Vehicle Door Opening and Closing Apparatus

A vehicle door opening and closing apparatus comprising:

• a rail configured to be mounted on a vehicle body having a door frame defining a door aperture;
• a roller unit configured to be mounted on a vehicle door and configured to move along the rail and allow the vehicle door to open and close in a sliding mode and a swing mode;
• a center rail configured to extend from an edge of the door aperture;
• a center roller unit including
• rollers configured to be guided along the center rail and to be mounted on a roller bracket;
• a roller-side hinge element configured to be connected to the roller bracket;
• and
• a door-side hinge element configured to be rotatably connected to the roller-side hinge element by a hinge pin;
• a door-side docking unit configured to releasably connect the door-side hinge element to the vehicle door, and
• a frame-side docking unit configured to releasably connect the roller-side hinge element to the door frame.

A vehicle door opening and closing apparatus comprising:

• a rail configured to be mounted on a vehicle body having a door frame defining a door aperture;
• a roller unit configured to be mounted on a vehicle door and configured to move along the rail and allow the vehicle door to open and close in a sliding mode and a swing mode;
• a center rail configured to extend from an edge of the door aperture;
• a center roller unit including
• rollers configured to be guided along the center rail and to be mounted on a roller bracket;
• a roller-side hinge element configured to be connected to the roller bracket;
• and
• a door-side hinge element configured to be rotatably connected to the roller-side hinge element by a hinge pin;
• a door-side docking unit configured to releasably connect the door-side hinge element to the vehicle door, and
• a frame-side docking unit configured to releasably connect the roller-side hinge element to the door frame, the frame-side docking unit including:
• a frame-side bracket configured to be fixed to the door frame;
• a first frame-side clamp member configured to be slidably mounted on the frame-side bracket;
• and
• a second frame-side clamp member configured to be opposite the first frame-side clamp member, and configured to be slidably mounted on the frame-side bracket;
• wherein the first and second frame-side clamp members are configured to be movable in a direction approaching or moving away from the frame-side bracket;
• and
• wherein the first frame-side clamp member has a first frame-side grip portion configured to extend toward the second frame-side clamp member, and the second frame-side clamp member has a second frame-side grip portion configured to extend toward the first frame-side clamp member.