1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method of mounting a roof assembly into the interior of a vehicle having a fixed roof and an interior roof cover shell. The invention also relates to a roof assembly to be used in this method and to a vehicle comprising such roof assembly.
2. Description of Prior Art
In the past, passenger cars were fitted with a flexible roof cover, which could be used again after a roof assembly was built into the car. However, modern cars have a rigid cover shell which has a predefined shape. This rigid shell allows easy and fast mounting to the fixed roof and has a better sound insulation. Furthermore, it has good head impact absorption properties, so that the car can more easily meet the safety requirements, such as the FMVSS 201 (head impact interior upper).
Due to the rigid roof cover shell, the roof assembly manufacturers were forced to look for another finishing. One of the solutions was the use of a so-called substrate, which is a shell that covers the lower side of the frame of the roof assembly and which also determines the interior opening of the roof assembly and forms the basis for attachment of an additional interior roof cover for finishing the interior. This substrate is generally made from a material having good sound insulating and head impact absorption properties.
When the roof assembly is to be mounted into the vehicle, there is cut an opening in the existing roof cover shell. This opening is slightly larger than the circumference of the roof assembly frame. A separate flexible cover is stretched between the opening in the substrate and the outer circumference of the roof cover shell. This application of the flexible cover is relatively difficult and requires skills from the person mounting the roof assembly, which is a disadvantage since skilled persons are hard to get and expensive.
Another disadvantage of the known roof assembly is that if the roof assembly is serviced during its life cycle, it is difficult to reach the roof assembly and in many occasions, the flexible cover is damaged so that a new flexible cover must be applied.
A further complication is the use of head air bags in passenger cars. These air bags are generally mounted behind the roof cover shell and when these air bags are activated, the edges of the roof cover shell are pushed away. The roof cover shell is specially designed to allow the air bag to inflate, but if an aftermarket roof is mounted to the car, the structure of the roof cover shell is affected due to the opening made therein.
It is an object of the invention to provide a method of mounting a roof assembly, and such roof assembly to remove or reduce one or more of the disadvantages mentioned above.