Two piece roof and mounting for SXS vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10399417-B2
Application number	US-201715845648-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 18, 2017
Priority date	Dec 18, 2017
Publication date	Sep 3, 2019
Grant date	Sep 3, 2019

Abstract

The disclosure provides a roofing system suitable for off-road vehicles. The roofing system includes a front panel that connects to a front, first lateral member of a roll cage of the vehicle and extends rearward over a front passenger seat to a rearward, second lateral member of the roll cage. The roofing system includes a rear panel that overlaps and connects to the front panel at a lateral seam including a channel and a seal between the front panel and the rear panel. The same front panel may be used on multiple models of vehicle. The rear panel may be sized according to the model of the vehicle. When different rear panels are used, each rear panel may include the same features along a front edge for forming a seam with the common front panel.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A roofing system for vehicles, comprising:
a front panel that connects to a front, first lateral member of a roll cage of the vehicle and extends rearward over a front passenger seat to a rearward, second lateral member of the roll cage; and
a rear panel that overlaps and connects to the front panel at a lateral seam including a channel formed in one of the front panel and the rear panel and a seal between the front panel and the rear panel, wherein the front panel and rear panel are coupled to the rearward, second lateral member via a fastener rearward of the lateral seam.

2. The roofing system of claim 1 , wherein the rear panel extends over a second row passenger seat and connects to a third lateral member of the roll cage.

3. The roofing system of claim 2 , wherein the rear panel extends in a triangular shape past the third lateral member.

4. The roofing system of claim 1 , wherein the rear panel extends in a triangular shape past the second lateral member.

5. The roofing system of claim 4 , wherein the rear panel includes at least two openings behind the second lateral member.

6. The roofing system of claim 1 , wherein the channel is formed in the front panel, the rear panel is coupled to the front panel via a fastener through the channel, and the seal is an upward facing seal extending from a top surface of the front panel to a bottom surface of the rear panel.

7. The roofing system of claim 6 , wherein the seal is located rearward of the fastener.

8. The roofing system of claim 7 , further comprising a second seal located at a front edge of the rear panel and contacting a surface of the channel.

9. The roofing system of claim 6 , wherein the seal is located in the channel forward of the fastener.

10. The roofing system of claim 5 , wherein the channel is located along a forward edge of the rear panel and the seal is a wiper seal located along a rear edge of the front panel that contacts a top surface of the channel.

11. The roofing system of claim 5 , wherein the channel is formed by a downward extending spacer flange along a rear edge of the front panel, the front panel and rear panel are coupled via a fastener within the channel in one of the panels, and the seal extends upward from the channel to contact a bottom surface of the rear panel.

12. The roofing system of claim 11 , wherein the fastener includes one or more of: a boss formed in one of the panels, a clip nut, a well nut, a screw, and a bolt.

13. The roofing system of claim 1 , wherein the channel is formed by a flange along a front edge of the rear panel.

14. The roofing system of claim 13 , wherein the seal extends downward from a front edge of the rear panel to contact the channel.

15. The roofing system of claim 13 , wherein the seal extends upward from the channel to contact a bottom surface of the rear panel.

16. A method of manufacturing roofs for vehicles, comprising:
forming a first front panel in an injection molding press using a first mold;
forming a first rear panel in an injection molding press using a second mold;
mounting the first front panel to a roll cage of a first vehicle, wherein the first front panel connects to a front, first lateral member of the roll cage and extends rearward over a front passenger seat to a rearward, second lateral member of the roll cage;
mounting the first rear panel to the roll cage of the first vehicle and to the first front panel, wherein the first rear panel overlaps and connects to the first front panel at a lateral seam including a channel formed in one of the front panel and the rear panel and a seal between the first front panel and the first rear panel, wherein the front panel and rear panel are coupled to the rearward, second lateral member via a fastener rearward of the lateral seam.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising
forming a second front panel in an injection molding press using the first mold;
forming a second rear panel in an injection molding press using a third mold;
mounting the second front panel to a roll cage of a second vehicle;
mounting the second rear panel to the roll cage of the second vehicle and to the second front panel, wherein the second rear panel overlaps and connects to the second front panel at a lateral joint including a channel and a seal between the second front panel and the second rear panel.

18. The method of claim 16 , wherein the first vehicle comprises two side by side seats and the second vehicle comprises four seats arranged in two rows.

19. An off-road vehicle, comprising:
a seating area including at least two seats;
a roll cage extending over the at least two seats;
a front panel that connects to a first front lateral member of the roll cage and extends rearward over the at least two seats to a second lateral member of the roll cage; and
a rear panel that overlaps and connects to the front panel at a lateral joint including a channel formed in one of the front panel and the rear panel and a seal between the front panel and the rear panel, wherein the channel is formed in the front panel, the rear panel is coupled to the front panel via a fastener through the channel, and the seal is an upward facing seal extending from a top surface of the front panel to a bottom surface of the rear panel.

Assignees

• Honda Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Peterson Michael V
• Korte Joseph H
• Borth Jacob O
• Wilson Iii Robert T
• Soncag Mustafa

Classifications

• B60J7/196

  for locking or interconnecting rigid roof panels to each other · CPC title

• B60J7/11 Primary

  Removable panels, e.g. sunroofs · CPC title

• B60J7/0084

  Water draining for non-fixed roofs or roof panels (for fixed roofs not integral with roof structure B60R13/06, for fixed roofs integral with roof structure B62D25/07) · CPC title

• B60Y2200/20

  Off-Road Vehicles · CPC title

• B60R21/13 Primary

  Roll-over protection (electrical circuits for triggering safety arrangements B60R21/01) · CPC title