Automobile sunroof assembly structure and assembly method

Abstract

The application discloses an assembly structure and an assembly method of an automobile sunroof. The assembly structure comprises a glass plate and a mechanical group capable of moving along a guide rail. When the mechanical group moves along the guide rail, the glass plate is driven to move between an open position and a closed position. The glass plate is connected with the mechanical group through adjusting screws. The adjusting screws comprise front screws, middle screws and rear screws. When the glass plate is in the closed position, the front screws are exposed from the front end of the guide rail, the rear screws are exposed from the rear end of the guide rail, and the middle screws are shielded by the guide rail. When the glass plate is in the open position, the middle screws are exposed from above the guide rail. The application can directly tighten the front screws and the rear screws by using tools without opening holes on the guide rail, thereby reducing the process cost, improving the assembly efficiency, ensuring the smoothness of the guide rail surface, reducing the abrasion during the movement of the mechanical group and avoiding the abnormal sound during the sliding of the sunroof.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present invention relates to a structure of a movable sunroof for a vehicle and a method of assembling the same. BACKGROUND

[0002] The glass panel of a movable sunroof for a vehicle can be moved by a mechanical set along the roof, so as to open or close the sunroof. In particular in the closed position, it is necessary to ensure that the glass panel fits tightly against the edges of the roof opening, in order to guarantee the tightness of the roof. Therefore, the sunroof needs to be assembled by means of an adjusting screw connected to the mechanical set, which in the closed position is loosened so that the position of the mechanical set (and therefore of the glass panel with respect to the stationary roof) is adjusted until the glass panel is positioned in the correct way (which means that the glass panel correctly engages the seal around the roof opening). Next, the adjusting screw is tightened again, in order to fix the position of the glass panel with respect to the mechanical set. In this way, it is ensured that during the subsequent opening and closing of the sunroof, the glass panel will always reach the correct closed position.

[0003] Since the relative position of the glass panel with respect to the mechanical set needs to be adjusted in the closed position of the sunroof, the adjusting screw must be accessible in said closed position. This means that in the closed position the adjusting screw needs to be exposed above the stationary guide rail. However, this causes the mechanical set (and the end positioner of the stationary guide rail) to protrude downwards towards the passenger compartment of the vehicle by a considerable distance, which on the one hand reduces the position of the roof lining and on the other hand increases the risk of injury to the occupants in the event of an accident.

[0004] In order to avoid that the mechanical set protrudes too much downwards, the adjusting screw in the closed position would be completely hidden by the guide rail, which brings the problem that when the glass panel is adjusted to the correct position in the closed position, the adjusting screw cannot be tightened for fixing, while in the open position the adjusting screw can be tightened, but the correct position of the glass panel cannot be guaranteed. This makes the assembly of the sunroof difficult.

[0005] To overcome the above assembly difficulties, Chinese invention patent CN 102198788A proposes a solution, which discloses an openable sunroof structure for a vehicle, in the closed position, the adjusting screw is covered by the stationary guide rail in the transverse direction, the stationary guide rail is provided with an opening on the guide part extending in the vertical direction, for allowing access to the adjusting screw in the closed position by means of a suitable tool, so as to loosen or tighten the adjusting screw. This scheme solves the problem that the adjusting screw cannot be accessed in the closed position, but the opening on the guide rail not only increases the process cost; At the same time, the opening and burr are added on the guide rail, when the mechanical group slider and guide cable slide through the opening position, the opening and burr will be contacted, causing wear; Cause the sunroof glass to have abnormal sound during operation; And tightening the adjusting screw must pass through the guide rail hole, which brings great trouble to the assembly process, and affects the production efficiency. SUMMARY

[0006] One of the technical problems to be solved by the present application is to provide an assembly structure of an automobile sunroof, which can make the assembly process more simple and efficient.

[0007] To solve the above technical problems, the present application adopts the following technical scheme: An assembly structure of an automobile sunroof, comprising a glass plate and a mechanical group movable along a guide rail, when the mechanical group moves along the guide rail, the glass plate is driven to move between an open position and a closed position, the glass plate is connected with the mechanical group through an adjusting screw, the adjusting screw comprises a front screw, a middle screw and a rear screw, when the glass plate is in the closed position, the front screw is exposed from the front end of the guide rail, the rear screw is exposed from the rear end of the guide rail, and the middle screw is shielded by the guide rail; When the glass plate is in the open position, the middle screw is exposed from above the guide rail.

[0008] Preferably, the front end of the guide rail is connected with a curved portion extending downward, and the front screw is exposed from above the curved portion.

[0009] Preferably, the middle screw has a plurality of.

[0010] Another technical problem to be solved by the present application is to provide an assembly method of the above assembly structure, comprising the following steps: A, in the closed position, only the front screw and the rear screw are used to connect the glass plate and the mechanical group, in the loose state of the front screw and the rear screw, the fitting relationship between the glass plate and the roof is adjusted; B, keep the correct state of the glass plate, tighten the front screw and the rear screw in the closed position, so that the position of the glass plate relative to the mechanical group is fixed; C, then move the glass plate to the open position to expose the mounting hole of the middle screw; D, insert the middle screw and tighten it, so that the glass plate and the mechanical group are reliably connected.

[0011] Preferably, the open position in step C includes a position where the glass plate is slid back or a position where the glass plate is tilted up.

[0012] Compared with the prior art, the present application has the following beneficial effects:

[0013] 1. The present application improves the assembly structure of the sunroof, and when in the closed position, the front screw and the rear screw can be exposed from both ends of the guide rail, so that the front screw and the rear screw can be directly tightened by using tools without opening holes in the guide rail, thereby reducing the process cost, improving the assembly efficiency, ensuring the smoothness of the guide rail surface, reducing the wear during the movement of the mechanical group, and avoiding the abnormal sound during the sliding of the sunroof.

[0014] 2. When in the closed position, the middle screw can still be shielded by the guide rail, so that the guide rail does not have to be lowered too much from the glass plate, thereby increasing the head space of the passenger.

[0015] 3. The present application can adopt a step-by-step installation and fixing mode, and the middle screw shielded by the guide rail in the closed position can be fixed first. After the glass plate is moved to the open position, the installation hole of the middle screw is exposed from above the guide rail, and then the middle screw is fixed, so that all the adjusting screws can be fixed without punching holes in the guide rail. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0016] Figure 1 is a schematic view of the assembly structure of the sunroof of the present application in the closed position.

[0017] Figure 2 is Figure 1 a sectional view of A-A.

[0018] Figure 3 is a schematic view of the assembly structure of the sunroof of the present application in one open position (the glass plate is slid back).

[0019] Figure 4 is a schematic view of the assembly structure of the sunroof of the present application in another open position (the glass plate is tilted up).

[0020] Figure 5 is a schematic view of the relative position relationship between the adjusting screw and the guide rail in the present application as viewed from the roof.

[0021] In the drawings:

[0022] 1. glass plate 2. guide rail 3. bending part 4. mechanical group

[0023] 5. front screw 6. middle screw 7. rear screw DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0024] The specific embodiments of the present application will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. These embodiments are only used to illustrate the present application, but not to limit the present application.

[0025] Furthermore, in the description of the present application, the meaning of "a plurality of" is two or more, unless otherwise specified.

[0026] As Figure 1 , Figure 2 shown, the assembly structure of the sunroof of the present application includes a glass plate 1, the movement of which can make the sunroof open or close. The guide rails 2 are arranged on the opposite longitudinal edges (left and right edges) of the roof opening, respectively (as shown in Figure 5 , the left and right sides of the glass plate 1 are connected with the mechanical group 4, respectively, and the mechanical group 4 is a known technology in the art. The mechanical group 4 can move along the guide rail 2 and drive the glass plate 1 to move between the open position and the closed position, Figure 1 shown is the state of the glass plate 1 in the closed position. In order to ensure that the glass plate 1 can be tightly matched with the edge of the roof opening in the closed position, the glass plate 1 needs to be connected with the mechanical group 4 by adjusting screws during assembly, wherein the adjusting screws include front screws 5, middle screws 6 and rear screws 7, the middle screws 6 are located between the front screws 5 and the rear screws 7, and there can be one or more, but in order to ensure the connection strength of the glass plate 1 and the mechanical group 4, the middle screws 6 are preferably multiple, and in the present embodiment, the middle screws 6 are two (two on each side). The screw heads of each adjusting screw are directed towards the inner side of the vehicle, i.e. the tools are inserted from the inner side of the vehicle along the direction of the middle arrow to rotate each adjusting screw. Figure 5

[0027] As Figure 1 shown, unlike the prior art, in the present application, when the glass plate 1 is in the closed position, the front screws 5 are exposed from the front end of the guide rail 2, i.e. the front screws 5 can be directly tightened by tools without being blocked by the guide rail 2. This can be achieved by reasonably designing the position of the front screws 5, or reasonably designing the length or shape of the front end of the guide rail 2. In the preferred embodiment of the present application, the front end of the guide rail 2 is connected with a downwardly extending curved portion 3, and the front screws 5 are exposed above the curved portion 3. The curved portion 3 extends downward, which on the one hand can provide guidance for the downward movement of the glass plate 1 when it is close to the closed position, and on the other hand can avoid blocking the front screws 5. The rear screws 7 are exposed from the rear end of the guide rail 2 and are also not blocked by the guide rail 2. Only the middle screws 6 are blocked by the guide rail 2, as shown in Figure 2 .

[0028] As Figure 3 , Figure 4 shown, when the glass plate 1 is in the open position, the middle screws 6 will be exposed above the guide rail 2. ​

[0029] The assembling method of the assembling structure of the automobile sunroof of the present application is described as follows.

[0030] In order to ensure that the glass plate can be tightly matched with the edge of the roof opening in the closed position during assembling, the assembling method of the present application comprises the following steps:

[0031] A. In the closed position, only the front screw 5 and the rear screw 7 are inserted for connecting the glass plate 1 and the mechanical set 4. When the front screw 5 and the rear screw 7 are not tightened and are in a loose state, there is a certain space of movement between the glass plate 1 and the mechanical set 4. At this time, the matching relationship between the glass plate 1 and the roof in the closed position is adjusted so that the glass plate can be tightly matched with the edge of the roof opening.

[0032] B. As shown in Fig. 2, after the position of the glass plate 1 is adjusted, the correct state of the glass plate 1 is maintained, and the front screw 5 and the rear screw 7 are tightened in the closed position. Since the two screws are simultaneously fixedly connected between the glass plate 1 and the mechanical set 4, the position of the glass plate 1 relative to the mechanical set 4 is already fixed. Even if the middle screw 6 has not been screwed in, the glass plate 1 and the mechanical set 4 cannot move relative to each other. Figure 1

[0033] C. Then the mechanical set 4 drives the glass plate 1 to slide backward to an open position (as shown in Fig. 3) or the glass plate 1 is slightly raised upward to an open state (as shown in Fig. 4), and the installation hole of the middle screw 6 is exposed from above the guide rail 2. Figure 3 Figure 4

[0034] D. The middle screw 6 is inserted and tightened, so that the glass plate 1 and the mechanical set 4 are reliably connected, the connection strength is ensured, and the vibration of the glass plate is avoided.

[0035] Through the above steps, the glass plate can be adjusted during assembling. In the future use, when the sunroof is closed, the glass plate can be tightly matched with the edge of the roof opening.

[0036] The above description is only the preferred embodiment of the present application. It should be noted that for those skilled in the art, without departing from the technical principles of the present application, a number of improvements and replacements can be made, and these improvements and replacements should be considered as the protection scope of the present application.​​​

Claims

1. A method for assembling a sunroof assembly, characterized in that the sunroof assembly comprises a glass panel (1) and a mechanical group (4) movable along a guide rail (2), the glass panel (1) being moved between an open position and a closed position by the mechanical group (4) when the mechanical group (4) is moved along the guide rail (2), the glass panel (1) being connected to the mechanical group (4) by adjusting screws, the adjusting screws comprising front screws (5), middle screws (6) and rear screws (7), the front screws (5) being exposed from a front end of the guide rail (2) when the glass panel (1) is in the closed position, the rear screws (7) being exposed from a rear end of the guide rail (2) when the glass panel (1) is in the closed position, the middle screws (6) being hidden by the guide rail (2) when the glass panel (1) is in the closed position, the middle screws (6) being exposed from above the guide rail (2) when the glass panel (1) is in the open position, the front end of the guide rail (2) being connected to a curved section (3) extending downward, the front screws (5) being exposed from above the curved section (3), the method comprising the following steps: A. in the closed position, connecting the glass panel (1) and the mechanical group (4) only by the front screws (5) and the rear screws (7), adjusting the cooperation between the glass panel (1) and the roof with the front screws (5) and the rear screws (7) in a loose state; B. keeping the glass panel (1) in the correct state, tightening the front screws (5) and the rear screws (7) in the closed position, so that the position of the glass panel (1) relative to the mechanical group (4) is fixed; C. then moving the glass panel (1) to the open position, exposing the installation holes of the middle screws (6); D. inserting the middle screws (6) and tightening them, so that the glass panel (1) is reliably connected to the mechanical group (4). The middle screws (6) are multiple. The open position in step C comprises a position when the glass panel (1) slides backward, or a position when the glass panel (1) is raised upward.

2. The assembling method of the assembling structure of an automobile sunroof according to claim 1, characterized in that, ​ 3. The assembling method of the assembling structure of an automobile sunroof according to claim 1, characterized in that, ​

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