GB1581591A

GB1581591A - Stay devices for use in roof hatch or roof ventilator assemblies for vehicles

Info

Publication number: GB1581591A
Application number: GB2059677A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: HSC WIDNEY ENG Ltd
Current assignee: HSC WIDNEY ENG Ltd
Priority date: 1977-05-17
Filing date: 1977-05-17
Publication date: 1980-12-17
Also published as: NZ187140A; NL7804031A; AU3527578A; JPS5417222A; JPS5628726B2; AU511485B2

Description

(54) STAY DEVICES FOR USE IN ROOF HATCH OR ROOF VENTILATOR ASSEMBLIES FOR VEHICLES (71) We, H.S.C. WIDNEY ENGINEER ING LIMITED, a British Company, of Plume Street, Aston, Birmingham B6 7SA, do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: This invention relates to stay devices for use in roof hatch or roof ventilator assemblies for vehicles.

An object of the invention is to provide a stay device, for use in a roof hatch or roof ventilator assembly for a vehicle, which is of a simple construction which is effective in operation and can be inexpensively manufactured.

According to the invention, a stay device for use in a roof hatch assembly or roof ventilator assembly for a vehicle comprises a housing for attachment parallel to or along one edge of the surround of a hatch opening or ventilation opening in the roof of the vehicle, a sleeve slidable in, and held captive to, said housing, a compression spring in said sleeve, a stay arm pivoted at one end of an end of said sleeve and having pivotally connected to its other end an attachment part which is carried by said arm and is for attachment to a movable roof hatch member or movable roof ventilator panel, and an intermediate member interposed between an end of said spring and said first-mentioned end of the stay arm, said intermediate member being displaceable against the action of said spring by angular movement of said stay arm, and the arrangement being such that the stay arm is movable angularly, about its pivot with the sleeve, between a lowered position and a raised position, said firstmentioned end of the stay arm, as said arm moves angularly between said lowered and raised positions, co-acting with the intermediate member whereby in an initial stage of such movement of the stay arm the spring is compressed and in a final stage of said movement the spring expands or resiles, whereby the stay arm is self-retaining in its said lowered and raised positions, the sleeve, to which the stay arm is pivoted, being able to slide inwards relatively to the housing, against the action of spring force, during said movement of the stay arm. Preferably, the other end of said compression spring bears against an abutment in the housing, with said sleeve being slidable towards said abutment, and with the said spring force against the action of which the sleeve is slidable inwards relatively to the housing during movement of the stay arm, being provided by said compression spring. Preferably, the firstmentioned end of the stay arm has therein one or more notches co-operable with the intermediate member to hold the stay arm in one or more angular positions intermediate its aforesaid raised and lowered positions. Preferably, also, the sleeve is angularly movable, about its axis, relatively to the housing. Preferably, the housing is a tubular housing; and, preferably, the intermediate member is a spherical ball.

A roof hatch member or ventilator panel may be provided at each of two opposite ends or sides with a pair of stay devices constructed in accordance with the invention, with the arrangement being such that the hatch member or ventilator panel can, supported by the stay devices, be moved at will from a closed position into (a) a raised open position in which it is parallel to the vehicle roof, (b) an open position in which it is tilted forwards, (c) an open position in which it is tilted rearwards, (d) an open position in which it is tilted towards one side of the vehicle, (e) an open position in which it is tilted towards the other side of the vehicle.

In the accompanying drawings, which show, by way of example, two embodiments of the invention: Figure 1 shows a stay device assembly constructed in accordance with the invention; Figure 2 is a sectional view, on a larger scale, of one end of the assembly shown in Figure 1; Figures 3, 4 and 5 show, on a larger scale than Figure 1, a portion of the assembly shown in Figure 1, and respectively show three different angular positions of a stay arm; Figure 6 is a diagrammatic plan view, on the same scale as Figure 1, showing a vehicle roof provided with a pair of the assemblies shown in Figure 1; Figures 7 and 8 are two fragmentary views of an outer end of a steel tube of the assembly shown in Figure 1; Figures 9 and 10 are two fragmentary views of an outer end of a nylon sleeve of the assembly shown in Figure 1; and Figure 11 shows a modification.

Referring to Figures 1 to 10 of the drawings, a pair of stay device assemblies 1, each of the construction shown in Figure 1, are shown applied to a substantially rectangular movable roof ventilator panel 2 disposed over a substantially rectangular ventilation aperture 3 in a vehicle roof 4, one of said assemblies 1 being located at the front of said aperture 3, and the other being located at the rear of said aperture 3, as shown in Figure 6.

Each stay device assembly 1 comprises a circular-sectioned steel tube 5 carrying brackets 6 via which it is attached to the vehicle roof so as to lie along one edge of the ventilation aperture 3; and each end of said tube 5 houses a circular-sectioned nylon sleeve 7 which is slidable in said tube 5 and in which is provided a coiled compression spring 8 acting at its outer end on a spherical steel ball 9 and bearing at its inner end, via a circular-section nylon insert 10 slidingly mounted in the sleeve 7, on an abutment 11 formed by deforming the middle of the tube 5. Pivoted at one end to the outer end of the sleeve 7, by means of a pivot pin 12 mounted in bearing holes 22 in a solid terminal portion 7a of said sleeve 7, is an angularly-movable stay arm 13 having pivotally connected to its other end, by means of a pivot 14, an attachment bracket 15 attached to the underside of the ventilator panel 2. The first-mentioned end of the stay arm 13 is received by slots 16, 17, in the sleeve 7 and tube 5 respectively and engages the ball 9, the said ball 9 being displaceable against the action of the spring 8 by angular movement of the stay arm 13. Said stay arm 13 has a curved edge portion 18, an oblique portion 19, and a notch 20 intermediate said edge portions 18, 19. The tube 5 is provided adjacent the pin 12 with a pair of slots 21 into which project the ends of said pin 12 whereby to hold to the sleeve 7 captive to the tube 5, the said ends of the pin 12 moving along the slots 21 when the sleeve 7 slides along the tube 5, and the clearance between the ends of the pin 12 and the sides of the slots 21 being such as to permit limited angular movement of the sleeve 7, about its axis, relatively to the tube 5. The spring 8 spring-loads the sleeve 7 via the ball 9, the arm 13, and the pin 12 connecting the arm 13 to the said sleeve 7, whereby the sleeve 7 is slidable towards the abutment 11 against the action of the said spring 8.

The arrangement is such that each stay arm 13 is movable angularly, about its pivot 12 with the sleeve 7, from a lowered position, through an intermediate adjusted position, to a fully-raised position, and back from said fully-raised position, through said intermediate position, to said lowered position. These three positions are shown, in the case of the stay arm shown at the left-hand end of Figure 1, in Figures 3, 4 and 5, respectively (and the raised position of said stay arm is also shown in Figure 2).

The three positions of the stay arm shown at the right-hand end of Figure 1 correspond to those shown in Figures 3, 4 and 5 except that, of course, they are of open; site hand. Each stay arm 13, when in its lowered position, has its curved edge portion 18 engaged by the respective springpressed ball 9, and when it is moved up angularly to its said intermediate position the said ball 9 engages the notch 20 in said arm 13, and when the said arm 13 is moved further from its said intermediate position to its fully-raised position, the said ball 9 engages the oblique edge portion 19 of said arm 13. The respective spring 8 is compressed as the said stay arm leaves its said lowered position, and expands or resiles as the stay arm enters its said fully-raised position, whereby the said stay arm 13 is self-retaining in each of said lowered and fully-raised positions, since the spring pressure must be overcome manually before the arm 13 can be moved out of either of these positions. Also, the said stay arm 13 is self-retaining in its said intermediate adjusted position, since the spring pressure must be overcome manually before the notch 20 can be freed from the ball 9. As the stay arm 13 turns up or down between its said three positions, the sleeve 7 slides in the tube 5 so that the pivot 12 moves horizontally.

The stay device assemblies 1 are thus each of a neat, simple and robust construction which can be inexpensively manufactured; and the arrangement shown permits the panel 2 to be moved, at will, from a fully-closed lowered position to any selected one of fourteen open positions, namely: (a) two open positions parallel with the roof, the stay arms all being in their intermediate positions when the panel is in one of said parallel positions and all being in their fully-raised positions when the panel is in the other of said parallel positions; (b) three forwardly-tilted positions, namely one with the front stay arms in their lowered positions and the rear stay arms in their intermediate positions, one with the front stay arms in their lowered positions and the rear stay arms in their fully-raised positions, and one with the front stay arms in their intermediate positions and the rear stay arms in their fully-raised positions; (c) likewise three rearwardly-tilted positions; (d) three positions tilted towards one side of the vehicle, namely one with the stay arms at said side in their lowered positions and the other two stay arms in their intermediate positions, one with the stay arms at said side in their lowered positions and the other two stay arms in their fully-raised positions, and one with the stay arms at said side in their intermediate positions and the other two stay arms in their fully raised positions, and (e) likewise three positions tilted towards the other side of the vehicle.

During movement of the panel to any of the six positions mentioned under (b) and (c) above, the sleeves 7 turn slightly relatively to the tubes 5 to prevent straining of the mechanism. The stay devices, or the underside of the panel 2 itself, may carry suitable knobs or hand-holds (not shown) for grasping manually when moving the panel 2 up or down.

If desired, the stay arms may have a plurality of notches whereby to provide a plurality of intermediate positions for the arms; or if desired the notches can be omitted, and the stay arms arranged to have only two adjusted positions, namely lowered and fully-raised positions.

The brackets 15 may if desired be permanently attached to the panel 2.

If desired, however, the stay arms may support a panel which is detachably connected to the brackets 15 whereby to serve both as a ventilation panel and as an escape hatch panel. For example, the brackets 15 may be detachably connected to a vehicle roof escape hatch panel in a manner described generally or in detail in our co-pending Application No. 41870/77 (Serial No. 1,581,878).

Instead of pairs of stay devices being mounted via a common tube, opposite ends of which form housings for the sleeves, each stay device may be an individual unit. The parts of each stay device may be of any suitable material.

The arrangement of spring means and sleeve shown in Figure 2, in which the slidable sleeve 7 contains a single compression spring 8 bearing at one end on the intermediate member 9 and at the other end, via the insert 10, on the abutment 11 in the housing 5, is a preferred arrangement; but if desired the slidable sleeve 7 may, as shown in Figure 11, instead be provided with an interior central abutment 23 and contain two compression springs, namely: a spring 8' bearing at its one end against the intermediate member 9 and at its other end against one face of the abutment 23, and a spring 8" bearing at its one end against the other face of the abutment 23 and at its other end, via the insert 10, against the abutment 11 in the housing.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: - 1. A stay device for use in a roof assembly hatch assembly or a roof ventilator assembly for a vehicle, said stay device comprising a housing for attachment parallel to or along one edge of the surround of a hatch opening or ventilation opening in the roof of the vehicle, a sleeve slidable in, and held captive to, said housing, a compression spring in said sleeve, a stay arm pivoted at one end to an end of said sleeve and having pivotally connected to its other end an attachment part which is carried by said arm and is for attachment to a movable roof hatch member or movable roof ventilator panel, and an intermediate member interposed between an end of said spring and said first-mentioned end of the stay arm, said intermediate member being displaceable against the action of said spring by angular movement of said stay arm, and the arrangement being such that the stay arm is movable angularly, about its pivot with the sleeves, between a lowered position and a raised position, said first-mentioned end of the stay arm, as said arm moves angular between said lowered and raised positions, co-acting with the intermediate member whereby in an initial stage of such movement of the stay arm the spring is compressed and in a final stage of said movement the spring expands or resiles, whereby the stay arm is self-retaining in its said lowered and raised positions, the sleeve, to which the stay arm is pivoted, being able to slide inwards relatively to the housing, against the action of spring force, during said movement of the stay arm.

2. A stay device as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the first-mentioned end of the stay arm has therein one or more notches co-operable with the intermediate member to hold the stay arm in one or more angular positions intermediate its aforesaid raised and lowered positions.

3. A stay device as claimed in Claim 1

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. namely: (a) two open positions parallel with the roof, the stay arms all being in their intermediate positions when the panel is in one of said parallel positions and all being in their fully-raised positions when the panel is in the other of said parallel positions; (b) three forwardly-tilted positions, namely one with the front stay arms in their lowered positions and the rear stay arms in their intermediate positions, one with the front stay arms in their lowered positions and the rear stay arms in their fully-raised positions, and one with the front stay arms in their intermediate positions and the rear stay arms in their fully-raised positions; (c) likewise three rearwardly-tilted positions; (d) three positions tilted towards one side of the vehicle, namely one with the stay arms at said side in their lowered positions and the other two stay arms in their intermediate positions, one with the stay arms at said side in their lowered positions and the other two stay arms in their fully-raised positions, and one with the stay arms at said side in their intermediate positions and the other two stay arms in their fully raised positions, and (e) likewise three positions tilted towards the other side of the vehicle. During movement of the panel to any of the six positions mentioned under (b) and (c) above, the sleeves 7 turn slightly relatively to the tubes 5 to prevent straining of the mechanism. The stay devices, or the underside of the panel 2 itself, may carry suitable knobs or hand-holds (not shown) for grasping manually when moving the panel 2 up or down. If desired, the stay arms may have a plurality of notches whereby to provide a plurality of intermediate positions for the arms; or if desired the notches can be omitted, and the stay arms arranged to have only two adjusted positions, namely lowered and fully-raised positions. The brackets 15 may if desired be permanently attached to the panel 2. If desired, however, the stay arms may support a panel which is detachably connected to the brackets 15 whereby to serve both as a ventilation panel and as an escape hatch panel. For example, the brackets 15 may be detachably connected to a vehicle roof escape hatch panel in a manner described generally or in detail in our co-pending Application No. 41870/77 (Serial No. 1,581,878). Instead of pairs of stay devices being mounted via a common tube, opposite ends of which form housings for the sleeves, each stay device may be an individual unit. The parts of each stay device may be of any suitable material. The arrangement of spring means and sleeve shown in Figure 2, in which the slidable sleeve 7 contains a single compression spring 8 bearing at one end on the intermediate member 9 and at the other end, via the insert 10, on the abutment 11 in the housing 5, is a preferred arrangement; but if desired the slidable sleeve 7 may, as shown in Figure 11, instead be provided with an interior central abutment 23 and contain two compression springs, namely: a spring 8' bearing at its one end against the intermediate member 9 and at its other end against one face of the abutment 23, and a spring 8" bearing at its one end against the other face of the abutment 23 and at its other end, via the insert 10, against the abutment 11 in the housing. WHAT WE CLAIM IS: -

1. A stay device for use in a roof assembly hatch assembly or a roof ventilator assembly for a vehicle, said stay device comprising a housing for attachment parallel to or along one edge of the surround of a hatch opening or ventilation opening in the roof of the vehicle, a sleeve slidable in, and held captive to, said housing, a compression spring in said sleeve, a stay arm pivoted at one end to an end of said sleeve and having pivotally connected to its other end an attachment part which is carried by said arm and is for attachment to a movable roof hatch member or movable roof ventilator panel, and an intermediate member interposed between an end of said spring and said first-mentioned end of the stay arm, said intermediate member being displaceable against the action of said spring by angular movement of said stay arm, and the arrangement being such that the stay arm is movable angularly, about its pivot with the sleeves, between a lowered position and a raised position, said first-mentioned end of the stay arm, as said arm moves angular between said lowered and raised positions, co-acting with the intermediate member whereby in an initial stage of such movement of the stay arm the spring is compressed and in a final stage of said movement the spring expands or resiles, whereby the stay arm is self-retaining in its said lowered and raised positions, the sleeve, to which the stay arm is pivoted, being able to slide inwards relatively to the housing, against the action of spring force, during said movement of the stay arm.

3. A stay device as claimed in Claim 1

or 2, wherein the sleeve is angularly movable, about its axis, relatively to the housing.

4. A stay device as claimed in Claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the housing is a tubular housing.

5. A stay device as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the intermediate member is a spherical ball.

6. A stay device as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the other end of said compression spring bears against an abutment in the housing, said sleeve being slidable towards said abutment, and the said spring force against the action of which the sleeve is slidable inwards relatively to the housing during movement of the stay arm, being provided by said compression spring.

7. A stay device as claimed in Claim 6, wherein the said other end of the compression spring bears on the abutment in the housing via an insert slidingly mounted in the sleeve.

8. A pair of stay devices each constructed in accordance with any one of the preceding claims, wherein the arm-carried attachment parts of said devices are for attachment to respective opposite ends or sides of the roof hatch member or roof ventilator panel and the housings of the two stay devices constitute mutual integral extensions of each other.

9. A pair of stay devices each constructed in accordance with Claim 6 insofar as dependent upon Claim 4, wherein the arm-carried attachment parts of saicl devices are for attachment to opposite ends or sides of the roof hatch member cr roof ventilator panel, and the tubular housings of the stay devices are formed by opposite ends of a single tube, and the abutment in the housing of each of said stay devices is formed by deforming the middle of said single tube.

10. A roof hatch member or ventilator panel each of two opposite sides or ends of which is provided with a pair of stay devices each constructed in accordance with Claim 1, the arrangement being such that the hatch member or ventilator panel can, supported by the stay devices, be moved at will from a closed position into any one of a plurality of open positions.

11. A roof hatch member or ventilator panel each of two opposite ends or sides of which is provided with a pair of stay devices each constructed in accordance with Claim 3, the arrangement being such that the hatch member or ventilator panel can, supported by the stay devices, be moved at will from a closed position into (a) a raised open position in which it is parallel to the vehicle roof, (b) an open position in which it is tilted forwards, (c) an open position in which it is tilted rearwards, (d) an open position in which it is tilted towards one side of the vehicle, (e) an open position in which it is tilted towards the other side of the vehicle.

12. A stay device assembly comprising a pair of stay devices and substantially as herein described with reference to the ao companying drawings.

13. A stay device substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

14. A roof ventilator panel supported by two pairs of stay devices, substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.