CN117227419A

CN117227419A - Roof assembly for a vehicle and roller blind assembly for use therein

Info

Publication number: CN117227419A
Application number: CN202210637336.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: L·M·斯图尔特詹斯; J·J·格雷罗维达尔
Original assignee: Inalfa Roof Systems Group BV
Current assignee: Inalfa Roof Systems Group BV
Priority date: 2022-06-07
Filing date: 2022-06-07
Publication date: 2023-12-15
Also published as: KR20230168596A

Abstract

A roof assembly for a vehicle, the roller blind assembly comprising a winding tube (2) and a roller blind (4), a wire wheel (6) being attached to the winding tube for rotation therewith about an axis of rotation, a first end of a tensioning wire (7) being attached to the wire wheel (6) for being wound onto and unwound from the wire wheel. The tensioning wire extends along the roller shutter screen and around a reversing wheel (8). Each tensioning wire (7) extends from the wire wheel (6) towards the counter wheel (8) via a guide member (12). The guide member (12) is mounted such that it is slidable parallel to the axis of rotation of the spool (6) such that the guide member is aligned with the varying position of the tensioning wire (7) on the spool (6).

Description

Roof assembly for a vehicle and roller blind assembly for use therein

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a roof assembly for a vehicle having an opening in its stationary roof, the roof assembly comprising a frame for mounting the roof assembly to the stationary roof, an at least partially transparent panel for closing the roof opening, and a roller blind assembly comprising a roller tube mounted on the frame and a roller blind having a first end attached to the roller tube for winding onto and unwinding from the roller tube in a substantially horizontal direction, and a second end provided with an operating beam, wherein at each of the opposite ends of the roller tube a wire wheel is attached to the roller tube for rotation with the roller tube around a rotation axis, a first end of a tensioning wire is attached to the wire wheel for being wound onto and unwound from the wire wheel, the tensioning wire extends along the roller blind and around a counter wheel, and has a second end attached to the operating beam for winding onto and unwinding from the roller blind tube in a counter direction, wherein the tensioning wire is attached to the roller wheel via the roller blind tube and the roller blind each of the roller blind when the roller blind is engaged.

Background

A roller shutter assembly is known from practice in which the tensioning wire is guided from the wire wheel into a groove of the guide via a stationary pin acting as a guide member. Due to the helically wound tensioning wire, the tensioning wire slides over the guide pin not only in the longitudinal direction of the roller shutter assembly, but also in the transverse direction of the roller shutter assembly.

Disclosure of Invention

It is an object of the present invention to obviate or at least mitigate this disadvantage.

According to the invention, the guide member is mounted such that it is slidable substantially parallel to the rotation axis of the respective reel, so that it is aligned with the varying position of the tensioning wire on the reel at least during a portion of the winding position of the roller shutter screen on the winding tube.

Due to this movement of the guide member parallel to the rotational axis of the spool, the tensioning wire does not have to slide along the surface of the guide pin, thereby reducing wear.

Preferably, the guiding member is a guiding wheel, which is a simple means of guiding the tensioning wire along a correct path.

The guide wheel may be rotatably and slidably mounted on a shaft to obtain the desired rotational and sliding movement of the guide wheel.

Preferably, a longitudinal guide is fixed to the frame so as to slidably guide each end of the operating beam of the roller shutter screen, each tension wire passing through a slot of a corresponding guide and the guide member being mounted at an entrance of each guide, the guide wheel being slidable along a length substantially equal to the width of the slot of each guide.

In this way, the slot allows the respective tensioning wire to extend from the guide member through the slot to the reversing wheel in different lateral positions.

Each wire wheel is preferably conical and provided with a spiral winding groove for the tensioning wire, so that the winding (unwinding) diameter of the tensioning wire on the wire wheel is always substantially equal to the winding (unwinding) diameter of the roller blind on the winding tube.

In this way, the travel distance of the roller shutter screen and the tensioning wire are substantially equal, so no compensation feature is required to compensate for the difference in travel distance.

The guides may each guide a side edge of the roller shutter screen, and wherein each guide is provided with a lead-in for the roller shutter screen side edge to guide the roller shutter screen side edge into the corresponding guide.

The second end of each tensioning wire may be connected to a tensioning spring, and preferably a single tensioning spring is connected between the two second ends of the two tensioning wires.

The tension spring (e.g., tension spring) serves to keep the roller shutter screen taut and reduces the number of parts by connecting two tension wires to the same spring.

The frame may comprise a cross beam rotatably supporting the winding tube, and preferably the cross beam comprises a roll-off edge to guide the roller shutter screen at a constant height.

Since the height of the roller shutter on the winding tube varies with its winding (unwinding) condition, the roll-off edge keeps the height constant and can also be used to force the roller shutter to form a lateral profile matching that of the roof or headliner of the vehicle interior.

The cross beam of the frame may support a drive motor for the winding tube such that the axis of rotation of the drive motor is parallel to the axis of rotation of the winding tube, and preferably the drive motor is provided with a gearbox having an output shaft aligned with the axis of rotation of the winding tube.

Drawings

The invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

fig. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a vehicle roof including an embodiment of the roller blind assembly.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the roller shutter assembly.

Fig. 3 is an exploded view of the roller blind assembly of fig. 2, but without the longitudinal guide.

Fig. 4A is an enlarged side view according to arrow IV of a portion of the roller shade system of fig. 2 with a frame portion removed.

Fig. 4B is a top view of the roller shade assembly portion of fig. 4A.

Fig. 5A and 5B are views corresponding to fig. 4A and 4B, but showing the roller shutter assembly in another position.

Fig. 6A is a perspective view of a portion of the roller shade assembly of fig. 4A.

Fig. 6B is a perspective view corresponding to fig. 6A, but wherein the frame part is shown in its mounted position.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged cross-sectional view according to line VII-VII in fig. 2.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged top view, partly in section, according to arrow VIII in fig. 2.

Detailed Description

Referring first to FIG. 1, a vehicle having a roof assembly is shown. The roof assembly includes a closure element, such as a transparent closure element, for example a glass or plastic panel 31, for selectively opening and closing a roof opening 32 in a stationary roof 33 of a vehicle, particularly a passenger vehicle. The panel 31 may also be secured in the roof opening 32 or a combination of panels may be used in the roof assembly.

Fig. 2, 3 show a roller shutter assembly, wherein fig. 2 shows the roller shutter assembly in an assembled state, and fig. 3 shows an exploded view. The roller blind assembly is arranged in the roof assembly such that the roller blind assembly can cover or uncover a roof opening 32 in a stationary roof 33 from below.

The roller shutter assembly comprises a shaft 1 (actually two stub shafts), which shaft 1 is mounted for rotation in a shaft mount (not shown). Which will typically be located below a stationary roof 33 behind the roof opening 32. The winding tube 2 surrounds the shaft 1 and is mounted on the shaft 1 by an outer tube support 3 so as to rotate concentrically with the shaft 1. The roller shutter screen 4 has a first end (on the upper right side of fig. 2) attached to the winding tube 2 to be wound onto said winding tube 2 and unwound from the winding tube 2, and a second end (on the bottom of fig. 2) provided with an operating beam 5, which operating beam 5 can be maneuvered in a manner to be described and cooperates with parallel guides 9 (by means of a sliding shoe 5A), one parallel guide 9 (only shown in fig. 2) on each longitudinal side of the roof opening.

At each of the opposite ends of the winding tube 2, a wire wheel 6 is attached to the shaft 1 to rotate with the shaft 1. A first end of a tensioning wire 7 is attached to each wire wheel 6 to be wound onto the wire wheel 6 and unwound from the wire wheel 6. Each tensioning wire 7 extends along the roller shutter screen 4 and around a counter wheel 8 rotatably attached to a respective guide 9. The second ends of the first tensioning wires 7 are each attached to the other tensioning wire 7 at the location of the handling beam 5, in this case inside the handling beam 5, by means of a tension spring 10 inside the handling beam 5.

As is well known, for such a roller shutter assembly, the roller shutter screen 4 and the tensioning wire 7 engage the winding tube 2 and the wire wheel 6, respectively, such that when the roller shutter screen 4 is unwound from the winding tube 2, the tensioning wire 7 is wound onto the respective wire wheel 6. As a result, the tensioning wire 7 moves the operating beam 5 away from the winding tube 2 (due to the reversing wheel 8) to keep the roller blind 4 taut. When the roller shutter screen 4 is wound onto the winding tube 2, the first tensioning wire 7 is unwound from the respective wire wheel 6, allowing the operating beam 5 to move closer to the winding tube 2 again.

It should be noted that the winding tube 2 is rotated, thereby automatically causing a corresponding movement of the handling beam 5 (away from or towards the winding tube 2, depending on the direction of rotation of the winding tube). However, if the winding tube 2 is free to rotate, a corresponding rotation of the winding tube 2 may also be automatically caused by moving the handling beam 5 away from or towards the winding tube 2 (e.g. by manually moving the handling beam along a guide not shown). In this case, the winding tube 2 is driven by an electric motor 11, which will be described further later.

Because in some cases (and due to, for example, production tolerances) the tensioning wire 7 seems to become loose and tends to disengage from its counter wheel 8, a tension spring 10 is provided to eliminate the slack of said tensioning wire 7.

Fig. 4A, 4B and 5A, 5B show two positions of the operating beam 5 and the roller shutter screen 4. In fig. 5, the operating beam 5 is located beside the winding tube 2 (not shown), so that the roll screen 4 is rolled up. Instead, the tensioning wire 7 is unwound from the wire wheel 6 and is located at the maximum diameter portion of the conical wire wheel 6. In fig. 4, the operation beam 5 is moved away from the roll pipe 2, and thus the roll screen 4 is unwound from the roll pipe 2 and the roof opening 32 (or the transparent panel 31 closing it) is covered from below to prevent solar rays from entering the vehicle compartment. Thus, the tension wire 7 is wound on the wire wheel 6 and extends from the smallest diameter portion of the conical wire wheel 6. Fig. 4 and 5 show that the tensioning wire 7 is guided to the underside of the wire wheel 6 and the roller blind 4 is guided to the upper side of the winding tube 2, which results in different winding and unwinding of the tensioning wire 7 and the roller blind 4.

In fig. 5, the winding diameter of the roll screen 4 is large due to the length of the screen on the winding tube 2. As the roller shutter screen 4 is unwound from the winding tube 2 toward the position of fig. 4, the winding diameter gradually decreases. Thus, in order to unwind the same length of roller blind 4, the winding tube 2 must be rotated more and more during unwinding. Since the winding diameter of the first tensioning wire 7 varies by the same amount due to the conical shape of the wire wheel 6, the amount of the tensioning wire 7 wound is constant during constant unwinding of the roller blind 4, and thus hardly any length difference occurs.

The tensioning wire 7 is unwound from the wire wheel 6 by moving the operating beam 5 back towards the winding tube 2 by rotating the winding tube 2 and thus winding the roller blind 4 onto the winding tube 2. Since the spring member 10 tries to move the operating beam away from the winding tube 2 as the tensioning wire 7 extends via the counter wheel 8, the roller blind 4 is kept under spring tension and thus is kept taut.

Fig. 4B and 5B also clearly show that the tensioning wire 7 is guided over a guide member, here in the form of a guide wheel 12, which guide wheel 12 is located at the entrance of a slot 13 in the guide 9, through which slot 13 the tensioning wire 7 extends towards the counter wheel 8. The guide wheel 12 is attached to a support tube 14, which support tube 14 is rotatable and slidable on a shaft 15. Such sliding in the transverse direction of the roof system, i.e. parallel to the axis of rotation of the winding tube 2, is limited within the width of the slot 13. The position of the guiding wheel 12 is determined by the position of the tensioning wire 7 on the wire wheel 6. The wire wheel 6 has a helically formed winding groove 16, which winding groove 16 forces the tensioning wire 7 to follow the path of the winding groove 16. Fig. 4 and 5 show two extreme positions of the guiding wheel 12. In fig. 4, the tensioning wire is fully wound on the reel 6 and is located at the outer side of the reel 6 where the diameter is smallest. The tensioning wire 7 extends at right angles to the axis of rotation of the winding tube 2 and the shaft 15 of the guiding wheel 12. The position of the guide wheel 12 on the shaft 15 is such that the tensioning wire 7 is guided in a straight line over the guide wheel 12 (as seen from above in fig. 4B) and at the laterally outer side of the groove 13.

In fig. 5, the tensioning wire 7 is completely unwound and is located at the inner side of the wire wheel 6, where its diameter is greatest. The guide wheel 12 has followed the position of the tensioning wire 7 on the wire wheel 6 up to the point where the inner boundary of the groove 13 in the guide 9 is located, so that the tensioning wire 7 deviates from said point from its extent perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the winding tube 2 and the shaft 15. However, this deviation is so small that wear of the tensioning wire 7 due to friction of the tensioning wire 7 with the winding groove 16 on the wire wheel 6 and the wall of the guiding wheel 12 will be minimal. Of course, if the slot 13 in the guide 9 is wider or the wire wheel 6 is narrower, the guide wheel 12 will be able to follow the complete change of the position of the tensioning wire 7 on the wire wheel 6.

Fig. 6A shows the same parts as fig. 4 and 5, but in fig. 6B the frame part 17 has been mounted in place. The frame portion 17 supports the shaft 15 of the guide wheel 12 and rotatably supports the winding tube 2 through a bearing 18. Further, the rear end of the guide 9 is mounted on the frame portion 17.

Fig. 7 shows a cross section of the roll-off edge 19 of the frame on the cross beam 20 connected to the frame part 17. The frame portion 17 may extend to the front of the roof assembly or the guide 9 may form part of the frame up to a front cross member (not shown). The roll-off edge 19 supports the roll screen 4 at a constant height in the vicinity of the winding tube 2, irrespective of the winding position of the roll screen 4 on the winding tube 2. The roll-off edge 19 is slightly curved in the transverse direction so that it is higher in the middle of the roller blind 4 than at the side edges of the roller blind 4. This is to adapt the cross-sectional shape of the roll screen to the cross-sectional shape of the fixed roof 33 or the headliner underneath it. Fig. 4A and 5A show the side edges of the roller blind 4, but also show the highest point of the roller blind 4 on the roll-off edge 19. The handling beam 5 may have a similar curvature as the roll-off edge 19.

Fig. 8 is a top view of the end of the coiled tube 2 opposite the end shown in fig. 6B, as indicated by arrow VIII in fig. 2. At this end, the winding tube 2 is driven by an electric motor 11. The electric motor 11 is positioned such that its rotation axis is parallel to the rotation axis of the winding tube 2. The gearbox 21 transmits the rotation perpendicular thereto to the shaft 1 of the winding tube 2 in the desired ratio. The tube support 3 carries a wire wheel 6 at this end of the coiled tube 2. The figure shows two extreme positions of the tensioning wire 7 and the guiding wheel 12.

The figure also shows a lead-in 22 for a guiding edge (not explicitly shown) of the roller shutter screen 4, which guiding edge is guided from an extended position on the winding tube 2 to a folded position within the guide 9, as is well known in the art.

The invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, which may vary widely within the scope of the present invention as defined by the attached claims. For example, the invention can also be used in such roller blind systems: in the roller blind system, the tension spring is in the winding tube and the operating beam is driven manually or by a motor.

Claims

1. A roof assembly for a vehicle having an opening (32) in its stationary roof (33), the roof assembly comprising a frame (17) for mounting the roof assembly to the stationary roof, an at least partially transparent panel (31) for closing the roof opening, and a roller blind assembly comprising a roller tube (2) mounted on the frame (17) and a roller blind (4), the roller blind (4) having a first end attached to the roller tube to wind onto and off the roller tube in a substantially horizontal direction, and a second end provided with an operating beam (5), wherein at each of the opposite ends of the roller tube a wire wheel (6) is attached to the roller tube to rotate with the roller tube around a rotation axis, a first end of a tensioning wire (7) is attached to the wire wheel to be wound onto and off the wire wheel, the tensioning wire wheel is wound onto and off the roller blind (4), the roller blind (7) is wound onto and off the roller blind (7) and vice versa, each time the roller blind (4) is wound onto and off the roller blind (4) and vice versa, when the roller blind (7) is wound onto and off the roller blind (4) is wound onto and off, respectively, the roller blind (6) is wound onto and off the roller blind (4) and vice versa, wherein each tensioning wire (7) extends from the wire wheel (6) towards the counter wheel (8) via a guide member (12), characterized in that the guide member (12) is mounted such that it can slide substantially parallel to the rotation axis of the respective wire wheel (6) such that the guide member is aligned with the varying position of the tensioning wire (7) on the wire wheel at least during a part of the winding position of the roller blind (4) on the winding tube (2).

2. The roof assembly according to claim 1, wherein the guide member (12) is a guide wheel.

3. Roof assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that the guide member (12) is rotatably and slidably mounted on a shaft (15).

4. Roof assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that a longitudinal guide (9) is fixed to the frame (17) so as to slidably guide each end of the operating beam (5) of the roller shutter screen (4), each tensioning wire passing through a respective guide slot (13), and in that the guide member (12) is mounted at the entrance of each guide, said guide member being slidable along a length substantially equal to the width of the slot (13) of each guide (9).

5. Roof assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that each wire wheel (6) is conical and provided with a spiral winding groove (16) for the tensioning wire (7) such that the winding or unwinding diameter of the tensioning wire (7) on the wire wheel (6) is always substantially equal to the winding or unwinding diameter of the roller blind (4) on the winding tube (2).

6. Roof assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that the guides (9) each guide a side edge of the roller shutter screen (4) and that each guide is provided with a lead-in (22) for the roller shutter screen side edge for guiding the roller shutter screen side edge into the respective guide.

7. Roof assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that the second end of each tensioning wire (7) is connected to a tensioning spring (10).

8. A roof assembly according to claim 7, characterized in that a single tension spring (10) is connected between the two second ends of the two tension wires (7).

9. Roof assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that the frame (17) comprises a cross beam (20) rotatably supporting the winding tube (2).

10. Roof assembly according to claim 9, characterized in that the cross beam (20) comprises a roll-off edge (19) in order to guide the roller blind (4) at a constant height.

11. Roof assembly according to claim 9, characterized in that the cross beam (20) of the frame (17) supports a drive motor (11) for the winding tube (2) such that the axis of rotation of the drive motor is parallel to the axis of rotation of the winding tube.

12. Roof assembly according to claim 11, characterized in that the drive motor (11) is provided with a gearbox (21), which gearbox (21) has an output shaft (1) aligned with the rotational axis of the winding tube (2).

13. Roof assembly according to claim 9, characterized in that the cross beam (20) of the frame (17) supports a guide member (12) for the tensioning line (7).

14. A roller shutter assembly for use in a roof assembly of a vehicle having an opening in its stationary roof, the roller shutter assembly comprising a winding tube (2) and a roller shutter screen (4), the roller shutter screen (4) having a first end attached to the winding tube (2) to wind onto and off the winding tube in a substantially horizontal direction, and a second end provided with an operating beam (5), wherein at each of the opposite ends of the winding tube (2) a wire wheel (6) is attached to the winding tube (2) to rotate together with the winding tube (2) around a rotation axis, a first end of a tensioning wire (7) is attached to the wire wheel (6) to be wound onto and off the wire wheel, the tensioning wire (7) extending along the roller shutter screen (4) and extending around a counter wheel (8) and having a second end attached to the inside of the operating beam (5), wherein the wire (7) and the roller shutter screen (7) are helically wound onto the winding tube (2) and vice versa when the winding tube (4) is engaged, wherein each tensioning wire (7) extends from the wire wheel (6) towards the counter wheel (8) via a guide member (12), characterized in that each guide member (12) is mounted such that it can move substantially parallel to the rotational axis of the wire wheel (6) such that the guide member (12) is aligned with the varying position of the tensioning wire (7) on the wire wheel (6) at least during a part of the winding position of the roller blind (4) on the winding tube (2).

15. Roof assembly for a vehicle having a roof opening (32) to be opened and closed by an at least partially transparent panel (31), the roof assembly comprising a roller blind assembly according to claim 14 at a position below the roof opening.

16. A vehicle comprising a roof assembly according to claim 15.