabric.

17. The method of claim 13, wherein the command is received from an actuator configured to enable remote user control of the panel.

18. The method of claim 13, wherein the command is included in a command to automatically close the panel.

19. The method of claim 13, wherein the panel motor has a higher output than the shade motor.

16. (canceled)