Lock arrangement for a vehicle sliding door

DETAILED DESCRIPTION It is an object of this invention to provide a vehicle sliding door lock arrangement which can adequately withstand vehicle collisions.
In accordance with this invention, a lock arrangement is applied to a sliding door of a vehicle including a side body for defining an opening.
The sliding door covers the opening when the sliding door is in its closed position.
The side body and the sliding door define a first relative position when the sliding door is in the closed position.
The lock arrangement includes a lock frame and a lock strike, one of which is fixed to the sliding door and the other of which is fixed to the side body.
A device serves to prevent the lock strike from directly contacting the lock frame when the side body and the sliding door are displaced toward one another out of the first relative position.
The above and other objects, features and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof, taken in conjunction with the drawings.