Patent ID: 8388053

Claim:
A roof apparatus, which is configured so as to open and close a movable panel provided at an opening portion of a roof panel of a vehicle and which includes a tilt-up mode and a slide mode as opening and closing operation modes, the roof apparatus comprising: a guide rail fixed at the roof panel and extending in a front-rear direction of the vehicle; a drive shoe driven so as to move along the guide rail in the front-rear direction of the vehicle; a functional bracket supporting the movable panel; a front link member connected at a front portion of the functional bracket so as to be rotatable relative to the functional bracket, including a supporting portion, which is rotatably supported by a supporting wall portion of the guide rail, and operating the front portion of the functional bracket in a manner that the front link member is displaced in response to a movement of the drive shoe; a lifting mechanism connected to a rear portion of the functional bracket and lifting the rear portion of the functional bracket in response to the movement of the drive shoe; and a weather strip attached at an opening edge portion of the roof panel extending in the front-rear direction of the vehicle and sealing a clearance formed between the opening edge portion and an edge portion of the movable panel, wherein the supporting wall portion of the guide rail and the supporting portion of the front link member are located inwardly of an outer end surface of the movable panel in a vehicle width direction; the drive shoe is located downwardly of the weather strip in a vertical direction; the front link member is located between the supporting wall portion of the guide rail and the drive shoe in the vehicle width direction; wherein the drive shoe includes an engagement protruding portion, which outwardly protrudes from a main body of the drive shoe in the vehicle width direction and a guide portion, which engages with the engagement protruding portion in order to guide the drive shoe, is formed at the guide rail so as to be located right below the weather strip.