JPH06320959A - Frame structure of sunroof - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make a sunroof lightweight by fitting and supporting a guide rail for guiding a movable roof on the side of a body via a bracket, and forming a chute to receive water entering via a gap between the movable roof and a opening as a body independent of the guide rail and the bracket. CONSTITUTION:A frame 5 is formed out of a pair of right and left guide rails 6 positioned under a movable roof 4 at both right and left sides, a plurality of brackets 7 fitting and supporting the guide rail 6 on the side of a body, and a chute 8 to receive water entering via a gap between an opening 3 and the movable roof 4. Also, the guide rail 6 is supported on the brackets 7, while the chute 8 is formed as a body independent of the guide rail 6 and the brackets 7, and supported on the brackets 7. According to this construction, a guide rail support member requiring suitable rigidity does not need so much rigidity, and is formed independent of the chute 8 occupying the relatively large portion of the frame 5. Thus, each member of the frame 5 is not required to have more rigidity than necessary, thereby enabling a sunroof to be made lightweight.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sunroof frame structure.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A sunroof mounted on a vehicle is generally provided with a movable roof that closes an opening provided in the vehicle roof. The movable roof is provided below the left and right sides of the movable roof to open and close the movable roof. A pair of left and right guide rails for guiding in the front-rear direction is arranged. Further, a frame is provided below the movable roof for attaching and fixing the guide rail.

The frame is made of a plate material, and an indoor opening corresponding to the opening of the vehicle roof is formed, and the inside of the indoor opening is penetrated from between the movable roof and the opening of the vehicle roof. The trough part which receives the water which forms is formed integrally. The frame is attached and fixed to the vehicle body by an attachment portion integrally formed with the frame or a bracket attached separately.

There is also a sunroof frame in which a guide rail is integrally formed with a gutter and a bracket.

[0005]

The guide rail is
A movable roof and an opening / closing mechanism for the movable roof provided between the movable roof and the guide rail are supported. For this reason,
The member that directly receives the guide rail requires the most rigidity. In any of the former and the latter of the conventional example,
The gutter is integrally formed with the member that directly receives the guide rails. Therefore, although the gutter does not require relatively high strength, it is necessary to match the material and wall thickness to the most rigid part. Further, since the gutter portion is formed corresponding to the peripheral edge of the movable roof and occupies a relatively large proportion of the frame constituent portion, this is considered to be a factor that increases the weight of the sunroof.

Therefore, the object of the present invention is to consider the weight reduction of the sunroof.

[0007]

The technical means taken by the present invention to achieve the above-mentioned object are to guide a movable roof 4 which closes an opening 3 provided in a vehicle roof 1 so as to be opened and closed. The guide rail 6 is provided with a pair of guide rails 6 and a trough portion 8 for receiving water that enters from between the movable roof 4 and the opening 3. The guide rail 6 is supported by a bracket 7 attached to the vehicle body side. The gutter portion 8 is formed separately from the guide rail 6 and the bracket 7 and is supported by the bracket 7.

[0008]

The pair of guide rails that guide the movable roof that closes the opening of the vehicle roof to open and close the vehicle roof is mounted and supported on the vehicle body side by the bracket that directly receives the guide rail.
The frame of the sunroof is constructed by forming the gutter part that receives water entering from between the movable roof and the opening as a separate body from the guide rail and the bracket and supporting the bracket, and the frame with the highest rigidity is required. Since the guide rail supporting member is formed separately from the gutter which occupies a relatively large proportion of the frame component, the gutter does not have an excessive rigidity, and the weight of the sunroof can be reduced.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 3 show a first embodiment, and FIG. 2 shows a plan view of an automobile equipped with a sunroof, in which a vehicle roof 1 is a fixed roof 2 fixed to the vehicle body side,
The fixed roof 2 has a movable roof 4 that opens and closes a rectangular opening 3 formed in the front part of the fixed roof 2, and a U-shaped frame 5 in a plan view is arranged below the vehicle roof 1. There is.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the frame 5 includes a pair of left and right guide rails 6 located below the left and right sides of the movable roof 4, and a plurality of guide rails 6 for mounting and supporting the guide rails 6 on the vehicle body side. It mainly comprises a bracket 7 and a trough portion 8 that receives water entering between the opening 3 and the movable roof 4. The guide rail 6 is made of a lightweight metal material such as aluminum, and is provided with a rail groove 9 that is open upward. Between the rail groove 9 and the movable roof 4, the movable roof 4 is tilted and tilted to the guide rail 6. An opening / closing mechanism (not shown) is provided which is moved along the front-rear direction to open and close.

A support wall 6 is provided inside each guide rail 6.
a is projected inward in the left-right direction in the front-rear direction,
A ceiling interior material forming an indoor ceiling is attached to the projecting end of the support wall 6a via a molding or the like. In addition, the upper part of the outer side of each guide rail 6 is provided with a downwardly open locking groove 6b.
However, a protruding wall 6c that protrudes outward in the left-right direction is provided at the lower portion of the outer portion.
Are respectively provided in the front-rear direction.

The bracket 7 is formed of a lightweight metal plate material such as aluminum, and is overlapped with the lower surfaces of the overhanging wall 6c and the bottom wall 6d of the guide rail 6 and fixed to these through a rivet 10, and a receiving portion 7a. A rising portion 7b that rises from the outer end of the portion 7a and a mounting portion 7c that extends outward from the upper end of the rising portion 7b are provided, and the mounting portion 7c is mounted and fixed to the vehicle body side. Further, the brackets 7 are arranged at three positions in the front and rear and in the middle with respect to the guide rail 6 in the illustrated example, and the front left and right brackets 7 are connected by a front support 11 that supports the front of the gutter 8. In addition, the mounting portion 7c is also provided on the front side.

The trough portion 8 is made of synthetic resin in a U-shape in plan view corresponding to the front edge portion and the left and right side edge portions of the movable roof 4, and has a cross section from the bottom wall 8a and the inner and outer walls 8b and 8c. It is formed in a substantially U shape. The trough portion 8 is disposed and supported on the bracket 7 and the front support 11, and the upper end portions of the inner walls 8b on the left and right sides of the trough portion 8 are engaged with the locking groove 6b of the guide rail 6.

4 to 6 show a second embodiment, in which the guide rail 6 is not provided with the supporting wall 6a and the overhanging wall 6c in the above embodiment, and the left and right side portions of the trough portion 8 are provided. An extension portion 12 is formed integrally with the lower surface of the bottom wall 6d of the guide rail 6 so as to overlap therewith and project inward from the guide rail 6. Further, a cutout 13 is formed in the extension 12 of the gutter 8 so as not to interfere with the receiving portion 7a of the bracket 7, and the outer wall 8c of the gutter 8 is locked to the rising portion 7b of the bracket 7. A locking claw 14 is provided. Others are substantially the same as those in the first embodiment.

This embodiment has an advantage over the first embodiment in that the cross-sectional shape of the groove of the gutter 8 is simpler. A ceiling interior material is attached to the inner end of the extension portion 12 of the trough portion 8. 7 to 9 show a third embodiment, in which the extended portion 12 in the second embodiment is cut off from the rear end portion to the intermediate portion.

10 to 12 show a fourth embodiment. The difference from the first embodiment is that the guide rail 6 is not provided with the overhanging wall 6c, and the left and right side portions of the gutter 8 are shown. The point is that the extending portion 15 is formed integrally with the lower surface of the bottom wall 6d of the guide rail 6 so as to overlap with the outer side in the left-right direction. Further, the portion of the extending portion 25 corresponding to the bracket 7 is cut out so as not to interfere.

13 and 14 show a fifth embodiment, in which a bracket 7 is integrally extended from the bottom of the guide rail 6 in the front-rear direction, and the front of the bracket 7 integral with the guide rail 6 is shown. Separate brackets 7 are fixed to the parts, and the left and right separate brackets 7 are connected by a front support 11. Further, as shown in FIG. 15, the bracket 7 is appropriately provided with a reduction hole 16 for reducing the weight.

16 and 17 show a sixth embodiment, in which the front ends of the left and right guide rails 6 in the first embodiment are integrally connected, and the connecting portion 17 supports the front portion of the gutter portion 8. Therefore, in this embodiment, the front support as shown in the first embodiment is not provided.

[0019]

According to the present invention, the frame of the sunroof comprises a pair of guide rails for guiding the movable roof for closing and opening the opening provided in the vehicle roof, and the movable roof and the opening. It has a gutter that receives water that intrudes from the space, and the guide rail is supported by a bracket that mounts and supports the guide rail on the vehicle body side, and the gutter is formed separately from the guide rail and the bracket and supported by the bracket. The guide rail support member, which is divided into a rigid part and a part that does not require much rigidity, and has the highest rigidity, is a gutter part that does not require much rigidity and has a large proportion of the frame. Since it is a separate body, it is possible to reduce the weight of the sunroof without giving each component of the frame more rigidity than necessary.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of an automobile.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the frame according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a frame according to a second embodiment.

5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB-B in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line C-C in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of a frame according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along the line DD in FIG.

9 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line EE of FIG.

FIG. 10 is a plan view of a frame according to a fourth embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a sectional view taken along the line F-F in FIG.

FIG. 12 is a sectional view taken along the line 10G-G in FIG.

FIG. 13 is a plan view of a frame according to a fifth embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a sectional view taken along line HH of FIG.

FIG. 15 is a perspective view of a bracket in which a reduction hole is formed.

FIG. 16 is a plan view of a frame according to a sixth embodiment.

FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line I-I of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Vehicle roof 3 Opening part 4 Movable roof 6 Guide rail 7 Bracket 8 Gutter

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An opening (3) provided in a vehicle roof (1).
A pair of guide rails (6) for guiding the movable roof (4) to close and close the movable roof (4), and the movable roof (4).
And a gutter part (8) for receiving water entering between the opening part (3) and the guide rail (6) being supported by a bracket (7) for mounting the guide rail on the vehicle body side, and the gutter part. A frame structure of a sunroof characterized in that (8) is formed separately from the guide rail (6) and the bracket (7) and is supported by the bracket (7).