Stepping motor direct drive adjustable pedal assembly
First Claim
1. An adjustable pedal assembly comprising;
- a support (12) for mounting said assembly to a vehicle structure,a first pedal lever (14) pivotally supported for rotation about an operational axis (A) with respect to said support (12),a first electrically operated stepper motor (52) including a first set of windings (54) for sequentially moving in increments of movement and interconnection said support (12) and said first pedal lever (14) for adjusting the operational position of said pedal lever (14) relative to said support (12) between a plurality of adjusted positions,a second pedal lever (34) pivotally supported for rotation about a second operational axis (B) with respect to said support (12),a second electrically operated stepper motor (52) including a second set of windings (54) for sequentially moving in increments of movement and interconnecting said support (12) and said second pedal lever (34) relative to said support (12)(B) between a plurality of adjusted positions, anda controller (56) that sends pulses of electrical energy sequentially to said respective windings (54) to incrementally rotate said first (52) and second (53) motors,said assembly characterized by including a timer (62) that measures a the time to reach a predetermined resistance condition of either of said windings during each pulse and that terminates energy to both of said windings in response to said time being below a predetermined time period.
7 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A pair of first (14) and second (34) pedal levers is pivotally supported for rotation by a support (12). A pair of adjustment mechanisms (21, 41) interconnect the support (12) and the respective pedal levers (14, 34) and include rods (28, 48) for adjusting the operational position of the pedal levers (14, 34) along the rods (28, 48) between a plurality of adjusted positions. A stepper motor (52) and screw (32) unit is attached to the inner end of each rod (28, 48) for moving the respective pedal levers (14, 34) along the respective rods (28, 48). The assembly (10) is characterized by a controller (56) sending pulses of energy to each of the motors (52), measuring the time to reach a predetermined resistance condition of each motor during each pulse, and terminating energy to both motors (52) in response to the time being below a predetermined time period in any pulse to either motor, thereby to synchronize the movement of both pedal levers together.
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Citations
6 Claims
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1. An adjustable pedal assembly comprising;
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a support (12) for mounting said assembly to a vehicle structure, a first pedal lever (14) pivotally supported for rotation about an operational axis (A) with respect to said support (12), a first electrically operated stepper motor (52) including a first set of windings (54) for sequentially moving in increments of movement and interconnection said support (12) and said first pedal lever (14) for adjusting the operational position of said pedal lever (14) relative to said support (12) between a plurality of adjusted positions, a second pedal lever (34) pivotally supported for rotation about a second operational axis (B) with respect to said support (12), a second electrically operated stepper motor (52) including a second set of windings (54) for sequentially moving in increments of movement and interconnecting said support (12) and said second pedal lever (34) relative to said support (12)(B) between a plurality of adjusted positions, and a controller (56) that sends pulses of electrical energy sequentially to said respective windings (54) to incrementally rotate said first (52) and second (53) motors, said assembly characterized by including a timer (62) that measures a the time to reach a predetermined resistance condition of either of said windings during each pulse and that terminates energy to both of said windings in response to said time being below a predetermined time period. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. An adjustable pedal assembly comprising;
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a support (12) for mounting said assembly to a vehicle structure, a first pedal lever (14) pivotally supported for rotation about an operational axis (A) with respect to said support (12), a first electrically operated motor (52) including a first winding (54) for sequentially moving in increments of movement and interconnecting said support (12) and said first pedal lever (14) for adjusting the operational position of said pedal lever (14) relative to said support (12) between a plurality of adjusted positions, a controller (56) that sends pulses of electrical energy sequentially to said winding (54) to incrementally rotate said first (52) motor, said assembly characterized by including a timer (62) that measures a the time to reach a predetermined resistance condition of said winding during each pulse and that terminates energy to said winding in response to said time being below a predetermined time period. - View Dependent Claims (6)
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Specification