JP2008247059A - Frame of sunroof device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a frame of a sunroof device constituted to further extend a guide rail forward without hindering communication of a drain gutter of a front frame with a drain gutter of a side frame. <P>SOLUTION: This frame has a pair of right and left side frames 4 in which the guide rail 11 of a slide panel 3 and a side part drain gutter 12 are integrally molded and the front frame 5 formed with a front part drain gutter 13, mutually connects front ends each other of the side frames 4 by the front frame 5, and opens an end of the side part drain gutter 12 in the front part drain gutter 13. The guide rail 11 is extended on the front part drain gutter 13, a recessed part 16 mounted with a front end of the guide rail 11 is formed at a front edge of the front frame 5, and a holder 17 is interposed between a front end of the guide rail 11 and the recessed part 16. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a frame of a sunroof device having a structure in which drainage grooves of a side frame are communicated with each other by a drainage groove of a front frame.

  As a frame of an automobile sunroof device, there are a guide rail for sliding the slider that supports the slide panel, a holding groove for inserting a push-pull cable that drives the slider, and a drainage groove for discharging rainwater etc. to the outside of the vehicle. Side frames formed by extrusion of aluminum alloy material are extended to the left and right sides of the fixed roof, and the front ends of the left and right side frames are connected to each other by a front frame that extends in the vehicle body width direction. Is known. In this conventional frame structure, drainage grooves are formed in the front frame, and the front ends of the drainage grooves of the left and right side frames are opened in the drainage grooves of the front frame, so that The grooves are communicated with each other (see Patent Document 1).

On the other hand, an outer slide type sunroof device is known that is configured to pull out a slide panel that is tilted up rearward on a fixed roof (see Patent Document 2). In the case of this type of sunroof device, in order to increase the opening area, it is desirable to increase the forward movement limit of the slider that slides on the guide rail.
Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 07-040231 Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 03-096915

  However, to extend the slider movement limit forward, it is necessary to extend the guide rail further forward, but according to the conventional configuration in which the drainage grooves of the left and right side frames are opened into the drainage grooves of the front frame, it is fixed Due to the installation space in the roof, it was difficult to extend the entire side frame forward.

  The present invention has been devised to eliminate such disadvantages of the prior art, and its main purpose is to prevent communication between the drainage grooves of the front frame and the drainage frames of the side frames. It is an object of the present invention to provide a frame for a sunroof device configured so that a guide rail can be extended further forward.

In order to solve such a problem, according to a first aspect of the present invention, the guide rail 11 that supports the slide panel 3 so as to be movable in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body and the outside of the guide rail are extended along the guide rail. A pair of left and right side frames 4 integrally formed with side drain grooves 12 and a front frame 5 formed with front drain grooves 13, and the front ends of the side frames are connected to each other by the front frame; In the frame of the sunroof device in which the side drainage groove end is opened in the front drainage groove, the guide rail is extended on the front drainage groove, and the recess 16 for placing the front end of the guide rail is formed on the front edge of the front frame. The holder 17 as a support member is interposed between the front end of the guide rail and the recess.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, the hollow closed section 18 is integrally formed on the side of the side drainage groove, and the front end surface of the hollow closed section is opened into the front drainage groove.

According to such a configuration of claim 1 of the present invention, the side drainage groove can be opened in the front drainage groove that extends under the guide rail and extends to the outside of the side frame. After securing the communication between the groove and the side drainage groove, the guide rail of the side frame can be extended further forward to enlarge the opening area of the slide panel.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, the hollow closed cross-section for enhancing rigidity can be used as a drainage groove, so that the capacity of the side drainage groove can be increased without increasing the size of the guide rail. it can.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 shows an outline of an automobile roof to which the present invention is applied. A fixed roof 1 of the automobile is formed with an opening 2 having a substantially rectangular shape. The opening 2 is provided with a slide panel 3 made of, for example, plate glass so as to be freely opened and closed.

  A pair of left and right side frames 4 extend along the front-rear direction of the vehicle body so as to support the left and right side ends of the slide panel 3 so as to be movable in the front-rear direction on both left and right sides of the opening 2 of the fixed roof 1. These left and right side frames 4 extend from the portions along the left and right side edges of the opening 2 to the rear part of the fixed roof 1, and appropriate positions of flanges 4 a (FIG. 2) extending to the left and right side edges. Is fixed to a stiffener (not shown) provided on the inner surface of the fixed roof 1 by screwing or the like. The front ends of the left and right side frames 4 are connected to the side ends of the front frame 5 extending in the vehicle body width direction along the front edge of the opening 2 by riveting or the like.

  A driving device 6 using a motor with a speed reducer is disposed at the center in the vehicle width direction on the inner surface of the rear portion of the fixed roof 1. An intermediate portion of the push-pull cable 7 is meshed with the output shaft of the drive device 6 in a rack and pinion manner, and the rotational force of the drive device 6 is converted into the linear movement force of the push-pull cable 7, which is slid An opening / closing driving force is applied to the panel 3.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the side frame 4 includes a slider 8 that supports the slide panel 3 and a guide rail 11 that guides the push-pull cable 7, and a U that opens upward to discharge rainwater and the like to the outside of the vehicle. A side drainage groove 12 made of a letter groove is provided, and is integrally molded by, for example, extrusion of an aluminum alloy material. The guide rail 11 is positioned on the center side in the width direction of the fixed roof 1, and the side drainage groove 12 is positioned on the outer side in the width direction of the fixed roof 1. In addition, the side part drainage groove | channel 12 has started from the position which retracted from the front end of the guide rail 11 back.

  The front frame 5 is formed by pressing a steel plate, and a front drain groove 13 formed of a U-shaped groove whose upper part is open is integrally formed. The front drainage groove 13 is connected to a deep bottom portion 15 that is one step deeper through an inclined surface 14 at both left and right end portions of the front frame 5.

  On the front edge side of the left and right end portions of the front frame 5, a recess 16 whose inner peripheral contour forms an inverted trapezoid is formed. The guide rail 11 of the side frame 4 extends forward across the deep bottom portion 15, and a front end portion whose outer contour forms a rectangle is placed in the recess 16.

  The concave portion 16 and the front end portion of the guide rail 11 are coupled via a holder 17 that is formed by injection molding with, for example, a synthetic resin material and has a shape that complements the gap between the inner surface of the concave portion 16 and the outer surface of the front end portion of the guide rail 11. Yes. A well-known sealant such as butyl rubber is filled between the inner surface of the recess 16 and the outer surface of the holder 17 and between the inner surface of the holder 17 and the outer surface of the guide rail 11. The water in the deep bottom 15 of the frame 5 is prevented from leaking.

  By the way, as shown in FIG. 4, the holder 17 has a flat H-shaped cross section in which the intermediate web 21 is thinned with respect to the thickness of the front and rear ends, and the top surface of the recess 16 and the bottom surface of the guide rail 11 The webs 21 are sandwiched with a gap 22 between them. The web 21 has an appropriate hole 23, and uses a triangular portion lightening hole 24 that closes the left and right gaps between the concave trapezoid 16 having an inverted trapezoidal inner periphery and the guide rail 11 having a rectangular outer contour. When the sealant is injected, the sealant wraps around the gap 22 through the hole 23 described above, thereby ensuring high water tightness between the guide rail 11 and the recess 16.

  The front end of the side drainage groove 12 of the side frame 4 is formed in the deep bottom portion 15 at the left and right side ends of the front drainage groove 12 by cutting away a part of the side frame 4 and opening it rearward from the front end of the guide rail 11. It is open to. In this way, rainwater or the like flowing through the front drainage groove 13 of the front frame 5 passes under the guide rail 11 in the side frame 4 at the deep bottom portion 15, and the deep bottom portion 15 on the outermost end side of the front frame 5. Thus, the side drainage grooves 12 and the front drainage grooves 13 communicate with each other.

  As described above, the front end of the guide rail 11 is further extended forward by straddling the deep bottom 15 connected to the front drain groove 13 of the front frame 5 over the guide rail 11 of the side frame 4. Thus, the side drain grooves 12 and the front drain grooves 13 are communicated with each other.

  In the present embodiment, the hollow closed cross-section portion 18 is integrally formed along the entire length of the side drainage groove 12 outside the side drainage groove 12 in the side frame 4 to increase the rigidity of the side frame 4. ing. The hollow closed cross section 18 is placed on the bottom surface common to the guide rail 11 and the side drain grooves 12, that is, the hollow closed cross section 18 opens to the deep bottom portion 15 together with the side drain grooves 12. . By configuring in this way, the hollow closed cross section 18 formed to increase the rigidity of the side frame 4 can function as a drainage passage, and without increasing the size of the side frame 4, Capacity expansion can be contemplated.

  Rainwater and the like flowing through these drainage grooves are connected to the rear drainage grooves 12 and the rear end of the hollow closed cross-section 18 in the side frame 4 and pass through a drain tube 19 extending to the inside of the rear pillar, and then to the outside of the vehicle. Drained.

It is a schematic plan view of the roof to which the device of the present invention is applied. It is a disassembled perspective view of the connection part of the side frame and front frame by this invention. It is an assembly perspective view of one side of a sunroof frame. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a holder attaching part.

Explanation of symbols

3 Slide panel 4 Side frame 5 Front frame 11 Guide rail 12 Side drain groove 13 Front drain groove 16 Recess 17 Holder 18 Hollow closed cross section

Claims (2)

A pair of left and right side frames in which a slide rail is supported so as to be movable in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body, side drain grooves extending along the guide rail are integrally formed on the outside of the guide rail, and a front portion A frame of a sunroof device having a front frame on which a drainage groove is formed, the front ends of the side frames being connected to each other by the front frame, and the side drainage groove end being opened in the front drainage groove. There,
Extending the guide rail on the front drainage groove,
Forming a recess for placing the front end of the guide rail at the front edge of the front frame;
A frame of a sunroof device, wherein a support member is interposed between a front end of the guide rail and the recess.   2. The sunroof device according to claim 1, wherein a hollow closed cross-section portion is formed integrally with a side of the side drainage groove, and a front end surface of the hollow closed cross-section portion is opened into the front drainage groove. flame.

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