Brakes – Wheel – One-way brakes
Reexamination Certificate
2002-01-03
2003-12-02
Schwartz, Christopher P. (Department: 3683)
Brakes
Wheel
One-way brakes
C188S069000, C188S031000, C188S1960BA
Reexamination Certificate
active
06655505
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention is directed to a parking brake actuating device for a parking brake arrangement in a motor vehicle, the device comprising a rotary lever arrangement in operative connection with a compensation device providing an idle path and a restoring element for controlling the rotary lever arrangement, which in turn controls the engagement of a blocking member with a counter-blocking member of the parking brake arrangement.
2. Description of the Related Art
Parking brake arrangements are known in general in vehicles with hydrodynamic torque converters and serve to prevent the vehicle from rolling away accidentally when the engine is turned off by blocking the transmission output shaft which is connected with the driving wheels so as to be fixed with respect to rotation relative to them. Parking brake arrangements are also applied in electrically driven motor vehicles. As a rule, these vehicles do not have a standard transmission because the electric engine which is provided for driving can deliver a usable torque over an appreciably broader range of speeds in any driving situation compared to an internal combustion engine. Here, also, it is necessary to block a drive shaft which is connected with the driving wheels so as to be fixed with respect to rotation relative to them in order to prevent the parked vehicle from rolling away accidentally. This drive shaft can be the rotor shaft of the electric engine, for example. Vehicles of the type mentioned above usually have a selector lever for selecting the parking gear and different driving gears, this selector lever being in an operative connection with the parking brake arrangement. The position of the selector lever selected by the driver is locked by a locking device until another gear is selected.
There are already numerous known arrangements for blocking a shaft which is connected with the driving wheels so as to be fixed with respect to rotation relative to them and which generally comprises a locking member and counter-locking member. However, such arrangements are not the subject of the invention. The parking brake actuating device discussed herein is directed instead at means for the articulation of the blocking device.
A parking brake arrangement with a parking brake actuating device of the type mentioned above is known, for example, from DE 195 33 141 C1. The parking brake arrangement described therein comprises a toothed parking brake wheel and, further, a pawl which is rotatably supported so as to be fixed with respect to the housing and which has a projection that can engage in a gap in the parking brake wheel and accordingly prevents the vehicle from rolling by means of a positive engagement. The articulation of the pawl is carried out by means of a cam roller located at a lever of a rotary lever arrangement, wherein the other lever of the rotary lever arrangement is in an operative connection with the selector lever with a Bowden cable or rod linkage, a tension spring being arranged in the force flow of the latter. The rotary lever arrangement further comprises a torsion spring or leg spring which is arranged at this rotary lever arrangement and at the housing. When the driver moves the selector lever into the parking position, the force is directed to the pawl via the elements arranged in the force flow and the projection is pressed into a gap in the blocking wheel. The leg spring is tensioned at the same time. When a tooth of the blocking wheel and the projection of the pawl are radially across from one another during actuation of the selector lever and the pawl can not lock in, the tension spring expands while providing a free travel or an idle path. When the selector lever is moved from the parking gear to a driving gear, the tension spring relaxes again and the rotary lever arrangement is moved back into its initial position again by the restoring action of the leg spring with assistance from another leg spring connected with the pawl.
In principle, the parking brake actuating device described above satisfies the functional requirements demanded of it. However, developments in automotive engineering have aimed increasingly at the use of ready-to-install component assemblies. In this way, mounting to the vehicle is simplified, the range of uses for the respective component assembly is expanded to different vehicles and, further, ease of maintenance is improved. In this respect, the described parking brake actuating device has disadvantages. For example, numerous individual components of the parking brake actuating device are arranged in the interior of a housing, e.g., a transmission casing or housing of an electric motor, in such a way that they must be mounted in the installed position before the corresponding housing is assembled. Therefore, maintenance or repair of the parking brake actuating device requires time-intensive and cost-intensive labor. Another disadvantageous feature is the locking arrangement which is in an operative connection with the parking brake actuating device. Although closely connected with respect to function, the parking brake actuating device and the locking arrangement are fitted to different mounting locations in the vehicle. This feature also disadvantageously impedes application of a particular embodiment form of the above-mentioned type of parking brake actuating device to different types of vehicles, for example, vehicles of a platform.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
On this basis, it is the object of the invention to provide a compact, universally applicable parking brake actuating device which is easy to mount and which overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art mentioned above.
According to the invention, the rotary lever arrangement has a rotary lever input part and a rotary lever output part, wherein the idle path of the compensation device can be constructed so as to be in an operative connection between the rotary lever input part and the rotary lever output part.
The invention is based upon the main idea that the rotary lever arrangement which to was formerly constructed in one part now comprises multiple parts, namely, a rotary lever input part and a rotary lever output part, and that the latter are arranged and constructed in such a way that, when necessary, a torque introduced via the rotary lever input part is conducted to the rotary lever output part not immediately but with a time delay by means of providing an idle path. This requirement occurs when a working operative connection can temporarily not be established between the blocking member and counter-blocking member of the parking brake arrangement because of their relative position.
In an advantageous further development of the invention, the rotary lever input part and/or rotary lever output part are/is mounted so as to be rotatable in a flange component part. With this flange component part, the parking brake actuating device can be fitted to a mounting location provided for it and can be used to transmit torque from the rotary lever input part to the rotary lever output part.
It is further advantageous that the flange component part is arranged so as to be stationary with respect to a housing of the parking brake arrangement. The position of the parking brake actuating device relative to a blocking member and counter-blocking member of the parking brake arrangement is accordingly defined and a reliable operation of the parking brake arrangement is ensured.
In another advantageous construction, the housing has a through-opening at least for the rotary lever output part. Accordingly, at least one part of the parking brake actuating device can be inserted into the housing from the outside. This construction constitutes a significant advantage over previous parking brake actuating devices because it is now possible to mount this device after the housing has been assembled. Enormous savings in cost and time can also be achieved in this way when maintenance and repair work is required.
The rotary lever input part advantageously has a shaft portion which is
Benkert Stephan
Oppitz Horst
Cohen & Pontani, Lieberman & Pavane
Kramer Devon
Mannesmann Sachs AG
Schwartz Christopher P.
LandOfFree
Parking brake actuating device for a parking brake... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Parking brake actuating device for a parking brake..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Parking brake actuating device for a parking brake... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3178838