CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This present application is a national stage filing under 35 U.S.C § 371 of PCT application number PCT/KR2017/010560 filed on Sep. 25, 2017 which is based upon and claims the benefit of priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2016-0125423, filed on Sep. 29, 2016 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office. The disclosures of the above-listed applications are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a roof rack for a vehicle, and more particularly, to a roof rack for a vehicle that a substantially lightweight material is used according to demands for improvements in a fuel efficiency and light weight of vehicle parts and reduces the number of parts of the vehicle and simplifies a process of manufacturing the vehicle parts and improves assembly and productivity of the vehicle to implement a reduction in cost incurred when the vehicle is manufactured and the simplified process of manufacturing the vehicle.

BACKGROUND ART

Generally, trunks are used when cargos are loaded onto vehicles. A rack device for fixing the cargos provided on a roof of vehicles (hereinafter; referred to as ‘a roof rack’) to load the cargo having a size such that the cargo is difficult to be loaded onto a limited trunk space as interests in leisure and sports are increased.

The roof rack is one of convenience parts that are mounted on a vehicle, andFIG. 1is a schematic view of a general roof rack for a vehicle.

Referring toFIG. 1, a roof rack10is installed in a roof3(or a roof panel) of a vehicle1.

As a result, various kinds of cargoes, for example, leisure equipment such as skis and a board, which are difficult to be stored in the trunk, may be fixed onto the roof rack10and may be transported.

In particular, as sport utility vehicle (SUV) is popularized, utilization of the roof rack is increasing.

On the other hand, most of the roof racks for the vehicle include a roof rail and a pad that is coupled under the roof rail and closely attached to the roof of the vehicle. However, as a conventional roof rack for a vehicle is made of a metal such as aluminum, the light weight of the conventional roof rack for the vehicle is limited even if the conventional roof rack for the vehicle is made of light weight metal.

Therefore, the roof rack for the vehicle may enables the fuel efficiency of the vehicle to be improved using a lightweight material (e.g., plastic, and the like) in comparison to the conventional material, and may have a high degree of freedom in design and a simple assembly structure in comparison to a conventional extrusion of aluminum by applying an injection method. Such a roof rack for the vehicle is requested to be developed.

A prior art document related to the present disclosure is Korean Patent No. 10-0957320 (May 3, 2010), and the prior art document discloses a technique for a roof rack assembly for a vehicle.

DISCLOSURE

Technical Problem

According to the present disclosure, there is provided a roof rack for a vehicle that implements light weight of the roof rack for the vehicle using a light weight synthetic resin material that may be injected and has a high degree of freedom in design, and results in improvements in productivity and reduction in cost, of a vehicle, through an easy assembly method.

Technical Solution

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided a roof rack for a vehicle. The roof rack for the vehicle includes a rail that is injection molded, a pad on which the roof rail mounted and that contacts the roof rail, a fastening member that is insert-injected into the roof rail and protrudes from a lower portion of the roof rail.

Preferably, the pad includes a plate-shaped pad body that provides a mounting surface on which the roof rail is mounted; and a plurality of protrusions of the pad protruding upward from both ends of the pad body by a predetermined length.

At this time, the plurality of protrusions of the pad may face the roof rail at both ends of the roof rail and may have a shape that protrudes obliquely upward from the pad. At this time, preferably, a predetermined gap may be formed between the plurality of protrusions of the pad and the roof rail.

The fastening member includes a screw protruding from a lower portion of the roof rail; and an insertion fixing part that is connected to the screw and insert-injected to the roof rail during injection molding of the roof rail.

Further, the roof rail may be made of a plastic material. Preferably, polyamide (PA) or plastic materials including PA may be used, but the material of the roof rail is not limited to the above described materials.

Preferably, the roof rail includes a plurality of ribs having different sizes from one another; and a variable base whose thickness varies in proportion to the size of each of the plurality of ribs. As described above, as the variable base has a variation in thickness in proportion to the width and the length of the rib, it is possible to prevent an appearance of the variable base from sinking. At this time, the dimensions of the plurality of ribs and the variable bases are not limited to specific dimensions and may be appropriately changed as necessary.

A longitudinal end of the roof rail may have a curved shape by injection molding. A metal material (e.g., aluminum) is required to, after extrusion, bending, cutting, post-process the cut end to be curved. However, according to the present disclosure, if the roof rail is injection molded, the curve shape required for the end of the metal material may be formed without post-processing.

Advantageous Effects

According to the present disclosure, there is an advantage in that the desired strength and rigidity of a roof rack for a vehicle may be provided and light weight of the roof rack for the vehicle may be implemented by injection molding a plastic material in a different manner from a conventional method of extruding a metal material.

Further, according to the present disclosure, there is an advantage that it is easy to assemble the roof rail and the pad, and it is possible for the user to couple and uncouple the roof rail and the pad, thereby facilitating assembly and maintenance of the roof rack for the vehicle.

Further, according to the present disclosure, as the fastening member (e.g., a bolt) is insert-injected during injection molding of the roof rail, a cumbersome assembly process may be simplified, thereby improving productivity reducing the cost.

Further, according to the present disclosure, the number of components included in the roof rack for a vehicle is reduced in comparison to the roof rack for the vehicle, thereby reducing the manufacturing cost.

Further, according to the present disclosure, the roof rail may be formed by injection, thereby having a high degree of freedom in design in comparison to the conventional roof rack for the vehicle.

