Vehicle door lock device

A vehicle door lock device comprising:

• a latch mechanism configured to enable a vehicle door to maintain a closed state in a vehicle body;
• and
• a lock mechanism configured to set an unlocked state where the latch mechanism can disengage from a striker disposed in the vehicle body or a locked state where the latch mechanism cannot disengage from the striker,
• wherein the lock mechanism includes
• an inside opening lever that is connected to an inside door handle disposed on an inner side of the vehicle door via a flexible inside opening cable, and that can be operated so as to be rotatable around an inside opening lever support portion between an initial position and a maximum operation position in response to door opening and closing operations of the inside door handle,
• an opening link that can switch between a first position where an operation in a door opening direction of the inside opening lever in response to a door opening operation of the inside door handle is transferred to the latch mechanism and a second position where the operation in the door opening direction of the inside opening lever is not transferred to the latch mechanism,
• a lock operation lever that can be operated so as to be rotatable around a lock operation lever support portion between an unlocking position for setting the opening link to be located at the first position and a locking position for setting the opening link to be located at the second position, and that is pressed by the inside opening lever, which is rotatably operated from the initial position to the maximum operation position due to the door opening operation of the inside door handle, to drive the lock operation lever from the locking position toward the unlocking position, and
• wherein the inside opening lever and the lock operation lever have a configuration in which, when the inside opening lever is located at a predetermined operation position with a gap between the inside opening lever and the lock operation lever after the inside opening lever has moved to the maximum operation position while in contact with the lock operation lever, the predetermined opening position being located at any position within a range which includes the maximum operation position, and the lock operation lever is forcibly driven toward the inside opening lever, the lock operation lever imparts a contact load to the inside opening lever which moves the inside opening lever toward the initial position.