Machine element or mechanism – Control lever and linkage systems – Foot operated
Reexamination Certificate
2002-08-15
2004-11-16
Luong, Vinh T. (Department: 3682)
Machine element or mechanism
Control lever and linkage systems
Foot operated
C074S535000, C074S539000, C074S542000, C074S575000, C074S57700S, C188S265000, C188S216000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06817264
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a manual parking brake operating device for a vehicle.
BACKGROUND ART
As a general parking brake operating device for a vehicle, a manual operating device Z
0
as shown in
FIG. 17
is conventionally known. The device Z
0
comprises a bracket
101
secured to a vehicle body and a lever
102
pivoted on the bracket
101
for rotational movement in a vertical direction by a pivot pin
111
. The bracket
101
has pawl teeth
109
arranged along an arc about the pivot pin
111
.
The lever
102
has a base end part to which an arcuate cable guide
112
about which a brake wire
113
is trained is secured. When the lever
102
is lifted from a non-operative position shown by solid lines to an operative position shown by broken lines in
FIG. 17
, the brake wire
113
is pulled and a required operating force is applied to a brake (not shown) via the brake wire
113
. A pawl member
107
is swingably supported on the lever
102
by a pin
106
. A latch pawl
108
of the pawl member
107
is selectively locked with one of the pawl teeth
109
of the bracket
101
, whereby an operating force corresponding to a rotational position of the lever
102
is maintained.
The lever
102
has a hollow part
110
therein and a push rod
104
for releasing the locking engagement of the latch pawl
108
with the pawl tooth
109
is provided in the hallow part
110
. At the time of the releasing operation, a push button
105
projected from an end of the lever
102
is pressed with the lever
102
slightly lifted (namely, in a state where a meshing force generated between the pawl teeth
109
and the latch pawl
108
by a tensile force of the brake wire
113
is released to allow the push rod
104
to be pressed) to apply a rotational force in a direction to release the locking engagement to the pawl member
107
via the push rod
104
, thereby releasing the locking engagement of the latch pawl
108
with the pawl teeth
109
.
When a braking force is thought to be insufficient (namely, when the brake is thought to be working insufficiently) after lifting operation of the lever
102
has been conducted to set the braking force, a desired braking force can be obtained by further lifting the lever
102
. In
FIG. 12
, reference numeral
103
indicates a grip provided around the lever
102
.
The manual parking brake operating device Z
0
as above has the following problems:
(1) Since the brake operating device Z
0
is so constituted that the brake is released by pressing the push button
105
, there is a possibility that the push button
105
is pressed by mistake during parking with the lever
102
lifted to exert a prescribed braking force and the braking force is unexpectedly released against the driver's will.
(2) In order to arrange the push rod
104
in an end part of the lever
102
, at least a part of the lever
102
near the end must be formed into a cylindrical shape. As a result, the workability of the lever
2
is poor, causing increase in cost. Additionally, the shape of the lever
102
imposes a limitation on design of the grip
103
provided over the end part of the lever
2
, so that the freedom in the design of the grip
103
is hindered.
(3) Since the push rod
104
is disposed in the lever
102
, the lever
102
must be formed into as linear a shape as possible from the base end part to the end part in order to ensure a proper action of the push rod
104
, so that the degree of freedom in layout of the operating device Z
0
on a vehicle is unavoidably low.
The present invention has been made in view of the problems of the conventional manual operating device for a vehicle parking brake.
According to the present invention, there is provided a brake operating device for a vehicle having a vehicle body provided with a brake, comprising:
a mounting bracket secured to said vehicle body;
a lever pivoted to said bracket so as to be rotated between first and second positions manually and operatively connected to said brake so that a braking force corresponding to an amount of rotation from said first position toward said second position is exerted on said brake;
a pawl teeth member having pawl teeth and secured to one of said bracket and said lever;
a latch pawl member supported on the other of said bracket and said lever and having a latch pawl engageable with said pawl teeth of said pawl teeth member,
said latch pawl member being movable between a locked position in which said latch pawl is in locking engagement with said pawl teeth and an unlocked position in which said locking engagement of said latch pawl with said pawl teeth is released,
said latch pawl member assuming said locked position, when said lever is rotated from said first position toward said second position, to maintain said lever in a rotational position and assuming said unlocked position, when said lever is further rotated from said rotational position toward said second position by a prescribed amount, to release said locking engagement of said latch pawl with said pawl teeth so that said lever may be allowed to rotate in either direction; and
a position changing member supported on the other of said bracket and said lever by a single pin and adapted for shifting said latch pawl member from said unlocked position to said locked position when said lever is further rotated from said rotational position toward said second position beyond said prescribed amount.
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Hiura Tetsuo
Nakayama Masanori
Kuroishi Iron Works Co., Ltd.
Lorusso, Loud & Kelly
Luong Vinh T.
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