Door assembly for a vehicle

A vehicle comprising:

• a chassis defining a passenger compartment and an opening to the passenger compartment, a first axis extends along a length of the chassis between a front and a rear of the chassis, and a second axis extends along a width of the chassis perpendicular to the first axis;
• and
• a door assembly mounted to the chassis, the door assembly including a hinge connected to a door body, the hinge is rotatable about a hinge axis, the hinge configured to expand along the hinge axis from a contracted position to an expanded position when rotated in a first direction, and the hinge configured to contract along the hinge axis from the expanded position to the contracted position when rotated in a second direction that is opposite to the first direction;
• wherein:
• in the contracted position the door body is in a closed, lowered position to restrict access to the passenger compartment, and in the expanded position the door body is in an open, raised position to permit access to the passenger compartment;
• the hinge moves the door body outward from the passenger compartment, parallel to the hinge axis, as the door body is moved from the closed, lowered position to the open, raised position;
• and
• the hinge moves the door body inward towards the passenger compartment, parallel to the hinge axis, as the door body is moved from the open, raised position to the closed, lowered position;
• and
• in the open, raised position mass of the door body is centered over the hinge axis to retain the door body in the open, raised position.

A door assembly for a vehicle, the door assembly comprising:

• a door body;
• and
• a hinge connected to the door body, the hinge is rotatable about an axis thereof, the hinge configured to axially expand along the axis from a contracted position to an expanded position when rotated in a first direction, and the hinge configured to axially contract along the axis from the expanded position to the contracted position when rotated in a second direction that is opposite to the first direction;
• wherein in the contracted position the door body is in a closed position and in the expanded position the door body is in an open position;
• and
• wherein in the open position mass of the door body and an outer door panel covering the door body is centered over the axis of the hinge to retain the door body in the open position, which is a raised position.

A door assembly for a vehicle, the door assembly comprising:

• a door body;
• a hinge connected to the door body, the hinge is rotatable about an axis thereof, the hinge configured to axially expand along the axis from a contracted position to an expanded position when rotated in a first direction, and the hinge configured to axially contract along the axis from the expanded position to the contracted position when rotated in a second direction that is opposite to the first direction, in the contracted position the door body is in a closed position and in the expanded position the door body is in an open position, the open position is a raised position and the closed position is a lowered position;
• and
• a door support strut that supports the door body in the open position, the strut is arranged such that the strut is fully compressed when the door body is midway between the closed position and the open position.