CN219191918U

CN219191918U - Feedback force adjustable pedal

Info

Publication number: CN219191918U
Application number: CN202320330151.8U
Authority: CN
Inventors: 黄润广; 陈海林; 成巨文
Original assignee: CTS Corp
Current assignee: CTS Corp
Priority date: 2023-02-24
Filing date: 2023-02-24
Publication date: 2023-06-16
Anticipated expiration: 2033-02-24

Abstract

The utility model provides a feedback force adjustable pedal, which comprises a pedal arm with a first rotating mechanism, a base with a second rotating mechanism, and a feedback force adjustable pedal, wherein the first rotating mechanism of the pedal arm is coupled with the second rotating mechanism of the base and rotates relatively; the pedal arm is rotated relative to the base and can be driven to elastically deform so as to apply feedback force to the pedal arm; a compensation force assembly, comprising: the first magnetic part is positioned on the pedal arm, the second magnetic part is positioned on the base, and the first magnetic part and the second magnetic part are oppositely arranged so that when the pedal arm rotates relative to the base, a compensation force is generated between the first magnetic part and the second magnetic part due to magnetic interaction; and wherein the magnetic field strength of at least one of the first and second magnetic portions is adjustable. The feedback force adjustable pedal has wide feedback force adjusting range, reduces the volume of parts and brings higher stability.

Description

Feedback force adjustable pedal

Technical Field

The utility model relates to the field of vehicle parts, in particular to a feedback force adjustable pedal.

Background

Conventional vehicle pedals, such as accelerator pedals, employ conventional mechanical structures including spring members for providing a feedback force to the depressing action of the vehicle pedal. Since the conventional mechanical structure must be shaped at the time of shipment to ensure high durability of the pedal, the feedback force thereof is fixed and not adjustable depending on the spring coefficient of the spring member. When the need for changing the pedal stepping feedback force of the vehicle occurs, only the vehicle pedal assembly can be replaced, which is costly and inflexible.

Disclosure of Invention

In order to solve the above technical problems, the present utility model provides a feedback force adjustable pedal, which is characterized by comprising:

a pedal arm having a first rotation mechanism;

a base having a second rotation mechanism, the first rotation mechanism of the pedal arm being configured to be capable of coupling with and rotating relative to the second rotation mechanism of the base;

an elastic member connected between the pedal arm and the base for holding the pedal arm in a free state in a first position with respect to the base, and elastically deformed to apply a feedback force to the pedal arm when the pedal arm rotates with respect to the base;

a compensation force assembly, comprising: a first magnetic part positioned on the pedal arm and a second magnetic part positioned on the base, wherein the first magnetic part and the second magnetic part are arranged oppositely so that when the pedal arm rotates relative to the base, a compensation force is generated between the first magnetic part and the second magnetic part due to magnetic interaction, and the compensation force and the feedback force are combined to act on the pedal arm; and

wherein the magnetic field strength of at least one of the first and second magnetic parts is adjustable.

Preferably, the first magnetic portion of the compensation force assembly of the feedback force adjustable pedal comprises a permanent magnet and the second magnetic portion comprises an electromagnet.

Preferably, the feedback force adjustable pedal further includes a current output unit that changes a direction of a direct current of an electromagnet that is output to the second magnetic portion so that a force of the second magnetic portion with respect to the first magnetic portion is one of a repulsive force and an attractive force.

Preferably, the first rotation mechanism of the pedal arm of the feedback force adjustable pedal is a rotation groove, and the second rotation mechanism of the base is a rotation shaft, and the rotation groove is concentrically coupled on the rotation shaft so that the pedal arm can rotate around the rotation shaft;

wherein a first end of the pedal arm is connected to a pedal end face, and the rotation groove is arranged at a second end of the pedal arm; one end of the elastic member is connected to a side of the second end of the pedal arm away from the first end, and the other end of the elastic member is connected to the base.

Preferably, the compensation force assembly of the feedback force adjustable pedal further comprises:

a columnar portion protruding from the pedal arm and extending toward the second magnetic portion of the base, wherein the first magnetic portion is arranged at a tip end of the columnar portion;

an end face of the second magnetic portion is arranged opposite to an end face of the first magnetic portion so as to maximize the magnetic interaction force.

a hollow columnar guide tube disposed on the base and extending in parallel from the outside along an extending direction of the columnar portion, wherein the guide tube encloses at least a portion of the columnar portion to guide the first and second magnetic portions to be relatively close to or apart from each other in the guide tube, wherein the pedal arm stops at a second position at which a relative distance between the first and second magnetic portions is smallest when the pedal arm rotates to a maximum stroke with respect to a rotation axis of the base.

Preferably, the guide tube of the feedback force adjustable pedal and the surface of the base connected to the second magnetic part are insulated to form an additional electrical isolation layer outside the second magnetic part.

Preferably, the elastic member of the feedback force adjustable pedal is a spring.

Preferably, the magnitude of the current output from the current output unit of the feedback force adjustable pedal to the electromagnet of the second magnetic portion is variable so that there is a linear relationship between the magnitude of the compensation force and the real-time stroke of the pedal arm depression.

Preferably, the feedback force adjustable pedal of the feedback force adjustable pedal includes a circuit breaker that cuts off the current output from the current output unit when it exceeds a predetermined range.

The feedback force adjustable pedal provided by the utility model can be used for rapidly configuring and adjusting the magnitude of feedback force responding to the pedal depressing action, and has a wide feedback force adjusting range; the size of the pedal is reduced as much as possible through structural optimization, higher stability is brought, and high reliability of the pedal in vehicle driving is guaranteed.

Drawings

Embodiments of the utility model are further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a feedback force adjustable pedal according to one embodiment of the present utility model;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged schematic perspective view of the portion of the feedback force adjustable pedal shown in FIG. 1 within a circular dashed box;

FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view of the feedback force adjustable pedal shown in FIG. 1, as viewed along the direction indicated by arrow A1;

fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the feedback force adjustable pedal shown in fig. 3 taken along section B-B.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present utility model more apparent, the present utility model will be further described in detail by the following examples with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a feedback force adjustable pedal according to one embodiment of the present utility model. As shown in fig. 1, the feedback-force adjustable pedal 10 includes a pedal arm 11, a base 12, an elastic member (not shown in fig. 1) for generating a feedback force between the pedal arm 11 and the base 12, and a compensation-force assembly 13. The pedal arm 11 has a pedal end face 111 at a first end, an extended arm-like body 112. The second end of the pedal arm 11 also has a rotation slot (obscured by the base 12 in fig. 1) connected to the base 12 and rotatable relative to the base 12. The base 12 has a housing 121 and a rotation shaft 122, and the base 12 is generally fixed inside the cabin of the automobile to hold the pedal arm 11, and the pedal arm 11 rotates around the rotation shaft 122 of the base 12 through a rotation groove. Fig. 1 shows that when no external stepping force is received, the pedal arm 11 and the pedal end face 111 of the first end thereof are stopped at the first position by the elastic force exerted between the pedal arm 11 and the base 12 by the elastic member. The compensating force assembly 13 is shown within the circular dashed box of fig. 1.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the compensation force assembly 13 of the feedback force adjustable pedal 10 shown in fig. 1. The compensating force assembly 13 shown in fig. 2 comprises a cylindrical portion 131 connected to the pedal arm 11, a guide tube 132 connected to the base 12 and protruding above the surface of the base, wherein the outer diameter of the cylindrical portion 131 is slightly smaller than the inner wall diameter of the guide tube 132, whereby the cylindrical portion 131 is always held within the inner wall of the guide tube 132 for guiding the relative displacement thereof in the first position or in the course of a further approach of the pedal arm 11 relative to the base 12, which approach is typically caused by the pedal end face 111 being stepped on by a driver. Inside the guide tube 132 shown in fig. 2, a permanent magnet on the columnar portion 131 and an electromagnet on the surface of the base 12 are further included, and the mating relationship between the two will be described with reference to fig. 4.

Fig. 3 is a schematic plan view of the feedback-force adjustable pedal 10 shown in fig. 1, as viewed along the direction indicated by the arrow A1. As shown in fig. 3, the pedal end surface 111 of the pedal arm 11 and the housing 121 of the base 12 each extend in the direction indicated by the arrow A2, but the arm-shaped body 112 does not extend entirely in the direction, but is offset from it by an angle such that the extending axes of the pedal end surface 111 and the housing 121 of the base 12 in the direction are parallel to each other but not aligned.

Fig. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view of the feedback force adjustable pedal 10 shown in fig. 3 taken along section B-B. Fig. 4 shows the internal structure of the pedal arm 11, the base 12 and the compensation force assembly 13 in detail. As shown in fig. 4, the rotating groove 113 of the pedal arm 11 is a circular groove, and the rotating shaft 122 of the base 12 is snugly sleeved in the rotating groove 113 so that the pedal arm 11 rotates around the base 12. The second end 114 of the pedal arm 11 remote from said pedal end face 111 is connected to an end of a resilient member for generating a feedback force, which in this embodiment is embodied as a spring member 14. The other end of the spring member 14 is connected to the inner surface of the upper side of the housing 121 of the base 12. Whereby when the pedal arm 11 is stepped on by the driver such that the pedal end face 111 approaches the base 12, the second end 114 of the pedal arm 11 moves upward with the rotation of the pedal arm 11 and presses the spring member 14, whereby the spring member 14 elastically deforms to generate a feedback force against the pressing process.

As shown in fig. 4, an electromagnet 134 is arranged on the base 12, which is located on the surface of the base 12 and is enclosed inside the guide tube 132; the end (free end) of the columnar portion 131 remote from the pedal arm 11 includes a permanent magnet 133. The guide tube 132 is a hollow columnar shape extending from the base surface toward the pedal arm 11 in a direction substantially opposite to the extending direction of the columnar portion 131, wherein the guide tube 132 contains at least a portion of the columnar portion 131 therein to guide the permanent magnet 133 and the electromagnet 134 to be relatively close to or distant from each other in the guide tube. When the pedal arm 11 is stopped at the first position without being subjected to an external force, the portion of the columnar portion 131 included inside the guide tube 132 is the smallest, and thus the relative positions of the permanent magnet 133 and the electromagnet 134 are the farthest, as shown in fig. 4. When the driver depresses the pedal end surface, the pedal arm 11 will rotate about the axis of rotation 122 such that the permanent magnet 133 is adjacent to the electromagnet 134 resting on the base, stopping at a second position where the relative distance between the permanent magnet 133 and the electromagnet 134 is minimal when the pedal arm rotates to a maximum stroke relative to the axis of rotation of the base. The electromagnet 134 and the permanent magnet 133 are formed in a cylindrical shape so as to be fitted inside the guide tube 132 or to be consistent with the outer diameter of the columnar portion 131, respectively, and the magnetic interaction force generated when the end surfaces thereof close to each other are formed in a circular plane and are substantially parallel is maximized. The positions of the electromagnets and permanent magnets may be interchanged in some variant embodiments.

The feedback force adjustable pedal 10 further includes a current output unit for outputting an output current supplied to the coil winding of the electromagnet 134; the feedback force adjustable pedal 10 further comprises a control unit for controlling the current output unit to adjust its output current in accordance with the return signal of the sensor. For simplicity of illustration, the current output unit and the control unit are not shown in any of fig. 1 to 4.

The mode of operation of the feedback force adjustable pedal 10 is described below with reference to fig. 4. When there is no need to adjust the pedal feedback force, the feedback force adjustable pedal 10 is in the first mode, and the control unit controls the current output unit not to output current to the coil winding of the electromagnet 134 of the feedback force adjustable pedal 10. Since the electromagnet 134 connected to the pedal arm 11 through the columnar portion 131 and the permanent magnet 133 connected to the base in the compensation force assembly 13 are not in contact with each other and there is no magnetic interaction force, the force of the driver stepping on the feedback force adjustable pedal 10 is transmitted only to the spring member 14, and the driver feels only the feedback force transmitted from the pedal end face 111.

When it is desired to increase the pedal feedback force, the feedback force adjustable pedal 10 is in the second mode, and the control unit controls the current output unit to output the first-direction direct current to the coil winding of the electromagnet 134 of the feedback force adjustable pedal 10. The coil windings of the electromagnet 134 thus produce a magnetic field direction of a first polarity, the electromagnet 134 developing a compensation force that repels the permanent magnet 133, the magnitude of which increases as the electromagnet 134 and the permanent magnet 133 approach each other when the current output unit is controlled to output a constant direct current. While the force of the driver's stepping on the feedback force adjustable pedal 10 is transmitted to the spring member 14 in the second mode, the pedal depression causes the electromagnet 134 and the permanent magnet 133 to approach each other, the compensation force gradually increases, and the reaction force from the pedal end face 111 felt by the driver during this process includes the feedback force and the compensation force, both of which resist the pedal depression action, and the resultant force is enhanced by being superimposed on each other.

When the pedal feedback force needs to be reduced, the feedback force adjustable pedal 10 is in the third mode, and the control unit controls the current output unit to output the second direct current to the coil winding of the electromagnet 134 of the feedback force adjustable pedal 10, wherein the second direction of the direct current is opposite to the first direction. It is understood that the coil winding of the electromagnet 134 generates a magnetic field direction of the second polarity in the energized state, and the electromagnet 134 generates a compensation force that attracts the permanent magnet 133. In the third mode, the pedal depression causes the electromagnet 134 and the permanent magnet 133 to approach each other, the compensation force gradually increases, and the reaction force from the pedal end face 111 felt by the driver during this process includes a feedback force and a compensation force opposite to each other, the feedback force resists the pedal depression, but the compensation force is compliant to the pedal depression, and the resultant force of the two is weakened compared with the feedback force by overlapping each other.

In another embodiment according to the present utility model, unlike the previous embodiment, the electromagnet may be arranged on the columnar portion of the pedal arm, while the permanent magnet is oppositely arranged at the bottom of the inside of the guide tube of the base surface.

In another embodiment according to the present utility model, unlike the above-described embodiment, the feedback-force adjustable pedal is configured such that the control unit obtains a real-time stroke of the pedal arm between a first position (a free rest position of the pedal arm) and a second position (a maximum stroke position of depression of the pedal arm), and controls the current output unit to output a direct-current power of a magnitude corresponding to the real-time stroke according to a preset value, thereby maintaining a resultant force of the feedback force and the compensation force (i.e., a reaction force felt by a driver's stepping) within a predetermined value range during the entire stroke of stepping on the pedal end surface from the first position to the second position. In still another embodiment of the present utility model, the control unit adjusts the magnitude of the dc power output by the current output unit so that a linear relationship exists between the magnitude of the compensation force and the real-time stroke of the pedal arm depression, so that the feeling of the driver's stepping on the pedal is more accurate and uniform, and the comfort and the convenience of the operation are improved.

In another embodiment according to the present utility model, the feedback force adjustable pedal includes a circuit breaker that cuts off the output current when the current output by the current output unit exceeds a predetermined range or other damage state exists. The detection of the current output by the current output unit may be performed by a circuit breaker or by the control unit. Other damage conditions include fluctuations in the supply voltage supplying the current output unit exceeding a predetermined threshold or failure of the supply, etc.

The pedal described in the present utility model may be used as an accelerator pedal, and in other embodiments, the feedback force adjustable pedal may be applied to a brake pedal or other pedal without departing from the scope of the present utility model.

The springs described in the present utility model may be replaced with other elastic members such as leaf springs, air springs, oil springs, torsion bar springs, or the like; the guide tube and the surface of the base on which the electromagnet sits are preferentially treated with a layer of insulating material to provide additional electrical isolation for the electromagnet windings. The piston-like mating relationship between the cylindrical portion and the guide tube may be further configured as a quasi-sealing structure to prevent intrusion of external dust.

Although in the various embodiments the pedal arm is described as having a rotation slot and the base has a rotation axis to effect the coupling of the rotation axis to the rotation slot, in variations of the utility model the rotation axis may be disposed on the pedal arm with the rotation slot disposed on the base accordingly. The rotational connection between the pedal arm and the base may also be accomplished via coupling between other rotational connections commonly used in the art.

While the utility model has been described in terms of preferred embodiments, the utility model is not limited to the embodiments described herein, but encompasses various changes and modifications that may be made without departing from the scope of the utility model.

Claims

1. A feedback force adjustable pedal, comprising:

a pedal arm having a first rotation mechanism;

2. The feedback force adjustable pedal of claim 1 wherein the first magnetic portion of the compensation force assembly comprises a permanent magnet and the second magnetic portion comprises an electromagnet.

3. The feedback force adjustable pedal according to claim 2, further comprising a current output unit that changes a direction of a direct current of an electromagnet that is output to the second magnetic portion so that a force of the second magnetic portion with respect to the first magnetic portion is one of a repulsive force and an attractive force.

4. The feedback-force adjustable pedal of claim 3, wherein the first rotation mechanism of the pedal arm is a rotation slot and the second rotation mechanism of the base is a rotation shaft, the rotation slot being concentrically coupled to the rotation shaft to enable the pedal arm to rotate about the rotation shaft;

5. The feedback force adjustable pedal of claim 4 wherein the compensation force assembly further comprises:

6. The feedback force adjustable pedal of claim 5 wherein the compensation force assembly further comprises:

7. The feedback force adjustable pedal of claim 6, wherein the guide tube and the surface of the base that is connected to the second magnetic portion are insulated to form an additional electrical isolation layer outside of the second magnetic portion.

8. The feedback-force adjustable pedal of claim 6, wherein the resilient member is a spring.

9. A feedback force adjustable pedal according to claim 3, wherein the magnitude of the current output by the current output unit to the electromagnet of the second magnetic portion is variable such that there is a linear relationship between the magnitude of the compensation force and the real-time travel of the pedal arm depression.

10. A feedback force adjustable pedal according to claim 3, wherein the feedback force adjustable pedal comprises a circuit breaker that cuts off the current output by the current output unit when it exceeds a predetermined range.