GB2325897A - Vehicle sunroof assembly - Google Patents

Abstract

A sun roof assembly 26 includes a water drainage channel 42 extending around at least part of the sunroof aperture 12 on part 38 of which water drainage channel a sliding sun blind 70a, 70b is mounted. Holes 48 may be provided in the water drainage channel to give access to fastenings 52 which fasten the sunroof assembly to the vehicle, which holes may have walls 49 formed therearound to prevent water leakage. The fastenings may attach the sunroof assembly to a flange 24 on the vehicle body from inside the vehicle. Covering means 80 may be provided to cover the fasteners, which covering means engages with the holes 48 in the water drainage channel.

Description

Vehicle Roof Assemblies The present invention relates to vehicle roof assemblies, and in particular to such assemblies in which a sunroof assembly is mounted in an aperture in the vehicle roof.

The present invention provides a vehicle roof assembly comprising a vehicle body defining a roof aperture, a sunroof assembly extending across the aperture and joined to the body, a water channelling member extending at least part of the way round the aperture and arranged, in use, to be beneath the join between the body and the sunroof assembly so as to catch water passing between the body and the sunroof assembly, wherein the water channelling member includes a supporting portion and the roof assembly further comprises a sun blind arranged, in use, to be located beneath the sunroof assembly, the sun blind being supported in the supporting portion.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a section through part of a roof assembly according to the invention, and Figure 2 is a further section through the assembly of Figure 1.

Referring to Figure 1, a vehicle roof assembly comprises a cantrail 10.

forming part of the vehicle body and defining one side 11 of a roof aperture 12 in the top of the vehicle. The cantrail 10 is formed from pressed steel sheets. An outer sheet 14 forms the upper side 16 of the cantrail and its inboard side 18 which forms the side 11 of the roof aperture 12. In inner sheet 20 forms the under side 22 of the cantrail. Where the two sheets 14, 20 are joined at the lower edge of the inboard side 18, they form a horizontal flange 24.

A sunroof assembly 26 is mounted in the roof aperture 12, and includes a frame 28 and a sheet of glass 30 with a seal 32 along its edge. At the join between the sunroof assembly 26 and the cantrail 10, the frame 28 rests on raised portions 24a of the flange 24 where the part of the outer sheet 14 forming the upper part of the flange 24 is raised up form the part of the lower sheet 20 forming the lower part of the flange 24. The seal 32 abuts the side 11 of the roof aperture 12.

A moulded plastics channel member 34 extends along the edge of the roof aperture 12 on the inside of the vehicle beneath the join between the cantrail 10 and the sunroof assembly 26. It has an outboard side 36, an inboard side 38 and a base 40 which together form a water drainage channel 42, and a flange 44 along the top of the outboard side 36 which is fastened to the underside 22 of the cantrail by fasteners 46. The outboard side 36 is deeper than the inboard side 38, and their tops are substantially level. The base 40 of the channel therefore slopes down from its inboard edge to its outboard edge. A stub pipe 47 provides a drainage outlet from the lowest part of the channel 42, at the outboard edge of the base 40. A number of holes 48 are provided through the base 40 of the channel 42, which are surrounded by vertical walls or turrets 49, the tops of which rest against the underside of the flange 24 on the cantrail 10. The tops of the turrets 49 are open giving access to fixing holes 50 through the flange 24. The sunroof assembly 26 is fastened in place by screw fastenings 52 which pass through the fixing holes 50 and screw into the frame 28 of the sunroof assembly.

Referring to Figure 2, a further set of holes 54 are provided through the base 40 of the channel 42, which are also surrounded by vertical walls or turrets 56, the tops of which rest against the underside of the flange 24 on the cantrail 10. The tops of these turrets 56 are closed by end walls 58 which have fixing holes 60 through them. Fixings 62 are provided which have heads 64 wider than the fixing holes 60 and shanks 66 which extend through the fixing holes 60 and through co-operating holes 68 in the flange 24 to attach the channel member 34 to the cantrail 10.

The inboard side 38 of the channel 42 is thickened to form a supporting portion which has a pair of grooves 70a, 70b in it, one above the other, which each support one part 72a, 72b, of an opaque sun blind 56. The two parts 72a, 72b of the sun blind are slidable in the grooves 70a, 70b to cover and uncover respective parts of the sunroof assembly 26.

A headlining 74 covers most of the underside 22 of the cantrail 10, being attached at its inboard edge 76 to the channel member 34 by screw fixings 78 which are screwed into the base 40 of the channel 42, between the turrets 49 and the outboard edge of the base 40.

A moulded cover 80 comprises a substantially flat strip 82 which extends along the underside of the channel member 34, parallel to its base 40, covering the inner edge 76 of the headlining, the holes 48, 54, through the base 40 of the channel 42, and the inboard side 38 of the channel member 34. The cover further comprises a number of bosses 84 standing up from the upper surface of the flat strip 82, which are cross-shaped in cross section. These are complementary to the holes 48 and the insides of the turrets 49, being a force fit into them. The cover 80 is therefore located relative to the channel member 34 by the bosses 84, and held in place by friction between the bosses 84 and the turrets 49.

In order to replace the sunroof assembly 26, the cover 84 is removed.

This gives access to the fixings 52 which can be undone whilst the channel member 34 is left in place. The sunroof assembly can then be removed from above and replaced as necessary.

When the sunroof assembly is in place, any water which gets past the sunroof seal 32, and thus passes through the join between the sunroof assembly and the cantrail 10, drains off the flange 24 into the inboard side of the channel 42. From there it drains down to the lower, outboard side, flowing round the turrets 49, 56 where necessary, and out through the stub pipe 47. From there it is taken via piping down through the vehicle body to drain out in the usual way. The headlining fixings 78 are sealed and are located adjacent and below the turrets 49, 56 so that the chances of leakage around them is minimized.

Claims (11)

1. A vehicle roof assembly comprising a vehicle body defining a roof aperture, a sunroof assembly extending across the aperture and joined to the body, a water channelling member extending at least part of the way round the aperture and arranged, in use, to be beneath the join between the body and the sunroof assembly so as to catch water passing between the body and the sunroof assembly, wherein the water channelling member includes a supporting portion and the roof assembly further comprises a sun blind arranged, in use, to be located beneath the sunroof assembly, the sun blind being supported in the supporting portion.

2. An assembly according to claim 1 wherein the channelling member defines a channel for channelling said water to an outlet.

3. An assembly according to claim 1 or claim 2 further comprising sunroof fastening means for fastening the sunroof assembly to the body member, the water channelling member having a hole therethrough to provide access to the fastening means.

4. An assembly according to claim 3 wherein the channelling member further comprises a wall surrounding said hole to prevent water from escaping through it.

5. An assembly according to claim 3 or claim 4 wherein the body member has a flange thereon which supports the sunroof assembly, the sunroof fastening means extending through the flange.

6. An assembly according to any one of claims 3 to 5 wherein the fastening means is arranged to be fitted from inside the vehicle.

7. An assembly according to any one of claims 3 to 6 further comprising covering means attachable to the channelling member to cover the fastening means.

8. An assembly according to claim 7 wherein the covering means includes locating means which locates in said hole.

9. An assembly according to claim 8 wherein the locating means engages with the channelling means to attach the covering member thereto.

10. An assembly according to any one of claims 3 to 9 further comprising channel member fastening means for securing the channel member in position when the sunroof fastening means are unfastened to release the sunroof.

11. A vehicle roof assembly substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.