Land vehicles: bodies and tops – Bodies – Foot rests
Reexamination Certificate
2002-01-02
2003-10-21
Pape, Joseph D. (Department: 3612)
Land vehicles: bodies and tops
Bodies
Foot rests
Reexamination Certificate
active
06634694
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION AND RELATED ART STATEMENT
The present invention relates to a construction of a footrest on which the passenger's foot is placed.
As shown in
FIGS. 6 and 7
, a conventional footrest pedal bracket
100
is formed into a hat shape in cross section, and is provided with a pair of flange portions
100
b
at the lower ends of side wall faces
100
a
on both sides. The footrest pedal bracket
100
is installed by joining the flange portions
100
b
to a dash panel
102
of a vehicle body
101
by spot welds w. To the dash panel
102
, a dash silencer
103
is assembled. In assembling, the dash silencer
103
is assembled so that the footrest pedal bracket
100
projects to the outside from an opening
103
a
of the dash silencer
103
.
Thus, the footrest pedal bracket
100
is disposed so that the flange portions
100
b
intrude on the lower side of the dash silencer
103
.
Next, the dash silencer
103
is covered with a carpet
104
, and the outside of the footrest pedal bracket
100
is also covered with the carpet
104
.
Then, a footrest depression face plate
105
is assembled to the footrest pedal bracket
100
with the carpet
104
being interposed therebetween. Specifically, the footrest depression face plate
105
is threadedly mounted to the footrest pedal bracket
100
together with the carpet
104
with screws
106
.
As another type of footrest construction, as shown in
FIG. 8
, two stud bolts
107
are erectly provided on a dash panel
102
so as to be directed toward the cabin side, and a dash silencer and a carpet, both not shown, are assembled to the stud bolts
107
by aligning the holes of the dash silencer and carpet with each other. Then, a resin-made footrest pedal
108
is installed by inserting the stud bolts
107
into bosses
108
a
formed on the back face of the footrest pedal
108
.
However, with the method in which the footrest pedal bracket
100
is installed by means of spot welds w, since the footrest pedal bracket
100
is constructed so as to be supported by the side wall faces
100
a
on both sides, it is necessary to use a steel sheet having a great thickness to prevent deformation. Also, as shown in
FIG. 7
, a hole of the same size as that of the footrest pedal bracket
100
is formed in the dash silencer
103
, so that the sound absorption property and sound insulation property may decrease.
Furthermore, there is often shown a tendency for the lower part of the dash panel
102
to be made as a separate part in order to make the thickness of the lower part greater than that of the upper part from the viewpoint of vehicle body strength.
If the dash panel
102
is constructed by a dash upper panel
102
a
and a dash lower panel
102
b,
the footrest pedal bracket
100
is sometimes disposed so as to stride the joint between the dash upper panel
102
a
and the dash lower panel
102
b
because of the passenger's posture, so that the installation of footrest may be difficult to accomplish.
In this case, the location in which the dash upper panel
102
a
and the dash lower panel
102
b
are joined to each other by spot welds w coincide with the location in which the footrest pedal bracket
100
is installed to the dash panel
102
. Therefore, it is necessary that after the dash upper panel
102
a
and the dash lower panel
102
b
have been joined to each other by spot welds w, the footrest pedal bracket
100
be spot welded to the dash panel
102
, which leads to an increase in work process, thereby increasing the cost.
Still further, a waterproof sealer is applied to a joint edge
109
of the dash upper panel
102
a
and the dash lower panel
102
b,
and this application work is difficult to do in the portion in which the footrest pedal bracket
100
is installed, and thus the efficiency of this work is poor.
On the other hand, with the method in which the resin-made footrest pedal
108
is assembled to the stud bolts
107
, since the resin-made footrest pedal
108
is assembled afterward, the work for applying the waterproof sealer
110
is easy. However, since the resin-made footrest pedal
108
is assembled to the stud bolts
107
via the bosses
108
a,
the positions of the stud bolts
107
must coincide with the positions of assembly holes in the bosses
108
a.
Also, in the case where the resin-made footrest pedal
108
is installed so as to extend on both of the dash upper panel
102
a
and the dash lower panel
102
b,
the pitch L of the stud bolts
107
must be controlled strictly, which results in an increase in the cost of the dash panel
102
and the equipment cost.
OBJECT AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and accordingly an object thereof is to provide a vehicular footrest construction capable of ensuring sufficient stiffness with a simple construction and increasing the assembling work efficiency.
To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a vehicular footrest construction in which a footrest depression face plate on which the passenger's foot is placed is disposed on a pedal bracket fixed to a vehicle body, wherein the pedal bracket is formed by bending one steel sheet so that a footrest depression face plate attaching portion of the pedal bracket to which the footrest depression face plate is installed is supported by three wall faces.
Also, in the present invention, the pedal bracket is formed so that a U-like shape is formed by an attachment face which is installed to the vehicle body, a side wall face continuous with one side of the attachment face, and the footrest depression face plate attaching portion continuous with the side wall face, and upper and lower wall faces are formed by bending, toward the attachment face, projecting portions provided at the upper and lower ends of the footrest depression face plate attaching portion, by which the footrest depression face plate attaching portion is supported by three wall faces.
Further, in the present invention, flange portions provided at the tip ends of the upper and lower wall faces are joined to the attachment face, and mounting holes for mounting the pedal bracket on the vehicle body side are formed in lapped portions of the flange portion and attachment face.
Still further, in the present invention, the pedal bracket is fixed, through the mounting holes, on bolts mounted on a dash panel, and the pedal bracket is installed after a painting process.
Also, in the present invention, at least one of the mounting holes is formed into an elongated hole extending in the vertical direction.
Further, in the present invention, a bolt for fixing a carpet is provided on the upper side of the attachment face.
Thus, according to the present invention, since the pedal bracket is formed by bending one steel sheet so that the footrest depression face plate attaching portion of the pedal bracket is supported by the three wall faces, the stiffness can be increased, and thus the cost can be reduced. Since a protrusion of a dash silencer is inserted into and arranged in an interior in cross section of the pedal bracket, the appearance can be improved. Also, since the pedal bracket except the attachment face which is attached to the vehicle body is covered with the dash silencer, the decrease in the sound absorption property and sound insulation property can be kept to the minimum. Since the pedal bracket is formed by bending one steel sheet so that the footrest depression face plate attaching portion of the pedal bracket is supported by the three wall faces, the stiffness of pedal bracket can be increased, and the strength and stiffness of a portion in which the footrest is installed to the vehicle body can be increased. Further, since the pedal bracket is installed after a painting process, the welding work efficiency for the welding of a lapped portion of a dash upper panel and a dash lower panel constituting the dash panel can be improved. Also, the work for applying a sealer to the lapped portion of the dash upper panel and the dash lower panel can be performed easily. Since at le
Lerner David Littenberg Krumholz & Mentlik LLP
Pape Joseph D.
Suzuki Motor Corporation
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