Door check device

A door check device for installation between a motor vehicle body and a motor vehicle door that swings in opposing opening and closing directions relative to the vehicle body, said door check device comprising:

• a first link member engaging structure;
• a second link member engaging structure;
• a housing having a connecting portion,
• an elongated link member having a first opposing end that provides a connecting portion, a second opposing end, and an intermediate portion that extends between said first and second opposing ends thereof and provides first and second opposing face surfaces, said intermediate portion having first and second detent regions that extend generally in a transverse direction of said link member on said first and second opposing face surfaces thereof, respectively;
• said elongated link member being positioned between said first and second engaging structures with said first and second engaging structures extending generally in the transverse direction of said link member such that said first and second rollers face the first and second face surfaces, respectively, of said intermediate portion;
• biasing structure constructed and arranged to bias said first and second engaging structures relatively towards one another to thereby urge said engaging structures into engagement with the first and second opposing face surfaces of said intermediate link member portion, respectively;
• the connecting portion of said elongated link member and the connecting portion of said housing being constructed and arranged to enable installation of said door check device by operatively connecting one of said connecting portions to the vehicle door and operatively connecting the other of said connecting portions to the vehicle body so that opening and closing movements of the vehicle door relative to the vehicle body moves said link member relative to said housing with said first engaging structure travelling along the first face surface of said link member's intermediate portion and said second engaging structure travelling along the second face surface of said link member's intermediate portion;
• said engaging structures and said detent regions being configured with respect to one another such that, when said device is installed as aforesaid and the vehicle door is swung to a location with respect to the vehicle body wherein said first and second engaging structures are received within said first and second detent regions, respectively, said first and second engaging structures cooperate with said first and second detent regions to maintain the vehicle door at that position until a force sufficient to cause said link member to move relative to said housing so as to urge said engaging structures relatively apart from one another and out of cooperation with said detent regions against the biasing of said biasing structure is applied to the vehicle door;
• said first engaging structure and said first opposing face surface of said intermediate portion being configured so as to engage with one another under the biasing of said biasing structure in a first transverse movement restricting relationship wherein said first opposing face surface and said first engaging structure cooperate to restrict relative movement between said first engaging structure and said link member generally in the transverse direction of said link member;
• said second engaging structure and said second opposing face surface of said intermediate portion being configured so as to engage with one another under the biasing of said biasing structure in a second transverse movement restricting relationship wherein said second opposing face surface and said second engaging structure cooperate to restrict relative movement between said second engaging structure and said link member generally in the transverse direction of said link member;
• said first engaging structure and said second engaging structure each being constructed and arranged such that, when said link member is caused to undergo a yaw movement relative to said housing generally along a yaw plane that extends in both the transverse direction and the longitudinal extent of said link member, said first and second engaging structures are allowed to move along with said link member to thereby facilitate said first and second engaging structures remaining engaged with said first and second face surfaces in the aforesaid first and second transverse movement restricting relationships, respectively.