Sun roof

• US 4,995,666 A
• Filed: 11/06/1989
• Issued: 02/26/1991
• Est. Priority Date: 11/22/1988
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Gabel GmbH
• Original Assignee: Gabel GmbH
• Inventors: Schurmann, Erich
• Primary Examiner(s): Pedder, Dennis H.
• Application Number:
  US07/433,042
• Time in Patent Office: 477 Days
• Field of Search: 296/216, 296/218, 296/224, 49/381
• US Class Current: 296/216.02
• CPC Class Codes: B60J 7/1642 Roof panels, e.g. sunroofs or hatches, movable relative to the main roof structure, e.g. by lifting or pivoting

Abstract

An openable roof assembly, especially for a sun-roof of an automotive vehicle has a single hinge mounting the translucent panel along one longitudinal edge to the frame and a single closure element at the opposite longitudinal edge of the panel so that the closure element and the hinge are provided along the surface centerline of the panel. In this way, indifferent zones between hinges are avoided and a uniform distribution of the closing force to the panel can be ensured.

Claims

1. An openable sun roof assembly for an automotive vehicle, comprising:

a frame formed in a roof of an automotive vehicle;

a translucent panel movably mounted in said frame, said panel having an inner surface turned toward an interior of said vehicle and having a pair of opposite edges;

a single hinge mounted on said panel at a midpoint of one of said edges and constituting a sole hinged pivoting articulation between said one edge and said frame;

a panel-closing element for retaining said panel in a closed position located on said panel at a midpoint of the other of said edges whereby said hinge and said panel-closing element lie along a surface centerline of said panel; and

an elongated strip of material fixed to said inner surface along said centerline and formed at one end with said hinge and at an opposite end with said panel-closing element, said strip being adhesively bonded to said inner surface by a layer of an adhesive, and said strip being formed along a length thereof with zones alternating with one another and having different bending stiffnesses.

2. The assembly defined in claim 1 wherein said strip is constituted of a single piece of said material.

3. The assembly defined in claim 1 wherein said strip is constituted homogeneously of said material and said material is selected from the group which consists of a plastic, a light metal, and a sheet steel.

4. The assembly defined in claim 3 wherein said strip is constituted of light metal selected from the group consisting of aluminum, magnesium and alloys thereof.

5. The assembly defined in claim 1 wherein said zones include zones of high bending stiffness formed with inwardly projecting corrugations and zones of low bending stiffness.

6. The assembly defined in claim 5 wherein said zones of low bending stiffness are corrugation-free zones.

7. The assembly defined in claim 5 wherein said zones of low bending stiffness are weakened zones of said strip.

8. The assembly defined in claim 6 wherein said zones of high bending stiffness include terminal zones at opposite ends of said strip having U-shaped corrugations with the U-shapes of the corrugations opening toward one another, an intermediate zone having longitudinal corrugations along opposite edges of said strip and spaced from said U-shaped corrugations by said corrugation-free zones.

9. The assembly defined in claim 8 wherein said strip is mirror symmetrical about a longitudinal median axis of the strip.

10. An openable sun roof assembly for an automotive vehicle, comprising:

a frame formed in a roof of an automotive vehicle;

a translucent panel movably mounted in said frame, said panel having an inner surface turned toward an interior of said vehicle and having a pair of opposite edges;

a single hinge mounted on said panel at a midpoint of one of said edges and constituting a sole hinged pivoting articulation between said one edge and said frame;

a panel-closing element for retaining said panel in a closed position located on said panel at a midpoint of the other of said edges whereby said hinge and said panel-closing element lie along a surface centerline of said panel; and

an elongated strip of material affixed to said inner surface along said centerline and formed at one end with said hinge and at an opposite end with said panel-closing element, said strip being constituted of a plurality of pieces of said material subdivided longitudinally.

11. An openable sun roof assembly for an automotive vehicle, comprising:

a frame formed in a roof of an automotive vehicle;

a translucent panel movably mounted in said frame, said panel having an inner surface turned toward an interior of said vehicle and having a pair of opposite edges;

a single hinge mounted on said panel at a midpoint of one of said edges and constituting a sole hinged pivoting articulation between said one edge and said frame;

a panel-closing element for retaining said panel in a closed position located on said panel at a midpoint of the other of said edges whereby said hinge and said panel-closing element lie along a surface centerline of said panel; and

an elongated strip of material affixed to said inner surface along said centerline and formed at one end with said hinge and at an opposite end with said panel-closing element, said strip being constituted of a plurality of pieces of said material subdivided transversally.