GB2043161A - Device for adjusting a sliding roof panel during assembly - Google Patents

Abstract

A slide block 6 of a sliding roof on panel is carried on a support bracket 7 provided with a device 11 for adjusting the sliding roof panel vertically during assembly. The bracket also carries a lever 19 for raising the roof panel into its fully closed position and lower it therefrom into an intermediate position in which the roof panel is slidable longitudinally under force transmitted to the bracket by way of a member 22. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Improved sliding roof This invention relates to a sliding roof of the type which may be used in a motor vehicle, for example.

A sliding roof is known which comprises a panel provided on its longitudinal edges with slide blocks engageable with guide rails which, if the roof forms part of a motor vehicle, extend longitudinally of the vehicle, one on each side of an opening in the fixed roof of the vehicle. The roof panel is slidable along the guide rails from a fully open position into an intermediate position in alignment with the opening. The roof panel may then be raised into a fully closed position in the plane of the roof opening. It is a sliding roof panel of this construction which is referred to in the claims which follow as being a roof of the type hereinbefore described.

A known mechanism for raising such a roof panel from its intermediate position into its fully closed position includes a plurality of lifting levers, each of which is pivoted to the panel and may be brought to bear against the guide rail so as to apply a force to the panel thrusting it upwards. With the roof panel in its closed position, the lever acts as a strut extending between the panel and the associated guide rail. To move the roof panel into position, the lever is retracted, allowing the panel to lower under its own weight. Each of the levers is provided with pivot bearings attached to an inner sheet of the roof panel and considerable expense and effort is involved in manufacturing and installing this mechanism.

The body of a vehicle is manufactured to tolerances which sometimes can be quite considerable so that it is necessary to provide the sliding roof with means for adjusting it during assembly so that in the fully closed position the upper surface of the roof panel is exactly flush with the adjacent surfaces of the body.

This adjustment must be carried out following installation of the sliding roof and must take into account the fact that during normal use the roof panel is raised into its fully closed position by a lifting lever. The adjustment device must therefore be easily accessible from the interior of the vehicle following installation of the sliding roof. In the case of the known sliding roof, the manufacture and fitting of the adjustment device has involved relatively substantial additional expense.

These problems are overcome in accordance with the present invention by the provision in a sliding roof panel of the type hereinbefore described, a slide block mounted on a transversely extending support to which are connected the mechanisms for displacing the sliding roof panel during use as well as the device for adjusting the roof panel in the vertical sense during assembly so as to compensate for manufacturing and installation tolerances, in such a way that the relative positions of said mechanisms and the device are not varied during such adjustment.By using the slide block support as the mounting for not only the adjustment device but also for the various mechanisms by which force is transmitted to the sliding roof panel during use there results a simple unit which can be installed at the least possible expense and which results in a considerable reduction in the manufacturing cost of the sliding roof.

Conveniently, the support is provided with at least one lug which supports a longitudinally extending shaft for the lifting lever and also with a point of connection for a member through which is transmitted to the support the force provided by an electric motor used to move the roof panel longitudinally between the fully closed and intermediate positions.

Conveniently, the slide block support is in the form of a bracket having two flanges which are connected by a web and extend away from each other in substantially parallel planes. One of the flanges is longer than the other and is secured to the roof panels by a pair of fixing means which are spaced apart in the direction transversely of the roof panel.

The fixing means further from the slide block may take the form of a screw or rivet, for example, which secures the longer flange rigidly in place, conveniently near the end of the flange. The other fixing means is conveniently in the form of an internally screw threaded stud or nut welded or otherwise secured to a roof panel, and a screw which is screwed into the nut or stud and is carried by the support.

Conveniently, the head of the screw has a peripheral groove in which is received the edge of the opening in the support through which the screw passes. During assembly of the roof, the roof panel is raised into its fully closed position and then adjusted by rotating the screws of the various adjusting means until the roof panel is correctly positioned.

The screws may then be locked in place by a detachable retaining means, such as lacquer, a lock nut or the like, against unintentional adjustment caused by vibration of the vehicle, for example. Conveniently, each of the fixing means includes an internally screw threaded stud or nut secured to the upper surface of a sheet which forms the underside of the roof panel, the nut or stud further from the slide block being mounted on the upper side of the sheet and the stud or nut nearer the slide block being mounted on the underside of this sheet.

During normal operation of the sliding roof in accordance with the invention, the forces which produce horizontal and vertical displacement of the roof panel act through the supports of the various slide blocks. In accordance with another aspect of the invention, therefore, the slide block supports are in the form of pre-fabricated standard units including all the necessary devices and attachments, and which may be easily fixed in placed to the sliding roof panel. Final adjustment of the sliding roof panel during assembly is without altering the relative positions of the various mechanisms. As a result, variations in the points of action of the forces occurring during adjustment of the sliding roof panel into its position flush with the surface of the fixed roof are avoided, as a result of which installation of the sliding roof is simplified.

The invention will now be described in greater detail but by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawing, wherein: Figure 1 is a partial section through part of a sliding roof before final adjustment of the fully closed position of the sliding roof panel, and, Figure 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but showing the parts in the positions they occupy following final adjustment.

Referring to the drawings, a vehicle body has a fixed roof 2 with an opening 1 beneath which is disposed a sliding roof cassette 3.

The longitudinal sides of the roof opening are bounded by guide rails 4 formed by the base portion of the cassette. The drawing shows only the parts at one side of the roof opening and it will be appreciated that the opposite side has parts arranged as a mirror image of the parts shown in the drawing. A rigid roof panel 5 has its upper surface formed by an outer skin and its inner surface formed by a sheet of metal 9. The sliding roof panel is provided at both sides with plastics slide blocks 6 carried on supports 7 secured to the sheet 9. A single slide block and the parts associated therewith is shown in the drawing and will now be described.

In use, the roof panel has a lower position in which the slide block 6 rests on the guide rail 4. An electric motor is provided for moving the roof panel from a rearward position in which the roof opening 1 is unobscured to a forward or intermediate position in which the roof panel is in line with the roof opening.

From this position, the roof panel may be raised into an upper, fully closed position.

Because of manufacturing tolerances, the roof panel may not align with the fixed roof and it is necessary to carry out adjustment in order to raise the roof panel from the position shown by way of example in Fig. 1 to the position shown in Fig. 2. In accordance with the invention, a device for making this adjustment together with mechanisms for displacing the roof during operation are mounted on, or connected to, the slide block support 7. Each of the slide block supports may be identical so that use may be made of a standardised unit which is easily installed. The slide block support is in the form of a bracket of roughly Zshaped section, having flanges disposed in substantially horizontal planes and connected by a web. The shorter flange serves to carry the slide block and the longer flange 8 is secured to the sheet 9 of the roof panel.To this end, the sheet 9 is provided on its upper side with an internally screw threaded stud or nut 23 nearer to the longitudinal centre line of the panel and on its lower side with a similar stud or nut 1 6 further from the centre line. The stud or nut may be rivetted or welded in position. The flange 8 has holes arranged to align with the studs or nuts, hereinafter referred to for convenience as studs, whereby screws 10 and 11 secure the flange in place. The screw 10 which is arranged near the end of the flange is fully tightened so as to hold the end of the flange rigidly in place. Obviously, this fixing means may be replaced by any other permanent connection, for example by a rivet or a weld.

The screw 11 has a head 1 2 with a peripheral groove 1 3 into which is snapped the edge 14 of the hole in the flange 8 through which the screw 11 passes. The screw 11 is therefore rotatable within the hole but is immovable in the axial sense relative to the flange. A threaded shank 1 5 of the screw 11 is screwed into the bore of the stud 1 6 to a greater or lesser extent as is necessary to give the roof panel a reduced or increased height relative to the flange 8 as shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 respectively.

During construction of the support 7, portions projecting from the sides of the blank are cranked downwards to form a pair of spaced lugs 1 7 in the region where the flange 8 adjoins the web. The lugs 1 7 have bores for a pivot pin 20 extending parallel to the direction of sliding movement of the roof panel.

Freely mounted on the pin is a pivot bearing 1 8 of a lever 1 9 to which is connected at its end a thrust rod 21 of mechanism for raising and lowering the roof. It will be understood that in the complete roof panel a similar lever 1 9 is disposed on the opposite side of the panel and the rod 21 of both levers are connected to a central actuating handle. With the lever 1 9 in the position shown, a supporting portion of the rod 21 bears against the guide rail 4 and, in cooperation with the other lever or levers 1 9 holds the roof panel in its raised position in which the slide block 6 is above the guide rail, the lever serving as a support strut. By withdrawing the rod 21 towards the right in the drawing, the lever is pivoted about the pivot 20 and the roof panel allowed to descend into the position wherein the slide block 6 engages the rail 4 and the roof panel may be made to slide into its fully closed position. This movement, as well as return movement, takes place under the action of an electric motor transmitting force to the various slide block supports, by way of a connecting member 22 engaging in an open ing in the shorter flange of each.

It is possible to appreciate from the two figures that during adjustment of the sliding roof panel by rotating the screw 11, the relative positions of the drive attachment 21,22 and also the distance from the pivot bearing 18, 20 to the guide rail 4 do not vary. As a result, adverse influences upon the drive that might possibly be caused by changes in position of the individual attachments are avoided. It can also be appreciated from the drawing that the supports 7 constitute constructional units which can be installed as such on the sliding roof panel and which carry all the supporting, driving and adjustment devices for the sliding roof panel.

Claims (10)

1. In a sliding roof of the type hereinbefore described, a slide block mounted on a transversely extending supporting to which are connected mechanisms for displacing the sliding roof during use, and a device for adjusting the roof in the vertical sense during assembly so as to compensate manufacturing and installation tolerances of the sliding roof and of the vehicle roof in which it is to be installed, in such a way that the relative positions of said mechanisms and device are not varied during such adjustment.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the support has two flanges disposed in vertically spaced apart planes, the flanges extending in opposite directions and being connected by a web, a first longer one of the flanges being secured to the sliding roof by two transversely spaced apart fixing means, the'Fixing means further from the slide block serving to secure the longer flange rigidly to the sliding roof, and the other fixing means permitting adjustment of the sliding roof relative to the support.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the other fixing means includes an internally threaded stud secured to the sliding roof and a screw carried by the support and screwed into the stud.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3, wherein the head of the screw is received in an opening in the support and has a peripheral groove in which is engaged the edge of said opening.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3 or claim 4, wherein following adjustment of the sliding roof, the screw is secured against unintentional displacement by means of releasable securing means.

6. Apparatus as claimed in any of claims 3 to 5 wherein the first fixing means includes an internally threaded nut mounted on the upper side of the sheet of material forming an under surface of the sliding roof, and the nut of the other fixing means is mounted on the upper side of said sheet.

7. Apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim wherein a lever for lifting the sliding roof is pivoted on a shaft supported by at least one lug extending downwards from the support and having its axis arranged parallel to the intended direction of sliding movement of the sliding roof, the end of the lever being engaged by a thrust rod of an acfuating mechanism.

8. Apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim wherein a device driven by an electric motor for displacing the slide roof longitudinally includes a connecting member which engages the support in the vicinity of the slide block.

9. A sliding roof substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawing.

10. A slide block support for a sliding roof panel comprising a bracket having two substantially parallel flanges interconnected by a web, one of said flanges carrying the slide block and the other flange being provided with holes spaced apart lengthwise of the flange for receiving fixing screws, the screw further from the free end of the flange having a head with a peripheral groove receiving the edge of the flange, the bracket having projecting lugs for the pivot pin of a lifting lever, and a point of attachment for a connecting member of the drive system for displacing a roof panel in use.