Sliding door assembly for motor vehicles

In a sliding door assembly for motor vehicles including a supporting system arranged to be supported from a frame of the vehicle and a door carried by said supporting system for longitudinal displacement therein, the improvement wherein said supporting system comprises:

• a support arm mounted at one end thereof for pivotal movement about a first vertical axis on the frame of said vehicle;
• a multi-part guide head pivotally mounted at the opposite end of said support arm for movement about a second axis parallel to said first axis;
• a guide rail assembly mounted on said door extending substantially horizontally over substantially the entire width of said door, said guide rail assembly being cooperatively engaged with said guide head for relative sliding movement therebetween, said guide rail assembly essentially comprising
• a pair of tubular members each having at least approximately equivalent diameters and extending generally parallel to each other essentially along the length of said guide rail assembly,
• said pair of tubular members being vertically spaced apart a distance not greater than the sum of the diameters of both said tubular members,
• with opposite circumferential surfaces of said tubular members forming sliding guides for sliding cooperative engagement with separate parts of said guide head;
• said door being displaceable to an intermediate opened position parallel with a closed position through pivotal movement of said supporting system and longitudinally displaceable to a fully opened position by sliding movement of said guide rail in said guide head.