Opening roofs for vehicles

Claim 2

An opening roof for a vehicle having a roof provided with an opening comprising a frame for surrounding said opening and including spaced side members and spaced end members, and a panel assembly co-operating with said frame and movable with respect to said frame to expose portions of said opening for ventilation purposes, wherein said frame includes a flange adapted to overlie a portion of said roof surrounding said opening, said flange having an inner edge and a web depending from said inner edge of said flange and having an outer face, a lower end, and being provided with openings, and clamping means are provided to clamp said flange against said roof, said clamping means comprising a separate resilient clamping strip extending along each of said side members and along each of said end members of said frame, each of said clamping strips including a generally flat base which is clamped against said outer face of said web and an integral clamping tongue which is inclined to said base at an obtuse angle and projects from one edge of said base to engage with a face of said roof remote from said flange, and screws which project through said openings in said webs to urge said flat base into engagement with said web and said flange into engagement with said roof.

Claim 3

A roof as claimed in claim 1, including four corner clamping strips which span corners of the frame between adjacent ends of said side members and said end members of said frame.

Claim 4

A roof as claimed in claim 1, wherein said clamping strips are relatively short in length and a plurality of said strips are disposed at spaced intervals around said end members and said side members of said frame.

Claim 5

A roof as claimed in claim 1, wherein said frame includes a second flange which projects inwardly from said lower end of said web, and a sealing strip for said panel which is secured to said second flange also covers said web so that heads of said screws are hidden from view.

Claim 6

An opening roof for a vehicle having a roof provided with an opening comprising a frame for surrounding said opening and including spaced side members and spaced end members, and a panel assembly co-operating with said frame and movable with respect to said frame to expose portions of said opening for ventilation purposes, wherein said frame includes a flange adapted to overlie a portion of said roof surrounding said opening, said flange having an inner edge and a web depending from said inner edge of said flange and having an outer face, a lower end, and being provided with openings, and clamping means are provided to clamp said flange against said roof, said clamping means comprising a separate resilient clamping strip extending along each of said side members and along each of said end members of said frame and a face of said roof remote from said flange, screws which project through said openings in said webs to urge said strips into engagement with said webs and said flange into engagement with said roof and a nut for each of said screws, each of said clamping strips including a generally flat base which is clamped against said outer face of said web, an integral clamping tongue which is inclined to said base at an obtuse angle and projects from one edge of said base to engage with a face of said roof remote from said flange, and a lip inclined away from the opposite edge of said base to form an anchorage for holding at least one of said nuts against rotation.

Claim 7

An opening roof for a vehicle having a roof provided with an opening comprising a frame for surrounding said opening and including spaced side members and spaced end members, and a panel assembly co-operating with said frame and movable with respect to said frame to expose portions of said opening for ventilation purposes, wherein said frame includes a flange adapted to overlie a portion of said roof surrounding said opening, said flange having an inner edge and a web depending from said inner edge of said flange and having an outer face, a lower end, and being provided with openings, and clamping means are provided to clamp said flange against said roof, said clamping means comprising a separate resilient clamping strip extending along each of said side members and along each of said end members of said frame and a face of said roof remote from said flange, screws which project through said openings in said webs to urge said strips into engagement with said webs and said flange into engagement with said roof and a nut for each of said screws, each of said clamping strips including a generally flat base which is clamped against said outer face of said web, an integral clamping tongue which is inclined to said base at an obtuse angle and projects from one edge of said base to engage with a face of said roof remote from said flange, and a lip inclined away from the opposite edge of said base to form an anchorage for holding at least one of said nuts against rotation.

Claim 8

A roof as claimed in claim 5, wherein said nut is of the sheet-metal self-tapped type.

Claim 9

A roof as claimed in claim 5, including four corner clamping strips which span corners of the frame between adjacent ends of said side members and said end members of said frame.

Claim 10

A roof as claimed in claim 5, wherein said clamping strips are relatively short in length and a plurality of said strips are disposed at spaced intervals around said end members and said side members of said frame.

Claim 11

A roof as claimed in claim 5, wherein said frame includes a second flange which projects inwardly from said lower end of said web, and a sealing strip for said panel which is secured to said second flange also covers said web so that heads of said screws are hidden from view.