Tiltable sun roof for vehicles

A vehicle sun roof device comprising:

• a panel movable substantially horizontally between a covering position for covering an opening in a roof of the vehicle and an uncovering position for uncovering the opening, the panel including front and rear end sections, and being tiltable in the covering position to raise the rear end section from a closed position to at least one venting position;
• and a drive system for tilting the panel comprising:
• an activating device mounted on the roof, a bracket affixed to the panel and extending in the front-to-rear direction of the vehicle, the bracket including, adjacent a front end thereof, an upwardly facing bearing surface of substantially cylindrical concave shape and a downwardly facing bearing surface of substantially cylindrical convex shape, a first shoe disposed adjacent the front end section of the bracket and including an upwardly facing support surface and a downwardly facing support surface for engaging, respectively, the downwardly facing bearing surface and the upwardly facing bearing surface for relative sliding movement therewith, and a second shoe disposed on the roof rearwardly of the first shoe and connected to the activating device by a push-pull cable to be movable thereby relative to the first shoe in a first horizontal direction for applying to a follower structure of the bracket an upward force for tilting the panel from the closed covering position about a virtual pivot axis defined by the upwardly and downwardly facing bearing surfaces and the downwardly and upwardly facing support surfaces, said second shoe being movable by the push-pull cable in a second horizontal direction when the panel is in the closed covering position, to move the panel from the closed covering position to the uncovering position, and a pin-and-slot connection between the first shoe and the bracket for guiding the bracket as it tilts, and wherein the location of the virtual pivot axis remains stationary as the panel tilts.