1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to arrangemens for forming vehicle bodies, and more particularly, is directed to an improvement in an arrangement for forming partially a vehicle body of the cabriolet type.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There has been previously proposed a vehicle with a body of the cabriolet type provided with a folding top which is folded up to make an open room in the body as occasion demands as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,516,803, issued on 14 May 1985.
In such a vehicle with the cabriolet type body having an open space above a room portion, there is generally a disadvantage that the body is apt to be insufficient in structural stability, especially at portions around a front windshield, side panel portions and a floor portion thereof. Accordingly, in the case of the cabriolet type body, side sills disposed respectively at both of the right and left sides of a floor panel and cross members elongating in the direction of the width of the body or the like are positioned to be higher than those in vehicles with bodies of other types, for the purpose of reinforcing especially the portions around the front windshield, the side panel portions and the floor portion. However, in actual, it is quite difficult to reinforce the cabriolet type body sufficiently by shifting the positions of the side sills and the cross members or the like.
There is another problem in relation to a safety belt in the previously proposed vehicle with the cabriole type body. That is, it is usual in a vehicle with an ordinary closed body that each of safety belts for a driver's seat and a navigator's seat respectively is provided with its one end attached to an upper portion of a right or left center pillar adjacent to a right or left roofing side member. While, in the case of the previously proposed vehicle with the cabriolet type body, a top of a center pillar is restricted to be low and therefore there is no appropriate portion to which one end of the safety belt is desirably attached.
A further problem arises in connection with ventilation in the previously proposed vehicle with the cabriolet type body. Air conditioning is also desired for a vehicle with a cabriolet type body, particularly, in the condition in which the room is covered with the folding top, and it is generally required for an effective air conditioning in a vehicle to make downward air flow from upside in a room of the vehicle. However, the previously proposed vehicle with the cabriolet type body does not have any portion nor any member usable for supporting an air duct for making downward air flow in the room, and consequently the effective air conditioning is not carried out in the room of the previously proposed vehicle with the cabriolet type body.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds