Transparent vehicle roof having sunshade

For use with a roof covering an occupant compartment, a sunshade roof construction comprising:

• a transparent roof panel through which the environment can be viewed from the occupant compartment;
• a sunshade mounted below the transparent roof panel and including a plurality of laterally elongated blades each of which has opposite ends;
• said sunshade also including a flexible sheet-like shade that connects the blades;
• a pair of guides supported below the transparent panel with each guide receiving one end of each blade to support the sunshade for movement between:
• a closed position where the blades are spaced from each other below the transparent roof panel with the flexible shade extending between the blades to cooperate therewith in shading the occupant compartment from the transparent roof panel, and an open position where the blades are stored in a stacked relationship with all of the blades located in single vertical stack at a location that exposes the occupant compartment to the transparent roof panel with portions of the flexible shade folded between the stacked blades;
• a mechanism including at least one flexible drive tape having a permanent connection to the forwardmost blade of the sunshade;
• the flexible drive tape having apertures;
• the ends of the rearward blades each having at least one projection;
• each guide including a storage section that receives the blade ends in the single vertical stack;
• and each storage section including a ramp where the tape apertures receive the projections of the blade ends to maintain the blades spaced from each other during movement to and from and while in the closed position, and the blade end projections being withdrawn from the tape apertures at the ramps to permit the storage of the blades in the vertical stack with the portions of the flexible shade folded between the stacked blades.

For use with a vehicle including a roof covering an occupant compartment, a sunshade roof construction comprising:

• a transparent roof panel through which the environment can be viewed from the occupant compartment;
• a sunshade mounted below the transparent roof panel and including a plurality of laterally elongated blades each of which has opposite ends;
• said blade ends having drive projections;
• said sunshade also including a flexible sheet-like shade that connects the blades;
• a pair of guides supported below the transparent panel with each guide receiving one end of each blade to support the sunshade for movement between:
• a closed position where the blades are spaced from each other below the transparent roof panel with the flexible shade extending between the blades to cooperate therewith in shading the occupant compartment from the transparent roof panel, and an open position where the blades are stored in a stacked relationship with the flexible shade folded therebetween at a location that exposes the occupant compartment to the transparent roof panel;
• each guide including a storage section that receives the ends of the sunshade blades in the stacked relationship with the sunshade in the open position;
• a power operated drive mechanism including a pair of flexible drive tapes, a pair of sprockets associated with the drive tapes, and an electric motor for driving the sprockets;
• and said drive tapes having small apertures that mesh with the sprockets and also having large apertures that receive the drive projections of the blade ends to move the sunshade between the open and closed positions.

For use with a vehicle including a roof covering an occupant compartment, a sunshade roof construction comprising:

• a transparent roof panel through which the environment can be viewed from the occupant compartment;
• said transparent roof panel having a lower surface supported by the roof;
• a sunshade mounted below the transparent roof panel and including a plurality of laterally elongated blades each of which has opposite ends;
• said blade ends having drive projections;
• said sunshade also including a flexible sheet-like shade that connects the blades;
• a pair of guides supported by the lower surface of the transparent roof panel with each guide receiving one end of each blade to support the sunshade for movement between:
• a closed position where the blades are spaced from each other below the transparent roof panel with the flexible shade extending between the blades to cooperate therewith in shading the occupant compartment from the transparent roof panel, and an open position where the blades are stored in a stacked relationship with the flexible shade folded therebetween at a location that exposes the occupant compartment to the transparent roof panel;
• each guide including a storage section that receives the ends of the sunshade blades in the stacked relationship with the sunshade in the open position;
• and a power operated drive mechanism including a pair of flexible drive tapes, a pair of sprockets associated with the drive tapes, and an electric motor for driving the sprockets;
• and said drive tapes having small apertures that mesh with the sprockets and also having large apertures that receive the drive projections of the blade ends to move the sunshade between the open and closed positions.