Machine element or mechanism – Control lever and linkage systems – Foot operated
Patent
1998-04-01
2000-07-18
Bucci, David A.
Machine element or mechanism
Control lever and linkage systems
Foot operated
74560, 280784, 296189, 180274, G05G 114, B60K 2814
Patent
active
06089119&
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to pedal arrangements for motor vehicles in general, these pedals being intended to control various members such as the inlet of fuel gases to the combustion chamber of a combustion engine, a pneumatic brake booster or a device for engaging/disengaging the clutch.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The tightening of safety standards that has been going on for some years now in the field of motor vehicles has made it necessary to develop passive safety devices intended to avoid or reduce the consequences of an accident on the driver and passengers of this vehicle. As regards in particular the driver of the vehicle, these devices need to be such that a frontal or oblique impact experienced by the vehicle is not passed on to the driver's ankle or leg, even if the driver is, for example, depressing the brake pedal as hard as he can.
Many devices have been developed to solve this problem. Documents DE-A-4,340,633 or DE-A-4,409,324 for example, disclose devices in which a cable pulls the pedal lever upwards so as to dislocate this lever from its support and move it out of the normal space occupied by the feet of the driver of the vehicle.
The drawback of such a set-up is that if the driver of the vehicle is depressing this pedal as hard as he can, his foot will then itself be pulled upwards, it then being possible for the driver's leg to sustain other damage, particularly to the tibia between the ankle and the knee.
Also disclosed, for example in documents DE-A-4,409,235 or DE-A-4,409,285, are devices in which the spindle providing articulation between the pedal and its mount is pulled out by a linkage system, thus releasing the mechanical connection between the pedal and the bulkhead. The drawback of such a set-up is the relative complexity of the linkage required, and a risk of poor operation if at that time the driver is depressing this pedal as hard as he can.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention falls within this context and its purpose is to provide a new pedal arrangement which avoids any transmission to the driver's leg or foot of a frontal or oblique impact experienced by the vehicle, in a reliable way employing only simple and inexpensive means.
To this end, the invention provides a pedal arrangement for a motor vehicle, the vehicle comprising a bulkhead forming a barrier between an engine compartment and a passenger compartment for the driver and the passengers, a transverse brace which is more or less rigid in bending, a mount for a pedal secured to the bulkhead on the passenger compartment side, the pedal comprising a pedal lever articulated by one of its ends to the pedal mount and at its other end comprising an operating shoe, at least one rigid force-transmission element being articulated by a first of its ends to the transverse brace.
According to the present invention, the second end of the rigid force-transmission element extends between the pedal mount and the lever of the pedal and comprises a stop interacting directly with the lever of the pedal to move it away from a fixed point of the pedal mount and bring it closer to the bulkhead when the bulkhead is urged backwards as a result of a frontal impact to the vehicle.
Thanks to this arrangement, the stop on the force-transmission element acts like a wedge forcibly inserted between the lever of the pedal and the fixed point of the pedal mount in order to move the lever and the shoe out of the volume of the passenger compartment in which the feet or legs of the driver of the vehicle are normally located.
In one possible embodiment of the invention, the second end of the rigid force-transmission element is formed with an oblong slot capable of interacting with the fixed point of the mount for the pedal.
For example, the fixed point of the pedal mount may consist of a stud secured to the pedal mount.
In an advantageous set-up, the fixed point determines the position at rest of the pedal.
Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will emerge clearly from the description thereof given hereinafte
REFERENCES:
patent: 5615749 (1997-04-01), Kato
patent: 5778732 (1998-07-01), Patzelt et al.
patent: 5848558 (1998-12-01), Isono et al.
patent: 5848662 (1998-12-01), Sakaue
patent: 5921144 (1999-07-01), Williams, Jr. et al.
patent: 6006626 (1999-12-01), Notake et al.
Antherieu Frederic
Leboisne Cedric
Bosch Systemes de Freinage
Bucci David A.
Comstock Warren
Kim Chong H.
McCormick Jr. Leo H.
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