CN114352143B

CN114352143B - Motor vehicle, sliding door and door panel assembly for sliding door

Info

Publication number: CN114352143B
Application number: CN202210016232.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 王超; 孙利
Original assignee: Hebei Kaiyun Motors Manufacturing Co ltd
Current assignee: Hebei Kaiyun Motors Manufacturing Co ltd
Priority date: 2021-11-05
Filing date: 2022-01-07
Publication date: 2023-03-31
Anticipated expiration: 2042-01-07
Also published as: CN114312257B; WO2023078173A1; CN114352143A; CN114312257A

Abstract

The application discloses door that slides for motor vehicles, it includes upper guideway module, lower guideway module and flexible door plant, the upper guideway module with the lower guideway module respectively with guide rail set spare cooperation on the automobile body of vehicle, with the guide with support the removal of door that slides, wherein, flexible door plant connects the upper guideway module with between the lower guideway module. The application also discloses a motor vehicle comprising the sliding door and an upper door plate assembly and a lower door plate assembly for the sliding door. According to the invention, the relative position deviation between the upper guide rail and the lower guide rail of the sliding door can be absorbed by the flexible deformation of the flexible door plate, the sliding door is convenient to install, the smooth operation of the sliding door is facilitated, the user experience is improved, meanwhile, the damage of the position deviation to the sliding door is reduced, and the service life of the sliding door is prolonged.

Description

Motor vehicle, sliding door and door panel assembly for sliding door

Technical Field

The invention relates to the field of vehicles, in particular to a sliding door for a motor vehicle, a motor vehicle with the sliding door and a door panel assembly for the sliding door.

Background

The sliding door generally used for motor vehicles comprises an inner plate and an outer plate which are formed by stamping metal plates, and the inner plate and the outer plate form a sliding door assembly through edge covering and spot welding. In addition, the sliding door is typically connected to a guide rail on the vehicle body by rollers. The sliding door assembly is approximately a rigid body, and the guide rails usually have relative position deviation (for example, are not parallel), so that when the sliding door is installed, the tolerance of the sliding door assembly and the parallelism tolerance of the guide rails need to be adjusted by adjusting a plurality of roller installation points, and the adjustment process is very complicated.

Disclosure of Invention

It is an object of the present invention to provide a sliding door for a motor vehicle, a motor vehicle comprising such a sliding door and a door panel assembly for a sliding door which at least partly overcome the above-mentioned problems of the prior art.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sliding door for a motor vehicle comprising an upper track module, a lower track module, and a flexible door panel, the upper track module and the lower track module respectively cooperating with a track assembly on a body of the vehicle to guide and support movement of the sliding door, wherein the flexible door panel is connected between the upper track module and the lower track module.

Advantageously, the flexible door panel is integrally made of a flexible material capable of flexible deformation.

Advantageously, both ends of the flexible door panel are fixed with the upper guide rail module and the lower guide rail module respectively through bonding.

Advantageously, the top side and/or the bottom side of the flexible door panel is provided with a bend biased towards the inside of the sliding door.

Advantageously, the top side and/or the bottom side of the flexible door panel is provided with a sealing member protruding towards the inner side of the sliding door.

Advantageously, the flexible door panel comprises at least one flexible section in the up-down direction, the flexible section extending across the entire width of the flexible door panel and being made of a flexible material capable of flexible deformation.

Advantageously, the flexible door panel further comprises a window frame.

Advantageously, the upper guide rail module is fixed at the top end of the window frame, and the flexible door panel further comprises a flexible lower door panel connected between the bottom end of the window frame and the lower guide rail module, the flexible lower door panel comprising the at least one flexible section.

Advantageously, the top end of the window frame is formed as a top side bend biased towards the inside of the sliding door.

Advantageously, the flexible lower door panel is integrally made of a flexible material capable of being flexibly deformed.

Advantageously, the bottom side of the flexible lower door panel is provided with a bend biased towards the inside of the sliding door.

Advantageously, the underside of the flexible lower door panel is provided with a sealing member projecting towards the inside of the sliding door.

Advantageously, the at least one flexible section comprises a flexible member connected between the top end of the window frame and the headrail module.

Advantageously, the flexible member forms a top side bend that is biased towards the inside of the sliding door.

Advantageously, the upper track module comprises a first bracket and an upper track assembly fixed on the first bracket, the lower track module comprises a second bracket and a lower track assembly fixed on the second bracket, and the upper track module and the lower track module are respectively matched with the track assembly on the body of the vehicle through the upper track assembly and the lower track assembly.

Advantageously, said first bracket projects towards the inside of the sliding door.

Advantageously, said second bracket projects towards the inside of the sliding door.

Advantageously, the first bracket comprises a rigid beam extending in the width direction of the sliding door and a support arm extending from the rigid beam, the end of the support arm being connected to the lower rail assembly; and/or the second bracket comprises a rigid beam extending along the width direction of the sliding door and a supporting arm extending from the rigid beam, and the end part of the supporting arm is connected with the lower guide rail assembly

Advantageously, the upper track assembly and the lower track assembly each cooperate with a track assembly on the body of the vehicle to form a three-section ball track.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a motor vehicle comprising a sliding door as described above.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an upper door panel assembly for a sliding door of a motor vehicle, wherein the upper door panel assembly constitutes only an upper half of the sliding door and includes a window frame and an upper rail module connected with respect to a top end of the window frame; and is

The upper door panel assembly further comprises at least one flexible section in the up-down direction, wherein the flexible section penetrates through the whole width direction of the upper door panel assembly and is made of flexible materials capable of flexibly deforming.

Advantageously, the upper track module comprises a first bracket and an upper track assembly fixed to the first bracket, the first bracket projecting towards the inside of the upper panel assembly.

Advantageously, the upper door panel assembly, the at least one flexible section comprises a flexible member connected between a top end of the window frame and the upper track module.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a lower door panel assembly for a sliding door of a motor vehicle, wherein the lower door panel assembly constitutes only a lower half of the sliding door and includes a lower guide rail module and a flexible lower door panel, the lower guide rail module being connected to a bottom side of the flexible lower door panel; and the flexible lower door panel comprises at least one flexible section in the up-down direction, the flexible section penetrates through the whole width direction of the flexible lower door panel and is made of flexible materials capable of flexibly deforming.

Advantageously, the lower track module comprises a second bracket and a lower track assembly fixed to the second bracket, the second bracket projecting towards the inside of the lower door panel assembly.

Advantageously, the second bracket includes a rigid beam extending in a width direction of the sliding door, a support arm extending from the rigid beam, and a lower rail assembly connected to an end of the support arm, the rigid beam being fixedly connected to an underside of the flexible lower door panel.

The sliding door comprises a flexible door plate connected between an upper guide rail module and a lower guide rail module, and the flexible deformation of the flexible door plate can absorb the relative position deviation between the upper guide rail and the lower guide rail of the sliding door, so that the sliding door is convenient to install, the smooth operation of the sliding door is facilitated, the user experience is improved, meanwhile, the damage of the position deviation to the sliding door is reduced, and the service life of the sliding door is prolonged.

Drawings

Other features, objects and advantages of the invention will become more apparent upon reading of the detailed description of non-limiting embodiments with reference to the following drawings:

fig. 1 is a perspective view of an example of a sliding door and a vehicle having such a sliding door according to a first embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of an upper door panel assembly for the sliding door of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 illustrates, in partial cross-section, a top side of a flexible door panel and an upper track module of the sliding door of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a lower track module for the sliding door of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a flexible lower door panel for the sliding door of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a lower door panel assembly for the sliding door of FIG. 1;

fig. 7 is a perspective view of an example of a sliding door according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of an upper door panel assembly for the sliding door of FIG. 7;

fig. 9 is a perspective view of an example of a flexible door panel of a sliding door according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

The present invention will be described in further detail with reference to the drawings and examples. It is to be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the relevant invention and not restrictive of the invention. For convenience of description, only portions related to the invention are shown in the drawings.

It should be noted that the embodiments and features of the embodiments may be combined with each other without conflict.

Fig. 1 shows in a perspective view an example of a sliding door according to a first embodiment of the invention and a vehicle having such a sliding door.

As shown in fig. 1, a sliding door 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an upper rail module 100, a lower rail module 200, and a flexible door panel 300. The upper and

lower rail modules

100 and 200 are respectively adapted to cooperate with a rail assembly 1a (see fig. 3) on a body of the vehicle 1 (only a cab portion is shown in fig. 1) to guide and support movement of the sliding door 10. A flexible door panel 300 is connected between the upper track module 100 and the lower track module 200.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, upper track module 100 and lower track module 200 may be formed as rigid modules and attached to the vehicle body by mating with the track assembly on the vehicle body. The flexible door panel 300 can absorb the relative positional deviation between the upper rail module 100 and the lower rail module 200 by its own flexible deformation. The upper track assembly 120 of the upper track module 100 and the lower track assembly 220 of the lower track module 200 should ideally remain parallel to each other and at a predetermined spacing relative to each other. However, the two rail assemblies fixedly mounted to the vehicle body, which are respectively fitted to the upper rail module 100 and the lower rail module 200, are generally not maintained in parallel or at a predetermined interval due to manufacturing tolerances, mounting errors, and deformation of the vehicle body when the vehicle is driven. Accordingly, upon mating upper track module 100 and lower track module 200 with a track assembly on a vehicle body, there may be various relative positional deviations between the two, including but not limited to, for example, relative twisting. In this case, the sliding door 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention can well absorb the above-mentioned relative position deviation through the flexible deformation of the flexible door panel 300, so as to facilitate the installation of the sliding door 10, facilitate the smooth operation of the sliding door, improve the user experience, reduce the damage of the position deviation to the sliding door, especially to the upper and lower guide rail assemblies, and prolong the service life of the sliding door.

According to the first embodiment, the flexible door panel 300 includes a window frame 310 and a flexible lower door panel 320 connected between a bottom end of the window frame 310 and the lower rail module 200. As will be described in greater detail below with reference to fig. 5, flexible lower door panel 320 includes at least one flexible section extending across the entire width of the flexible door panel/lower door panel and made of a flexible material capable of flexible deformation.

In the example shown in fig. 1, the headrail module 100 may include a first bracket 110 and a headrail assembly 120 secured to the first bracket 110; lower track module 200 may include a second bracket 210 and a lower track assembly 220 secured to second bracket 210. Upper track module 100 and lower track module 200 are mated to a track assembly on the body of vehicle 1 via upper track assembly 120 and lower track assembly 220, respectively.

Fig. 2 exemplarily shows a window frame 300 for the upper rail module 100 and the flexible door panel 300 of the sliding door 10 shown in fig. 1. In the example shown in fig. 2, the upper rail module 100 is fixed to the top end of the window frame 310. Preferably, the first bracket 110 is protruded from the top end of the window frame 310 toward the inner side a of the sliding door 10, and the upper rail assembly 120 is coupled to an end of the first bracket 110. The term "inner side" in this application refers to the side of the sliding door or door panel assembly described below that faces the vehicle body.

Advantageously, as shown in fig. 2, the top end of the window frame 310 may be formed as a top-side bent portion 310a that is deflected toward the inner side a of the sliding door 10.

The window frame 310 may or may not have a window pane installed therein. The sliding door 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention is not limited in this respect.

For clarity, fig. 3 shows a top side of the flexible door panel 300 of the sliding door 10 of fig. 1 and the upper track module 100 in partial cross-section. As shown in fig. 3, the first bracket 110 may include a rigid beam 111 extending in a width direction of the sliding door 10 and a support arm 112 protruding from the rigid beam 111. The upper track assembly 120 may be attached to the end of the support arm 112. The width direction of the sliding door 10 is perpendicular to the up-down direction. In fig. 3, the width direction is perpendicular to the drawing plane.

Referring back to fig. 2, according to some embodiments of the present invention, the upper rail module 100 and the window frame 310 may be provided together as an upper panel assembly 10A for constituting the sliding door 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention. According to such an embodiment, the upper door panel assembly 10A constitutes only an upper half of the sliding door 10, and includes a window frame 310 and an upper rail module 100 connected with respect to a top end of the window frame 310; the upper door panel assembly 10A further includes at least one flexible section (not shown) extending in the up-down direction throughout the entire width direction of the upper door panel assembly 10A and made of a flexible material capable of flexible deformation. Other structures of upper door panel assembly 10A may be the same as or similar to upper track module 100 described above with reference to fig. 2 and 3 and will not be described again.

Fig. 4 shows an example of a lower rail module 200. In the example shown in fig. 4, the second bracket 210 of the lower rail module 200 includes a rigid beam 211 extending in the width direction of the sliding door 10 and a support arm 212 protruding from the rigid beam 211; the lower track assembly 220 is attached to the end of the support arm 212. The rigid beam 211 of the lower track module 200 may be fixedly attached to the underside of the flexible lower door panel 320.

Preferably, upper track assembly 120 and lower track assembly 220 cooperate with track assemblies on the body of vehicle 1, respectively, to form a three-section ball track (see FIG. 3).

Next, the flexible lower door panel 320 of the sliding door 10 will be described. According to various implementations of the present embodiment, the flexible lower door panel 320 includes at least one flexible section in the up-down direction. Here, the "flexible section" is a segment of a structure extending across the entire width of the flexible lower door panel 320 and is made of a flexible material capable of flexible deformation.

Fig. 5 shows an example of the flexible lower door panel 320 of the sliding door 10. In the example shown in fig. 5, the flexible bottom door panel 320 includes a flexible section 320a and a rigid section 320b, wherein the flexible section 320a may be made of, for example, plastic, braid, rubber, or composite material with flexible fibers, and the rigid section 320b may be made of, for example, steel, and the flexible section 320a is fixedly connected with the rigid section 320b. In this way, the flexible lower door panel 320 may well absorb the relative positional deviation between the upper and lower rail modules/upper and lower rail assemblies through the flexible deformation of the flexible section 320 a.

In an advantageous embodiment, flexible door panel 300 includes a plurality of flexible segments 320a and/or a plurality of rigid segments 320b. Similar to the example shown in fig. 5, flexible section 320a may be made of, for example, plastic, braid, rubber, or a composite material with flexible fibers, while rigid section 320b may be made of, for example, steel. The flexible section 320a is fixedly connected to the rigid section 320b and may be spaced apart. Advantageously, the sum of the areas of the flexible segments 320a over the flexible bottom door panel 320 may be much less than the sum of the areas of the plurality of rigid segments 320b. Thus, the flexible lower door panel 320 can not only absorb the relative position deviation between the upper and lower guide rail modules/upper and lower guide rail assemblies through the flexible deformation of the flexible sections 320a, but also ensure the side collision safety of the driver and passengers through the rigid sections 320b arranged at intervals with the flexible sections 320 a.

In other advantageous embodiments, the flexible lower door panel 320 may be integrally made of a flexible material capable of flexible deformation. By way of example only, and not limitation, flexible lower door panel 320 may be made entirely of plastic, fabric, rubber, or composite materials with flexible fibers.

In some advantageous embodiments, both ends of the flexible lower door panel 320 may be fixed with the first bracket 110 of the upper rail module 100 and the second bracket 210 of the lower rail module 200, respectively, by bonding, for example, may be bonded to the rigid beam 111 of the first bracket 110 and the rigid beam 211 of the second bracket 210, respectively.

With continued reference to fig. 5, advantageously, the bottom side of the flexible lower door panel 320 may be provided with a bottom side bend 321 that is biased toward the inner side a of the sliding door 10.

Further, as shown in fig. 5, the bottom side of the flexible lower door panel 320 may be provided with a sealing member 322 protruding toward the inner side a of the sliding door 10. The sealing member 322 is connected to, for example, the bottom-side bent portion 321. The seal member 322 is used to cooperate with a body of the vehicle 1 (e.g., a seal provided on the body) to achieve dust-proof sealing of the bottom side of the sliding door 10. Preferably, the sealing member 322 projects laterally towards the inner side a.

According to some embodiments of the present invention, lower track module 200 and flexible lower door panel 320 may be combined together to form a lower door panel assembly 10B for constructing sliding door 10 according to embodiments of the present invention. Fig. 6 shows an example of the lower door panel assembly 10B. As shown in fig. 6, the lower door panel assembly 10B constitutes only a lower half of the sliding door 10, and includes a lower guide module 200 and a flexible lower door panel 320, wherein the lower guide module 200 is attached to the bottom side of the flexible lower door panel 320. Referring to fig. 5 and 6 in combination, the flexible lower door panel 320 of the lower door panel assembly 10B includes at least one flexible section 320a in the up-down direction, and the flexible section 320a penetrates the entire width direction of the flexible lower door panel 320 and is made of a flexible material capable of flexible deformation.

Referring to fig. 4 and 6 in combination, lower track module 200 may include a second bracket 210 and a lower track assembly 220 secured to second bracket 210, second bracket 210 preferably projecting toward an inner side a of lower panel assembly 10B (with the inner side of sliding door 10).

As shown in fig. 4, the lower guide module 200 of the lower door panel assembly 10B may include a rigid beam 211 extending in the width direction of the sliding door, a support arm 212 protruding from the rigid beam 211, and a lower guide assembly 220 connected to an end of the support arm 212. The rigid beam 211 of the lower track module 200 may be fixedly connected to the bottom side of the flexible lower door panel 320, for example to the bottom side bend 321 of the flexible lower door panel 320.

Other structures of the lower door panel assembly 10B may be the same as or similar to the lower guide rail module 200 and the flexible door panel 300 described above with reference to fig. 4 and 5, and will not be described again.

An example of the sliding door 10 according to the first embodiment of the present invention is described above with reference to fig. 1 to 6. It should be understood that the upper track module 100 and the lower track module 200 of the sliding door 10 according to the first embodiment of the present invention are not limited to include the bracket structure (the first bracket 110 and the second bracket 210), for example, the upper and

lower track assemblies

120 and 220 may be directly fixedly connected to the top and bottom sides of the flexible door panel 300. Furthermore, in other implementations of the present embodiment, the top side bent part 310a, which is described above as a top side structure of the window frame 310, may also be formed as part of the upper rail module 100, e.g., integrally formed with a bracket of the upper rail module 100. In this case, the top-side bent part may be non-detachably connected to the top end of the window frame 310 by, for example, welding, or detachably connected to the top end of the window frame 310 by, for example, screwing.

An example of the sliding door according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to fig. 7 and 8.

Fig. 7 shows a perspective view of a sliding door 10' according to a second embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 7, the sliding door 10 'includes an upper track module 100', a lower track module 200', and a flexible door panel 300'. As with the sliding door 10 according to the first embodiment of the present invention, the upper rail module 100' and the lower rail module 200' cooperate with rail assemblies on the body of the vehicle 1 (see fig. 1), respectively, to guide and support the movement of the sliding door 10 '. A flexible door panel 300' is connected between the upper track module 100' and the lower track module 200 '.

According to the second embodiment, the flexible door panel 300 'includes a window frame 310', a lower door panel 320 'connected between a bottom end of the window frame 310' and the lower guide rail module 200', and a flexible member 330' connected between a top end of the window frame 310 'and the upper guide rail module 100'. The flexible member 330' extends across the entire width of the flexible door panel 300' and is made of a flexible material that can be flexibly deformed, thereby constituting a flexible section of the flexible door panel 300'. For example, the flexible member 330' may be made of plastic, braid, rubber, or composite material with flexible fibers. In this way, the flexible door panel 300 'can absorb the relative positional deviation between the upper and lower rail modules/upper and lower rail assemblies well by the flexible deformation of the flexible member 330'.

The upper track module 100' and the lower track module 200' of the sliding door 10' according to the second embodiment may be the same as or similar to the upper track module 100 and the lower track module 200 of the sliding door 10 according to the first embodiment, and thus, a detailed description thereof is omitted.

Advantageously, the flexible piece 330' forms a top side bent portion 330' a that is biased towards the inner side a of the sliding door 10 '.

It should be understood that in other implementations of the present embodiment, the pliable component 330 'may not include the top side bend 330' a. In this case, the bottom side of the bracket structure of the upper guide rail module 100 'may comprise a bent portion, e.g. integrally formed with the first bracket of the upper guide rail module 100'; the flexible member 330 'may be attached to the bent portion, which is the bottom side of the upper rail module 100', by, for example, adhesive bonding.

Furthermore, in other implementations of this embodiment, the flexible member may be connected between the top end of the window frame and the upper rail module and constitute a bent portion or a portion of the bent portion that is deflected from the top end of the window frame towards the inside of the sliding door.

In another embodiment of this embodiment, the flexible member may be disposed between the bottom end of the window frame 310' and the lower door panel 320', and similarly, the flexible door panel 300' may well absorb the relative position deviation between the upper and lower guide rail modules/upper and lower guide rail assemblies by the flexible deformation of the flexible member.

According to some embodiments of the present invention, the upper rail module 100', the flexible member 330', and the window frame 310' may be provided together as an upper panel assembly 10' a for constituting the sliding door 10' according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 shows an example of an upper door panel assembly 10'A for sliding door 10'. According to such an embodiment, the upper door panel assembly 10'a constitutes only an upper half of the sliding door 10' and includes a window frame 310', an upper rail module 100' fixedly connected with respect to a top end of the window frame 310', and a flexible piece 330' connected between the top end of the window frame 310 'and the upper rail module 100'.

Additionally or alternatively, a flexible member may be provided at the bottom end of the window frame, the flexible member extending across the entire width of the flexible door panel and being made of a flexible material capable of flexible deformation, thereby constituting a flexible section of the flexible door panel. In summary, the upper door panel assembly may include at least one flexible section extending in an up-down direction throughout an entire width direction of the upper door panel assembly and made of a flexible material capable of being flexibly deformed.

The top rail module 100 'of the top panel assembly 10' a may be the same as or similar to the top rail module 100 described above with reference to fig. 2 and 3, and will not be described again.

According to the second embodiment, the lower door panel 320 'of the sliding door 10' may include at least one flexible section, or may be a rigid member without a flexible section, as the flexible lower door panel 320 of the sliding door 10. In addition, the lower door panel 320 'and the window frame 310' may be formed as separate members and assembled together, or may be integrally formed. In embodiments where the lower door panel 320' and the window frame 310' are separate components, the lower rail module 200' and the lower door panel 320' may be provided together as a lower door panel assembly (not shown) for constructing the sliding door 10' according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the case where the lower door panel 320 'includes at least one flexible section, the lower door panel assembly of the sliding door 10' may be the same as or similar to the lower door panel assembly 10B described with reference to fig. 6, and will not be described again.

The flexible door panels of the sliding doors according to the first and second embodiments of the present invention described above each include a window frame, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, fig. 9 shows that the flexible door panel 300 "of the sliding door according to the third embodiment of the present invention may not include a window frame.

In the example shown in fig. 9, the flexible door panel 300 "is made entirely of a flexible material capable of flexible deformation. In other implementations of the present embodiment, the flexible door panel 300 "may include at least one flexible section extending in the up-down direction throughout the width direction of the flexible door panel 300" and made of a flexible material capable of flexible deformation.

Advantageously, both ends of the flexible door panel 300 ″ may be fixed to the upper and lower rail modules, respectively, by bonding.

Advantageously, as shown in fig. 9, the top side of the flexible door panel 300 "may be provided with a bent portion 300 a biased toward the inside of the sliding door; the bottom side of the flexible door panel 300 "may be provided with a bent portion 300 b that is biased toward the inside of the sliding door. However, it should be understood that the flexible door panel 300 "according to the present embodiment may not include the above-described bent portion, or only one thereof.

Advantageously, although not shown, the top and/or bottom side of the flexible door panel 300 "may be provided with a sealing member protruding towards the inner side a of the sliding door. For example, the sealing member may be the same as or similar to the seal 322 of the flexible lower door panel 320 shown in FIG. 5.

According to other embodiments of the present invention, there is also provided a motor vehicle 1 (see fig. 1) including the sliding door according to the embodiment of the present invention described above. All the features of the sliding door according to the embodiment of the invention described above with reference to the drawings can be incorporated in the motor vehicle 1 and will not be described in detail here.

The foregoing description is only exemplary of the preferred embodiments of the application and is illustrative of the principles of the technology employed. It will be appreciated by a person skilled in the art that the scope of the invention as referred to in the present application is not limited to the embodiments with a specific combination of the above-mentioned features, but also covers other embodiments with any combination of the above-mentioned features or their equivalents without departing from the inventive concept. For example, the above features may be replaced with (but not limited to) features having similar functions disclosed in the present application.

Claims

1. A sliding door for a motor vehicle comprises an upper guide rail module, a lower guide rail module and a flexible door panel, wherein the upper guide rail module and the lower guide rail module are respectively matched with a guide rail assembly on a vehicle body of the vehicle to guide and support the movement of the sliding door, and the flexible door panel is connected between the upper guide rail module and the lower guide rail module.

2. The sliding door of claim 1, wherein the flexible door panel is integrally formed of a flexible material capable of flexible deformation.

3. A sliding door according to claim 2, wherein both ends of said flexible door panel are fixed to said upper track module and said lower track module respectively by adhesion.

4. The sliding door according to claim 1, wherein the top side and/or the bottom side of the flexible door panel is provided with a bend portion that is biased towards the inside of the sliding door.

5. The sliding door according to claim 1 or 4, wherein the top side and/or the bottom side of the flexible door panel is provided with a sealing member protruding towards the inner side of the sliding door.

6. The sliding door of claim 1, wherein the flexible door panel includes at least one flexible section extending in an up-down direction throughout an entire width direction of the flexible door panel and made of a flexible material capable of flexible deformation.

7. The sliding door of claim 6, wherein the flexible door panel further comprises a window frame.

8. The sliding door of claim 7, wherein the upper track module is secured to a top end of the window frame, and the flexible door panel further comprises a flexible lower door panel connected between a bottom end of the window frame and the lower track module, the flexible lower door panel including the at least one flexible section.

9. The sliding door of claim 8, wherein the top end of the window frame is formed as a top side bend that is biased toward the inside of the sliding door.

10. A sliding door according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the flexible lower door panel is integrally formed from a flexible material capable of flexible deformation.

11. The sliding door of claim 10, wherein the bottom side of the flexible lower door panel is provided with a bend that is biased toward the inside of the sliding door.

12. The sliding door of claim 10, wherein the bottom side of the flexible lower door panel is provided with a sealing member projecting toward the inside of the sliding door.

13. The sliding door of claim 11, wherein the bottom side of the flexible lower door panel is provided with a sealing member projecting toward the inside of the sliding door.

14. The sliding door of claim 7, wherein the at least one flexible section comprises a flexible member connected between a top end of the window frame and the headrail module.

15. The sliding door of claim 14 wherein the flexible member forms a top side bend that is biased toward the inside of the sliding door.

16. The sliding door of claim 1, wherein the upper track module includes a first bracket and an upper track assembly secured to the first bracket, and the lower track module includes a second bracket and a lower track assembly secured to the second bracket, the upper and lower track modules being engaged with the track assembly on the body of the vehicle via the upper and lower track assemblies, respectively.

17. The sliding door of claim 16, wherein the first bracket projects toward an inner side of the sliding door.

18. The sliding door of claim 16, wherein the second bracket projects toward an inner side of the sliding door.

19. The sliding door of any one of claims 16-18, wherein the first bracket comprises a rigid beam extending in a width direction of the sliding door and a support arm extending from the rigid beam, an end of the support arm being coupled to the lower track assembly; and/or

The second bracket includes a rigid beam extending in a width direction of the sliding door and a support arm extending from the rigid beam, an end of the support arm being connected to the lower rail assembly.

20. The sliding door of any of claims 16-18, wherein the upper track assembly and the lower track assembly each cooperate with a track assembly on a body of the vehicle to form a three-section ball track.

21. A motor vehicle comprising a sliding door according to any one of claims 1-20.

22. An upper door panel assembly for a sliding door of a motor vehicle, wherein the upper door panel assembly constitutes only an upper half of the sliding door and comprises a window frame and an upper rail module connected relative to a top end of the window frame; and is

23. The upper door panel assembly of claim 22, wherein the upper track module includes a first bracket and an upper track assembly secured to the first bracket, the first bracket projecting toward an inner side of the upper panel assembly.

24. The upper door panel assembly of claims 22 or 23, the at least one flexible section comprising a flexible member connected between a top end of the window frame and the upper track module.

25. A lower door panel assembly for a sliding door of a motor vehicle, wherein the lower door panel assembly constitutes only a lower half of the sliding door and comprises a lower guide rail module and a flexible lower door panel, the lower guide rail module being attached to an underside of the flexible lower door panel; and is provided with

The flexible lower door panel comprises at least one flexible section in the up-down direction, and the flexible section penetrates through the whole width direction of the flexible lower door panel and is made of flexible materials capable of flexibly deforming.

26. The lower door panel assembly of claim 25, wherein the lower track module includes a second bracket and a lower track assembly secured to the second bracket, the second bracket projecting toward an interior side of the lower panel assembly.

27. The lower door panel assembly of claim 26, wherein said second bracket includes a rigid beam extending in a width direction of said sliding door, a support arm extending from said rigid beam, and a lower guide assembly attached to an end of said support arm, said rigid beam being fixedly attached to an underside of said flexible lower door panel.