Brakes – Position adjusters – Equalizers
Reexamination Certificate
1999-10-08
2001-05-29
Oberleitner, Robert J. (Department: 3613)
Brakes
Position adjusters
Equalizers
C188S00200R, C074S50150R, C074S502400, C074S502600, C074S512000, C074S535000, C074S536000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06237731
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a parking brake actuating assembly for installation in the passenger compartment of a motor vehicle. More particularly, the present invention relates to a parking brake actuating assembly that has a brake positioning bracket for properly positioning brake cables relative to cable receiving portions of a brake equalizer.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Conventionally, during the assembly of motor vehicles the rear brake cables are attached to a parking brake actuating assembly at the automotive final assembly plant because the rear cables must be mounted to the chassis or frame whereas the actuating assembly is mounted above the floor pan member in the vehicle's passenger compartment to facilitate its access by the driver. To attach the brake cables to the actuating assembly, the cables must be advanced up from beneath the floor pan member and then be inserted into cable receiving portions of an equalizer. The equalizer is connected to the manually operable actuator (which may be a hand lever or a foot pedal) of the actuating assembly by a single actuator cable and distributes the tension applied to the actuator cable by operation of the actuator to the two brake cables to affect actuation of the vehicle brakes.
Connecting the cables to the equalizer normally requires an assembly line worker to move the cables up through the floor pan member from below the vehicle, and then move to the inside of the passenger compartment to make the connection between the cable ends and the equalizer. Forcing the worker to undertake these two installation steps instead of one is an inefficiency that it would be desirable to obviate. The problems associated with installing and connecting these brake cables can be amplified in situations where the assembly line procedures require the console that covers the components of the actuating assembly to be installed before connecting the brake cables. In this situation, the worker has no direct access to the equalizer and must “blindly” connect the cable ends to the equalizer. That is, the worker must make this connection based on feel and experience rather than by sight.
To alleviate this blind installation problem, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,219,044 and 5,203,068, both to Siring, disclose an equalizer that has a pair of slots with enlarged open ends. The slots guide the heads of the brake cables (and hence the brake cables themselves) into proper installed positions within the equalizer interior. However, the equalizers disclosed in these two patents have a number of drawbacks. First, the equalizers of these two patents fasten to the vehicle floor and require the additional step of manually releasing the equalizer to allow its movement to tension the installed brake cables. Another drawback is that the equalizer is intended to entirely replace existing equalizers rather than supplement them. As a result, the teachings of these patents cannot be used to help manufacturers improve brake cable connection efficiency without entirely changing equalizers.
Consequently, there exists a need in the art for a parking brake actuating assembly in which the blind installations problems discussed above are overcome without the drawbacks associated with the constructions disclosed in the two above-mentioned Siring patents.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to meet the need described above. To achieve this object, the present invention provides a parking brake actuating assembly for installation in a passenger compartment of a motor vehicle. The motor vehicle has a floor pan member that provides the passenger compartment with a generally upwardly facing floor surface. The vehicle also comprises a pair of brakes that are actuated to prevent vehicle wheel rotation by applying tension to a pair of brake cables. These cables each extend below the floor pan and connect to a respective one of the brakes. Each of these brake cables have an enlarged head at an end thereof opposite its associated brake.
The parking brake actuating assembly of the present invention comprises a manually operable parking brake actuator that mounts in the passenger compartment above the floor surface of the floor pan member to enable a vehicle driver to operate the parking brake actuator. A brake equalizer also mounts above the floor surface of the floor pan member and has first, second, and third cable receiving portions. The second and third cable receiving portions each provide surfaces that define a cable receiving space which is configured to receive a respective one of the pair of brake cables. An actuator cable has a first end portion that connects to the first cable receiving portion of the brake equalizer and a second end portion that connects to the parking brake actuator so that operation of the actuator applies tension to the actuator cable to move the equalizer in a brake actuating direction. The assembly also comprises a brake cable positioning bracket that mounts in the passenger compartment above the floor surface of the floor pan member adjacent the equalizer. The brake cable positioning bracket has a first cable guiding portion positioned adjacent to the second cable receiving portion of the equalizer and a second cable guiding portion adjacent to the third cable receiving portion of the equalizer.
Each of the first and second cable guiding portions provide a pair of spaced apart guiding surfaces. The distance between the guiding surfaces is wide enough to permit each brake cable to pass therebetween, yet narrow enough to prevent the enlarged head of each brake cable from passing therebetween. The brake cable positioning bracket is positioned with respect to the equalizer such that a first brake cable of the pair can be moved from below the floor pan member and towards the second cable receiving portion of the equalizer. During this movement, the enlarged head thereof engages the guiding surfaces of the first cable guiding portion and flexes the first cable generally away from the second cable receiving portion. Then, the first cable can be further moved until the enlarged head thereof moves beyond both the second cable receiving portion of the equalizer and the guiding surfaces of the first cable guiding portion, thereby allowing the first cable to resiliently return towards the second cable receiving portion to an initially installed position wherein the first brake cable is received in the second cable receiving portion. The same operation can be performed with a second brake cable of the pair so that the second cable is positioned in a similar initially installed position within the third cable receiving portion of the equalizer.
The equalizer is constructed and arranged such that, after moving the brake cables to the initially installed positions thereof as described above, the installation of the brake cables can be completed by tensioning the actuator cable so as to move the equalizer in the brake actuating direction thereof relative to the brake positioning bracket. This equalizer movement causes surfaces on the second and third cable receiving portions to engage underside surfaces of the enlarged heads to initially tension the brake cables. As a result, operation of the actuator thereafter applies further tension to the actuator cable, which in turn moves the equalizer in the brake actuating direction and applies further tension to both the brake cables to cause actuation of the vehicle brakes.
Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, the accompanying drawings, and the appended claims.
REFERENCES:
patent: 1629647 (1927-05-01), Anderson
patent: 3100323 (1963-08-01), Baker
patent: 3901610 (1975-08-01), Mason
patent: 4057127 (1977-11-01), Woodring
patent: 4412458 (1983-11-01), Derringer
patent: 4428613 (1984-01-01), Nomura
patent: 4480720 (1984-11-01), Shimano
patent: 4569112 (1986-02-01), Dussault
patent: 4850241 (1989-07-01), Buckley et al.
patent: 4914971 (1990-04-01), Hinkens et al.
patent: 501
Oberleitner Robert J.
Pillsbury & Winthrop LLP
Ventra Group Inc.
Williams Thomas J.
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