1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a motor vehicle roof with a series of sliding louvers for selectively closing or at least partially exposing a roof opening in fixed roof surface, the louvers abutting one another in the closed position and forming a flat interlocked louver assembly which is guided along guides such that, when the louvers are slid in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, the flat interlocked louver assembly executes a translational movement which causes the louvers of the assembly to be separated one-by-one via a upward swivelling of the individual louvers in an opening direction, or which causes the separated louvers to be re-assembled by swivelling downward of the louvers as the roof is closed, each louver in the closed position, on either side of roof opening, being sealed by means of a hollow chamber sealing element which seals by a sealing surface engaging a louver side edge.
2. Description of Related Art
A motor vehicle roof of the type to which the invention is directed is known, for example, from U.S. Pat. No. 5,335,961. As in a conventional sliding and lifting roof, in this known motor vehicle roof, the sliding louvers are sealed laterally relative to the roof opening. The hollow chamber sealing elements used for this purpose project laterally from the roof opening edge toward the louvers and abut the blunt louver side edge over a large area. While this sealing arrangement ensures the required sealing function, the relatively high seal friction is problematic when using a louver material with greater thermal expansion, for example, aluminum or plastic. In particular, when using a large number of movable louvers, as a result of the large friction surfaces between the sealing elements and the sliding louvers, strong drive forces are necessary. Due to the necessary compensation for play transversely relative to the longitudinal center of the roof opening, between the louver drive mechanism and louvers, there is furthermore the danger of twisting of the louver system due to the greatly limited louver motion transversely to the longitudinal center of the roof opening.
Comparable problems arise in the lifting motor vehicle roof known from German Patent DE 31 43 346 C2 in which, to seal the glass cover in the roof opening, opposite the bordering roof surface, there is a hollow chamber sealing element which projects towards the top of the roof and is squeezed together by the edge of the closed glass cover, such that it has a cross section in a roughly L shape, surrounding the roof cover edge and also the bottom of the roof cover.
Furthermore, a seal arrangement for a motor vehicle roof with a series of sliding louvers using a hollow chamber sealing element is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,421,635. In this known motor vehicle roof, the hollow chamber sealing element is clamped in the louver closing position between the bottom of a roof opening groove and a stepped surface on the edge of the louver, the step surface always remaining under the roof edge in any position of the louver. The aforementioned problems do not arise in the same way in this sealing arrangement, since the louvers there do not emerge upwardly from the roof opening.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds