Water drain trough for automotive sunroof

Abstract

In a sunroof structure having an opening provided in a roof panel of an automobile, a sunroof panel which can move between a first position for closing the opening and a second position for exposing the opening, a sunroof base panel supporting a mechanism for achieving the motion of the sunroof panel, and a water drain trough defined along a peripheral region of the opening, the water drain trough is defined by a trough member having a substantially U-shaped cross section extending along the peripheral region of the opening and resting upon an inner surface of an outer wall of the sunroof base panel and an outer surface of a guide rail for the sunroof panel. Preferably, the trough member consists of an extension of a seal member which is interposed between a lower surface of the roof panel and an upper most edge of the outer wall of the sunroof base panel. Thus, the trough member is not required to be rigid and the assembly work is simplified. Further, the structural and mechanical parts of the sunroof structure are protected from rust. Additionally, since the sunroof base panel is not required to be depressed to define the trough, the head clearance of the passenger compartment can be increased without increasing the overall height of the automobile.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.