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US 6,309,007 B1Granted
Two-piece hardtop for a sport utility vehicle
AssigneeBestop, Inc.
InventorsRichard C. Essig, John P. Vanderhoef
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
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AssigneeBestop, Inc.
InventorsRichard C. Essig, John P. Vanderhoef
Estimating the term…
A two-piece hardtop for sport utility vehicles. The hardtop has front and rear roof sections removably securable to each other. The front and rear sections have overlapping portions, each of which has an inverted U-shape with vertically extending legs and a horizontally extending base between them. The U-shapes nest together with side latches being provided between adjacent legs of the front and rear sections to draw the two pieces vertically together and secure them in place. Other features include a sealing member that is provided between the nested roof sections and a gutter that is created between the sealing member and the rear roof section. The gutter helps to effectively direct water away from between the two roof sections and the vehicle. Additionally, an improved air vent is provided that allowing air to flow out from the interior of the vehicle without letting water enter the vehicle through it.
A method for securing front and rear roof sections of a multi-piece hardtop to each other over forward and rearward areas of a passenger vehicle, said method including the steps of:
A multi-piece hardtop having front and rear roof sections respectively positionable over forward and rearward areas of a passenger vehicle, said front and rear roof sections having overlapping portions, each of said overlapping portions having an inverted substantially U-shape with two substantially vertical legs and a substantially horizontally extending base therebetween, said multi-piece hardtop further including a mechanism to draw at least one of the overlapping portions substantially vertically toward the other overlapping portion to a deployed position, said mechanism having first and second engagable members respectively mounted on adjacent overlapping legs of the overlapping portions of the front and rear roof sections, and an arrangement to secure the front and rear roof sections to each other in said a deployed position.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.