1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to sliding roof mechanisms for automobiles, especially passenger cars, and more particularly to a manually operated crank drive for sliding roofs of automobiles which are openable both upwardly, to serve as a roof vent, and retractable under the rearwardly adjacent stationary roof portion, to serve as a sliding roof panel, or so-called sun roof.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various manually operated two-way openable sliding roofs for automobiles are known from the prior art. Also known is the use of a crank drive for the operation of this type of sliding roof in conjunction with a push-pull type drive cable which is attached to a transverse bridge member connected to the rear edge of the sliding roof panel by means of a lifting linkage, so that the horizontal motion of the bridge member is converted into both a vertical pivoting motion of the sliding roof panel and a retracting motion of the latter, after it has been lowered to a retracting motion of the latter, after it has been lowered to a level below the stationary roof portion to the rear of the sliding roof panel. Such a mechanism is disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,829,155.
In connection with crank drives of the above-mentioned type, it is desirable to be able to swing the crank handle into a scuttled, i.e. partially hidden position, for reasons of convenience and safety of the driver and his passengers, as well as for reasons of appearance and/or in order to block the drive mechanism against movements movements. A special recess is provided for this purpose on the stationary roof structure on which the crank drive is mounted. The crank can be swung into this scuttle recess from below, around a horizontal pivot pin connecting the crank arm to the vertically oriented crank shaft of the drive. The scuttled crank handle locks the crank drive against movements resulting from forces acting on the sliding roof panel, as for example, when wind pressure tends to push the upwardly pivoted panel downwardly, toward its closed position.
A crank drive of this type has the disadvantage that the crank can be swung into its recess only when it is angularly aligned therewith, which means that the roof panel operating mechanism can be locked in only a limited number of intermediate panel positions, namely in one given position for each crank rotation. This requirement is normally not felt as a disadvantage in connection with sliding roofs which are only openable in one mode, namely by retraction under the stationary roof portion, where a considerable number of crank shaft revolutions are necessary for a movement of the panel between its extreme positions. In the case of a two-way openable sliding roof, however, where the roof panel is also pivotable upwardly from its closed position, the angular restriction on the scuttling of the drive crank represents a considerable shortcoming. Since the lifting motion of the roof panel requires only a comparatively short longitudinal motion of the transverse bridge member, as few as two crank turns will produce the entire opening motion. With known crank drives, the crank has to be moved as much as one-half turn, in order to reach the angular position in which it can be scuttled. This means, for instance, that in the case of two crank revolutions for the lifting movement, the panel can be locked in only one intermediate lifted position. An additional crank revolution from this position either fully opens the roof panel, or brings it to its closed position.