Patent Application
20180171693
This document relates generally to the motor vehicle equipment field and, more particularly, to a hidden sliding door assembly as well as to a method of operating that sliding door assembly.
Sliding doors are extremely convenient on a motor vehicle. While an obstruction may limit how far a standard pivoting door may be opened to access the door opening, sufficient clearance will exist to fully open a sliding door.
State of the art sliding doors typically include an external track which provides a readily visible indication that the motor vehicle is equipped with a sliding door. For some, such a sliding door carries the stigma of a minivan or other utilitarian passenger or cargo vehicle. This document relates to a new and improved sliding door assembly wherein the external telltale track has been eliminated thereby allowing one to have the utilitarian convenience of a sliding door while simultaneously concealing that the door is a sliding door when the door is closed.
In accordance with the purposes and benefits described herein, a sliding door assembly is provided. That sliding door assembly comprises a link arm connected to a support surface, a track guide carried on the link arm and a door body including a track that slides over the track guide.
The link arm may be connected to the support surface by a pivot connection or hinge. The support surface may comprise a structural pillar of a motor vehicle.
The track guide may include or comprise a roller mechanism. That roller mechanism may have a first roller engaging in the track on the door body. Further, that roller mechanism may have a second roller engaging the door body. In addition, a spring may be provided to bias the link arm from a home position toward a door sliding position.
The sliding door assembly may further include a locking mechanism. That locking mechanism may include a first door lock, a second door lock and an actuator handle. The first door lock may be a forward door lock and the second door lock may be a rearward door lock. The actuator handle may be carried on the door body and used to release the first door lock and the second door lock.
The door body may also include an arm rest. The track may be provided in the arm rest. More specifically, the track may be provided along a bottom portion of the arm rest and the track may open downward.
In accordance with an additional aspect, the sliding door assembly may comprise a door body, a track carried on an internal side of the door body and a track guide engaging the track. That track guide is carried on the motor vehicle and, more specifically, a link arm.
In accordance with yet another aspect, a method is provided of operating a sliding door assembly including a door body supported on a track guide carried on a link arm. That method comprises the steps of displacing the door body from a closed position to a first opened position by pivoting the link arm about a hinge connecting the link arm to a mounting surface on the motor vehicle and then sliding the door body over the track guide into a second opened position.
The method may further include the step of releasing a lock mechanism before displacing the door body and then sliding the door body. In addition, the method may include the step of displacing the door body from the second opened position to the closed position.
Toward this end the method may include sliding the door body over the track guide from the second opened position to the first opened position. This is then followed by the step of displacing the door body from the first opened position to the closed position by pivoting the link arm about the hinge.
In the following description, there are shown and described several preferred embodiments of the sliding door assembly as well the related method of operating the sliding door assembly. As it should be realized, the sliding door assembly and method are capable of other, different embodiments and their several details are capable of modification in various, obvious aspects all without departing from the sliding door assembly and method as set forth and described in the following claims. Accordingly, the drawings and descriptions should be regarded as illustrative in nature and not as restrictive.
The accompanying drawing figures incorporated herein and forming a part of the specification, illustrate several aspects of the sliding door assembly and related method and together with the description serve to explain certain principles thereof. In the drawing figures:
Reference will now be made in detail to the present preferred embodiments of the sliding door assembly, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawing figures.
Reference is now made to
As further illustrated in
The sliding door assembly 10 also includes a link arm 38 having a proximal end pivotally connected to a support surface (in the illustrated embodiment, the structural pillar 34) by means of a hinge 40 and a distal end that carries a track guide 42.
The track guide 42 comprises a roller mechanism including a primary or first roller 44 that engages the track 16 and a secondary or second roller 46 that engages and rolls along the inner surface of the door body along the line 48. The link arm 38 and the hinge 40 are designed to carry the entire weight of the door body 12 and the hinge allows the link arm to pivot about the Z-axis between the home position illustrated in
As will be appreciated from the following description, the sliding door assembly 10 is displaceable between a closed position illustrated in
As illustrated in
When one wishes to open the door body 12, one must first displace the door body from the closed position illustrated in
Once the door body 12 is in the intermediate or first opened position illustrated in
When one wishes to close the door body 12, one initially slides the door body in the direction of action arrow E so that the door body is displaced from the fully, second opened position illustrated in
As should be appreciated from reviewing
The foregoing has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the embodiments to the precise form disclosed. Obvious modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings. For example, the illustrated embodiment is a manually operated sliding door assembly 10. It should be appreciated that the sliding door assembly 10 could also be powered. All such modifications and variations are within the scope of the appended claims when interpreted in accordance with the breadth to which they are fairly, legally and equitably entitled.
