Pivotal soft top cover with secondary bow linked

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11712952-B2
Application number	US-202117375761-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 14, 2021
Priority date	Jul 14, 2020
Publication date	Aug 1, 2023
Grant date	Aug 1, 2023

Abstract

A soft top cover assembly including a pivotal portion adapted for attaching at a roof top opening of a vehicle to selectively close off the roof top opening and open up the roof top opening for an open-air experience. The assembly has a cover attached to a first bow member of the pivotal portion and a rear header. Selectively rotating the pivotal portion covers and uncovers the roof top opening. The assembly has at least one pair of shutface appliques adjacent to the sides of the roof top opening. At least one pair of rear side belt mounts incorporating a belt rail and adapted to connect to the vehicle and operable to attach LH/RH rear side windows.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A folding soft top cover assembly, comprising:
a pivotal portion adapted for attaching at a roof top opening of a vehicle;
a cover connected to the pivotal portion to selectively close off the roof top opening and open up the roof top opening for an open air experience;
at least one pair of shut face appliques adapted to attach at both sides of the roof top opening; and
rear hard corners operably adapted to connect to attachment features adapted to mount at a rear opening of said vehicle.

2. The folding soft top cover assembly of claim 1 , wherein the appliques are adapted to be attached to roll bars of the vehicle.

3. The folding soft top cover assembly of claim 1 , wherein the applique has a sealing groove that the cover engages when in the closed position.

4. The folding soft top cover assembly of claim 1 , wherein the cover includes at least one side edge tensioning feature that lays in a sealing groove of the applique when in the closed position.

5. The folding soft top cover assembly of claim 1 , wherein the cover engages a surface of the applique for a weathertight seal.

6. A folding soft top cover assembly, comprising:
a pivotal portion adapted for attaching at a roof top opening of a vehicle;
a cover connected to the pivotal portion to selectively close off the roof top opening and open up the roof top opening for an open air experience;
at least one pair of shut face appliques adapted to attach at both sides of the roof top opening; and
rear hard corner trim at each rear corner of the vehicle, the rear hard corner trim attaching to a lower mount and rotating upward into an upper mount and securing in place with at least one fastener.

7. The folding soft top cover assembly of claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of additional substantially similar side rail fabric sealing appliques each adapted for attaching to roll bars and that the cover draws into.

8. The folding soft top cover assembly of claim 1 , further comprising quarter trim adapted to attach to the vehicle, the quarter trim including at least one groove to attach a removable rear quarter window.

9. The folding soft top cover assembly of claim 1 , further comprising a connection piece for tensioning fabric to a rear bow and the tension of the fabric holds the fabric into a mount and gives the fabric a tight corner look.

10. The folding soft top cover assembly of claim 1 , further comprising a rear header and a front header, the cover attached to the front header of the pivotal portion and attached to the rear header.

11. The folding soft top cover assembly of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle is a sport utility vehicle.

12. The folding soft top cover assembly of claim 1 , further comprising a free tilting front bow on the soft top cover assembly, the top assembly adapted for securing to the vehicle.

13. The folding soft top cover assembly of claim 1 , further comprising a free tilting front bow that rides in the listing of the cover and tensions the cover over front seats of the vehicle.

14. The folding soft top cover assembly of claim 1 , wherein the pivotal portion further comprises at least one pair of linkage assemblies comprising at least one first link and at least one second link, and an intermediate bow linkage operably rotatably connected to the first and second links.

15. The folding soft top cover assembly of claim 14 , further comprising a second bow that is fixed between the linkage assemblies and does not independently rotate relative to the linkage assemblies.

16. The folding soft top cover assembly of claim 1 , further comprising at least one cross-car bow that pivots during opening and closing of the soft top cover assembly that tensions the top cover in a closed position and then pivots for allowing opening of the top assembly.

17. A folding soft top cover assembly, comprising:
a pivotal portion adapted for attaching at a roof top opening of a vehicle;
a cover connected to the pivotal portion to selectively close off the roof top opening and open up the roof top opening for an open air experience;
at least one pair of shut face appliques adapted to attach at both sides of the roof top opening; and
a pair of rear side belt mounts adapted to rivet to existing holes in an inner fender body frame portion of the vehicle and operable to attach rear side windows.

Assignees

• Bestop Inc

Inventors

• Lewis Stephen J
• Getzschman Eric D
• Junkin Duane C
• Smith David A
• Turney Charles C
• Piec Edward S
• Moore Jonathon G
• Kincaid Brandon
• Hanson Eric J

Classifications

• B60J7/1291 Primary

  Soft tops for closed vehicle bodies · CPC title

• B60J1/1823

  adjustable relative to hard- or soft-top, e.g. pivotable · CPC title

• B60J7/12

  foldable; Tensioning mechanisms therefor, e.g. struts (B60J7/10, {B60J7/20} take precedence) · CPC title

• B60J7/1234

  characterised by arches, e.g. shape or material · CPC title

• B60J7/1265

  characterised by kinematic movements, e.g. using parallelogram linkages (B60J7/126 takes precedence) · CPC title