Land vehicles: bodies and tops – Tops – Roof structure
Reexamination Certificate
2002-12-26
2004-11-09
Pedder, Dennis H. (Department: 3612)
Land vehicles: bodies and tops
Tops
Roof structure
C296S217000, C296S222000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06814402
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the structure of a sunroof provided in a roof portion of a vehicle, particularly to a better appearance thereof when looked from an inside of a passenger compartment.
2. Description of the Related Art
There exists a vehicle having a sunroof provided in a roof portion thereof to be opened and closed. The sunroof is used to get light in and air out of a passenger compartment of the vehicle. The sunroof opened and closed is formed of the same sheet metal as that used for the roof or of glasses. As opening and closing modes of the sunroof there are modes in which only a rear end of the sunroof is tilted upwardly (a tilt-up mode) and in which the sunroof slides rearward to be drawn into the interior of the roof.
In the latter mode in which the sunroof is drawn into the interior of the roof, as shown in
FIG. 9
, a space is formed between a roof (outer) panel
110
and a roof trim (or a roof inner panel) on the passenger compartment side for accommodating a movable lid
101
of the sunroof. The movable lid
101
of the sunroof becomes flush with an outer surface of the roof at an upper surface thereof when closed, whereas when opened the movable lid
1
slides rearward to be drawn into the interior of the roof after the movable lid
1
is lowered once or while it is lowered. Due to this, the aforementioned space is required in any case.
However, there may be a risk that the painted surface of the back of the roof panel or spot welded marks thereon can be seen through the space from the passenger compartment (refer to arrows in FIG.
9
), leading to the deterioration in internal appearance. Therefore there have long been demanded further improvements in internal appearance. In particular, since nothing can be disposed in a direction in which the sunroof is accommodated (normally, toward the rear of the vehicle) in the periphery of the opening of the sunroof which hinders the accommodation thereof, the interior of the roof tends to be seen easily through the space.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide a sunroof structure which can improve the appearance from the passenger compartment without damaging the function of the sunroof.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sunroof structure for a vehicle, having; a movable lid adapted to close a sunroof opening opened in a vehicle roof panel when a sunroof is closed and to be accommodated in the interior of a roof of a vehicle when the sunroof is opened; a roof actuating unit for moving the movable lid in longitudinal directions of the vehicle; a pair of side rails disposed along both sides of a moving path of the movable lid; and, a resilient member mounted on a lower side of the movable lid along at least a rear end edge thereof so as to be suspended downwardly.
According to the sunroof structure of the first aspect, the line of sight from the passenger compartment to the interior of the roof is blocked by the resilient member mounted on the lower surface of the movable lid along the rear end edge so that the interior cannot be seen, thereby making it possible to improve the internal appearance.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sunroof structure as set forth in the first aspect of the present invention, wherein the moving unit moves the movable lid downwardly and rearward when the sunroof is operated, wherein a drain plate adapted to move rearward together with the movable lid is disposed below the rear end edge of the movable lid on the pair of side rails substantially at right angles relative to the pair of side rails, and wherein the resilient member is pressed against an upper surface of the drain plate to be deformed when the sunroof is operated.
According to the sunroof structure of the second aspect, since the resilient member is pressed against the upper surface of the drain plate when the sunroof is operated to open to thereby leave no space between the resilient member and the drain plate, the line of sight to the interior of the roof can completely be blocked, thereby making it possible to realize a further improvement in internal appearance.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sunroof structure as set forth in the first or second aspect of the present invention, wherein the resilient member is provided in such a manner that end portions thereof extend around corners of the movable lid to be disposed along side edges of the movable lid.
According to the sunroof structure of the third aspect of the present invention, since the resilient member is provided such that end portions thereof extend around corners of the movable lid to be disposed along side edges of the movable lid, even the lines of sight into the interior of the roof through spaces formed on rearward sides of the movable lid can be blocked to thereby realize a further improvement in the appearance.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sunroof structure as set forth in the third aspect of the present invention, wherein the moving unit has at least a pair of brackets for moving the movable lid along the side rails while supporting the movable lid from below, and wherein the end portion of the resilient member is situated on back sides of rearmost brackets.
According to the sunroof structure of the fourth aspect of the present invention, since the end portions of the resilient member are situated on the back sides of the rearmost brackets, an abnormal feeling that would otherwise be caused by an abrupt dis continuity of the surface of the resilient member can be eliminated.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sunroof structure as set forth in the first aspect of the present invention, wherein the movable lid comprises a sheet glass and a retainer, and the resilient member is disposed on the sheet glass through the retainer.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4417763 (1983-11-01), Schlapp et al.
patent: 4709959 (1987-12-01), Paerisch et al.
patent: 5451091 (1995-09-01), Schleicher
patent: 6390543 (2002-05-01), Tolinksi
Darby & Darby
Fuji Jukogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
Pedder Dennis H.
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