JPH11115639A - Roof rail for automobile - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a roof rail for an automobile, which is excellent in drainage properties, and excellent in appearance. SOLUTION: This device is concerned with a roof rail for an automobile, which is provided with a hollow rail main body 1, and with a supporting leg which is connected with the end part of the rail main body 1 so as to allow the rail main body 1 to be fixed to the roof panel of the automobile, the supporting leg 2 is provided with an insertion projected part 3 to be inserted so as to be fixed to the end part of the rail main body 1, and a water channel 4 is formed in an abutting boundary surface between the rail main body 1 and the insertion projected part 3 where the water channel 4 drains water contained in the rail main body 1 to the outside part of the rail main body 1 out of an abutting part located between the rail main body 1 and the base end part of the insertion projected part 3.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automobile roof rail.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-156152 proposes a roof rail for an automobile fixed to a roof panel of the automobile. In this conventional example, as shown in FIG. 6A, a roof rail comprises a pair of support legs 2, 2 fixed to a roof panel (not shown), and a hollow gallery rod (rail main body) bridged between the support legs 2, 2. 1), the rail body 1 is connected to the support leg 2 by externally fitting the hollow portion 10 to the insertion projection 3 protruding toward the support leg 2 side. A bush 6 made of a synthetic resin is interposed between the support leg 2 and the inner peripheral wall surface of the rail main body 1 at the connection portion to prevent wobble at the connection portion.

[0003]

However, the above-mentioned prior art has the following disadvantages. That is, since the rail main body 1 and the insertion projection 3 of the support leg 2 are hermetically connected, if water once enters the hollow portion 10 of the rail main body 1, there is no escape route, and the rail main body 1 is connected. It may cause corrosion from the inner peripheral wall. When the roof rail for an automobile adopts a configuration in which both ends of the rail main body 1 are supported only by the support legs 2, the chance of water intrusion into the rail main body 1 is relatively small. In the case where the intermediate portion is fixed to the intermediate support leg, the chance of water intrusion from the connection portion between the intermediate support leg and the rail main body 1 increases.

[0004] As a general solution in such a case, a waterproof portion is provided to a connection portion between the intermediate support leg and the rail main body 1 or, as shown in FIG. Opening the drain hole 11 is an example.
The former method unnecessarily complicates the configuration of the connecting portion, and increases the manufacturing cost. On the other hand, the latter method can be realized only by adding a drilling process to the rail main body 1, so that it is relatively easy to carry out, but not only is it difficult to perform drilling but also has the following disadvantages. Let me do it. That is, the drain hole 11 is meaningless unless it is provided so as to avoid the insertion area of the insertion protrusion 3 of the support leg 2 and, as shown in FIG.
The appearance is bad because a is exposed to the outside. On the other hand, FIG.
As shown in (b), if the distance from the tip of the insertion projection 3 is large, the water retention area 7 is formed, and the drainage property is deteriorated. Therefore, the installation position of the drain hole 11 needs to be managed. And the man-hours for management increase. In addition, the drainage hole 11 is not only unsightly because it is open to the outside, but also serves as an inlet for water into the rail body 1 at the time of car washing or the like.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks and to provide a roof rail for automobiles having good drainage and good appearance.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, there is provided a hollow rail body and a support leg connected to an end of the rail body and fixing the rail body to a roof panel of an automobile. And a roof rail for an automobile having
The support leg 2 has an insertion protrusion 3 that is inserted and fixed to an end of the rail main body 1, and water in the rail main body 1 is provided at a contact interface between the rail main body 1 and the insertion protrusion 3. This is achieved by providing a roof rail for an automobile in which a water guide channel 4 for discharging the rail from the abutting portion between the base 1 and the insertion protrusion 3 to the outside of the rail body 1 is formed.

In the present invention, a water conduit 4 is provided at the contact interface between the insertion projection 3 of the support leg 2 and the rail main body 1, and water that has entered the rail main body 1 passes through the water main conduit 4 and is passed through the rail main body 1. It is discharged out of the rail main body 1 from the abutting portion between the rail and the base end of the insertion projection 3. The water conduit 4 can be formed by providing a concave groove in one or both of the insertion protrusion 3 and the inner wall of the rail main body 1, and guides to the abutting portion between the rail main body 1 and the base end of the insertion protrusion 3. Therefore, it is formed over the entire length of the contact interface. When the insertion protrusion 3 and the rail main body 1 are directly fixed without interposing an intervening body such as a bush 6 described later, if the groove is provided on the rail main body 1 side, the water conduit 4 can be formed.
The bottom wall of the rail body 1 is lower than the bottom wall of the rail main body 1, so that there is an advantage that the drainage becomes good. On the other hand, the insertion protrusion 3
In the case of forming on the side, since the support leg 2 is generally formed by injection molding, the concave groove can be formed by a molding die, and post-processing is not required. When the bush 6 is interposed between the insertion protrusion 3 and the rail main body 1, a concave groove is provided at the contact interface of the bush 6 with the rail main body 1, or as shown in FIG. The water conduit 4 can be easily formed simply by forming the opening 60 continuous in the longitudinal direction. The discharge port 8 communicating with the water channel 4 is provided at the base end of the insertion projection 3 and the rail body 1.
It can be easily formed by cutting out one or both of the abutting portions with the end surfaces of the insertion protruding portions 3.
If the side is cut out, the notch can be formed by a molding die, so that post-processing becomes unnecessary.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the rail body 1
Even if water invades the inside, the water is quickly discharged to the outside through the water channel 4, so that the corrosion of the rail body 1 can be prevented. As a result, as shown in FIG. 2, for example, even when the intermediate support leg 9 is disposed at the intermediate portion, it is not necessary to perform a waterproof process on the connecting portion between the intermediate support leg 9 and the rail body 1. Further, since the outlet 8 to the outside is located at the end of the rail main body 1, the water stagnation area 7 is not formed, and the drainage is excellent. Furthermore, since the discharge port 8 is located at the base end of the insertion protrusion 3 which is a parting line between the support leg 2 and the rail main body 1 and the abutment of the rail main body 1 in appearance, the discharge port 8 is designed. There is little discomfort, it is not noticeable and does not impair the overall beauty. In addition, even if water is applied to the outlet 8 during car washing, the water passage 4 is inserted in a direction substantially perpendicular to the direction of water entry, so that it functions as a resistance path for water to enter, A large amount of water does not enter the inside of the rail body 1.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS As shown in FIG. 2, a roof rail for an automobile has a rail body 1, supporting legs 2, 2 fixed to both ends of the rail body 1, and an intermediate part fixed to an intermediate portion of the rail body 1. The supporting leg 9 includes a supporting leg 2 and an intermediate supporting leg 9.
Is fixedly mounted on the roof panel 5 of the automobile. The rail main body 1 is formed in a hollow pipe shape with a substantially flat bottom wall portion 12 facing downward while being fixed to the roof panel 5 (see FIG. 1B).

As shown in FIG. 3, the intermediate support leg 9 has a main body 90 formed of a material having sufficient strength such as aluminum die-cast, and a fixing piece 9 for fixing to the roof panel 5.
2 and a cover 91 made of synthetic resin and attached to the main body 90 so as to cover the cover 2. As shown in FIG. 5, the rail main body 1 has a bottom wall 12 having a rail support surface 90 a of the main body 90.
The work hole 13 is screwed and fixed above, and the working hole 13 opened in the rail main body 1 for screwing is closed by a cap member 14. In FIG. 5, reference numeral 93 denotes a packing interposed between the roof panel 5 and the intermediate support leg 9.

As shown in FIG. 3, the support leg 2 has a main body 20 formed of a material having sufficient strength such as aluminum die-cast, and a fixing piece 22 for fixing to the roof panel 5.
And a synthetic resin cover 21 attached to the main body 20 so as to cover the main body 20. As shown in FIG.
The cover 21 and the cover 21 form an abutment surface 30 on the entire periphery of the end portion in a connected state, and a U-shaped notch 80 is formed in a region facing downward when fixed to the roof panel 5. Further, the support leg 2 includes an insertion protrusion 3 that protrudes further forward from the abutment surface 30. The insertion projection 3 is formed by an insertion portion 81 integrally projecting from the main body 20 and an insertion piece 82 integrally projecting from the cover 21.

In order to prevent wobbling when the insertion projection 3 is inserted from the end of the rail body 1, the insertion projection 3 is covered with a bush 6. The bush 6 is formed of a synthetic resin material, and has a cylindrical portion 61 having an outer shape that can be pressed into the hollow portion 10 of the rail main body 1 and an inner shape that can be fitted to the insertion portion 81 and the insertion piece 82. The cylindrical portion 61 has a flange 62 at one end and a closed wall 63 at the other end, and is formed in a bottomed cylindrical shape with an opening at a wall surface corresponding to the bottom wall portion 12 of the rail body 1. 60 are established. The opening 60 penetrates the inner peripheral wall of the flange 62 and the closing wall 63 and is formed over the entire length of the cylindrical portion 61 in the longitudinal direction.

FIG. 1 shows details of a connecting portion between the support leg 2 and the rail main body 1. The support leg 2 and the rail body 1 are the rail body 1
Is fixed by a screw 83 that penetrates through the bottom wall portion 12 and is screwed into an insertion portion 81 formed in the main body portion 20 of the support leg 2.
By screwing the fixing screw 83 from below, the screw 8
The head of No. 3 is less noticeable and helps to improve the appearance. A contact seating surface 20a is bulged in the main body portion 20 which is brought into the bottom wall portion 12 side of the rail main body 1 by the screw 83, and presses against the rail main body 1 in a screw tightened state. By creating a metal contact state between the rail main body 1 and the rail main body 1 via the contact seating surface 20a, the wobble between the rail main body 1 and the support leg 2 due to the elasticity of the bush 6 can be prevented. That is, if the elastic bush 6 is interposed throughout the boundary between the rail body 1 and the support leg 2, when a bending force is applied to the connecting portion between the rail body 1 and the support leg 2. Although the two are easily displaced relative to each other due to the elasticity of the bush 6, the metal contact portion cooperates with the flange 62 of the bush 6 to function as a resistance element against the relative displacement, thereby preventing bending. Due to the presence of the contact seating surface 20a and the wall corresponding to the bottom wall of the bush 6, an appropriate space is formed between the support leg 2 and the inner wall surface of the rail body 1, and the water passage 4 is formed by the opening 60 of the bush 6. It is formed. The contact seat surface 20a is made smaller than the width dimension W of the opening 60 of the bush 6 so that the water conduit 4 is not closed by the contact seat surface 20a. The flange 6 of the bush 6
The cutout 80 formed in the main body portion 20 of the support leg 2 by the contact of the abutment surface 30 with the abutment surface 30 becomes the rectangular discharge port 8 having the flange 62 as one side, and the inner space of the rail main body 1 includes the water conduit 4 and the drainage channel. It communicates with the outside of the rail body 1 through the outlet 8.

Therefore, in this embodiment, for example, when water enters the rail main body 1 from the connecting portion between the intermediate support leg 9 and the rail main body 1, the water immediately flows from the discharge port 8 via the water conduit 4. Is discharged. In this embodiment, the water guide channel 4 and the discharge port 8 are formed on the support legs 2 fixed to both ends of the rail main body 1. However, when one is disposed at a lower position than the other, , May be provided only on one support leg 2.

[0015]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, it is possible to reliably drain the water in the rail main body without deteriorating the beauty.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view showing a main part of the present invention.
FIG. 2B is a partial cross-sectional view taken along line 1B-1B of FIG.

FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of an automobile roof rail according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a fixed state of the rail main body to the intermediate support leg.

FIGS. 6A and 6B are cross-sectional views showing a connecting portion between a rail main body and a support leg, wherein FIG. 6A is a view showing a conventional example, and FIGS.

[Description of sign]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Rail main body 2 Support leg 3 Insertion protrusion 4 Headrace 5 Roof panel

Claims (1)

[Claims] An automotive roof rail having a hollow rail body and a support leg connected to an end of the rail body and fixing the rail body to a roof panel of the vehicle, wherein the support leg is an end of the rail body. The rail is provided with an insertion projection that is inserted into and fixed to the rail. At the contact interface between the rail main body and the insertion projection, water in the rail main body is drawn from the abutting part between the rail main body and the base end of the insertion projection. A roof rail for automobiles in which a water channel for discharging to the outside of the rail body is formed.