The invention relates to a convertible vehicle having a roof which can be secured to a windshield frame via engagement bodies of a closing apparatus.
A number of convertible vehicles are known in which the movable roof can be secured to the windshield frame of the vehicle in its closed position via two laterally outwardly disposed engagement bodies, for instance rotary latches, arresting hooks or the like.
Both engagement bodies are connected to a central manual or powered drive via force communicators, for instance chains or in particular pull and/or push rods, extended substantially transversely to the vehicle and thus following the course of the roof peak contacting the windshield frame.
EP 0 972 665 B1 shows a typical arrangement having a central drive which includes a vertical rotary axle and acts on a drive wheel rotatable around this axis, with two pull-push rods being held mutually opposite at said drive wheel. The ends of the pull-push rods are cropped to enable a securing over dead center position and nevertheless to ensure that the push-pull rods of the two sides do not interfere with one another in this position with a closed roof. When the drive wheel rotates, the cropped portions of the rods migrate far to the front or rear respectively so that large space requirements result in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. There are additionally large space requirements in the vertical direction due to the drive arranged on the rotary axle.
Accordingly, it remains desirable to provide a closing mechanism that improves over conventional designs in terms of function and packaging size.
According to one aspect of the invention, a convertible vehicle is provided with a movable roof securable in its closed position to a windshield frame, with at least two movable engagement members being provided for the securing and at least one drive being provided for them which is in operative communication with the engagement bodies for the transmission of a drive force via force communicators engaging outwardly in each case with a component in a generally transverse direction of the vehicle, wherein the drive includes a drive member disposed substantially in the transverse direction of the vehicle and in a general plane of the force communicators, by way of the drive member a transmission can be moved which controls the movement of at least one of the force communicators via a coupling member disposed in the general plane of the drive member.
By this arrangement, the vertical extent of the roof closure is reduced. The drive member can be accommodated in the roof peak in a space adjacent to the drive wheel or wheels, without the height of the roof peak having thereby to increase. The drive member does not have to project downwardly beyond the roof peak in this connection.
According to another aspect of the invention, a convertible vehicle is provided with a movable roof securable in its closed position to a windshield frame, with at least two movable engagement members being provided for the securing and at least one drive being provided for them which is in operative communication with the engagement bodies for the transmission of the drive force via force communicators engaging outwardly in each case with a component in a generally transverse direction of the vehicle, wherein a transmission controls the movement of one or more force communicators and includes at least two drive wheels disposed next to one another in the generally transverse direction of the vehicle and in operative communication with one another, with laterally outwardly engaging the force communicators and being movable in each case by separate drive wheels.
By this arrangement, the extent of the closure is reduced in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. A cropping of the pull-push rods is not necessary due to the at least two drive wheels disposed next to one another. It is thus ensured that the space requirements of the closure do not increase in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle on a rotation of the drive wheels. In particular when the drive wheels have a diameter of less than 50 millimeters, the space requirements are very small in their plane of extent such that a small dimensioned and thereby also very light roof peak can be used. In addition, the required driving force for the roof opening movement or for the roof closing movement is thereby minimized.
Irrespective of whether the coupling member acts on a central gear, on one of the drive wheels connected to the force communicators or on two drive wheels, a gear can in any case be provided for a manual emergency actuation on a malfunction of the drive which can either be constantly in engagement or, provided it is not needed for the power drive, is only brought into engagement for manual operation, for instance by vertical pressure effect. The closure thus remains operable even on a failure of the drive. The drive member is switched to be either depressurized or free of tension.
It is particularly favorable for the closure to be made in modular form overall and to include a base plate on which selectively an electrical or a hydraulic drive member can be installed. The same base plate can then used for different vehicle types without changing its dimensions, which increases its flexible application.
Further advantages and features of the invention result from embodiments of the subject matter of the invention shown schematically in the drawing and described in the following descriptions.
a shows a similar view to
Referring to the figures, a convertible vehicle according to the invention is indicated at 1. The vehicle 1 includes a movable roof 3, which can be actuated between a closed or extended position extending over a passenger compartment and an open or retracted position disposed in a storage space disposed adjacent to the passenger compartment. In the illustrated embodiment, the movable roof 3 includes a flexible roof cover 2.
The roof 3 includes an end or roof peak 4 located toward a front of the roof 3 in a direction of travel, indicated at F. Described in greater detail below, the roof peak 4 is latchable to a windshield frame 5 of the vehicle 1 to secure the roof 3 in the closed position.
In the illustrated embodiments, the vehicle 1 includes a pair of engagement bodies 6 for releasably latching the roof peak 4 to the windshield frame 5. The engagement bodies are disposed outwardly and laterally in a generally transverse direction q in the vehicle. The engagement bodies 6 are generally hook shaped and are pivotable around horizontal axes. The number of engagement bodies is also variable. A central engagement member may, for example, be provided.
The engagement bodies 6 are movable via laterally outwardly engaging force communicators 7 starting from a closure module 8 which is central here. The force communicators are configured as pull-push rods in the illustrated embodiments. Chains, cable controls, toothed belts or similar can also be considered.
The closure module 8 includes a drive, which may lie off center. The drive is provided in one embodiment in the form of a hydraulic drive member 9 or an electrical drive member 10. The latter is disposed generally parallel to the transverse direction q of the vehicle and in the general plane of the force communicators 7, thus substantially horizontally. As can be recognized, for example, in
It can even be possible due to the small packaging size of the closure module 8 to arrange it with the engagement bodies 6 and the force communicators 7 in the windshield frame 5.
In the first embodiment (
In another embodiment shown in
In both types of drive, the coupling member 11, 12 engages at a central gear 13 (see e.g.
The drive wheels 14, 15 support the ends of the force communicators 7. In
The central gear 13 is set into rotation in the direction of the arrow 16 via the respective coupling member 11, 12 by the outward thrust of the piston of the hydraulic cylinder 9 or by rotation of the electric motor 10 and thereby rotates the drive wheels 14, 15 in the same sense in the direction of the arrow 17. The force communicators 7 hinged thereto can then be moved upwardly beyond their dead center in circular segment tracks 18 of a cover plate 19 bounding the closure module 8 and can open the engagement bodies 6.
To enable an emergency actuation even on a failure of the respective drive member 9, 10, the gear 13 can be rotated manually. For this purpose, a cut-out 20 is provided in the cover plate 19 for the engagement of a tool. With a hydraulic drive 9, it can be depressurized so that the gear 13 can also remain in engagement with the coupling member 11 during its manual rotation. When an electric motor 10 is used (
It is moreover illustrated in
In
A base plate 21 of the closure module 8 is configured here, as also in the other embodiments, such that selectively the one or the other type of drive can be installed so that the module 8 can be used without further modifications both in vehicles with electrical and with hydraulic closure actuation, which substantially extends the application possibilities and enables a mass production of the module 8. Alternatively, a further coupling member, for instance a gear segment, for an installable manual actuation lever can also be provided so that the module 8 can also be used for a cost-effective manual actuation.
In the embodiment in accordance with the
A gear 13a which is disposed therebetween and which is not in engagement with the coupling member 11, 12, here is only required for manual emergency operation and does not have to be in engagement position with the drive wheels 14a, 15a during normal operation. Alternatively, here as in the other embodiments with an electrical drive member 10, the emergency actuation can also take place with a reduced expenditure of force without this gear 13a via a direct influencing of the drive shaft.
In a further embodiment (
An additional gear 13b, which can engage into one of the drive wheels 15b, 14b, can be provided for the manual emergency operation and likewise does not have to be in engagement position during normal operation. Here, too, alternatively, emergency operation is possible via an influencing of the drive shaft with force deflection for a manual rotation around a vertical axis of rotation.
In the previously shown embodiments, the transmission in each case includes at least two drive wheels 14, 15; 14a, 15a; 14b, 15b disposed next to one another in the transverse direction of the vehicle and in operative communication with one another. The laterally outwardly engaging force communicators 7 are in each case movable by separate drive wheels 14, 14a, 14b or 15, 15a, 15b. There is thereby no risk of collision even in a closed roof position with an over dead center position of the ends of the force communicators 7 even on their straight-line configuration. No cropping is required. It is thereby ensured that no part of the force communicator 7 projects beyond the diameter of the respective drive wheel 14, 15; 14a, 15a; 14b, 15b in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle during any phase of the closing movement. The extent of the closure module is therefore not only very small in height, but also in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. The diameter of a drive wheel 14, 15; 14a, 15a; 14b, 15b typically lies at 40 to 50 millimeters. There is in contrast sufficient space available in the roof peak 4 in the transverse direction q of the vehicle, whereby it is unproblematic to arrange a plurality of gears next to one another.
A further embodiment (
The closure module 8 can be pre-assembled and tested in every case before its installation and can be mounted on the roof peak 4 as a finished set modular unit.
The vehicle as shown in the illustrated embodiment and described herein is a soft top. It should, however, be readily appreciated by those having ordinary skill in the art that the top may also be a hard top having rigid panels instead of a flexible cover, or a hybrid top having a combination of rigid panels and a flexible cover. Further, the vehicle as described herein may be a two seater or have a larger interior space with two seating rows behind one another.
The invention has been described in an illustrative manner. It is, therefore, to be understood that the terminology used is intended to be in the nature of words of description rather than of limitation. Many modifications and variations of the invention are possible in light of the above teachings. Thus, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced other than as specifically described.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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10 2004 046 601.7 | Sep 2004 | DE | national |
This application is the United States national phase of Patent Cooperation Treaty application No. PCT/DE05/001338, filed Jul. 29, 2005, which claims priority to German patent application No. DE10 2004 046601.7, filed Sep. 25, 2004, the entire content of both of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/DE2005/001338 | 7/29/2005 | WO | 00 | 12/27/2007 |