Body structure of automotive vehicle having front swinging door and rear sliding door and having no pillar between front and rear doors

A body structure of an automotive vehicle comprising:

• a vehicle body having a framework including roof side rails and side sills extending laterally along the vehicle body, said vehicle body defining a single door opening on each lateral side;
• a floor assembly forming a part of said vehicle body and having a floor surface, said floor assembly supported by said framework between said side sills on both of the lateral sides of the vehicle;
• a front swinging door hinged onto the front edge of said door opening and adapted to close the front moiety of said door opening;
• a rear sliding door adapted to close the rear moiety of said door opening;
• a slider assembly mounted on said rear sliding door;
• a rigid guide rail mounted on one of said side sills and engageable with said slider assembly of said rear sliding door for sliding movement of the latter, said guide rail adapted to reinforce said one of said side sills to provide sufficient resistance to bending stresses applied to said one of said side sills;
• another slider assembly mounted on said rear sliding door;
• and
• another rigid guide rail mounted on said roof side rail, this other guide rail being engageable with said other slider assembly for guiding the movement thereof, said other guide rail being adapted to reinforce said roof side rail to provide sufficient resistance to bending stresses;
• wherein said one of said side sills comprises inner and outer members defining a box-shaped cross-section, said side sill outer member defining a step on which said guide rail is fixedly mounted.

A body structure of an automotive vehicle comprising:

• a vehicle body having a framework including roof side rails and side sills extending laterally along the vehicle body, said vehicle body defining a single door opening on each lateral side;
• a floor assembly forming a part of said vehicle body and having a floor surface, said floor assembly supported by said framework between said side sills on both of the lateral sides of the vehicle;
• a front swinging door hinged onto the front edge of said door opening and adapted to close the front moiety of said door opening;
• a rear sliding door adapted to close the rear moiety of said door opening;
• a slider assembly mounted on said rear sliding door;
• a rigid guide rail mounted on one of said side sills and engageable with said slider assembly of said rear sliding door for sliding movement of the latter, said guide rail adapted to reinforce said one of said side sills to provide sufficient resistance to bending stresses applied to said one of said side sills;
• another slider assembly mounted on said rear sliding door;
• and
• another rigid guide rail mounted on said roof side rail, said other guide rail being engageable with said first-mentioned slider assembly for guiding the movement thereof, said other guide rail being adapted to reinforce said roof side rail to provide sufficient resistance to bending stresses;
• wherein said front swinging door has upper and lower door locks connected to a central operation assembly, said upper and lower door locks being engageable with upper and lower strikers respectively and rigidly mounted on said roof side rail and said one of said side sill respectively;
• wherein said central operation assembly operatively connected to said upper and lower door locks is also operatively connected to an inside door handle and an outside door handle such that manipulating one of said inside door handle and said outside door handle in an unlatching direction releases the upper and lower door locks, said central operation assembly being further operatively connected with a key-operable lock device and a locking knob such that operating one of the lock device and the knob in a locking direction cancels the operative connection between the inside and outside door handles and the upper and lower door locks;
• and
• wherein said rear sliding door includes a door lock engageable with a striker mounted on a rear pillar of said vehicle body framework, said door lock is associated with a door lock operating assembly which is, in turn, operatively connected to an inside door handle and an outside door handle such that manipulating one of said inside door handle and said outside door handle in unlatching direction releases said door lock from said rear pillar striker.