Safety device for supporting pedals

• US 6,786,109 B2
• Filed: 05/10/2001
• Issued: 09/07/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 05/10/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Daimler AG (Mercedes-Benz Group AG)
• Original Assignee: DaimlerChrysler AG (Mercedes-Benz Group AG)
• Inventors: Mueller, Martin, Papenhagen, Dieter
• Primary Examiner(s): Bucci, David A.
• Assistant Examiner(s): SMITH, JULIE KNECHT
• Application Number:
  US09/852,285
• Publication Number:
  US 20020007693A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,216 Days
• Field of Search: 745/12, 745/13, 745/60
• US Class Current: 74/512
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/09 Control elements or operating handles movable from an operative to an out-of-the way position, e.g. pedals, switch knobs, window cranks specially adapted for brake pedals, e.g. by venting of master cylinder or destruction of force transmitting rod, B60T7/065
• CPC Class Codes: B60T 7/065 with means to prevent injuries in case of collision for vehicle pedals in general by moving them from an operative to an out-of-the way position B60R21/09
• CPC Class Codes: G05G 1/327 means disconnecting the pedal from its hinge or support, e.g. by breaking or bending the support
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 74/20528 Foot operated
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 74/20534 Accelerator
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 74/20888 Pedals

Abstract

A safety device is here described for supporting pedals in motor vehicles, especially passenger cars, with a bracket support arranged in the area of a wall area of a splash wall or bulkhead that is noticeably deformed into a passenger compartment in the event of a vehicle head-on collision, in which bracket support a pedal pivot shaft of at least one swivelling pedal, especially a brake pedal, acting on a push rod is mounted. At the same time the pedal pivot shaft is mounted in the bracket support in a guide extending at least basically horizontally, the guide has limits in each horizontal direction. In addition the pedal pivot shaft in normal operation is fixed in a forward position of the guide, viewed in the forward direction of travel, and the fixing is neutralized in the event of a head-on collision.

Claims

1. A safety device for the support of a pedal in a motor vehicle, with a bracket support arranged in a wall area of a splash wall or bulkhead that is noticeably deformed into a passenger compartment in the event of a vehicle head-on collision;

a pedal pivot shaft of at least one swivelling pedal acting on a push rod being mounted in the bracket support, wherein the pedal pivot shaft is mounted in the bracket support in a guide extending approximately horizontally, the guide having limits in each horizontal direction; and

the pedal pivot shaft in normal operation being fixed in a forward position of the guide directly by a fixing, viewed in a forward direction of travel, and the fixing being neutralized and thereby releasing the pedal pivot shaft to move from the forward position in the event of a head-on collision.

2. The safety device according to claim 1, wherein the fixing is neutralized by a movement of the bracket support relative to a part of the vehicle that retains a spatial position approximately unchanged even in the event of the head-on collision.

3. The safety device according to claim 2, wherein the vehicle part retaining the spatial position unchanged in the event of the head-on collision is fixed to a body of the vehicle.

4. The safety device according to claim 3, wherein the vehicle part fixed to the body is a cross member.

5. The safety device according to claim 3, wherein the vehicle part fixed to the body is a dashboard cross member.

6. The safety device according to claim 1, wherein the guide in the bracket support, extending at least approximately horizontally, has an approximate shape of an elongated hole.

7. The safety device according to claim 1, wherein a rearward movement of the pedal pivot shaft in the guide, viewed in the forward direction of travel, in the event of the head-on collision is assisted by a spring.

8. The safety device according to claim 1, wherein the fixing of the pedal pivot shaft is achieved by release levers fixed to the part of the vehicle that approximately retains an unchanged position in the event of a head-on collision.

9. The safety device according to claim 8, wherein the fixing is released by movement of the pedal bracket support relative to the part of the vehicle that approximately retains the unchanged position in the event of the head-on collision.

10. The safety device according to claim 1, wherein the fixing is released assisted by an auxiliary force.

11. The safety device according to claim 1, wherein the pedal bracket support is formed from plastic.

12. The safety device according to claim 1, wherein the pedal is designed as a double-shell pedal.

13. A pedal assembly with a safety device in a motor vehicle, comprising:

a bracket support being arranged in a wall area of a splash wall or bulkhead which is deformed into a passenger compartment in the event of a vehicle head-on collision,

a pedal pivot shaft of at least one swivelling pedal which acts on a push rod, said shaft being mounted in the bracket support, and

a guide extending approximately horizontally in the bracket support with limits in each horizontal direction, said shaft, in normal operation, being fixed in the guide directly by a fixing device,

wherein, in the event of the head-on collision, the fixing device releases the shaft in the guide and thereby the shaft is movable in the guide.

14. A pedal assembly according to claim 13, wherein the pedal is a brake pedal.

15. A pedal assembly according to claim 13, wherein the fixing device is connected to a relatively stationary part of the vehicle during the vehicle collision, and a relative movement between the part and the bracket support in the event of the collision releases the shaft in the guide.

16. A method of making a safety device for the support of a pedal in a motor vehicle, comprising:

arranging a bracket support in a wall area of a splashwall or bulkhead that is deformed into a passenger compartment in the event of a vehicle head-on collision, and

mounting, in the bracket support, a pedal pivot shaft of at least one swivelling pedal acting on a push rod,

wherein the pedal pivot shaft is mounted in the bracket support in a guide extending approximately horizontally, the guide having limits in each horizontal direction, and the pedal pivot shaft, in normal operation, is fixed in the guide at a forward position in a direction of travel directly by a fixing, the fixing being neutralized and thereby releasing the pedal pivot shaft to move from the forward position in the event of the head-on collision.