CA2359745C

CA2359745C - Pedal pusher

Info

Publication number: CA2359745C
Application number: CA 2359745
Authority: CA
Inventors: Bruce A. Mawhinney
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2001-10-04
Filing date: 2001-10-04
Publication date: 2004-04-27
Anticipated expiration: 2021-10-04
Also published as: CA2359745A1

Abstract

A hand-operated control is provided for a pedal mounted on the floor of a motor vehicle.

The control has a pedal-connector adapted to be attached to the pedal and an upstanding arm connected to the pedal-connector by a joint. The upper end of the arm is connected to a handle by a second joint. The two joints allow movement between the components to which they are attached but can be immobilized to prevent such movement.

Description

"'' CA 02359745 2003-03-12 This invention is a control for operating by hand a vehicle which normally requires a pedal for operation. Typically, the vehicle will be a golf cart or a cart used in industry.
The hand-operated control is essentially an extension of the accelerator of the vehicle.
The extension reaches the hand of a driver seated on the vehicle so that the vehicle can be operated by a person who has had one or both of his legs amputated or who has lost the use of his legs by a disease such as arthritis or by a deformity. The control is intended to help the unfort-unate person who has lost the freedom of mobility to find the pleasure of mobility in the out of doors. The control also allows golfers who are no longer mobile to resume the game of golf The versatility of the hand-operated control of the invention makes it possible to use it in pedal-operated carts found in factories. By means of the control, persons who have lost the use of their legs through injury or illness can continue to operated such a cart notwithstanding that the cart normally is operated by a pedal.
The hand-operated control comprises a clamp which is attached to a pedal of a vehicle. A
horizontal extension is attached to the clamp. The extension is bent upward at ninety degrees and is fitted with an adjustable joint. To this joint is attached the lower end of a vertical lever. An-other joint is attached to the upper end of the lever and that joint interconnects the lever with a short hand-operated lever. The latter lever has a hand-grip. The angle of the levers is adjusted so that the hand-grip rests on the driver's seat or seat cushion.

The construction of the hand-operated control of the invention allows for variances in the angles, height and general location of the hand-grip.
To start a vehicle such as a golf cart and then accelerate it to full speed, the hand-grip need only be raised a maximum of eight inches above its rest position on the seat of the vehicle.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The hand-operated control of the invention is described with reference to the accompany-ing drawings in which:
Figure 1 is an exploded perspective view of the control;
Figure 2 is a perspective view of one component of a fastener for attaching the control to a pedal;
Figure 3 is a section of the component of Figure 2 together with a section of a portion of a pedal;
Figure 4 is a plan view of the component illustrated in Figure 2.
Like reference characters refer to like parts throughout the description of the drawings.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
With reference to Figure 1, the hand-operated control includes a pedal-connector, generally 10, an arm 12 and a handle 14. The pedal-connector is attached to the arm by a first joint 16 and the arm is connected to the handle by a second joint 18.
With reference to Figures 1, 2 and 3, the pedal-connector consists of a plate 20 having a

2 hook 22 at its forward end for receipt of the forward portion of a pedal 24 of a motor vehicle. An L-shaped bar 26 is attached to the rear end of the plate. The bar has a horizontal and vertical limbs 26a,b respectively. The horizontal limb is connected to the plate by means of a threaded thumb screw 28 while the vertical limb is connected to a circular plate 30.
Plate 30 forms one component of joint 16. The other component 32 is also a circular plate which is fixed to the lower portion of arm 12, Both plates have radially extending teeth 34 which face and mesh with each other when they are pressed together. Threaded bolt 36 and wing nut 38 attach plate 30 to the bar and plate 32 to arm 12. The bolt and wing nut also serve as a clamping means for pressing the plates together with resulting meshing of the teeth.
When the teeth mesh, relative movement between the two plates is prevented.
Thus the bolt and wing nut serve to immobilize joint 16 when the wing nut is tightened sufficiently to cause the teeth to mesh. When the wing nut is loosened, the plates 30, 32 are free to rotate relative to each other and the angle of arm 12 can be adjusted relative to the connector.
Joint 18 has the same construction as joint 16. Joint 18 too is made up of two circular plates 40, 42. Plate 42 is attached by means of bolt 44 and wing nut 46 to the upper portion of arm 12 while plate 40 is attached to handle 14. The plates have teeth on the walls which face each other and those teeth immobilize the joint when squeezed together by the bolt and wing nut.
The bolt and wing nut accordingly act as clamping means for joint 18.
In operation, the control of the invention is attached to the pedal of a motor vehicle by

3 first attaching bar 26 to plate 20 then attaching the plate to a pedal by means of the hook. The components of joint 16 are then attached to the bar and arm and the angle of the arm is adjusted to suit the driver of the vehicle. Wing nut 38 is then tightened on bolt 36 in order to immobilize the joint and to secure the arm in position. The components of joint 18 are then attached to the upper portion of the arm and the handle and the angle between the two is adjusted to suit the driver. Nut 46 is then tightened on bolt 44.
By means of the control, the driver can operate the pedal by one hand while he steers with the other.

4

Claims

I claim:

1. A hand-operated control for a pedal mounted on the floor of a motor vehicle having a seat adjacent to said pedal, said control comprising: a pedal-connector adapted to be attached to said pedal; an arm having lower and upper ends; a first joint interconnecting said pedal-connector and the lower end of said arm and allowing movement between said pedal-connector and said lower end; a handle adapted to be held by a person seated in said seat; a second joint interconnecting the upper end of said arm and said handle and allowing movement between said upper end and said handle; and means for selectively immobilizing said first joint and said and second joint.

2. The control as claimed in claim 1 wherein each said joint is adjustable.

3. The control as claimed in claims 1 or 2 wherein said first joint comprises a pair of plates each having a circular wall in which radially extending teeth are formed, the teeth of said plates adapted to mesh with each other.

4. The control as claimed in claims 1, 2 or 3 wherein said second joint comprises a pair of plates each having a circular wall in which radially extending teeth are formed, the teeth of said plates adapted to mesh with each other.

5. The control as claimed in any either claim 3 or claim 4 wherein said means for immobil-izing said first joint includes clamping means which, when activated, causes the plates of said first joint to advance into contact with each other with resulting meshing of the teeth formed in the plates of said first joint such that the plates of said first joint are fixed from movement rel-ative to each other, said clamping means, when deactivated, allowing the plates of said first joint to separate from each other such that the position of one of said plates of said first joint can be adjusted relative to the other plate of said first joint.

6. The control as claimed in any one of claims 3, 4 or 5 wherein said means for immobil-izing said second joint includes clamping means which, when activated, causes the plates of said second joint to advance into contact with each other with resulting meshing of the teeth formed in the plates of said second joint such that the plates of said second joint are fixed from movement relative to each other, said clamping means, when deactivated, allowing the plates of said second joint to separate from each other such that the position of one of the plates of said second joint can be adjusted relative to the other plate of said second joint.