US-12623520-B2 - Roof system for a vehicle comprising a sunshade assembly

US12623520B2US 12623520 B2US12623520 B2US 12623520B2US-12623520-B2

Abstract

A roof system for a vehicle includes a sunshade assembly, which comprises a flexible sunscreen having opposed longitudinal and transversal edges and a winding shaft carrying a winding roller configured for winding and unwinding the sunscreen. The roller is provided with an internal spring connected between the roller and the shaft and is preloaded to wind the sunscreen thereon. Two drive cables extend along and are capable of a movement parallel to the longitudinal edges of the sunscreen. The cables are connected to opposite ends of an operating beam for moving it to wind and unwind the sunscreen. A rotatable gearwheel is positioned at only one end of and concentrically fixed to the shaft and is drivably in engagement with one of the drive parts, such that a displacement of said one of the drive parts results in a rotation of the shaft in the same direction as the roller.

Inventors

Carolus Theodorus Wilhelmus Jansen

Assignees

INALFA ROOF SYSTEMS GROUP B.V.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20211221
Priority Date: 20201228

Claims (13)

1 . A roof system for a vehicle including a sunshade assembly, which comprises: a flexible sunscreen having opposed longitudinal edges and opposed transversal edges; a winding shaft carrying a rotatable winding roller configured for winding and unwinding the sunscreen at a first one of its transversal edges, the winding roller being provided with an internal spring connected between the winding roller and the winding shaft and being preloaded to wind the sunscreen thereon; an operating beam connected to a second one of the transversal edges of the sunscreen; two drive parts extending along and capable of a movement parallel to the longitudinal edges of the sunscreen, wherein the drive parts are driven by a corresponding drive and are connected to opposite ends of the operating beam for moving the operating beam it to wind and unwind the sunscreen; and a rotatable drive member positioned at only one end of and concentrically fixed to the winding shaft and being drivably in engagement with one of the drive parts, such that a displacement of said one of the drive parts results in a rotation of the winding shaft in a same direction as the winding roller.
2 . The roof system according to claim 1 , wherein the spring is a torsion spring provided around the winding shaft and fixed with one end to the winding shaft and with the opposite end to the winding roller.
3 . The roof system according to claim 2 , wherein a spring fixator is clamped within the winding roller and is fixed to said opposite end of the torsion spring.
4 . The roof system according to claim 1 , wherein the drive parts are flexible drive cables having an outer toothing and the drive member being a gearwheel which engages with the toothing on said one of the drive cables.
5 . The roof system according to claim 1 , wherein the drive member is fixed to an end piece of the winding shaft which is rotatably accommodated within the winding roller.
6 . The roof system according to claim 1 , wherein the drive member is arranged next to a bearing to rotatably preces support the winding shaft.
7 . The roof system according to claim 1 , wherein the opposed longitudinal edges of the sunscreen are foldable and configured as longitudinal strips, the sunshade assembly further comprising longitudinal guide rails alongside the longitudinal edges of the sunscreen and configured to guide the ends of the operating beam and configured to slidably hold the longitudinal strips at the longitudinal edges of the sunscreen, which edges are unfolded when the sunscreen is wound up on the winding roller and which are folded into the longitudinal guide rails when the sunscreen in unwound from the winding roller.
8 . The roof system according to claim 7 , wherein the longitudinal guide rails are provided with a folding guide for folding and unfolding the longitudinal strips, wherein the drive parts are flexible drive cables having an outer toothing and the drive member being a gearwheel which engages with the toothing on said one of the drive cables, and wherein said one of the drive cables is guided in a cable guide to said gearwheel, said cable guide being connected to or integrated into the folding guide.
9 . The roof system according to claim 8 , wherein the cable guide extends from the corresponding longitudinal guide rail outwardly to a position engaging the gearwheel.
10 . The roof system according to claim 9 , wherein the cable guide extends from a position engaging the gearwheel longitudinally and then inwardly along a curve.
11 . The roof system according to claim 4 , comprising a frame to support the sunshade assembly, wherein said one of the drive cables is guided in a cable guide, and wherein the cable guide is at least partly a tube fixed to the frame.
12 . The roof system according to claim 4 , comprising a frame to support the sunshade assembly, wherein said one of the drive cables is guided in a cable guide, and wherein the cable guide is at least partly a cable guide channel integrated in or connected to the frame which is made at least partly from plastic.
13 . The sunshade assembly apparently intended and suited for use in a roof system for a vehicle according to claim 1 .

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S) The present application is a § 371 national phase entry of International patent application Serial No. PCT/EP2021/087134, filed Dec. 21, 2021, and published in English, and claims priority from European application no. 20217452.0 filed on Dec. 28, 2020. BACKGROUND The invention relates to a roof system for a vehicle including a sunshade assembly, which comprises a flexible sunscreen having opposed longitudinal edges and opposed transversal edges; a winding shaft carrying a rotatable winding roller configured for winding and unwinding the sunscreen at a first one of its transversal edges, the winding roller being provided with an internal spring connected between the winding roller and the winding shaft and being preloaded to wind the sunscreen thereon; an operating beam connected to the second one of the transversal edges of the sunscreen; two drive parts extending along and capable of a movement parallel to the longitudinal edges of the sunscreen, wherein the drive parts are driven by a corresponding drive and are connected to opposite ends of the operating beam for moving it to wind and unwind the sunscreen. In the design and manufacture of vehicle roof assemblies much effort is taken to reduce noises caused by the roof system as a result of operating movements. One of the noise sources is an electric motor drive. In the case of motor driven sunshade assemblies in which a flexible sunscreen is wound onto and off the winding roller the noise made by the electric motor varies as a result of the increasing counterforce by the spring in the winding roller. This spring force increases when the sunscreen is unwound, and the spring is loaded as a result. Attempts have been made to reduce this increase of the spring counterforce, and one way to accomplish this, is by allowing the motor shaft to move along with the winding roller. WO 96/01191 discloses a vehicle sunshade assembly in which the winding shaft is provided on both ends with a gearwheel and the driving cables driving the operating beam are extended to engage the gearwheels on the winding shaft. Thus, if the operating beam is driven, the winding roller is rotated by the winding or unwinding sunscreen and the winding shaft is rotated by the gearwheels. If the operating beam is driven with a constant speed, the winding shaft rotates with a constant speed as well, however the rotation of the winding roller increases or decreases due to the sunscreen wound on or off the winding roller which increases or decreases the winding diameter. Thus, if the sunscreen is being unwound from the winding roller, its diameter decreases and therefore the rotational speed of the winding roller increases. This means that the spring force is slightly increased during unwinding, but much less than with a spring that is connected between the winding roller and a stationary part. A slight increase is favorable as a higher force is needed when the sunscreen is fully unwound than when the sunscreen is only slightly unwound. A disadvantage of this prior art roof system is that the additional gearwheels and extended drive cables increase the cost thereof. SUMMARY A roof system comprises a rotatable drive member positioned at only one end of and concentrically fixed to the winding shaft and being drivably in engagement with one of the drive parts, such that a displacement of said one of the drive parts results in a rotation of the winding shaft in the same direction as the winding roller. Due to the invention, the additional cost is reduced by driving the winding shaft by means of one gearwheel fixed to only one end of the winding shaft. It has been a paradigm in the roof system manufacture that drives in a sunshade assembly must always be symmetrical to avoid the sunscreen being pulled out of alignment. It has been surprisingly found that a one-sided drive for the winding shaft does not cause such problem. Although a one-sided drive for a winding shaft is known from DE 10 2007 012 259 A1, this sunscreen is intended for a vehicle window where only one guide and therefore only a one-sided drive of the winding shaft is possible. Also, the operating beam is driven by one drive part contrary to the present invention in which the operating beam is driven at both ends and the winding shaft at one end. In the design of roof systems it has always been the belief that the external drive of all parts in the sunshade assembly should be symmetrical with respect to a longitudinal centerline but is has turned out that this is not necessary, at least not for the winding shaft. In one embodiment, the spring is a torsion spring provided around the winding shaft and fixed with one end to the winding shaft and with the opposite end to the winding roller. For example, a spring fixator is clamped within the winding roller and is fixed to said opposite end of the torsion spring. In a convenient embodiment, the drive parts are flexible drive cables having an outer t