JPH03248914A - Structure of slide door for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce damage caused by exposing a driving means and a driving force transmitting means to a lower side of a car body by receivedly arranging the driving means and the driving force transmitting means for moving a slide door in the longitudinal direction of the car body between the side sill and step part of the car body. CONSTITUTION:An entrance opening (1a) provided on a side of a car body 1 of a van type vehicle has its lower end formed by a step part 20 provided at a vertically middle position between a closed cross section shaped side sill 19 extending in the longitudinal direction of the car body and a compartment floor 18. Three guide rails 4, 8, 13 are provided on the side of the car body 1 to support a slide door 3 for opening and closing the opening (1a) slidably in the longitudinal direction of the car body. A door opening end closing driving device X whose slide member 26 threadedly engages with a spiral shaft 22 rotated by a driving motor 2d is arranged below the opening (1a), namely between the side sill 19 and the step part 20, to open and close the slide door 3.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a sliding door structure for a vehicle.

(Prior Art) Traditionally, wagon-type vehicles have been equipped with sliding doors that can be slid in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body along guide rails arranged on the sides of the vehicle body as doors on the rear seat side. (For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1983
(Refer to Publication No.-170381).

A method for driving the opening and closing of such a sliding door includes, for example, a motor as a driving means and a driving force transmitting means for transmitting the driving force from the motor to the door side, as disclosed in the above-mentioned known example. There is a known device which is equipped with a cable and which opens and closes the I/A via the cable.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) By the way, for example, in a cable-type driving force transmission means (J), it is conventional to arrange this driving force transmission means in an exposed state on the lower surface of the vehicle body. I used a boat for fishing, but in this case, when the vehicle is running, the driving force transmission means etc. are easily damaged by coming into contact with obstacles on the road surface, and it is also easy to get wet with muddy water from the road surface. This may impede its smooth operation, and its operation may be disrupted.
Second, there is room for improvement in terms of reliability and durability.

Therefore, the present invention proposes a sliding door structure for a vehicle that is designed to improve reliability and durability by preventing damage to the drive means and drive force transmission means and water damage to these as much as possible. It was made for the purpose of

(Means for Solving the Problems) In the present invention, as a specific means for solving the problems, there is provided an upper and lower part between the side sill, which is opened in the side of the vehicle body and whose lower end extends in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body, and the vehicle interior floor. It has an opening defined by a step part provided at an intermediate position in the direction, and a sliding door that opens or closes the opening is attached to a guide rail attached to a position near the opening toward the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body. The sliding door is supported so as to be movable in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body along the guide rail, and the sliding door is moved in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body by a driving force transmitted from a driving means disposed on the vehicle body side via a driving force transmitting means. The vehicle is characterized in that the driving means and the driving force transmitting means are housed between the side sill and the step portion of the vehicle body.

(Function) Since the present invention has such a configuration, the driving means and the driving force transmitting means are not exposed to the lower surface of the vehicle body, and therefore, the driving means and the driving force transmitting means are not exposed to obstacles on the road surface while the vehicle is running. This will prevent the vehicle from coming into contact with road surfaces or being covered with muddy water from the road surface.

(Effects of the Invention) Therefore, according to the sliding door structure for a vehicle of the present invention, the driving means and the driving force transmission means can be arranged in an extremely simple structure in which the driving means and the driving force transmission means are housed between the side sill and the step portion of the vehicle body. Damage to the force transmitting means and occurrence of water damage thereto can be prevented, and the reliability and durability of the operation of the drive means and the driving force transmitting means can be improved accordingly.

(Example) Hereinafter, a sliding door structure for a vehicle according to an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the left side of a vehicle body 1 of a pan-type vehicle equipped with a sliding door structure according to an embodiment of the present invention. An opening 1a for getting in and out of the rear compartment 2 is formed in the side surface of the vehicle body 1. And this opening 1a
The lower end of the opening 1a is defined by a step portion 20 provided at an intermediate position in the downward direction between the side sill 19 having a closed section shape extending in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body and the passenger compartment floor 18. It is opened and closed by a sliding door 3 that is slidable in the front-back direction of the vehicle body. Three guide rails spaced appropriately in the direction 4.8. +3 installed -
I'm 1 year old.

That is, on the lower surface of the step part 20, there are
As shown in the figure, a channel-shaped lower rail 4 is provided that extends in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle and whose front end is slightly curved toward the inside of the rear passenger compartment 2. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, this lower rail 4 has a guide bracket 5 fixedly attached to the bottom of the front end of the inner panel 3b forming the sliding door 3. The installed guide roller 6 is engaged.

In addition, an outer panel 7 forming the rear side surface of the vehicle body 1 is provided.
A channel-shaped center rail 8 that extends in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body and whose front end is slightly curved toward the inside of the rear passenger compartment 2 is fixedly installed approximately at the vertical center of a. The center rail 8 is provided with the sliding door 3.
A plurality of guide rollers IO 910 rotatably attached are engaged with a guide member 9 rotatably supported at the rear end of the inner panel 3b (see FIG. 3).

Furthermore, a channel-shaped upper rail is provided on the lower surface of the closed cross-sectional roof reinforcement 12 (see FIG. 2) that is joined to the side portion of the roof panel II of the vehicle body I and extends in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body. 13 are fixedly installed. Like the lower rail 4 and center rail 8, this upper rail 13 also has a shape in which its front end is slightly curved toward the inside of the rear compartment 2. This upper rail 13 has a guide roller 15 rotatably mounted on the upper surface of a guide arm 14 fixed to the two edges of the inner panel 3b (see FIG. 2) of the sliding door 3. has been forced to intervene.

By supporting the sliding door 3 by these three guide rails 4.8.13, the sliding door 3 is positioned on the side of the outer panel 7a forming the rear side of the vehicle body I, as shown in solid lines in FIG. The door slides from the opened state toward the front of the vehicle body along each guide rail 4, 8.13, and in the final stage, the front end of each guide rail /1, 8.13 opens. It is movable between a closed state (the state shown by the chain line in FIG. 3) in which the door is moved toward the inside of the vehicle (towards the rear compartment 2) along the curved shape.

As shown in FIG. 1, when the sliding door 3 is closed, the opening 1a of the vehicle body 1 is in contact with the rear edge of the sliding door 3.
At a predetermined position, there is a striker 1 that constitutes a part of a locking mechanism to be described later that locks the sliding door 3 in a closed state.
6 is installed.

On the other hand, the opening 1 is used to open and close the sliding door 3.
An opening/closing drive device X, which will be described later, is arranged below a. This opening/closing drive device A step portion 20, one side of which is joined to a vertical wall portion +9a that vertically connects the floor panel 18 forming the floor surface portion of the vehicle body 1 and the side sill I9.
It is placed on the bottom of the . And this opening/closing drive device
A helical shaft 22 and a camshaft 23 are rotatably supported at both ends by a pair of front and rear support brackets 21 and 21 fixed to the lower surface of the step part 20, respectively.
, a drive motor 24 that is fixed to one of the support brackets 21 and rotates the helical shaft 22, and a solenoid valve that is also fixed to one of the support brackets 21 and rotates the camshaft 23 within a predetermined range. a slide member 26 that is engaged with the shafts 22 and 23 and moves in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body in the axial direction as the spiral shaft 22 rotates, and one end thereof. is pivotally attached to the slide member 26, and the other end is pivotally attached to the tip of the guide bracket 5, so that the slide member 2
Link member 2 that interconnects 6 and the sliding door 3 side
It consists of 7. And the spiral shaft 2
2, the slide member 26 moves along the spiral shaft 22, thereby causing the slide door 3 connected to the slide member 26 via the link member 27 to slide in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body. It is something.

Further, the sliding portion 26 is provided with a clutch mechanism Y, which will be described later, for engaging and disengaging the sliding member 26 from the helical shaft 22 as necessary.

As shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, this clutch mechanism Y has a support shaft 29 disposed below the slide member 26 in a direction parallel to the helical shaft 22 and the camshaft 23, as described below. It is configured to swingably support the clutch member 30. This clutch member 30
is integrally formed with a convex portion 30a that contacts the outer circumferential surface 23a of the camshaft 22 on its negative side, and a female screw portion 30b that engages with the spiral shaft 22 on the other side. ing. The clutch member 30 is always connected to the convex portion 30a as shown by the solid line in FIG. It is biased so as to maintain the state inserted into the four parts 23a of the camshaft 23.

Therefore, by rotating the camshaft 23 by a predetermined angle by the actuator 25 mentioned above, the convex portion 30a of the clutch member 30 is moved to the outer peripheral surface 2 of the camshaft 23.
3a and is pushed downward, and the cradle member 30
is oscillated and displaced against the spring force of the coil spring 3I (as shown by the chain line in FIG. 6). At this time, as the cradle member 30 swings, the female screw portion 30b formed on the other side engages with the helical saw shaft 22, and thereby the helical saw shaft 22 and the slide member 26 are threadedly engaged. state.

Therefore, in this state, by rotating the spiral shaft 22 in either the forward or reverse direction by the drive motor 24, the slide portion 426 reciprocates in the axial direction along the spiral shaft 22, and the sliding door 3 is caused to slide between the closed door state and the closed door state.

In this embodiment, the drive motor 2 corresponds to the drive means in the claims, and also includes the actuator 25, the pair of shafts 2223, and the slide member 26.
The link member 27 and the clutch mechanism Y constitute a driving force transmission means in the claims.

In this way, when the opening/closing drive device
Since the opening/closing drive device X is not exposed on the underside of the vehicle body, it is certain that the opening/closing drive device This will improve the reliability and durability of the operation of the opening/closing drive device X.

Here, the drive motor 24 and the drive motor 25 are
9, this electric circuit 32 consists of two systems of first and second grounding circuits 34 that connect both poles of the drive motor 24 and the ground 33, respectively. ．． ．． 35 and the main power circuit 37 to the power supply 3G
The first and second power supply circuits 38 .
39, third and fourth electric gap circuits 4.2.43 connected to the first and second power supply circuits 38 and 39, respectively; It has fifth and sixth power supply circuits 44 and 45 connected to the second power supply circuit 38 and 39, respectively.

The first grounding circuit 34 includes opening switches/IOa 40b, 40 for closing the sliding door 3.
The second grounding circuit 35 is provided with opening switches 41a and 4l for opening the sliding door 3.
b.
, a changeover switch 46 is provided in the middle of the fourth power supply circuit 42, 43 to control whether or not the opening switch 40b and the opening switch 41b are operated. A changeover switch 47 is provided in the middle of the circuits 44 and 45 to control whether or not the close switch 40c and the open switch 41c are activated.

In this embodiment, the J1 close switch 40a, the open switch 41a, the changeover switches 46 and 47 are located on the driver's seat side, and the open switch 40b and the open switch 41b are located near the door in the passenger compartment. In addition, the opening switch 40c and the opening switch 41c are respectively arranged near the sliding door outside the vehicle interior, and the sliding door 3 can be opened and closed from any of these positions to improve its operability. I'm trying.

On the other hand, the power supply circuit 37 is equipped with a sliding relay 53 that controls opening and closing of the main power supply circuit 37 itself in response to a signal from a stop sensor 5I that detects the stopped state of the vehicle. The coil 53a of the relay 53 is energized only when the vehicle is stopped, and its contact 53b is closed to supply power to the main power circuit 37. Therefore,
Even if the sliding door 3 is accidentally opened while the vehicle is running, the sliding door 3 will not open, thereby ensuring its safety. In addition, methods for detecting the stopped state of this vehicle include, for example, determining whether the parking brake gear is pulled or not, determining whether the transmission lever is set to the Nicotral position, or A method of determining whether the vehicle speed is 0 or not is considered, and is it possible to achieve the intended purpose even if the method is adopted?From the viewpoint of ensuring higher reliability (4) J
, it is desirable to consider all three methods.

Further, an actuator 25 for rotating the camshaft 23 is connected to the main power circuit 37. Further, a relay 48 for controlling the energization state to the actuator 25 (J1) is installed in the middle of the second grounding circuit 35 (J1), and the second grounding circuit 35 is connected to the slide I/A shown in -1-. 3 and stops the operation of the drive motor 24 when the slide door 3 reaches a predetermined position (open position and closed position) using a position detection sensor (not shown) such as a Mitsutswitch. A switch 49 is provided. Therefore, when the two sets of changeover switches 46 and 47 are closed and the third and fifth power supply paths 42 and 44 are connected to the power supply 36, each closed Sui yji 4
By turning on any one of 0a, 40b, and 40c, the first grounding circuit 34 is interrupted, and the first, third, and fifth power supply circuits 38. , /+2, and /17I, the power supply 36 and the drive motor 24 are connected, and the drive motor 24 rotates. At the same time, the coil 48a of the relay 718 is energized and the relay 48a is energized.
The actuator 25 is energized via the main power supply circuit 37 by closing the contact 48b of the 8. Therefore, the camshaft 22 rotates by a predetermined angle +J, and the clutch member 30 swings about the support shaft 29 as shown by the chain line in FIG. 22 mesh. As a result, the slide door 3 moves integrally with the slide member 26 in the closing direction.

In addition, when the changeover switches 46 and 47 are closed and the fourth and sixth power supply circuits 43.45 are connected to the power supply 36 as in the case of the second set (J1 open switches 41a, 4
1b, 41c, the second grounding circuit 35 is opened, and the second grounding circuit 35 is connected to the power supply 36 via any one of the second, fourth, and sixth power supply circuits 39/13/45. The motor 24 is connected, which causes the drive motor 24 to rotate in the opposite direction to the two sets.

Also, at this time, since the coil 48a of the relay 48 is excited and the contact/18b of the coil 48 is closed, the actuator 25 is energized via the main power circuit 37, and the clutch member The female threaded portions 30b of 30 engage with the spiral shaft 22, thereby causing the slide member 26 to move in the opposite direction to the two sets, thereby moving the slide door 3 in the opening direction.

In addition, each of the above-mentioned closing switches 40a 4. Ob 40
C and each opening switch 41a, 4 lb 41c
When neither of these is operated, the sliding door 3 can be opened and closed manually.

In addition, the two sets of first and second power supply circuits 38 and 39 include a controller consisting of a variable resistor for controlling the operation of the drive motor 24 and varying the opening/closing speed when the sliding door 3 is opened/closed. 50Δ and 50′B are provided, respectively.

Furthermore, a switch 5 is installed in the middle of the main power supply circuit 37.
2 is provided, and by turning on the switch 52 as necessary, the actuator 24 can be actuated to engage the clutch member 30 with the spiral shaft 22. Therefore, for example, When manually opening and closing the sliding door 3 on a slope, etc., by turning on the switch 52, the clutch member 30 engages with the helical shaft 22, and the sliding door 3 is reliably opened and closed during the opening and closing. As a result, the sliding door 3 will not open or close inadvertently when you release your hand from it.
This improves safety when opening and closing the sliding door 3.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, when the sliding door 3 slides in the closing direction, a deadline is provided to ensure that the sliding door 3 is moved inward of the vehicle body (towards the rear compartment 2) in the final stage. A mechanism W is provided. As shown in FIG. 7, this closing mechanism W is located between the outer panel 7a and the inner panel 7b behind the opening +a of the vehicle body 1 facing the rear edge 3c of the sliding door 3 when the sliding door 3 is closed. a drive motor 54 disposed on the
The moon link members 57a, 5 are rotatably supported around the
A hook lever 58 connected to the rotating shaft 55a of the speed reducer 55 via the gear reducer 7b, and a rear end edge 3c of the sliding door 3.
An engagement pin 60 is fixedly attached via a support bracket 59 to the
and a limit switch 61 as a door position sensor that controls the energization state of the drive motor 54 by coming into contact with the engagement pin 60 when the sliding door 3 moves. And the limit switch 61
abuts against the engagement pin 60, the drive motor 5
4 is energized. Note that the rear end of the rotating shaft 54a of the drive motor 54 has a
A coil spring 62 is wound around the hook lever 58 to hold the hook lever 58 in the state shown by the solid line when the drive motor 54 is de-energized by biasing the hook lever 58 in a predetermined direction.

The closing mechanism W also includes a control switch 63a for controlling the energization state of the drive motor 54;
63b is provided. Each control switch 63a,
63b, as shown in FIG.
The hook lever 65 and the claw lever 66, which constitute a locking mechanism Z to be described later that locks the door in the closed state, are respectively arranged near the sides of the hook lever 65 and the claw lever 66, and each of these control switches 63a
, 63b are both OFF, the drive motor 54 can be energized, and conversely, each control switch 6
When both 3a and 63b are in the ON state, the power supply to the drive motor 54 is cut off.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 1, a pair of foreign object sensors 6767 are installed at the opening edge Ia of the vehicle body l to control the operation of the drive motor 54 in the closing mechanism W. When the foreign object sensors 67, 67 detect that there is a foreign object in the opening 1a, the power supply to the drive motor 54 is cut off. Therefore, if there is a person or cargo in the opening 1a, the sliding door 3 cannot be closed, so it is reliably prevented that a person or the like is caught in the sliding door 3. This improves the safety of door operation-1.

Here, the above-mentioned lock mechanism Z will be briefly explained with reference to FIGS. It has two hook levers 65 and a claw lever 66.

The hook lever 65 is rotatably supported on a support shaft 68, and is always urged in the direction of the arrow by a biasing member (not shown). The matching groove 65a can face a striker 16 fixed at a predetermined position on the opening edge 1a of the vehicle body I.

On the other hand, the claw lever 66 is rotatably supported on a support shaft 69 and is always urged in the direction of arrow B by a biasing member (not shown), and its tip 66a is attached to the outer periphery of the hook lever 65. It is designed so that it can come into contact with the part.

Then, as shown in FIG. 8(A), when the sliding door 3 is moved inward into the vehicle body when the sliding door 3 is closed! J, the engagement groove 65a of the hook lever 65 is the striker-I6
comes into contact with. When the hook lever 65 further moves toward the vehicle body from this state, the hook lever 65 rotates in the direction opposite to the arrow B, and the claw lever 66 rotates in the direction opposite to the arrow B as shown by the chain line in the figure. and the first and second control switches 63a, 6
3b are respectively in the OFF state, and the drive motor 54 can be energized (that is, the sliding door 3 can be opened and closed).
becomes.

After that, as shown in FIG. 8(b), the hook lever 65
The engagement groove 65a of the claw lever 66 reliably engages with the striker 16, and the tip end 66a of the claw lever 66 engages with the hook lever 65.
Rotation of the hook lever 65 is restricted by engaging with an engaging portion 65b formed at a predetermined position on the outer periphery of the hook lever 65. Therefore, the striker 16 is held in a locked state,
The sliding door 3 is reliably locked in the closed state. In this locked state, both the control switches 63a and 63b are turned on, and the power supply to the drive unit 54 is cut off.

Thus, in this embodiment, the mitt switch 6 is
1. Each control switch 63a, 63b, foreign object sensor 67,
Based on the behavior of the stop sensor 51 described in 67 and -, the operation of a control unit motor 54, which will be described later, is controlled. Hereinafter, the actual control of the drive motor 54 by this control unit will be explained based on the flowchart of FIG. 10.

After starting the control, first in step S, the stop sensor 5
Based on the output of 1, whether or not the vehicle is currently in a stopped state;
That is, it is determined whether the conditions are such that it is permissible to open and close the sliding door 3. In this embodiment, the door opening/closing condition is determined only when the following three conditions are satisfied: the parging brake gear is pulled, the transmission lever is in the Nicotral position, and the vehicle speed is 0''. , the drive motor 54 is not controlled in any other case.

Next, in step S2, each open/close switch 40a forming the electric circuit 32 shown in FIG.

4 0b 4 0c, 4 1a, 4. lb, 4.
It is determined whether any one of Ic is in the ON state, and when it is determined that any one is in the ON state,
Furthermore, in step S3, the limit switch 6
1 is in the ON state. If it is determined that the limit switch 6I is in the ON state, the foreign object sensor 67.67 is set to 0 in step S4.
7"F state, that is, it is determined whether there is any foreign object (for example, an occupant's limbs, etc.) between the sensor 6 and 6. If it is determined that there is no foreign object, then in step S5, each control switch 63a, 63b is Then, if both the control switches 63a and 63b are in the OFF state, the drive motor 54 is turned off for the first time.
energize (step S.).

As a result, as shown in FIG. 7, the drive motor 54 constituting the closing mechanism W is actuated to rotate the hook lever 58, and the hook lever 58 moves the engagement pin 60 toward the vehicle body. Each time the sliding door 3 is pressed, the movement of the sliding door 3 inward into the vehicle body is stopped.

After that, in step S7, it is determined whether both the two-register control switches 63a and 63b are in the ON state, and both of these control switches 63a and 63b are in the ON state, that is, the sliding door 3 is securely closed. If it is detected that it is locked, step S
At step 8, power supply to the drive motor 54 is cut off.

As a result, as shown in FIG. 7, the rotation shaft 54 of the drive motor 54. a is urged by the coil spring 62 to rotate in a predetermined direction, and the hook lever 58 is returned to its original state.

Next, to explain the operation of the sliding door structure of this embodiment, as shown by the solid line in FIG.
When any one of a, 40b, and 40c is turned on, the spiral shaft 22 is rotated via the drive motor 24, and the actuator 25 is activated. Then,
The female screw portion 30b of the cladding member 30 installed below the slide member 26 engages with the helical shaft 22, and the slide member 26 moves along the helical shaft 22. Therefore, the slide door 3 is connected to the slide member 26 via the link tl' 27.
The door slides toward the front of the vehicle body along each guide rail 4, 8, and 13 provided on the vehicle body 1, and is brought into a closed state as shown by the chain line in FIG.

On the other hand, each opening switch 4ia. 41b/11c
When any one of them is inserted, the sliding member 26 moves in the opposite direction to the above case, and the sliding door 3
The door is in an open state as shown by the solid line in FIG.

In this embodiment, the sliding door 3 and the sliding member 26 are connected by a link member 27, and a closing mechanism W is provided to assist the movement of the sliding door 3 into the vehicle body. Therefore, especially when closing the sliding door 3 by sliding it in the closing direction and moving it into the vehicle interior by the guide rails 4, 8, 13 at the final stage, the door 3 can be easily and easily moved into the vehicle. It is possible to reliably bring the door into a closed state by moving it toward the inside of the body.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the entire opening/closing drive device X including the spiral shaft 22 is housed between the step portion 20 and the side sill 19, so that it can be used to prevent obstacles on the road surface while the vehicle is running. The reliability and durability of the operation of the opening/closing drive device X are improved because contact with the opening/closing drive device X or exposure to muddy water from the road surface is prevented.

In this embodiment, a part of the opening/closing drive device The present invention is not limited to this, and for example, it may be constructed using a conventional cable-type transmission means. However, when a spiral shaft 22 or the like is used, compared to the case where a cable is used, the spiral shaft 22 or the like can be more compactly arranged along the sliding direction of A3). From the viewpoint of layout and compactness, it can be said that a spiral shaft type as in this embodiment is more suitable than a cable type.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of essential parts of a vehicle equipped with a sliding door structure according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of IJ-n in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is an Ill-ITI diagram in FIG. 4 is an enlarged plan view of the slide member shown in FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line V-■ in FIG. 4, and FIG.
1-Vl sectional view, Figure 7 is a plan view of the closing mechanism, Figures 8 (a) and (b) are structural explanatory diagrams of the locking mechanism that is fully depressed in the closing mechanism, and Figure 9 is the opening/closing drive device. electrical circuit diagram,
Fig. 10 (j is a control flow diagram of the closing mechanism - 1. 1...Vehicle body 2...Rear compartment 3...Sliding door 4813...Kite rail I8...Cabin floor 19...・Side sill 20...Step part 22...Spiral shaft 23...Camshaft 24...Drive motor 25...Aczicoator 26...Slide member 27...Link part shrine JP-A-3 248914 (12 )

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. The opening has an opening that is opened in the side of the vehicle body and whose lower end is defined by a step portion provided at an intermediate position in the vertical direction between the side sill extending in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body and the vehicle interior floor; A sliding door that opens or closes the opening is supported by a guide rail attached near the front and back of the vehicle in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, and the sliding door is supported so as to be movable in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle along the guide rail. In a vehicle in which the vehicle body is moved in the longitudinal direction by a driving force transmitted from a driving means disposed on the vehicle body side via a driving force transmitting means, the driving means and the driving force transmitting means are connected to a side sill and a step portion of the vehicle body. A sliding door structure for a vehicle, characterized in that the sliding door is arranged between.