Two piece retractable hard-top roof for an automobile

An automobile having a two piece retractable hard-top roof comprising:

• an automobile body assembly, said automobile body assembly including a stowage compartment, a windshield having windshield trim, and a fore-aft dimension;
• a forward roof component having a forward roof component front end and a forward roof component rear end;
• a rearward roof component having a rearward roof component front end and a rearward roof component rear end;
• a joinder mechanism, said joinder mechanism selectively conjoining said forward roof component rear end to said rearward roof component front end;
• an affixment mechanism, said affixment mechanism selectively affixing said forward roof component front end to said windshield trim;
• and
• an actuation mechanism, said actuation mechanism selectively deploying and retracting said forward and rearward roof components in a conjoined state between a conjoined deployed position and a conjoined retracted position, said actuation mechanism selectively separating and conjoining said forward and rearward roof components substantially at said conjoined retracted position, said actuation mechanism further selectively deploying and retracting said forward roof component between substantially said conjoined retracted position and a forward roof component seated position whereat said forward roof component is located within said stowage compartment generally juxtaposed said rearward roof component with respect to said fore-aft dimension.

A method for deploying and retracting a hard-top roof of an automobile, the automobile having a stowage compartment, a windshield having windshield trim and a fore-aft dimension, said method comprising the steps of:

• deploying the hard top roof from a seated position within a stowage compartment to a deployed position, comprising the steps of:
• deploying a forward roof component from a forward roof component seated position to a position aligned with respect to a rearward roof component;
• conjoining the forward roof component to the rearward roof component;
• deploying the conjoined forward and rearward roof components;
• and
• affixing the forward roof component to windshield trim.