A pantograph hinge for the door of a motor vehicle is known from the German patent DE 3928947. Said hinge is however quite big and so, in order to achieve the adequate opening of the door, the designer must get a large space to house it between the upright and the door.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a hinge of the pantograph type which is smaller than the one of the previous art.

Said object is achieved by means of a pantograph hinge for a door or openable canopy of a motor vehicle presenting the characteristics of claim 1.

Additional characteristics and advantages will become clear from the following description referring to the appended drawings, provided as non-restrictive example and in which: figure 1 is a schematic perspective side view of the hinge according to the invention when the door is closed, and figures 2 and 4 are schematic top view of the hinge in figure 1 showing three operational positions: door open, ajar and completely open.

With reference to the figures, reference number 1 indicates the door of a motor car, connected to the upright 3 of the self supporting bodywork by means of a hinge 2. In figure 2 the door 1 is in its closed position and the upright 3 and the door 1 are sectioned at the hinge in order to make it easier to understand the invention.

The hinge 2 includes a mechanism with two support levers 7 and 8, superimposed and specular, jointed by means of a rigid connection bridge 9 in order to form a single component. A third driving lever 10, is placed above levers 7 and 8.

The levers 7,8 and 10 are connected at one of their ends and by means of joints 12,13 and 14, to a bracket 15 which in turn is fixed to the external wall of the upright 3. In the case shown, the bracket is L-shaped but its shape can vary according to the form of the upright so that the joints are placed in a position such that when the door is closed, those connected to the upright 3 are more external (that is, near the external wall of the vehicle) from the centre of the vehicle than those 17,18 and 19 connected to the door.

In other words, the joint points on the upright 3 are separated from the joint points on the door 1 by an imaginary plane (A) laying on the straight line defining the crossing point (B) of the planes passing through the opposite joint points of the support levers (7,8) and of the driving lever (10) of the hinge 2, with the door closed, said imaginary plane being basically parallel to the body side 25 of the motor vehicle.

In this way it is possible to achieve a pantograph hinge which even presenting lever of reduced size, allows to open the door at an angle of 80° or more.

It is obvious that the dimensions of the lever can vary according to the car model and/or the door model where they are applied, yet they will be certainly smaller that those of a hinge presenting the joints of the levers placed at the two sides of a plane passing through the central main axis of the hinge.

With reference to figures 3 and 4 it is possible to see how the joint points on the door 1 run, the door being opened up to the maximum opening angle (shown in figure 4) wider than or equal to 80°, before the lever 7,8 and 10 beat against the stops (not shown) which limit their run in order to avoid contact with the side body 25.

The joints of the levers will be of the known and generally used type, in order not to increase general production costs.