GB2157635A

GB2157635A - Roof assemblies and wind deflector arrangements for motor vehicles

Info

Publication number: GB2157635A
Application number: GB08509779A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Horst Bienert; Georg Kohlpaintner
Original assignee: Webasto Werk W Baier GmbH and Co
Current assignee: Webasto Werk W Baier GmbH and Co
Priority date: 1984-04-25
Filing date: 1985-04-17
Publication date: 1985-10-30
Also published as: GB8509779D0; GB2157635B; DE3415360C2; DE3415360A1; FR2563477B1; FR2563477A1

Abstract

A wind deflector arrangement for a motor vehicle roof which has a roof aperture (11) which can be closed by a sliding panel (12) and is surrounded at least in its front region by a frame (13) which forms a water channel (34) and is provided with an upright inner limb (33) which bounds the water channel in the direction of the roof aperture and on which a cover rail (30) is mounted. The wind deflector arrangement is provided with a wind defector (16) disposed along the front edge of the roof aperture and pivotable about an axis lying transversely to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle, which deflector has a body (17) which, depending on the panel movement, can be swung out upon opening the sliding panel and which can be swung in upon closing the sliding panel. The wind deflector body is articulated to the cover rail. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Roof assemblies and wind deflector arrangements for motor vehicles The invention relates to a wind deflector arrangement for a motor vehicle roof having a roof aperture which can be closed by a sliding panel and which is surrounded at least in its front region by a frame which forms a water channel and is provided with an upright inner limb which bounds the water channel in the direction of the roof aperture and on which a cover rail is mounted, with a wind deflector arranged along the front edge of the roof aperture and pivotable about an axis lying transversely to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle, which deflector has a body which, depending on the panel movement, can be swung out upon the opening the sliding panel and which can be swung in upon closing the sliding panel.

In a known wind deflector arrangement of this type (DE-OS 21 38 162), the wind deflector body is articulatedly connected to mounting blocks which are mounted in the water channel and are clamped there by means of the cover rail. This arrangement does in fact result in relatively simple assembly but it is still relatively expensive.

The present invention provides an openable motor vehicle roof assembly comprising a sliding panel mounted for closing a roof aperture surrounded at least in its front region by a frame which forms a water channel and is provided with an upright inner limb which bounds the water channel in the direction of the roof aperture and a cover rail mounted on said inner limb and a wind deflector arranged along the front edge of the roof aperture and pivotable about an axis transverse to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle, which deflector has a body articulated to the cover rail such that the body can be pivoted out about said axis upon opening the sliding panel and can be pivoted in upon closing the sliding panel.

Additional mounting blocks are no longer necessary as a result of this development. It can be arranged that the cover rail can be readily secured, without any need for perforation in the water-carrying parts of the gutter.

In a further development of the invention, a substantially horizontally extending limb of the cover rail can be screwed on to the upper side of the inner limb of the frame, which in this case is of bulbous shape. In this case the screw holes are situated above the water- carrying parts of the gutter and, consequently, do not require any sealing.

Moreover, they are readily accessible for assembly purposes.

The wind deflector body can in principle consist of any suitable material. It is particularly preferable to produce it from glass fibre reinforced plastics material which in practice is also known as SMC (sheet moulded compound). A material of this type combines high strength with low weight even if, with a view to favourable flow conditions, the wind deflector body is intended to be relatively thick.

To further simplify assembly, mounting points for hinge pivots are preferably formed eg integrally moulded, on the wind deflector body. In order to swing in the wind deflector body it is possible to provide at least one pivot arm which is connected with the wind deflector body via an entrainment or coupling arrangement, the part of which belonging to the wind deflector body likewise being preferably formed, eg. integrally moulded, on the wind deflector body.

A particularly robust arrangement is provided even if pivot bearing points are formed on the cover rail and if hinge pivots cooperate with the pivot bearing points of the wind deflector body and cover rail.

The compactness of the construction of the wind deflector arrangement is further enhanced if a torsion spring is fitted on at least one of the hinge pivots, which spring bears at one end against the wind deflector body and at the other end against the cover rail and preloads the wind deflector body in the pivoting-out direction.

One example of an embodiment of invention will be described in more detail below with reference to the drawings, wherein, Figure 1 shows a plan view of part of a motor vehicle roof, with a sliding panel and wind deflector arrangement; Figure 2 shows a section along the line ll-ll in Figure 1; Figure 3 shows a partial view of the wind deflector arrangement, viewed from below; Figure 4 shows a section through the wind deflector body in accordance with the line IV-IV in Figure 1; Figure 5 shows a section along the line V-V in Figure 4; Figure 6 shows a section along the line VI-VI in Figure 4; Figure 7 shows a section along the line VII-VII in Figure 4; Figure 8 shows a partial plan view of the cover rail of the wind deflector arrangement in Figures 1 to 3; Figure 9 shows a section along the line IX-IX in Figure 8 and;; Figure 10 shows a section along the line X-X in Figure 8.

The roof 10 of a motor vehicle is provided with a roof aperture 11 which can be closed by a rigid sliding panel 12. The roof aperture 11 is surrounded at the front and side by a frame 13 which has lateral rails 14 which extend in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle and in which the sliding panel 12 is guided in known manner via slide pads, of which only the front slide pad 15 is illustrated in Figure 2. Near to the front edge of the roof aperture 11, a wind deflector 16 is mounted pivotally about an axis lying transversely to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle. The wind deflector is provided with a wind deflector body 17 made of glass fiber reinforced plastics material, preferably glass fibre reinforced polyester resin, which is of favourable cross-sectional shape with respect to air flow (Figures 5, 6 and 7).On either side of the wind deflector body 17 there are integrally formed two respective bearing points 22, 23 in the form of mounting eyes with mounting through-holes 24.

Two further bearing points 25, 26 integrally formed thereon with mounting through holes 27 are provided in the central region of the wind deflector body 17.

A cover rail 30 of substantially L-shaped crosssection having a substantially horizontally extending limb 31 and a substantially vertical limb 32 is provided as carrier for the wind deflector 16. The cover rail 30 is situated with its limb 31 on the upper side of a bulbous upright inner limb 33 of the frame 13, which in the direction of the roof aperture 11 bounds a water channel 34 formed by the frame 13. Screws 35 are used to connect the cover rail 30 to the inner limb 33 of the frame 13, which screws are inserted through holes 36 in the cover rail 30. On the cover rail 30, which preferably consists of metal, bearing points 37, 38 are formed, for example rolled, in the vicinity of the bearing points 22, 23, while bearing points 39, 40 are similarly formed in the vicinity of the bearing points 25, 26 of the wind deflector body 17.Pin-like pivots 41 and 42 are inserted respectively through the bearing points 22, 23 and 25, 26, which pivots cooperate respectively with the bearing points 37, 38 and 39, 40 of the cover rail and of which the pivots 41 serve as hinge pivots. Heads 43 and 44 are formed at the ends of the pivots 41, 42 so as to prevent the pivots from slipping out sideways. Between the bearing points 32, 33 a torsion spring 45 is mounted on the hinge pivot 41 and it bears with its projecting ends 46, 47 against the wind deflector body 17 and against the cover rail 30. The torsion spring 45 endeavours to pivot out the wind deflector 16, namely to bring it into the position shown in Figure 2. The limb 32 of the cover rail 30 engages over that side of the inner limb 33 of the frame 13 facing the roof aperture.

On both sides of the wind deflector body 17 there are formed extensions 49, only one of which is shown in the drawings. The extension 49 is provided with an elongate actuation slot 50, in which engages a coupling pin 51 at the front end of a pivot arm 52. At its outer end the pivot arm 52 is connected with the frame 13 via a mounting block 53 and a pivot bearing 54. The coupling pin 51 may consist of rubber or any other sound-absorbing material, and1Or the actuation slot 50 may be provided, at least in the zone where the coupling pin 51 is applied when the wind deflector is pivoted out, with a soft resilient lining (not shown), so as to prevent rattling noises.

When the sliding panel 12 is open (Figure 2), the wind deflector 16 is pivoted out under the action of the torsion springs 45. When sliding panel 12 is pushed forwards into its closed position, a dog 56, which is connected to a slide pad carrier 57 or to another component also following the sliding movement of the panel 12, abuts against the pivot arm 52. The pivot arm 52 is pivoted about the pivot bearing 54 in anti-clockwise direction. The coupling pin 51 moves forward in the actuation slot 50. The wind deflector 16 is swung in.

Whilst the invention has been described with reference to features of the embodiment illustrated, it should be appreciated that many modifications and variations are possible within the scope of the invention.

The embodiment described combines convenient assembly with particularly low production costs.

Claims

1. An openable motor vehicle roof assembly comprising a sliding panel member mounted for closing a roof aperture surrounded at least in its front region by a frame which forms a water channel and is provided with an upright inner limb which bounds the water channel in the direction of the roof aperture and a cover rail mounted on said inner limb and a wind deflector arranged along the front edge of the roof aperture and pivotable about an axis transverse to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle, which deflector has a body articulated to the cover rail such that the body can be pivoted out about said axis upon opening the sliding panel and can be pivoted in upon closing the sliding panel.

2. A roof assembly as claimed in Claim 1, wherein a substantially horizontally extending limb of the cover rail is fastened on to said inner limb along an upper face of the inner limb.

3. A roof assembly as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein the wind deflector body consists of fibre glass reinforced plastics material.

4. A roof assembly as claimed in Claim 3, wherein bearing points for hinge pivots are integrally moulded on the wind deflector body.

5. A roof assembly as claimed in Claim 4, wherein pivot bearing points are integrally formed on the cover rail and hinge pivots are provided which cooperate with the pivot bearing points of the wind deflector body and cover rail.

6. A roof assembly as claimed in Claim 5, wherein a torsion spring is fitted on at least one of the hinge pivots, which spring bears at one end against the wind deflector body and at the other end against the cover rail and preloads the wind deflector body in the pivoting-out direction.

7. A roof assembly as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein for pivoting in the wind deflector body, there is provided at least one pivot arm which is connected with the wind deflector body via a coupling arrangement a portion whereof is integrally moulded on the wind deflector body.

8. A roof assembly substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

9. A wind deflector assembly for fitting to a roof assembly of a motor vehicle and comprising a mounting rail, a wind deflector member articulated generally along a long edge thereof to the mounting rail, a pair of arm members integrally moulded with the wind deflector member and extending at axially spaced locations transversely to a major face of the wind deflector member, and means defining an attachment location on each arm member for attachment to an actuating mechanism in use.

10. A wind deflector arrangment for a motor vehicle roof having a roof aperture which can be closed by a sliding panel and which is surrounded at least in its front region by a frame which forms a water channel and is provided with an upright inner limb which bounds the water channel in the direction of the roof aperture and on which a cover rail is mounted, with a wind deflector arranged along the front edge of the roof aperture and pivotable about an axis lying transversely to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle, which deflector has a body which, depending on the panel movement, can be swung out upon opening the sliding panel and which can be swung in upon closing the sliding panel, characterised in that the wind deflector body is articulated to the cover rail.

11. A wind deflector arrangement according to Claim 10, characterised in that a substantially horizontally extending limb of the cover rail can be screwed on to the upper side of the bulbously shaped inner limb of the frame.