JP2001117657A - Leg-protecting pedal device for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a leg-protecting pedal device in a vehicle for preventing a pedal step force from exceeding the maximum step force, in order to prevent the damage of a driver's leg due to the increase of the pedal step force when large external force acts, for example, at a vehicle collision time. SOLUTION: A pedal arm is divided into a pedal arm part 2 and a step plate part 3, and a cylindrical projecting part 10 of the step plate part 3 is inserted into a guide groove 4 formed in the pedal arm part 2, and bending rigidity around the guide groove 4 is set properly. Thus, the cylindrical projecting part 10 does not move in the guide groove 4 in a normal driving operation, and the width of the guide groove 4 is widened according to the movement of the cylindrical projecting part 10 in the guide groove 4, when large external force acts so that the peal step force of the step plate part 3 can be prevented from being increased.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention controls a pedaling force on a petal tread not to become larger than a predetermined value when a large external force acts at the time of a vehicle collision or the like.
The present invention relates to a lower limb protection petal device in a vehicle for protecting lower limbs of an occupant.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As shown in FIG. 5, a petal mechanism, such as a brake petal or a clutch petal, is arranged in a vehicle cabin. The petal mechanism includes a petal arm 14 having a base end side pivotally supported by the vehicle and having a petal tread plate 9 at a distal end side, a master cylinder 15 connected to an intermediate portion of the petal arm 14, and the like. The petal operation is performed by placing the lower limb 16 on the petal tread 9 as shown in the figure and applying a treading force to the petal tread 9 by the lower limb 16. When a large external force is applied to the front end side of the vehicle at the time of a vehicle collision or the like, the vehicle is deformed, and a large force acts on various parts of the occupant with this deformation. For this reason, various occupant safety devices are also employed in the prior art. On the other hand, a large force is applied to the lower limb 16, particularly the ankle 16a, which is directly mounted on the petal tread 9 of a petal such as a brake petal, when the external force acts, but this protective means has not been sufficiently devised in the past. .

[0003]

During normal operation, the brake petal is not operated except during the stopping operation of the vehicle, during the speed reduction, and during the slow running. On the other hand, when analyzing the movement of the occupant at the time of a vehicle collision or the like, if the occupant feels danger, the occupant performs an operation of pressing the brake petal and also depresses the petal to extremely increase the pressing force. The external force at the time of a collision or the like greatly acts on the petal treads, but since the lower leg of the occupant strongly steps on the petal treads, the external force acts on the lower legs as well. That is, a large external force acts on the lower limb. For this reason, a large force acts on the lower limb, particularly the ankle 16a (the portion indicated by the two-dot chain line circle in FIG. 5), and the lower limb 16 and the ankle 1
6a may be injured.

[0004] As described above, there are many known techniques as protection means for preventing damage around the lower limb when a large external force is applied such as at the time of a vehicle collision. For example, JP
0-236288, JP-A-11-5563, and JP-A-11-43073. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-236288 discloses a "vehicle petal support structure" in which a rivet at a mounting portion of a petal bracket for supporting a petal is sheared when an external force is applied, and the force directly acting on the petal is reduced. Also, JP-A-11-55
No. 63, "Vehicle Petal Displacement Control Structure" is such that a petal bracket is slidable when an external force is applied, and the force directly acting on the petal is reduced as described above. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-43073 discloses, in part, a technique for reducing the external force applied to a petal by deforming or bending a pressing member engaged with a petal arm. is there.

[0005] All of the above-mentioned known techniques are effective in protecting the petal when an external force is applied, and protect the occupant's lower limbs. However, in any case, the petal arm simply moves in the front-rear direction when the external force is applied. However, the petal treading force cannot be controlled to an arbitrary value, and in particular, the petal treading force cannot be freely controlled to a certain value or less. In addition, it does not directly protect the lower limbs, particularly the ankles, and the reliability of lower limb protection is not sufficient.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and functions as a normal petal arm during normal operation, while the tread plate moves along the guide groove of the petal arm when a large external force acts. An object of the present invention is to provide a lower limb protection petal device for a vehicle which is detached from the guide groove to prevent an increase in tread force and protect the lower limb of the occupant.

[0007]

According to the present invention, a petal arm of a vehicle is divided into a petal arm and a tread having a petal tread to control the treading force acting on the petal tread. A lower limb protection petal device for protecting a lower limb of an occupant, wherein the petal arm portion is formed with an opening formed in a crotch-like torn guide groove at a lowermost end side to be engaged with the tread plate portion. Has a petal tread plate, a columnar protrusion that bulges forward from the front and can be inserted into the guide groove, and upper and lower guide wings disposed above and below the columnar protrusion and extending in the left-right direction. The guide groove has an arc-shaped guide portion on the opening side thereof, and the cylindrical protrusion is fitted into a portion connected to the guide portion to determine an initial position of the tread plate portion. A pillar surface is formed, a stress concentration preventing portion is formed at the back of the guide groove, and an arc-shaped surface for guiding the guide portion is formed between the column-shaped protrusion of the tread plate portion and the petal tread plate, The upper and lower guide wings constitute a lower limb protection petal device in a vehicle which is configured to contact the upper and lower surfaces of the petal arm to guide the tread plate.

One of the lower guide wing and the upper guide wing has a shorter width in the left-right direction than the other depending on the mounting state. Thus, it is characterized by being formed of a size detachable from the guide portion.

The lower end side of the petal arm is divided into a petal arm portion and a tread portion, and a columnar protrusion of the tread portion is inserted into a guide groove formed in the petal arm portion. During normal operation, the petal arm and the tread operate in an integrated structure,
When a large external force is applied, the tread portion moves toward the inside of the guide groove, and the guide groove is greatly deformed from the opening side thereof into a crotch-open state, so that the tread portion is separated from the guide groove. As a result, an increase in the pedaling force applied to the petal tread is prevented, and the pedaling force does not increase beyond a predetermined value. For this reason, lower limbs can be protected.

[0010]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a petal device for protecting a lower limb in a vehicle according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the lower limb protection petal device 1 of the present invention
Consists of a petal arm 2 and a tread 3. The petal arm 2 has an overall shape formed by removing the vicinity of the petal tread 9 of the petal arm 14 shown in FIG. 5, and FIGS. 1 and 2 show only the shape of the lower end. Hereinafter, only the structure of the lower end portion will be described.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a guide groove 4 which is torn in a crotch shape is formed at the lower end of the petal arm 1. The guide groove 4 is formed by a groove formed at an appropriate depth from the opening side along the longitudinal direction of the petal arm portion, and a through hole 5 as a stress concentration preventing portion is formed at the back of the groove. Further, the guide groove 4 is formed in a tapered shape that is reduced in size from the opening side toward the groove depth. A guide 6 is formed in the opening. A guide cylindrical surface 7 is formed near the guide portion 6. The guide pieces 8, 8 surrounding the guide groove 4 can be bent and deformed with the through hole 5 as a base end, but have a considerable bending rigidity. Of the guide groove 4 does not occur.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG.
Is composed of a petal tread 9, a columnar projection 10 swelling forward from this, and an upper guide wing 11 and a lower guide wing 12, which are arranged vertically above and below in a horizontal direction. Further, the petal tread 9 and the cylindrical projection 10 are smoothly connected by the arcuate surface 13.

The columnar projection 10 is just the petal arm 2
Of the petal arm portion 2 and the tread portion 3 in the normal state. That is, the petal arm portion 2 and the tread plate portion 3 are assembled in a state where the columnar projecting portion 10 of the tread plate portion 3 is fitted into the guide cylindrical surface 7 of the petal arm portion 2 and attached to the vehicle. This state is shown in FIG. Further, in the present embodiment, the upper guide blade 11 and the lower guide blade 12 have different widths, and the upper guide blade 11 has a reduced width. The width of the upper guide blade 11 is smaller than the distance between the end portions of the guide portions 13 and 13 that expands when an external force is applied.
Has a size that can be removed from the guide portion 13.

Next, the operation of the lower limb protection petal device in the vehicle according to the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 shows a normal assembly state of the petal arm 2 and the tread 3. That is, as shown in the drawing, the tread plate portion 3 is pushed into the guide groove 4 of the petal arm portion 2, and is stored in a state where the columnar projection 10 is fitted into the guide spherical surface 7 of the guide groove 4.
As described above, this state corresponds to a normal state of assembling the petal arm.

In the state shown in FIG. 1, when the normal operation is performed with the lower limbs on the petal tread 9, the guide pieces 8, 8 of the petal arm 2 are deformed even if the petal tread 9 is stepped on unless the value of the treading force becomes larger than a certain level. Without this, the columnar projecting portion 10 of the tread portion 3 also does not protrude from the guide cylindrical surface 7.
Thereby, a normal brake operation and the like are performed.

On the other hand, when a large external force acts, such as at the time of a vehicle collision, the treading force becomes large, and the tread plate portion 3 moves forward accordingly. Therefore, the columnar protrusion 10 jumps out of the guide columnar surface 7 of the guide groove 4 and moves forward. The columnar projections 10 protruding from the guide columnar surface 7 press against the side surfaces of the guide pieces 8, 8 of the guide groove 4 and act to open the guide pieces 8, 8 outward. Along with this, as shown in FIG. 4, the guide portions 6, 6 open largely in the left-right direction. As mentioned above,
The tread plate portion 3 is inserted into the petal arm 2 side with a certain external force as a boundary, and functions to open the guide groove 4. Therefore, the pedaling force does not increase any more after the predetermined value.

FIG. 4 shows a state in which the tread portion 3 is largely inserted into the guide groove 4. In this case, the guide portion 6 of the petal arm portion 2 is pushed and spread along the arcuate surface 13 of the tread plate portion 3, and the guide portion 6 spreads largely right and left as shown in FIG. On the other hand, in the state shown in FIG. 1, the upper guide wing 11 and the lower guide wing 12 are arranged so as to abut on the upper and lower surfaces of the petal arm 2 and to pinch and guide the petal arm 2. However, since the width dimension of the upper guide blade 11 is smaller than the width dimension of the lower guide blade 12, the guide portions 6, 6
Is larger than a certain distance, the upper guide wing 11 becomes smaller than the gap between the open guide portions 6 and 6 and comes off from between the guide portions 6 and 6. That is, when the pressing force from the lower limb to the petal tread 9 is relaxed, the tread 3 moves in the return direction, and comes off from between the guides 6 and 6. Thereby, the petal arm 2 and the tread 3
The state of engagement with the key is lost, and an increase in the pedaling force is further prevented.

[0018]

According to the petal device for protecting a lower limb in a vehicle according to the present invention, the force acting on the lower limb (ankle) when a large external force is applied is greatly reduced, the lower limb is protected, and the safety is improved. . Further, by appropriately setting the shape of the guide groove or the like of the petal arm, the pedaling force can be controlled, and the maximum pedaling force during normal operation can be easily prevented.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the overall structure of the lower end side of a lower limb protection petal device in a vehicle according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a detailed structure of a petal arm portion of the lower limb protection petal device in the vehicle of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a detailed structure of a tread portion of the lower limb protection petal device in the vehicle of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a deformed state of the lower limb protection petal device in the vehicle of the present invention when an external force is applied.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing the outline of a conventional general petal structure and the relationship between the lower limbs.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Lower limb protection petal apparatus 2 Petal arm part 3 Tread plate part 4 Guide groove 5 Through hole 6 Guide part 7 Guide spherical surface 8 Guide piece 9 Petal tread plate 10 Cylindrical protrusion 11 Upper guide wing 12 Lower guide wing 13 Arc-shaped surface

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A lower limb protection petal device which divides a petal arm of a vehicle into a petal arm portion and a tread portion having a petal tread plate, and controls a treading force acting on the petal tread plate to protect a lower leg of an occupant. The petal arm portion is formed by opening a crotch-shaped torn guide groove at the lowermost end side engaging with the tread plate portion, and the tread plate portion is swelled forward from the petal tread plate and can be inserted into the guide groove. And an upper guide wing and a lower guide wing disposed above and below the cylindrical protrusion and extending in the left-right direction. The guide groove has an arc-shaped guide portion on its opening side. A guide cylindrical surface is formed in a portion connected to the guide portion so as to be fitted with the cylindrical protrusion to determine an initial position of the tread plate portion, and a stress concentration preventing portion is provided in a depth of the guide groove. Is formed, an arcuate surface for guiding the guide portion is formed between the columnar protrusion of the tread plate portion and the petal tread plate, and the upper and lower guide wings contact the upper and lower surfaces of the petal arm portion. A lower limb protection petal device for a vehicle, comprising: a device for guiding the tread portion. 2. One of the lower guide wing and the upper guide wing has a smaller width in the left-right direction than the other depending on the mounting state, and the shorter guide wing is in the open state of the guide portion of the guide groove. 2. The device according to claim 1, which is formed so as to be detached from said guide portion.
A petal device for protecting a lower limb in a vehicle according to Claim 1.