Vehicle sliding door stabilizer

Abstract

In vehicles, such as automobile minivans, a sliding door is sometimes provided with a stabilizer assembly that includes a male part usually attached to the sliding door and a female part usually attached to a door frame that is stationary with respect to the body of the vehicle. The stabilizer assembly helps to prevent relative movement and vibration of the sliding door while the vehicle is moving. To reduce unwanted noise generated by the stabilizer resulting from relative movement between the male and female parts while in contact, the male part is formed substantially of a urethane material and the female part is formed substantially of a nylon material. Preferably, the male part may be formed partially of a fluorocarbon resin such as Teflon.TM., for added lubricity, and the female part may be formed partially of fiberglass to enhance tensile strength, a fluorocarbon resin, or barium sulphate.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.