Sliding roof system for a motor vehicle
Technical Field
The invention relates to a sliding roof system (sometimes referred to as sliding roof system) for a motor vehicle, having a movable roof part which is fixedly connected to a carrier profile (Tr ä geprofiler) which can be displaced in the height direction and in the longitudinal direction relative to a guide rail assembly by means of an adjusting mechanism, wherein the adjusting mechanism can be driven by a drive system which has a drive carriage (anteebsschlitten) which interacts via a slide carriage (gleitschuhh) with a transversely projecting sliding-channel bridge (kulissengte) of the carrier profile viewed in cross section, wherein the slide carriage supports the sliding-channel bridge via a sliding arrangement above and a sliding support below in the height direction.
Background
Such a sliding roof system is known from DE 102009005133B 4. Known sliding roof systems have a cover which is movable between a closed position, a ventilation position and an open position and which is displaceable on its opposite longitudinal sides in each case relative to the respective guide rail assembly by means of an adjusting mechanism. The cover is provided with a support profile in the region of each adjusting mechanism, which is fixedly connected to the cover in the region of the underside. The two adjusting mechanisms can be moved synchronously with one another by means of a drive system. The drive system has a drive slide in the region of each adjusting mechanism, which drive slide interacts with a slotted link of the respective carrier profile by means of a slide in order to raise or lower the carrier profile in the height direction. The sliding base is provided with an upper sliding device and a lower sliding support piece, and the upper sliding device and the lower sliding support piece are arranged on two sides of the sliding groove bridge part above and below. The upper slide is embodied in a dimensionally stable manner, while the lower slide support is embodied in an elastically yielding manner (nachgiebg).
Disclosure of Invention
The object of the present invention is to create a sliding roof system of the type mentioned at the outset, which permits a secure and functionally safe displacement of the movable roof part.
This object is achieved in that the lower sliding support is of dimensionally stable design and the upper sliding device is embodied as an elastically yielding, balanced structure. Owing to the dimensionally stable design of the lower sliding support, the signs of sedimentation (setzerschenung), which can occur in the prior art as a result of the weight of the carrier profile and the movable cover part acting on the elastically deformable lower guide section, are avoided during operation of the sliding cover system. Since the upper sliding device is embodied according to the invention as an elastically yielding compensating element, a reliable, functionally safe and identical yielding behavior is ensured in the region of the correspondingly curved section of the slotted link bridge. The elastically yielding upper compensating structure permanently presses the sliding-groove bridge against the lower sliding support, so that in all positions of the carriage during operation of the sliding cover system, the carriage is reliably prevented from lifting off the sliding-groove bridge.
In one embodiment of the invention, the upper balancing structure has a dimensionally stable carrier element which is covered by an elastically yielding sliding layer, which can be embodied as a metal bridge to which the sliding layer is fixed in a force-fitting, form-fitting or material-fitting manner.
In a further embodiment of the invention, the elastically yielding sliding layer is formed by an elastically yielding plastic body which is held on the carrier element. The plastic body can be embodied as a single-component or multi-component plastic part. Preferably, the plastic body is made of an elastomer or a thermoplastic elastomer.
In a further embodiment of the invention, the sliding layer is produced from a flexible plastic material, in particular from HDPE, and is preferably spaced apart from the carrier element in the height direction via a damping medium. The damping medium can be designed in the form of a gas, such as air, depending on the type of pneumatic damper or shock absorber. Alternatively, the buffer medium may be formed by a gel-like material. Particularly advantageously, the damping medium exerts an elastic return property with respect to the sliding layer. The damping medium can thus also be formed by an elastomeric material or a thermoplastic elastomer. It is also possible for the damping medium to be realized by a mechanical spring assembly.
In a further embodiment of the invention, the lower, dimensionally stable sliding support is produced from a high-strength plastic, in particular from POM. The high-strength plastic has good sliding properties with respect to the sliding groove webs of the carrier profile and is designed to be wear-resistant.
In a further embodiment of the invention, the lower, dimensionally stable sliding support is of convex design. As a result, the sliding contact surface of the sliding support with respect to the sliding-groove bridge is reduced, as a result of which a reduced sliding friction is obtained.
In a further embodiment of the invention, the upper sliding device has a surface which is at least partially convexly designed. Thereby a further reduced sliding friction can be achieved.
Drawings
Further advantages and features emerge from the claims and from the following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention, which is illustrated by means of the drawings.
Figure 1 shows a part of one embodiment of a sliding roof system according to the invention in the area of an adjustment mechanism inside a guide rail assembly,
figure 2 shows a perspective view of an adjustment mechanism for the sliding roof system according to figure 1,
fig. 3 shows a detail of the adjusting mechanism according to fig. 2 in an enlarged perspective view, an
Fig. 4 shows a detail of an embodiment of the sliding roof system according to the invention in a region of the left-hand adjustment mechanism, viewed in the direction of travel of a passenger car provided with the sliding roof system, in cross section.
Detailed Description
The passenger car has a sliding roof system 1 in its roof region according to fig. 1 to 4. The sliding roof system 1 is provided with a dimensionally stable roof module frame T which is fixedly connected to corresponding roof structural elements of the roof region of the passenger car in the assembled ready-to-operate state. The sliding roof system 1 has a movable roof part 2 which, in the closed position, closes a roof gap not shown in greater detail. The movable cover part 2 can be transferred into a ventilation position in which the cover part 2 is opened obliquely upwards (ausstellen). Furthermore, the movable cover part 2 can be transferred into an open position in which the cover gap is at least partially released. In order to displace the movable roof part 2 between the different functional positions, the movable roof part 2 can be displaced in the region of its opposite longitudinal sides in each case by means of an adjusting mechanism relative to the respective rail assembly 6. For this purpose, a support profile 3 is fastened in each case in the region of the underside of the opposite longitudinal side of the cover part 2, said support profile interacting with the adjusting mechanism. The two adjusting mechanisms in the two opposing rail assemblies 6 extending in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle are designed to be functionally identical to one another and to be displaced synchronously with one another within the respective rail assembly 6 via a common drive system. In a manner not shown in greater detail, the drive system has an electric drive motor which is fastened on the front side to the roof module frame T and which, via a synchronous transmission and two flexible drive transmission cables, carries out a transmission of the drive movement to the two adjusting mechanisms in each case. Each adjusting mechanism is provided with a drive slide 5, at which a drive transmission cable is in each case acted upon. The drive carriage 5 is mounted so as to be longitudinally movable in a corresponding guide rail assembly 6. With reference to fig. 1 to 4, the drive side of the roof part 2 is shown on the left, viewed in the direction of travel of the passenger car, with a corresponding left-hand adjustment mechanism and a left-hand guide rail assembly 6. The opposite drive side is functionally identical. The opposite drive sides are embodied mirror-symmetrically with respect to a vertical vehicle center longitudinal plane.
As can be seen from fig. 4, the carrier profile 3 is fixedly connected to the downwardly projecting carrier section of the movable cover part 2 via a screw connection. The carrier section is a fixed component of the cover part 2. The carrier profile 3 is provided in the region of its front side (viewed in the direction of travel of the car) with a sliding joint, not indicated in greater detail, by means of which the carrier profile 3 is guided movably in the guide rail assembly 6 and about which the carrier profile 3 is arranged to be able to execute a limited pivoting movement. Thereby, an upwardly inclined opening of the bracket profile 3 is possible. At the rear end region, the carrier profile 3 is connected by means of a connecting joint to a supporting slide, which is not illustrated in greater detail. In order to raise or lower the carrier profile 3 in the height direction, a slotted link 4 is integrally molded on the carrier profile 3, which in the transverse direction projects in the direction of the vehicle center from a base body of the carrier profile 3 oriented in the height direction and in the longitudinal direction in the manner of a strip. The slotted link bridge 4 is provided with at least one bend and has a plurality of different, obliquely or flatly oriented bridge sections.
A slide for driving the slide 5 acts on the slotted link 4. For this purpose, the drive carriage 5 has a lower slide support 10, which is designed as a convex sliding surface and is embodied in a dimensionally stable manner. The carriage also has an upper balancing structure 7, which forms an elastically yielding sliding layer. The sliding chute bridge 4 is covered by a sliding coating. The upper compensating structure has a dimensionally stable support element 8, which is designed as a support bridge that projects from the wall section of the drive carriage 5 transversely to the support profile 3. The bracket bridge is made of metal and is one-piece with the wall section of the drive slider. The bracket bridges forming the bracket elements 8 project parallel spaced apart above the sliding-groove bridge 4 toward the base body of the bracket profile 3. The bridge of the support is surrounded on all sides by an elastically yielding plastic body 9, which is currently manufactured from HDPE from an elastically flexible plastic material. The plastic body 9 is of rectangular design and has a slotted receptacle, by means of which the plastic body 9 is inserted onto the carrier bridge of the carrier element 8. The receiving slot is closed on the end side of the base body facing the carrier profile 3 and is open on the side facing the carrier element 8, in order to allow a simple insertion onto the carrier element 8.
In the functionally ready-to-assemble operating state, the slotted link bridge 4 rests with its underside on the surface of a convex, dimensionally stable lower sliding support 10 in the region of the drive carriage 5, which in the illustrated exemplary embodiment is made of a high-strength plastic, i.e., POM. The lower sliding support is therefore not yielding relative to the chute bridge 4. From above, the chute bridge 4 is supported in the region of its upper side by an elastically yielding upper balancing structure 7, which holds the chute bridge 4 elastically yielding in pressing contact against the surface of the sliding support below. As soon as the drive carriage 5 is displaced in the longitudinal direction to the front or back relative to the carrier profile 3, the underside of the slotted link bridge 4 slides along the convex lower sliding support, while the upper, elastically yielding compensating structure 7 correspondingly follows the curved and inclined bridge surface section of the slotted link bridge 4. The upper, elastically yielding surface of the balancing structure 7 is designed in such a way that a low sliding friction occurs with respect to the metallic slotted link bridge 4, which is preferably not higher than the sliding friction between the underside of the slotted link bridge 4 and the lower surface of the sliding support 10. As can be seen from fig. 4, the slotted link bridge 4 can be provided with a thin-walled plastic coating, the material of which is matched to the material of the upper balance structure 7 and of the lower sliding support 10 with regard to the sliding capacity, in order to further reduce the sliding friction between the slotted link bridge 4 and the lower sliding support 10 and the upper balance structure 7 of the carriage.