Resilient Initialization Stop for Sliding Roof Guide Rail
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle roof systems with notches in guide rails for initializing the movement of the cover element are prone to damage and pose a risk of injury, as frequent abutment can lead to high loading and potential breakage, compromising positional accuracy and safety.
Innovation Solution
The integration of resilient initialization stops formed by stop fingers or counter-stops within the guide rail cutouts, which interact with the edge of the cutout to prevent damage and injury, allowing for cost-effective production and integration into existing systems without additional installation space.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a notch is formed in the guide rail to serve as an initialization stop, then the drive carriage can be initialized at a precise position, but the guide rail and drive carriage are subjected to high loading and potential damage during frequent abutment
Solution Approach 1:
A resilient stop finger is introduced as an intermediary element between the drive carriage and the guide rail cutout. The stop finger absorbs the impact during initialization by elastically deforming, preventing direct high-load contact between the rigid drive carriage and the guide rail structure, thereby protecting the guide rail from damage while maintaining positioning accuracy
Solution Approach 2:
The stop finger is designed with resilient properties (elasticity), changing the mechanical parameter of rigidity to flexibility in the initialization stop. This allows the stop to deform elastically under load and return to its original position, enabling repeated initialization cycles without permanent damage to the guide rail
2Measurement precision
If a notch is formed in the guide rail for initialization, then the drive carriage can be properly initialized, but the raised tab in the notch constitutes a risk of injury to users or fitters
Solution Approach 1:
The stop finger acts as a mediator that provides the necessary initialization function without creating a protruding hazard. By transferring the stop function from a fixed raised tab in the guide rail to a movable resilient finger on the drive carriage, the harmful protruding element is eliminated while maintaining the initialization capability
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of having the guide rail provide the stop (creating a raised tab), the invention inverts the arrangement by having the drive carriage provide the stop through the stop finger. This inversion removes the harmful protruding element from the guide rail structure that users or fitters could encounter
3Reliability
If an initialization stop is formed on the drive carriage to interact with the guide rail cutout, then damage to the guide rail is prevented, but additional manufacturing complexity is introduced
Solution Approach 1:
The stop finger is integrated into the existing cable attachment element of the drive carriage, merging the initialization stop function with an existing structural component. This eliminates the need for separate initialization stop parts and reduces manufacturing complexity while still providing the protective resilient stop function
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution ensures a safe and accurate initialization of the cover element movement, preventing damage to the guide rail and reducing the risk of injury, while maintaining positional accuracy and compatibility with existing control mechanisms.
Implementation Method 1
the initialization stops are designed to be resilient
Data Source
AI summary
What is proposed is a vehicle roof which has a cover element which can be used to selectively close or at least partially expose a roof opening and which, with respect to a vertical vehicle longitudinal center plane, has a control mechanism for the cover element on each of the two sides, said control mechanism comprising a drive carriage which can be moved in a respective roof-mounted guide rail and controls a pivoting and/or displacement of the cover element, wherein the drive carriages are each connected to a pressure-resistant drive cable which can be driven by means of a drive motor. At least one of the control mechanisms has an initialization stop which, in a front or a rear end position of the cover element, engages in a corresponding guide rail cutout whose edge forms a counter-stop for the initialization stop.