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US 5,893,603 AGranted
Roof liner for motor vehicles
AssigneeBecker Group Europe GmbH
InventorsLothar Viertel, Patrick Welter
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A roof liner having a flexible lining material which extends both longitudinally and transversely across the vehicle. To enable the roof liner to be a sliding, folding liner, a plurality of bows extend across the lining material at spaced intervals from the front to the rear, uniformly spaced distances. Guide elements engage alternate pairs of bows providing a tension panel between the two bows engaged by the guide element and an untensioned panel between two guide elements. A respective guide rail at the side of the roof receives each of the guide elements for sliding therealong. The respective guide element receiving rails are stacked one above the other and parallel, enabling each guide to move over the full longitudinal length of its path.
Claims24
A roof liner for a motor vehicle comprising:
- a lining of generally flexible lining material extending both lengthwise and transversely with reference to the direction of the vehicle, the vehicle having a roof with longitudinal edges, the lining material having a front end toward the front of the vehicle, a rear end toward the rear of the vehicle and lateral sides joining the front and rear ends;
- a plurality of bows fastened on the lining material at the front end and the rear end and at a plurality of locations between the front and rear ends, the bows extending to and having opposite ends at the lateral sides of the lining material;
- guide elements disposed on the ends of the bows;
- guide means for being fastened on the roof of the vehicle at opposite ends of the bows, the guide means extending approximately parallel to the longitudinal edges of the vehicle roof, and the guide means being positioned for receiving the guide elements in a longitudinally displaceable manner in the guide means for enabling the guide elements to move toward the front and rear ends,
- wherein the bows are uniformly spaced apart and are parallel to each other and to the front and the rear ends of the roof liner;
- and
- further comprising at least six bows, the guide elements comprising slides at at least one end of the bows, with a first slide at each end of and rigidly connecting the ends of the first and second bows, a second slide at each end of and rigidly connecting the ends of the third and fourth bows, and a third slide at each end of and rigidly connecting the ends of the fifth and sixth bows, the connections with the bows being spaced apart for tensioning the lining material to define tensioned panels of the lining material between each of the bows connected by one of the slides;
- there being no guide elements between the second and third bows and between the fourth and fifth bows, for defining an untensioned panel of the lining material between those bows between which there are no guide elements;
- wherein the guide means includes a first guide means, a second guide means, and a third guide means such that there is a respective separate guide means for each of the first, second and third slides.
6 more elements
A roof liner for a motor vehicle comprising:
- a lining of generally flexible lining material extending both lengthwise and transversely with reference to the direction of the vehicle, the vehicle having a roof with longitudinal edges, the lining material having a front end toward the front of the vehicle, a rear end toward the rear of the vehicle and lateral sides joining the front and rear ends;
- a plurality of bows fastened on the lining material at the front end and the rear end and at a plurality of locations between the front and rear ends, the bows extending to and having opposite ends at the lateral sides of the lining material;
- guide elements disposed on the ends of the bows;
- guide means for being fastened on the roof of the vehicle at opposite ends of the bows, the guide means extending approximately parallel to the longitudinal edges of the vehicle roof, and the guide means being positioned for receiving the guide elements in a longitudinally displaceable manner in the guide means for enabling the guide elements to move toward the front and rear ends;
- wherein the bows are uniformly spaced apart and are parallel to each other and to the front and the rear ends of the roof liner;
- further comprising at least four bows, the guide elements comprising slides at at least one end of the bows, with a first slide rigidly connecting the ends of the first and second bows and a second slide rigidly connecting the ends of the third and fourth bows, the connections with the bows being spaced apart for tensioning the lining material to define tensioned panels of the lining material between each of the bows connected by one of the slides;
- there being no guide element between the second and third bows, whereby an untensioned panel of the lining material is defined between the second and third bows;
- and
- wherein the guide means includes a first guide means and a second guide means, the first guide means for the slide of the first and second bows and the second guide means for the slide of the third and fourth bows.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.