Patent ID: 7798557

Claim:
A vehicle rear door articulating and sliding mechanism comprising: at least one articulating hinge assembly including: at least one hinge arm pivotally mounted to a vehicle C-pillar at one end thereof; a vehicle rear door pivotally and slidably mounted to said hinge arm at an opposite end of said hinge arm; at least one guide track mounted to the vehicle rear door; and at least one slide block pivotally mounted to said hinge arm and slidably attached to said guide track, wherein said hinge arm is disposed at first and second angular positions relative to said guide track when the vehicle rear door is respectively disposed in closed and opened positions, and said slide block is disposed at first and second positions along a length of said guide track when the vehicle rear door is respectively disposed in the closed and opened positions, whereby, said vehicle rear door articulating and sliding mechanism provides articulating movement of the vehicle rear door, independent of a vehicle front door, during initial opening thereof and further provides sliding movement of the vehicle rear door relative to the vehicle body during continued opening thereof, wherein said slide block is pivotally mounted to said opposite end of said hinge arm, and wherein said opposite end of said hinge arm further includes a fixedly mounted curved finger engageable with a complementary curved lockout tab provided on the vehicle rear door for preventing sliding movement of the vehicle rear door during articulating movement of the vehicle rear door, and wherein said curved finger is rotated about the curved lockout tab to a location below the curved lockout tab such that the curved finger is disengageable from said complementary curved lockout tab for allowing sliding movement of the vehicle rear door and preventing articulating movement of the vehicle rear door.