GB607150A - Auxiliary hand-control means for a motor-vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

607,150. Controlling motor vehicles. STANDARD MOTOR CO., Ltd., BLACK, SIR J. P., and TURNER, W. R. Jan. 28, 1946, No. 2676. [Class 79 (v)] An auxiliary hand control for the normal accelerator, clutch and brake pedals comprises a rotatable spindle having projections thereon which engage and deflect levers which are operatively connected with the normal pedals so as to permit of normal operation of the latter. The rotatable spindle is preferably parallel to and supported by the steering column, and is provided at its upper end with a laterally extending handlever disposed just beneath the steering wheel. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, a spindle 13 is rotatably mounted on the steering column 12 by brackets 15, 16 and can be partially rotated by the hand-lever 19. Successive movements of the lever 19 close the throttle, open the clutch and apply the brakes, and the spindle 13 carries a notched quadrant 25, (see also Fig. 3), engaged by a spring-loaded plunger 26 for yieldingly locating the spindle in the position where the throttle is closed and the clutch is about to be disengaged, and in the position in which the clutch is fully disengaged and the brakes are about to be applied. The throttle control, Figs. 1 and 5, comprises a cam 21 fast on the spindle 13, which engages a roller 42 on the bell-crank lever 41 pivoted on the bracket 16, the other end of the belt-crank lever being connected by a flexible cable 43 to the throttle control 44. The connection is preferably made by the cable passing through a clearance hole in the member 48 which is pivoted to the throttle control 44; by this means lost motion is provided so that the throttle control may be actuated by the normal accelerator pedal independently of the position of the hand control. An additional hand control of the throttle, whereby engine speed can be varied, for example, during gearchanging, comprises a lever 58, Fig. 1, having a flexible cable connection 59 with a lever 61, Fig. 5, pivoted at 62 and having a projection 63 which engages under the bell-crank lever 41. To avoid fatigue, the throttle control is provided with friction means of sufficient power to prevent the throttle closing under the action of the normal throttle return spring, such means comprising a fibre block 51, Fig. 3, mounted on a spring-loaded pivoted arm 52, which coacts with a portion 50 of the rim of the quadrant 25; the friction means is operative only during the throttle-actuating movement of the spindle 13. The clutch is actuated by a cam 20 on the spindle 13, which engages a roller 30 mounted between a pair of arms 28, pivoted to an auxiliary spindle 29 extending between the mounting bracket 15, 16; the arms 28 are connected to the usual clutch mechanism by a flexible cable, which permits of normal operation of the clutch independently of the hand control. The brake is actuated by the arm 23, Fig. 2, fixed to the lower end of the spindle 13 and which engages a lever 22 freely mounted on the spindle 13, the lever being connected to the usual brake mechanism; lost motion between the arm 23 and lever 22 permits of normal actuation of the brakes independently of the manual control.