Patent ID: 8033584

Claim:
A vehicle door opening/closing device comprising: a latch mechanism that is switchable among a fully latched state, in which the latch mechanism holds a vehicle door in a fully closed state, a half-latched state, in which the latch mechanism holds the vehicle door in an ajar state, and an unlatched state, in which the latch mechanism does not hold the vehicle door; a locking mechanism capable of switching the vehicle door between a locked state and an unlocked state; a pivotable operating lever; a drive unit having a drive source and a pivotable drive lever, the drive lever being connected to the operating lever with a drive force transmitting member, the drive source pivots the drive lever in a first direction from a predetermined initial position serving as a starting point to transmit a drive force to the operating lever through the drive force transmitting member so that the operating lever pivots to be engaged with the latch mechanism, thereby switching the latch mechanism from the half-latched state to the fully latched state, the drive source transmitting the drive force to the latch mechanism by pivoting the drive lever in a second direction opposite to the first direction from the predetermined initial position serving as the starting point, thereby switching the latch mechanism from the fully latched state or the half-latched state to the unlatched state; and a canceling mechanism that operates to block transmission of power between the drive source and the drive lever when a manipulation force of a vehicle door handle is transmitted to the canceling mechanism through the locking mechanism, a releasing lever that is pivoted by the drive lever pivoting in the second direction to be engaged with the latch mechanism, thereby switching the latch mechanism from the fully latched state or the half-latched state to the unlatched state, wherein the manipulation force of the door handle is transmitted to the canceling mechanism only when the vehicle door is in the unlocked state, wherein the canceling mechanism includes a canceling lever that is arranged coaxially with the releasing lever and permitted to pivot relative to the releasing lever, the canceling lever having a pressing portion, the pressing portion being engageable with the locking mechanism and the releasing lever when the vehicle door is in the unlocked state, and wherein, when the vehicle door is in the unlocked state, the manipulation force of the door handle is transmitted to the pressing portion through the locking mechanism in such a manner as to pivot the canceling lever, thereby causing the canceling lever to block the transmission of power between the drive source and the drive lever and causing the pressing portion to press the releasing lever to pivot the releasing lever.