Vehicle sunroof apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9302571-B2
Application number	US-201414477376-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 4, 2014
Priority date	Sep 6, 2013
Publication date	Apr 5, 2016
Grant date	Apr 5, 2016

Abstract

A vehicle sunroof apparatus includes: a movable panel adapted to open and close an opening formed on a roof of a vehicle; a guide rail disposed in each edge portion of the opening in a width direction and extending in a longitudinal direction; a slide member linked to each edge portion of the movable panel, being movable along the guide rail, and driven to move by an electrical driving source; a check mechanism regulating a movement of the movable panel; a first member supported by one of each edge portion of the movable panel in the width direction and the slide member; and a second member supported by the other of each edge portion of the movable panel in the width direction and the slide member so as to be pivotally movable around an axis extending in the longitudinal direction.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle sunroof apparatus comprising:
a movable panel that is adapted to open and close an opening formed on a roof of a vehicle;
a guide rail that is disposed in each edge portion of the opening in a width direction of the vehicle and that extends in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle;
a slide member that is linked to each edge portion of the movable panel in the width direction of the vehicle, that is disposed to be movable along the guide rail, and that is driven to move by an electrical driving source;
a check mechanism that regulates a movement of the movable panel in the longitudinal direction when the slide member moves to a front part of the vehicle in a fully closed state of the movable panel, that shifts the fully closed state to a tilting-up state by causing a rear side section to ascend about a fulcrum of a front side section of the movable panel, and that releases the movement regulation of the movable panel by maintaining the tilting-up state when the slide member moves to a rear part of the vehicle after moving further to the front part of the vehicle in the tilting-up state;
a first member that is supported by the slide member; and
a second member that is supported by a support shaft so as to be pivotally movable around an axis extending in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle,
wherein the first member includes
a first stationary side member which has a plurality of first cam teeth arranged at each predetermined angle around the axis and having a concave portion and a convex portion in the axial direction, and
a second stationary side member which is disposed on a side of the first stationary side member which faces the second member, and which has an opening portion for opening an entry to the first cam teeth at each of the predetermined angles around the axis and a locking portion for closing the entry to the first cam teeth,

wherein the second member includes second cam teeth which pass through the opening portion and are pressed by the first cam teeth when the slide member moves further to the front part of the vehicle in the tilting-up state, which are pressed by the locking portion when the slide member moves to the rear part of the vehicle thereafter, and in this manner, the second cam teeth are pivotally moved by the predetermined angle, and engage with the locking portion, and
wherein a guide surface which can come into contact with the second cam teeth so as to guide the slide member in order to cause both rotation positions of the second cam teeth and the opening portion to coincide with each other when the slide member moves further to the front part of the vehicle in the tilting-up state is formed in the slide member which supports the first member.

2. The vehicle sunroof apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the guide surface has a second guide surface which tilts upward and is disposed on a side of the second stationary side member which faces the second member, and a first guide surface whose tilting angle is larger than that of the second guide surface and which is disposed on a side on the second guide surface which faces the second member.

3. The vehicle sunroof apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the check mechanism maintains the tilting-up state while releasing the movement regulation of the movable panel, until the movable panel is in an initial resetting state in which the fully closed state is shifted to the tilting-up state, when the slide member moves to the front part of the vehicle, in an opened state of the movable panel,
wherein the check mechanism includes a regulation portion which regulates the pressing of the first cam teeth against the second cam teeth until the movable panel is in the resetting state, when the slide member moves to the front part of the vehicle in the opened state of the movable panel, and
wherein the second cam teeth are pressed by the first cam teeth when the slide member moves further to the front part of the vehicle in the resetting state, and is guided by the opening portion when the slide member moves to the rear part of the vehicle thereafter, and in this manner, the second cam teeth are pivotally moved by the predetermined angle and pass through the opening portion.

4. The vehicle sunroof apparatus according to claim 2 ,
wherein the check mechanism maintains the tilting-up state while releasing the movement regulation of the movable panel, until the movable panel is in an initial resetting state in which the fully closed state is shifted to the tilting-up state, when the slide member moves to the front part of the vehicle, in an opened state of the movable panel,
wherein the check mechanism includes a regulation portion which regulates the pressing of the first cam teeth against the second cam teeth until the movable panel is in the resetting state, when the slide member moves to the front part of the vehicle in the opened state of the movable panel, and
wherein the second cam teeth are pressed by the first cam teeth when the slide member moves further to the front part of the vehicle in the resetting state, and is guided by the opening portion when the slide member moves to the rear part of the vehicle thereafter, and in this manner, the second cam teeth are pivotally moved by the predetermined angle and pass through the opening portion.

Assignees

• Aisin Seiki

Inventors

• Katsura Shintaro
• Fukada Ryuta

Classifications

• B60J7/0435 Primary

  pivoting upwardly to vent mode and moving at the outside of the roof to fully open mode · CPC title

• B60J7/024

  characterised by the height regulating mechanism of the sliding panel (B60J7/043 - B60J7/053 take precedence) · CPC title