Adjustable brake and clutch pedals
First Claim
1. An adjustable pedal mechanism for an automotive vehicle, said mechanism comprising:
- a support having front and rear pivots extending on laterally extending parallel axes, said rear pivot spaced behind and below said front pivot;
a slave lever having an upper end pivotally mounted on said front pivot and extending downward to a lower end;
an actuator rod for controlling a vehicle device, said rod connected with said lower end of the slave lever for causing axial actuating motion of the rod upon limited pivotal motion of the slave lever;
a pedal lever having an upper end pivotally mounted on said rear pivot and extending downward beyond the extent of said slave lever to a lower end connected to a foot pedal for pivotal actuation of the pedal lever; and
an adjustable link pivotally connecting a point on said pedal lever intermediate its ends with said lower end of the slave lever, said link being of variable length and operable to vary the pivotal position of said pedal lever and thereby adjust the fore and aft location of said pedal;
said pedal being operable from any of a range of fore and aft locations to pivot the pedal lever, causing the link to pivot the slave lever to thereby axially move the actuator rod for controlling said vehicle device in a desired manner.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
An adjustable pedal mechanism for automotive vehicles utilizes a slave lever pivoted on a conventionally located laterally extending front pivot and actuated by a pedal lever on a parallel rear pivot located behind and below the front pivot. The levers are connected by an adjustable link lying generally parallel with the plane of the front and rear pivots to form a parallelogram linkage with the link side being of variable length to vary the initial angular position of a foot pedal at the lower end of the pedal lever. The slave lever connects with an actuator rod for actuating a vehicle device such as a brake or clutch and is applied by forward motion of the foot pedal acting through the pedal lever and adjustable link to the slave lever which moves the actuator rod. The lowered rearward location of the pedal lever allows a greater variation of the pedal position without excessively raising the pedal height while the parallelogram linkage arrangement maintains pedal actuating travel essentially constant at all locations within the range of adjustment positions. A preferred embodiment includes powered adjustment of a ballscrew for adjusting the link.
59 Citations
6 Claims
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1. An adjustable pedal mechanism for an automotive vehicle, said mechanism comprising:
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a support having front and rear pivots extending on laterally extending parallel axes, said rear pivot spaced behind and below said front pivot; a slave lever having an upper end pivotally mounted on said front pivot and extending downward to a lower end; an actuator rod for controlling a vehicle device, said rod connected with said lower end of the slave lever for causing axial actuating motion of the rod upon limited pivotal motion of the slave lever; a pedal lever having an upper end pivotally mounted on said rear pivot and extending downward beyond the extent of said slave lever to a lower end connected to a foot pedal for pivotal actuation of the pedal lever; and an adjustable link pivotally connecting a point on said pedal lever intermediate its ends with said lower end of the slave lever, said link being of variable length and operable to vary the pivotal position of said pedal lever and thereby adjust the fore and aft location of said pedal; said pedal being operable from any of a range of fore and aft locations to pivot the pedal lever, causing the link to pivot the slave lever to thereby axially move the actuator rod for controlling said vehicle device in a desired manner. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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Specification