Patent ID: 7866001

Claim:
A vehicle door opening/closing device including a hinge member pivotally connecting a door for opening and closing an opening of a vehicle body to the vehicle body, and a damper for imparting a braking force to the door when the door is turned relative to the vehicle body, wherein the hinge member includes: a first hinge arm arranged to attach to one of an edge of the opening and an end of the door facing to each other; a pin shaft fixed to the first hinge arm and arranged to be placed along the edge of the opening and the end of the door; and a second hinge arm pivotally mounted on the pin shaft and arranged to be attached to the other one of the edge of the opening and the end of the door; and the damper includes: a rotor connected to the pin shaft; a housing rotatably mounted on the rotor and arranged to be attached to either the other one of the edge of the opening and the end of the door, or the second hinge arm; and a braking means contained in the housing and arranged to impart a braking force to the housing in a manner that the braking force to be imparted to the door is changed only when the door is opened according to an opening degree of the door when the housing is rotated relative to the rotor; wherein: the hinge member is arranged to connect a lower end of the door to the vehicle body in such a way that the door can be turned upward and downward, and the damper has a resistance element to increase the braking force as the door is turned in an opening direction from a vertical closed position; and the braking force stays in a uniform maximum value while the door is opened in the range of 60° to 90° of a fully-opened position from the vertical closed position.