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 the vehicle door, to move along the rail, and to 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;
• and
• 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,
• wherein the roller-side hinge element and the door-side hinge element are configured to be releasably connected.

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 the vehicle door, to move along the rail, and to 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;
• and
• 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, the roller-side hinge element having a roller-side hinge hole;
• and
• a door-side hinge element configured to be rotatably connected to the roller-side hinge element, the door-side hinge element having a door-side hinge hole configured to be aligned with the roller-side hinge hole;
• wherein the roller-side hinge element and the door-side hinge element are configured to be releasably connected by a slide hinge;
• and
• wherein the slide hinge is configured to move along an axis of the roller-side hinge hole and an axis of the door-side hinge hole.