Latch for an automobile vehicle having a convertible roof
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A convertible roof system comprising:
- a front hard-top roof member movable from a closed position to an open position;
a rear hard-top roof member movable from a closed position to an open position;
a substantially rigid tonneau cover member movable to cover the roof members when the roof members are in their open positions;
a latch having an automatic actuator and a manual override actuator, the manual override actuator being operable to mechanically move a portion of the latch, the latch operably securing at least one of the members;
a stationary bracket remotely located from the tonneau cover member;
a tonneau linkage mechanism operably moving the tonneau cover member;
an automatic tonneau actuator coupled to and operably driving the tonneau linkage mechanism;
an auxiliary closeout panel movably coupled to the tonneau cover member; and
an elongated cable connecting the auxiliary closeout panel to the stationary bracket.
5 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A latching system for an automotive vehicle having a convertible roof is provided. In another aspect of the present invention, front and/or rear convertible roof sections are rigid, hard-top roofs. A further aspect of the present invention system provides a latch which secures a generally rigid tonneau cover.
-
Citations
33 Claims
-
1. A convertible roof system comprising:
-
a front hard-top roof member movable from a closed position to an open position; a rear hard-top roof member movable from a closed position to an open position; a substantially rigid tonneau cover member movable to cover the roof members when the roof members are in their open positions; a latch having an automatic actuator and a manual override actuator, the manual override actuator being operable to mechanically move a portion of the latch, the latch operably securing at least one of the members; a stationary bracket remotely located from the tonneau cover member; a tonneau linkage mechanism operably moving the tonneau cover member; an automatic tonneau actuator coupled to and operably driving the tonneau linkage mechanism; an auxiliary closeout panel movably coupled to the tonneau cover member; and an elongated cable connecting the auxiliary closeout panel to the stationary bracket. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7)
-
-
2. A convertible roof system comprising:
-
a front hard-top roof member movable from a closed position to an open position; a rear hard-top roof member movable from a closed position to an open position; a substantially rigid tonneau cover member movable to cover the roof members when the roof members are in their open positions; and a latch having an automatic actuator and a manual override actuator, the latch operably securing at least one of the members; wherein the manual override actuator further comprises; (a) a lost motion coupling; and (b) at least one manually operable handle coupled to the lost motion coupling. - View Dependent Claims (3, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
-
-
4. A convertible roof system comprising:
-
a front hard-top roof member movable from a closed position to an open position; a rear hard-top roof member movable from a closed position to an open position; a substantially rigid tonneau cover member movable to cover the roof members when the roof members are in their open positions; and a latch having an automatic actuator and a manual override actuator, the latch operably securing at least one of the members; a stationary vehicle body having a convertible roof storage compartment operably receiving at least one of the roof members when the roof members are in the open positions; the latch further including a latching linkage assembly, operably driven by the automatic actuator, and a movable catch coupled to the latching linkage assembly; the automatic actuator and latching linkage assembly being located outboard of the roof storage compartment; and the catch being located within the roof storage compartment. - View Dependent Claims (5)
-
-
8. A convertible roof system comprising:
-
a front hard-top roof member movable from a closed position to an open position; a rear hard-top roof member movable from a closed position to an open position; a substantially rigid tonneau cover member movable to cover the roof members when the roof members are in their open positions; and a latch having an automatic actuator and a manual override actuator, the latch operably securing at least one of the members; a linkage assembly coupled to the tonneau cover member, the linkage assembly including at least an arcuate gooseneck link; and an automatic tonneau actuator operably driving the linkage assembly; the linkage assembly operably pivoting the tonneau cover member between a closed and substantially horizontal position, and an open and substantially vertical position. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32)
-
-
18. A convertible roof system comprising:
-
a substantially rigid member movable from a closed position to an open position, the substantially rigid member being at least one of; (a) a hard-top roof member movable from a closed position to an open position; and (b) a movable tonneau cover member; a latch comprising an automatic actuators, a manual override actuator and a lost motion coupling, the latch operably securing at least one of the members; and at least one manually operable handle operable to mechanically move the manual override actuator, the manually operable handle being coupled to the lost motion coupling. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
-
-
21. A convertible roof system comprising:
-
a convertible roof member movable from a raised position above a vehicle beltline to a stowed position substantially below a vehicle beltline; a movable covering member operably covering at least a portion of the roof member when the roof member is in its stowed position; a latch including an automatic actuator and a manual override actuator, the latch operable attaching to at least one of the members; and a lost motion coupling connected at least one of the actuators. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 28)
-
-
27. A convertible roof system comprising:
-
a convertible roof member movable from a raised position above a vehicle beltline to a stowed position substantially below a vehicle beltline; a movable covering member operably covering at least a portion of the roof member when the roof member is in its stowed position; and a latch including an automatic actuator and a manual override actuator, the latch operably attaching to at least one of the members; wherein the latch further comprises; (a) a rotary member having a camming surface; (b) multiple links operably moving in response to actuation of the actuators; (c) a cam follower coupling at least one of the links to the camming surface; and (d) a catch moved from a member engaging position to a member disengaging position in response to movement of at least one of the links. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30)
-
-
33. The system of claim wherein the roof members are stored in a nested and substantially vertical orientation below the tonneau cover member when the roof members are located in their open positions and the tonneau cover member is located in a closed position.
Specification