Patent ID: 7121618

Claim:
A sunroof apparatus comprising: a sunroof panel equipped at an opening of a fixed roof of a vehicle; a tilt mechanism that is provided beneath a side edge of said sunroof panel, wherein the tilt mechanism is adapted to tilt the sunroof panel around a rotation axis that is disposed laterally across the vehicle; and a side cover adapted to shield said tilt mechanism from inside the vehicle when the sunroof panel is in a tilted position, wherein said side cover comprises a plurality of cover members that overlap each other laterally, wherein respective front ends of said cover members are coupled to a common, wherein one of the cover members is movably coupled to said sunroof panel and another one of the cover members is coupled to the fixed roof so that the plurality of cover members opens when the sunroof panel is moved to the tilted position, and wherein said coupling shaft is at a different position from said rotation axis of said sunroof panel, and wherein said coupling shaft is adapted to rotate around the rotation axis as the sunroof panel is tilted.