Motor vehicle roof arrangement of the type interchangeably driveable by both motor and crank drives

Claim 1

In a motor vehicle roof arrangement of the type having a cover that is displaceable into and out of a position closing an opening in the roof through interchangeable use of one of both an electric motor and a crank drive, in conjunction with at least one incompressible driving cable and a pinion that engages in the driving cable and is arranged essentially on a center longitudinal axis of the motor vehicle roof in the vicinity of a front edge of the roof opening, the electric motor being flanged to a gear housing containing an intermediate drive so as to form a motor drive unit, the improvement for maximizing the number of parts used with both the electric motor and the crank drive, wherein the pinion is provided with a pinion shaft having gear elements at a portion thereof displaced from said pinion for interchangeably detachably engaging gear elements of a secondary drive wheel of the intermediate drive of the motor drive unit and correspondingly configured gear elements of the crank drive, said gear elements of the pinion shaft are formed by external serrations of a gear wheel at one end of the pinion shaft, the gear elements of the secondary drive wheel are internal serrations, and the hand crank has internal serrations corresponding to the internal serrations of the secondary drive wheel, wherein the internal serrations of the secondary drive wheel are formed within an annular projection that is supported within said gear housing at a side that faces toward the pinion, by way of a bearing bushing, and said secondary drive wheel is supported within said gear housing, at an opposite side that faces away from the pinion, by way of a second bearing bushing which receives a secondary drive shaft that projects from said opposite side.