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US 7,246,841 B2Granted
In-folding convertible roof
AssigneeASC Incorporated
InventorChristopher J. Dilluvio
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A convertible roof includes a segmented pair of front roof rails that in-fold when being retracted, thereby reducing the packaging space required to stow the convertible roof. The in-folding of the segmented front roof rails is controlled by linkages between the segmented portions and the number one roof bow and synchronizes and constrains the in-folding of the segmented front roof rails. A dampening device is utilized to dampen a portion of the movement of the top stack mechanism between extended and retracted positions.
Claims31
A convertible roof system for an automotive vehicle, the convertible roof system comprising:
- a roof cover moveable between a stowed position and a raised position;
- a top stack mechanism operable to move said roof cover between said stowed and raised positions, said top stack mechanism including:
- (i) at least two roof rails pivotally coupled together and operable to rotate relative to one another;
- (ii) a transversely extending front roof bow;
- and
- (iii) an elongated connecting link coupling a first one of said roof rails to said front roof bow, with a longitudinal portion of said connecting link extending in a fore and aft direction when said top stack mechanism is in said raised position;
- wherein said first one of said roof rails moves inwardly toward a longitudinal center line of said top stack mechanism and a second one of said roof rails rotates about a single pivot axis that is substantially perpendicular to said longitudinal center line when said top stack mechanism moves from said raised position toward said stowed position.
4 more elements
A convertible roof system for an automotive vehicle, the convertible roof system comprising:
- a roof cover moveable between a stowed position and a raised position;
- and
- a top stack mechanism operable to move said roof cover between said raised and stowed positions;
- said top stack mechanism including:
- (i) a segmented roof rail having at least two portions pivotally coupled together;
- and
- (ii) a transversely extending front roof bow,
- wherein a first portion of said segmented roof rail is pivotally coupled in both the raised and stowed positions to said front roof bow with a connecting link and moves inwardly toward a longitudinal center line of said top stack mechanism and a second portion of said segmented roof rail moves substantially parallel to said center line when said top stack mechanism moves from said raised position toward said stowed position.
5 more elements
A convertible roof system for an automotive vehicle, the convertible roof system comprising:
- a roof cover moveable between a stowed position and a raised position;
- and
- a top stack mechanism operable to move said roof cover between said raised and stowed positions, said top stack mechanism including:
- (i) a segmented roof rail having at least two portions pivotally coupled together;
- (ii) a transversely extending front roof bow;
- and
- (iii) an in-folding linkage assembly interconnecting first and second portions of said segmented roof rail,
- wherein said first portion of said segmented roof rail is pivotally coupled to said front roof bow with a connecting link and moves inwardly toward a longitudinal center line of said top stack mechanism, said second portion of said segmented roof rail moves substantially parallel to said center line when said top stack mechanism moves from said raised position toward said stowed position, said in-folding linkage assembly controlling inward and outward movement of said first portion relative to said second portion during movement of said top stack mechanism between said raised and stowed positions, and said in-folding linkage assembly is an at least four-bar linkage assembly.
5 more elements
A convertible roof system for an automotive vehicle, the convertible roof system comprising:
- a roof cover moveable between a stowed position and a raised position;
- a top stack mechanism operable to move said roof cover between said raised and stowed positions;
- said top stack mechanism including:
- (i) a first roof rail segmented into at least two portions pivotally coupled together;
- (ii) a second roof rail pivotally coupled to said segmented first roof rail;
- (ii) at least one transversely extending roof bow;
- (iii) a first linkage assembly coupling first and second portions of said segmented roof rail together, said first linkage assembly causing said first portion to move inwardly toward a longitudinal center line of said top stack mechanism when said top stack mechanism moves from said raised position to said stowed position;
- (iv) a second linkage assembly coupling said second roof rail to said first roof rail, said second linkage assembly controlling movement of said second portion of said first roof rail relative to said second roof rail;
- and
- (v) a link interconnecting said first and second linkage assemblies such that movement of said second linkage assembly causes said first linkage assembly to move said first portion of said first roof rail relative to said second portion of said first roof rail.
7 more elements
A convertible roof system for an automotive vehicle, the convertible roof system comprising:
- a roof cover moveable between a stowed position and a raised position;
- a top stack mechanism operable to move said roof cover between said stowed and raised positions, said top stack mechanism including:
- (i) at least two pairs of roof rails pivotally coupled together and operable to rotate relative to one another;
- and
- (ii) a transversely extending front roof bow,
- (iii) a pair of links pivotally connected to a first pair of said roof rails and pivotally coupled to said front roof bow,
- wherein said first pair of roof rails move inwardly toward a longitudinal center line of said top stack mechanism during movement of said top stack mechanism from said raised position toward said stowed position and said pair of links constrains the movement of said first pair of roof rails relative to said front roof bow.
4 more elements
A method of operating a convertible roof system between extended and retracted positions, the method comprising:
- (a) moving ends of a first pair of roof rails both longitudinally and transversely relative to a front roof bow as the first pair of roof rails move inwardly toward a longitudinal center line of the convertible roof system, the first pair of roof rails being pivotally coupled to the front roof bow with a pair of elongated connecting links, a longitudinal portion of the connecting links extending in a substantially fore and aft direction when the convertible roof system is in the extended portion;
- (b) moving the first roof bow rearwardly as the first pair of roof rails move inwardly;
- and
- (c) rotating a second pair of roof rails about a pivot axis that is substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal center line, the second pair of roof rails being coupled to the first pair of roof rails.
1 more element
A method of operating a convertible roof system between extended and retracted positions, the method comprising:
- (a) moving ends of a first pair of roof rails both longitudinally and transversely relative to a front roof bow as the first pair of roof rails move inwardly toward a longitudinal center line of the convertible roof system, the first pair of roof rails being pivotally coupled to the front roof bow with a pair of connecting links;
- (b) moving the first roof bow rearwardly as the first pair of roof rails move inwardly;
- and
- (c) rotating a second pair of roof rails about a pivot axis that is substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal center line, the second pair of roof rails being coupled to the first pair of roof rails,
- wherein said first pair of roof rails are a segmented pair of roof rails and (a) includes moving front segmented portions of the first pair of roof rails both longitudinally and transversely relative to the front roof bow as the front segmented portions move inwardly toward a longitudinal center line of the convertible roof system and vertically rotating rear segmented portions of the first pair of roof rails.
2 more elements
A method of operating a convertible roof system between extended and retracted positions, the method comprising:
- moving ends of a first pair of segmented roof rails both longitudinally and transversely relative to a front roof bow as the first pair of roof rails move inwardly toward a longitudinal center line of the convertible roof system, the first pair of roof rails being pivotally coupled to the front roof bow with a pair of connecting links;
- moving the first roof bow rearwardly as the first pair of roof rails move inwardly;
- rotating a second pair of roof rails about a pivot axis that is substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal center line, the second pair of roof rails being coupled to the first pair of roof rails;
- moving front segmented portions of the first pair of roof rails both longitudinally and transversely relative to the front roof bow as the front segmented portions move inwardly toward a longitudinal center line of the convertible roof system with a first pair of linkage assemblies that couple the front segmented portions to rear segmented portions of the first pair of roof rails;
- moving the rear segmented portions of the first pair of roof rails relative to the second pair of roof rails with second pair of linkage assemblies;
- and
- driving the movement of the first pair of linkage assemblies with a pair of coupling links that couple the first and second pairs of linkage assemblies together.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.