Pivot and slide door system

Details Pivot and slide door system Pivot and slide door system

1999-02-05

2001-02-06

Pape, Joseph D. (Department: 3612)

Land vehicles: bodies and tops

Bodies

Door or window with specified vehicle feature

C296S146120, C042S130000, C042S130000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06183039

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to door systems for vehicles and, more particularly, to a pivot and slide door system for an automotive vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is known to provide a door system for a vehicle such as an automotive vehicle to allow an occupant to enter and exit an occupant compartment through a door opening in a vehicle body of the automotive vehicle. The door system typically includes a door extending longitudinally to close the door opening. The door is pivotally mounted at a front end by a hinge to vehicle structure forming the door opening on the vehicle body. The door system also includes a latch at a rear end of the door to latch the door in a close position to a striker connected to the vehicle structure. In operation, an operator moves a handle to unlatch the door from the striker and pivot the door via the hinge to open the door opening. To close the door, the operator pivots the door via the hinge to close the door opening and engage the latch with the striker.
Although the above door system has worked well, it is desirable to open and close the door opening via the door when the automotive vehicle is parked close to an object. It is also desirable to improve the ingress/egress through the door opening to the occupant compartment via the door. It is further desirable to improve the ease of operation of the door independent of the size of the door. Therefore, there is a need in the art to provide an improved door system for an automotive vehicle.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is, therefore, one object of the present invention to provide a pivot and slide door system for an automotive vehicle.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a pivot and slide door system for a vehicle, which uses the same door opening and seals as current hinge mounted doors.
To achieve the foregoing objects, the present invention is a pivot and slide door system for an automotive vehicle. The pivot and slide door system includes a door adapted to be disposed in a door opening of a vehicle body and a pivot assembly attached to the vehicle body and cooperating with the door to pivot the door from a closed position to a pivot position. The pivot and slide door system also includes a slide assembly cooperating with the pivot assembly to slide the door from the pivot position to an open position to allow ingress/egress through the door opening.
One advantage of the present invention is that a pivot and slide door system is provided for an automotive vehicle. Another advantage of the present invention is that the pivot and slide door system allows door operation in a narrow parking space or when the automotive vehicle is parked closely to an object. Yet another advantage of the present invention is that the pivot and slide door system provides improved ingress/egress through the door opening to the occupant compartment of the automotive vehicle. Still another advantage of the present invention is that the pivot and slide door system improves ease of operation of the door and is not dependent on door size. A further advantage of the present invention is that the pivot and slide door system can have a manual or powered operation. Yet a further advantage of the present invention is that the pivot and slide door system can be used with the same door opening and seal as current hinge mounted doors.
Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be readily appreciated, as the same becomes better understood after reading the subsequent description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.


REFERENCES:
patent: 4019775 (1977-04-01), Grossbach et al.
patent: 4025104 (1977-05-01), Grossbach et al.
patent: 4110934 (1978-09-01), Zens
patent: 4135760 (1979-01-01), Grossbach
patent: 4945677 (1990-08-01), Kramer
patent: 4981321 (1991-01-01), Watanabe et al.
patent: 5896704 (1999-04-01), Neag et al.
patent: 5921613 (1999-07-01), Breunig et al.
patent: 5967595 (1999-10-01), Heya et al.

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