Sliding vehicle door

Support and guide mechanism for a swingable and slidable door assembly of a vehicle adapted to cover a vehicle body opening defined between forward and rearward pillars and between an upper roof edge portion and a lower body edge portion, said support and guide mechanism permitting the door to be moved translationally from a fully closed position to a fully open position while remaining substantially parallel to the body edge portions, said mechanism comprising:

• extended arm means having one end pivotally attached to one end portion of the door and the other arm means end provided with guide and support roller means engaging a body track formed in the vehicle body;
• said body track extending along said lower body edge portion in parallel relation to said door and positioned under said door when said door is in the closed operative position;
• a link arm supporting the other end portion of said door when said door is in the closed operative position, said link arm being mounted on the other pillar member for pivotal movement about a substantially vertical axis from a closed door position in which the link arm is in a generally fore and aft orientation to an open door position in which the link arm projects laterally outward from the vehicle body;
• upper and lower tracks formed in the vehicle door in vertically spaced relation and each of said upper and lower door tracks lying in a generally horizontal plane, the end of said upper door track adjacent said door leading edge having an opening adapted to have auxiliary support rollers selectively inserted into and removed from said upper door track;
• said link arm having upper and lower projecting portions;
• a roller carriage member supported on the end of one of said projecting portions and mounted to permit rotation about a vertical axis;
• rollers supported by said carriage member for rotation about both horizontal and vertical axes for engagement with one of said tracks in said door;
• a plurality of spaced pivot and guide rollers mounted on the end of the other projecting portion of said link arm and pivotal about generally vertical axes;
• the first of said spaced rollers mounted in line with the axis of the other link arm projecting portion and a second of said spaced rollers being offset mounted so as to be spaced laterally outward from the first spaced roller when the link member is in a closed operative position whereby the first and second spaced rollers move into alignment with each other and the other of said door-mounted tracks as the pivotal link arm swings laterally outward from its closed door operative position;
• a cam guide member adjacent the end of said other door-mounted track and having curved guide surface means extending in substantial horizontal orientation and opening to the other door-mounted track, one of said plurality of spaced rollers engaging said guide surface during swinging movement of said link arm from the laterally outward orientation of said second roller with respect to said first roller when the door is closed to the aligned orientation between said first and second spaced rollers and said other door-mounted track when said door is opening by movement of both of said first and second spaced rollers through said other door-mounted track;
• and an auxiliary support arm mounted on the vehicle body rearwardly of said door opening and within the rear quarter body panel to pivot about a vertical axis and having auxiliary support rollers rotatably mounted on one end thereof, said auxiliary support arm having link means pivotally connected thereto and located within the rear quarter body panel and pivotally connecting with said link arm so that said auxiliary support arm one end extends rearwardly of the vehicle when said door is in the operative closed position, and said link means is moved by pivoting movement of said link arm when said door is moved to the door open position to extend said auxiliary support arm laterally of the vehicle through an opening in the rear quarter body panel and align said auxiliary support rollers with said upper track opening so that said auxiliary support rollers are received within said upper track and engage same in supporting relation to provide auxiliary support to said door when said door is in the open operative position.