Soft front cockpit cover

Abstract

A soft panel top assembly for a vehicle in sealing engagement with a hard top portion of a roof. The soft panel top assembly has a fixed portion attached to the vehicle and a lightweight pivotal portion that folds back to provide a quick and easy open air effect. Two door rails of the soft panel top assembly are connected to the vehicle. Two side rail linkage assemblies are attached to the header, which is secured to a windshield frame when in a closed position, and are connected at pivot points created with a bracket attached to the door rails to allow the pivotal portion to pivot to an open position. The soft panel top assembly includes a rear header that is lightweight and has a sealing arrangement that engages with the hard top roof portion and existing seal of the hard top roof portion to provide a weatherproof seal.

1 . A soft panel top assembly adapted for a vehicle having a windshield frame with side members extending therefrom and a cross member operably connecting the side members adjacent to the rear of a front cockpit of the vehicle, the soft panel top assembly comprising:
 a pivotable portion adapted to operably pivotally connect to the vehicle adjacent a roof top opening of the vehicle, said pivotable portion also operably adapted to selectively connect to the windshield frame, wherein pivoting the pivotable portion allows a cover operably connected to the pivotable portion to move between a closed position covering the roof top opening and an open position substantially uncovering the roof top opening;   a rear header assembly operably connected to said cover and adapted to operably connect to the vehicle adjacent to the roof top opening, said rear header assembly operably adapted for sealing engagement with a hardtop roof portion of the vehicle to achieve a weather tight seal.   
     
     
         2 . The soft panel top assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the rear header assembly includes at least one rear header seal that is pressed between the hard top roof portion and the rear header assembly. 
     
     
         3 . The soft panel top assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the rear header assembly includes at least one rear header seal, and wherein when the rear header assembly is installed onto the vehicle, an at least one hard top seal comes into contact with and pushes the at least one rear header seal upward between a surface of the rear header assembly and an adjacent surface of the hard top roof portion. 
     
     
         4 . The soft panel top assembly of  claim 2 , wherein the at least one rear header seal is selected from the group consisting of open cell foam, a closed cell foam material, ethylene propylene diene monomer, thermoplastic elastomers, thermoplastic vulcanizate a foam rubber, an extruded rubber, a formed/molded rubber mucket, a silicone material, and combinations thereof. 
     
     
         5 . The soft panel top assembly of  claim 3 , wherein the at least one rear header seal is a closed cell foam and less stiff than the at least one hard top seal. 
     
     
         6 . The soft panel top assembly of  claim 1 , further comprising at least one seal operably connected to the rear header assembly, said at least one seal comprising a continuous strip generally following the contour of the rear header assembly to provide a weather resistant seal with the vehicle. 
     
     
         7 . The soft panel top assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the rear header assembly further comprises:
 at least one upper rear header;   at least one retainer operably connected to the cover and to the upper rear header;   at least one rear header seal having an attachment portion and a sealing portion, said sealing portion being bulbous;   at least one binding retainer operably connected to the at least one retainer and to the attachment portion of the at least one rear header seal such that the at least one retainer and the attachment portion are sandwiched together operable to retain the at least one rear seal;   wherein the at least one binding retainer, attachment portion and binding retainer are sewn together, bonded, and/or adhered together; and   wherein said sealing portion is located substantially between the binding retainer and the hard top roof portion and in contact with the at least one hard top to provide the weather tight seal.   
     
     
         8 . The soft panel top assembly of  claim 7 , wherein the rear header assembly is additionally in sealing engagement with at least one other of the hard top portion to provide a weather tight seal. 
     
     
         9 . The soft panel top assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the rear header assembly includes a rear header portion comprising a single molded piece or a plurality of molded pieces operably connected together. 
     
     
         10 . The soft panel top assembly of  claim 9 , wherein the plurality of molded pieces is three to five pieces operably connected together by a plurality of fasteners, and/or bonded, and/or with adhesive. 
     
     
         11 . The soft panel top assembly of  claim 9 , wherein the plurality of molded pieces is three molded pieces operably connected together by at least one fastener, bonded and/or with adhesive. 
     
     
         12 . The soft panel top assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the pivotable portion further comprises two side rail linkage assemblies adapted to provide the pivotable connection and allow the cover to move between the closed position and the open position. 
     
     
         13 . The soft panel top assembly of  claim 12 , further comprising at least one bracket, wherein the at least one bracket is connected to two door rails or the side members at opposing sides of the roof top opening to provide at least one pivot point on each of the two door rails for said pivotable portion. 
     
     
         14 . The soft panel top assembly of  claim 12 , wherein the pivotable portion further comprises:
 a first fabric management bow operably connected between the side rail linkage assemblies of the pivotable portion and to the cover to manage fabric of the cover during movement of the cover between the open and closed positions and to minimize fabric movement when the soft panel top assembly is in the closed position; and   a second fabric management bow operably connected to at least minimize fabric movement when the soft panel top assembly is in the closed position.   
     
     
         15 . The soft panel top assembly of  claim 12 , wherein the side rail linkage assemblies each further comprise:
 a first link connected to a front header, said first link also pivotably connected to one of said brackets at a pivot point on the bracket, said first link pivotable about the pivot point;   a second link pivotably connected to the bracket at a rearward pivot point on the bracket, said third link pivotable about the rearward pivot point;   another link pivotably connected to the first link at a third pivot point, said another link also pivotably connected to the second link at a fourth pivot point,   a limiting stop operably connected to one of the links of the side rail linkage assembly, to a door rail, or to the side members to operably set rotation range of the pivotable portion;   wherein the bracket, first link, second link, and another link arrangement coordinates pivotable movement of the pivotable portion between the open and closed positions, and the limiting stop prevents the side rail linkage assemblies from contacting the hard top roof portion to prevent damage.   
     
     
         16 . The soft panel top assembly of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 at least one header seal affixed to each end of a front header of the pivotable portion to provide weather resistant seals.   
     
     
         17 . The soft panel top assembly of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 at least two door rails;   a pair of opposing clamping surfaces provided on each of the two door rails to attach a first area of each door rail to the vehicle adjacent the roof top opening; and   a clamping surface provided on each of the two door rails to attach a second area of each door rail to the vehicle adjacent the roof top opening.   
     
     
         18 . A soft panel top assembly adapted for connecting to a vehicle, comprising:
 a pivotable portion including two side rail linkage assemblies adapted to pivotally connect to the vehicle adjacent to a roof top opening, said pivotable portion adapted to selectively connect to the vehicle adjacent said roof top opening when said pivotable portion is in a closed position, wherein pivoting the two side rail linkage assemblies allows the pivotable portion to move between the closed position and an open position;   a rear header assembly in sealing engagement with a hard top roof portion to provide a weather tight seal, said rear header assembly comprising a plurality of molded pieces operably connected together;   a rear header seal operably coupled to the rear header assembly adapted to provide the weather tight seal, said rear header assembly adapted to operably compress another seal on the hard top portion to further provide a weather tight seal; and   a tertiary seal operably connected on the rear header assembly to provide a back-up weather tight seal.   
     
     
         19 . (canceled) 
     
     
         20 . A soft panel top assembly adapted for connecting to a vehicle having a windshield frame with side members extending therefrom and a cross member operably connecting the side members adjacent to the rear of a front cockpit of the vehicle, the soft panel top assembly comprising:
 two door rails adapted to attached to the side members of the vehicle, each door rail including a sealing surface operable to allow a weather resistant seal with the front door assemblies of the vehicle;   a pivotable portion pivotally connected to the at least two door rails, wherein pivoting the pivotable portion allows the pivotable portion to move between a closed position and an open position;   a rear header assembly operably adapted to couple to the side members and the cross member, said rear header assembly including a sealing arrangement adapted for operable sealing engagement with a hardtop roof portion of the vehicle to provide a weather tight seal, wherein said sealing arrangement has at least one seal, wherein the rear header assembly includes a plurality of lightweight molded pieces operably connected together and has rear geometry which is adapted to at least partially follow the contour of the hardtop roof portion adapted for the sealing engagement with the hard top portion.