JP2018012430A - Foot operated parking brake device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a foot operated parking brake device having a function to prevent a brake pedal from unintentionally returning without impairing operability and operational feeling.SOLUTION: A foot operated parking brake device 1 becomes in a braked state when a brake pedal 111 is depressed by a foot to turn a pedal arm 11, a turned attitude of which is then held by a lock mechanism. When the brake pedal 111 is depressed by the foot again in the braked state, the lock mechanism is released to return the pedal arm 11 to an initial attitude. The lock mechanism is pair of engagement means allocated to a lock plate 15 which is turned in parallel to the pedal arm 11, and to the pedal arm 11. A release slider 2 is manually operated to turn the lock plate 15 to release the engagement means.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a foot-operated parking brake device for a vehicle.

  In a foot-operated parking brake device for a vehicle, a lock mechanism holds a posture of a pedal arm that is rotated by depressing a brake pedal with a foot and enters a braking state. When the brake pedal is depressed again with the foot from the braking state, the lock mechanism is This is a parking brake device that is released and returns the pedal arm to the initial posture. The lock mechanism generally has a combination of a ratchet provided on the pedal arm and a pole provided on a bracket that supports the pedal arm. In particular, when the foot-operated parking brake device is applied to an industrial vehicle, a release means is required separately from the lock mechanism so that the brake is not carelessly released (Patent Document 1).

  The foot-operated parking brake device disclosed in Patent Document 1 is for industrial vehicles that require a release mechanism different from the lock mechanism, and engages with a part of the pedal arm in a braking state to restrict rotation in the return direction. An auxiliary lock mechanism is provided, and a release pedal for releasing the auxiliary lock mechanism is disposed in the vicinity of the parking pedal (Patent Document 1 [Claim 1]). Although Patent Document 1 does not disclose a specific locking mechanism, it can be considered as a combination of a ratchet and a pawl as described above (see Patent Documents 1 and [0003]).

  The auxiliary lock mechanism is pivotally attached to the lower part of the floor of the driver's seat, and is composed of a release link biased upward in the floor and a release pedal connected to the release link, and a distal end portion of the release link Projecting on the rotation trajectory of the engaging portion provided in a part of the pedal arm, and the tip of the release pedal is brought into contact with the driver's foot pad placed on the parking pedal when the lock is released. (Patent Document 1 [Claim 2]).

JP 2009-023366

  The foot-operated parking brake device disclosed in Patent Document 1 has an advantage that the brake is not inadvertently released even if a situation occurs in which only the pedal arm is pushed in the braking state by the auxiliary lock mechanism provided as the releasing means (Patent Document 1). [0017]). The foot-operated parking brake device provided with such releasing means is preferable from the viewpoint of fail-safe even in general vehicles. However, operating the auxiliary lock mechanism with the foot that operates the foot-operated parking brake device has the problem of reducing the operability and operational feeling of the pedal arm with the foot, and cannot be applied to general vehicles as it is. .

  In particular, the specific foot-operated parking brake device disclosed in Patent Document 1 has a configuration in which a release pedal protrudes from the floor on the front side of the brake pedal, and reduces the operability and operational feeling of the pedal arm. In the illustrated configuration, the release pedal is pushed with a heel to release the auxiliary lock mechanism, and the brake pedal is depressed with the foot as it is to release the lock mechanism. This is based on the premise that a saddle is put on the release pedal. If no hook is put on the release pedal, the brake pedal is not released from the posture holding. This means that there is a restriction on how to place the foot to release at least the braking state, and the operability of the releasing means is impaired.

  Further, if the kite is placed on the release pedal in a natural posture, the kite will also be placed on the release pedal when the brake pedal is depressed to achieve a braking state. The release pedal is configured to be pushed into the lower part of the floor. As a result, when the brake pedal is depressed to bring it into a braking state, the heel placed on the release pedal sinks, creating a sense of incongruity in the depression of the brake pedal, and impairs the operability of the foot-operated parking brake device.

  As described above, it is preferable to provide an auxiliary lock mechanism as a release means for releasing the brake in consideration of fail-safe of the stepping parking brake device. However, the configuration in which the release means is operated by the foot that operates the stepping type parking brake device decreases the operability and feeling of operation of the stepping type parking brake device, and is particularly difficult to apply to general vehicles. In view of this, the present inventors have studied to provide a foot-operated parking brake device having a function of preventing inadvertent return of the brake pedal without impairing operability and feeling of operation.

  What was developed as a result of the study was that the lock mechanism held the posture of the pedal arm that was rotated by depressing the brake pedal with the foot and entered the braking state, and when the brake pedal was depressed again with the foot from the braking state, the lock mechanism was released. In the foot-operated parking brake device for returning the pedal arm to the initial posture, the lock mechanism is a pair of engagement means assigned to the lock plate and the pedal arm that rotate in parallel with the pedal arm, and is operated by hand. The stepping type parking brake device is characterized in that the locking plate is rotated by the releasing member to release the engaging means. The foot-operated parking brake apparatus of the present invention uses a release member operated by hand as a release means, and uses a lock mechanism that is released by operation of the release member. The release member is a member that pushes or pulls a part of the lock plate and rotates it. It is connected to a part of the lock plate via a cable and moves straight to push or pull the cable. The release lever that pushes or pulls the cable can be exemplified.

  The lock plate preferably has a lock rotation means that always rotates toward the pedal arm, and a release rotation means that rotates away from the pedal arm only when the release member is operated by hand. The lock plate always rotates in a direction approaching the pedal arm by the lock rotation means. For this reason, when the pedal arm that is turned by stepping on the brake pedal is pushed in, the pedal arm and the lock plate engage with each other. The hooking means is configured, for example, by assigning a combination of pins and hooks to both. When the release member is operated by hand, the lock plate engaged with the pedal arm is moved away from the pedal arm by the release rotation means, and the engagement means is released.

  The lock plate is pivotable by mounting a plate rotation shaft fixed to the vehicle body, and the lock rotation means is configured to apply an urging force to the lock plate to rotate toward the pedal arm. The release turning means may be configured to apply a pulling force to the lock plate to turn away from the pedal arm according to the operation amount of the release member. The lock plate rotates toward the pedal arm by the urging force when the pulling force by the release rotating means is less than the urging force of the lock rotating means, and conversely, when the pulling force exceeds the urging force, Rotate the lock plate away from it.

  A specific lock rotation means can be exemplified by a coil spring that spans between the lock plate and the vehicle body. The “vehicle body” that bridges the coil spring includes a vehicle body, a bracket that supports a pedal arm with respect to the vehicle body, and the like. The coil spring can apply an urging force for rotating the coil spring toward the pedal arm to the lock plate. Further, the specific release rotation means may be configured by connecting a lock plate and a cable extending from the release member. If the lock plate is pulled when the release member is operated, the cable transmits a pulling force corresponding to the operation of the release member to the lock plate.

  Here, when the cable extending from the release member directly pulls the lock plate, an impact is applied to the lock plate or the pedal arm depending on the operation state of the release member, and there is a possibility that each part is damaged or the foot of the brake pedal is uncomfortable. Therefore, the release rotation means may be configured such that the lock plate and a cable extending from the release member are connected via a coil spring. The coil spring gently transmits to the lock plate while absorbing the impact when the cable is suddenly pulled or loosened by expansion and contraction.

  Since the foot-operated parking brake device of the present invention can release the lock mechanism by operating the release member by hand, there is no restriction on how to place the foot against the brake pedal, and the foot of the foot that steps on the brake pedal is on a stable floor. Since it can be placed, there is an effect that the operability and the operational feeling are not impaired. Further, since the release member is operated by hand, the stepping type parking brake device operated by foot can be operated consciously by the release means, and there is an advantage that the safety is excellent.

  The lock mechanism of the present invention can be released by depressing the brake pedal only when the release member is operated by hand, thereby eliminating inadvertent braking release. The lock mechanism in which the release rotation means pulls only when the release member is operated by hand while being applied with an urging force by the lock rotation means, restricts the state in which the release rotation means acts on the lock plate, and is not effective. The effect of eliminating the necessary braking release is obtained.

  The coil spring constituting the lock turning means and the cable constituting the release turning means are simple as a specific structure for applying an urging force and a pulling force to the lock plate, and guarantee a reliable operation. Here, if the cable constituting the release rotating means and the lock plate are connected via a coil spring, the impact caused by the cable tension is reduced and transmitted to the lock plate, so that the lock mechanism is broken upon release. Eliminate fears.

1 is a left side view of a foot-operated parking brake device to which the present invention is applied. It is a right view of a stepping type parking brake device to which the present invention is applied. It is a left side view of a foot-operated parking brake device in a state immediately before a brake pedal is depressed to activate a lock mechanism. It is a left side view of a stepping type parking brake device in a state where a lock mechanism is activated to hold a pedal arm. It is a left side view of a stepping type parking brake device in a state in which the pedal arm is rotated to the limit without releasing the lock mechanism. FIG. 6 is a left side view of the foot-operated parking brake device in a state where the lock mechanism is released by operating the release slider. FIG. 6 is a left side view of the foot-operated parking brake device in a state where the pedal arm is returned to the initial posture with the lock mechanism released. FIG. 6 is a left side view of the stepped parking brake device in a state where the release slider is operated following the pedal arm.

  Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The foot-operated parking brake device 1 to which the present invention is applied is assigned to an interlocking plate 12 that rotates together with the pedal arm 11 and a lock plate 15 that rotates parallel to the pedal arm 11 as shown in FIG. The pair of hooks 121 and pins 151 constitute a lock mechanism, and the release slider 2 that moves linearly is used as the release means of the lock mechanism. The release slider 2 is arranged, for example, on the front or side surface of the driver's seat and is configured to pull the cable 21 by pulling forward (moving rightward in FIG. 1). It is only necessary that the cable 21 can be pulled. For example, the cable 21 may be pulled by pressing the release slider 2 via a swing lever.

  The foot-operated parking brake device 1 of this example includes a mounting bracket 13 for a vehicle body, a parking pedal arm 11 pivotally attached to the mounting bracket 13, an interlocking plate 12 that moves with the parking pedal arm 11, and the mounting bracket 13 It is composed of a lock plate 15 and a brake lever 18 that are pivotally mounted on the shaft. The mounting bracket 13, the interlocking plate 12 and the lock plate 15, and the parking pedal arm 11 are each a flat metal plate, the left side of the mounting bracket 13 is parallel to the plane, and they are arranged with a space in front of each drawing. This prevents interference between the members. If there is no interference, for example, the parking pedal arm 11 and the interlocking plate 12 may be configured integrally. The brake lever 18 is disposed on the back side of the paper surface of FIG. 2 with the right surface of the mounting bracket 13 and the flange parallel to each other.

  The mounting bracket 13 is a metal plate having a rectangular shape when viewed from the side, and is fixed to the vehicle body (not shown) via a connecting portion (for example, a flange bent in a direction orthogonal to the plane of FIG. 1) protruding from the front edge in two steps. . The mounting bracket 13 is provided with a pedal rotation shaft 131 that protrudes in front of the paper surface in FIG. 1 in the vicinity of the middle of the upper edge, and opens a stopper guide 135 having an arc-shaped elongated hole that is concentric with the pedal rotation shaft 131. doing. The pedal rotation shaft 131 rotates the pivoted pedal arm 11 back and forth with the mounting bracket 13 and the plane parallel to each other. The stopper guide 135 is movably fitted within a range where the cylindrical block stopper 122 provided on the interlocking plate 12 contacts both ends of the inner peripheral edge.

  The mounting bracket 13 is provided with a plate rotation shaft 132 protruding in front of the paper surface in FIG. 1 in the vicinity of the middle of the front edge in the vicinity of the front edge sandwiched between the connection parts protruding in two upper and lower stages, and sandwiching the upper connection part Therefore, metal flanges that respectively constitute the bracket upper stage spring latching portion 133 and the bracket middle stage spring latching portion 134 are attached. The plate rotation shaft 132 rotates the lock plate 15, which is attached to the shaft, back and forth with the mounting bracket 13 parallel to each other. The bracket upper stage spring latching portion 133 latches one end of the pedal return coil spring 14 that applies a biasing force to return the pedal arm 11 to the initial posture. Further, the bracket middle stage spring latching portion 134 latches one end of the lock rotating coil spring 16 serving as a lock rotating means.

  The pedal arm 11 is a metal plate having a substantially arc-shaped side view that is curved in the plane toward the back (right side in FIG. 1) and convex toward the front (left side in FIG. 1). 111 is attached and an arm side spring hook 112 is provided at the upper end. The pedal arm 11 is pivotally attached to the pedal rotation shaft 131 and rotates back and forth. The arm side spring hooking portion 112 hooks the other end of the pedal return coil spring 14. As a result, the pedal arm 11 is pulled by the restoring force of the pedal return coil spring 14 that extends toward the bracket upper stage spring latching portion 133 of the mounting bracket 13, and the urging force that always tries to return to the initial posture is applied. Given.

  Opposite to the pedal arm 11, the interlocking plate 12 is a substantially arc-shaped metal plate that protrudes forward in a plane. A hook 121 is formed at the lower end and protrudes in the middle of the bent portion in the back of the page in FIG. A cylindrical block stopper 122 is provided. The interlocking plate 12 is pivotally attached to the pedal rotation shaft 131 and rotates back and forth in conjunction with the pedal arm 11. The stopper 122 moves along the inner peripheral edge of the stopper guide 135 of the mounting bracket 13 to stabilize the rotation of the interlocking plate 12, and restricts the rotation range of the interlocking plate 12 to a range where both ends of the inner peripheral edge abut. . The pedal arm 11 that is interlocked with the interlocking plate 12 is stabilized in rotation by the action of the stopper 122, and the rotation range is limited.

  The lock plate 15 is a metal plate that is bent in a side view, with the front half of the plane extending back and forth and the rear half of the plane descending obliquely downward. A projecting pin 151 is provided, and a left end is attached to the plate rotation shaft 132 in the front half extending forward and backward. The lock plate 15 rotates back and forth with the mounting bracket 13 and the planes parallel to each other. The pin 151 is arranged so as to move across the trajectory on which the hook 121 of the interlocking plate 12 moves, and when the brake pedal 111 is depressed, the interlocking plate 12 interlocks with the pedal arm 11 that rotates downward. The hook 121 is engaged.

  The lock plate 15 is provided with a plate upper spring hooking portion 153 at the upper edge of the front half and a plate lower spring hooking portion 154 at the lower edge of the front half. The plate lower spring latching part 154 is located closer to the pedal arm than the plate pivoting shaft 132 and closer to the plate pivoting shaft 132 than the plate upper spring latching part 153 in the front half extending forward and backward, One end of the release rotation coil spring 17 is hooked, and the cable 21 is connected via the release rotation coil spring 17.

  Thus, the restoring force of the release rotation coil spring 17 and the pulling of the cable 21 via the release rotation coil spring 17 cause the lock plate 15 to rotate clockwise in FIG. 1 so that the pin 151 is moved away from the pedal arm 11. Try to rotate. The cable 21 is pulled by the release slider 2. At this time, the release rotating coil spring 17 absorbs an impact caused by the pulling or slackening of the cable 21 caused by the release slider 2 being operated in a linear motion, and does not apply the impact to the lock plate 15.

  The plate upper spring latching portion 153 is located closer to the plate pivot shaft 132 than the plate lower spring latching portion 154 in the front half extending in the front-rear direction, and latches the other end of the lock pivoting coil spring 16. . The lock-rotating coil spring 16 extends and contracts between the plate upper spring latching portion 153 and the bracket middle spring latching portion 134 of the mounting bracket 13. The lock plate 15 is pulled by the restoring force of the extending lock rotation coil spring 16 and is rotated counterclockwise in FIG. 1 so that the pin 151 approaches the pedal arm 11.

  The brake lever 18 is a metal bracket having a U-shaped cross-section, and the flange is parallel to the plane of the mounting bracket 13, with the flange extending substantially in the middle in the pedal rotation shaft 131 and attached to one end. The connecting cable 181 is swingably connected, the stopper 122 of the interlocking plate 12 is connected to the other end, and the interlocking plate 12 is rotated via the interlocking plate 12 (see FIG. 2). When the parking brake pedal 111 is depressed, the brake lever 18 rotates in conjunction with the parking pedal arm 11 (counterclockwise in FIG. 2), lifts the connecting portion that allows the connecting cable 81 to swing, Pull the cable 181 (see Figure 4 and others below). Then, the connecting cable 181 pulls the two connection cables 183 via the equalizer 182 to operate the parking brake mechanism provided in each of the left and right rear wheels, thereby braking the left and right rear wheels.

  The operation of the foot-operated parking brake device 1 of this example will be described. When the parking brake mechanism 1 is operated, the foot-operated parking brake device 1 operates in a state where the main brake device is operated as shown in FIG. 3 (for convenience of explanation, the middle portion of the parking pedal arm 11 is broken). Depress the pedal 111 to rotate the pedal arm 11. As a result, the brake lever 181 interlocked with the parking pedal arm 11 pulls the connection cable 183 to operate the parking brake mechanism. The interlocking plate 12 rotates with the pedal arm 11, and as shown in FIG. 4 (for convenience of explanation, the intermediate portion of the parking pedal arm 11 is broken), the hook 121 that has passed over the pin 151 of the lock plate 15 is reached. Is engaged with the pin 151. Thus, the braking state of the foot-operated parking brake device 1 is maintained.

  When the brake pedal 111 is kept depressed, a restoring force (see the black arrow of the lock rotating coil spring 16 in FIGS. 3 and 4) is generated in the lock rotating coil spring 16 and applied to the lock plate 15. On the other hand, when the release slider 2 is not pulled, the cable 21 is not pulled, and the restoring force of the release rotating coil spring 17 is not generated or only a relatively small restoring force is generated. As a result, the lock plate 15 tends to rotate counterclockwise.

  When the depression of the brake pedal 111 is stopped, the pedal arm 11 is in the initial position (see FIG. 1) due to the restoring force of the pedal return coil spring 14 (see the black arrow of the pedal return coil spring 14 in FIG. 4). 4) is slightly rotated counterclockwise in FIG. Thereby, the interlocking plate 12 interlocked with the pedal arm 11 is also slightly rotated, and the hook 121 pulls the pin 151 backward (rightward in FIG. 4). The lock plate 15 attempts to rotate counterclockwise in FIG. 4 due to the restoring force of the lock-rotating coil spring 16, but the interlocking plate 12 obstructs the rotation. In this way, the lock plate 15 engages the hook 121 and the pin 151 and maintains the braking state.

  When the brake pedal 111 is depressed without operating the release slider 2 in the foot-operated parking brake device 1 that maintains the braking state, it can be seen in FIG. 5 (for convenience of explanation, the intermediate portion of the parking pedal arm 11 is broken). Thus, the pedal arm 11 can be rotated forward until the stopper 122 of the interlocking plate 12 contacts the lower end (left end in FIG. 5) of the stopper guide 135 of the mounting bracket 13. Thereby, the engagement between the hook 121 of the interlocking plate 12 and the pin 151 is weakened, and the restoring force of the lock rotating coil spring 16 tries to rotate the lock plate 15 counterclockwise.

  However, the restoring force of the lock-rotating coil spring 16 does not extend the release-rotating coil spring 17 and hardly rotates the lock plate 15. In this way, the hook 121 of the rotating interlocking plate 12 temporarily moves forward with respect to the pin 151 whose position is fixed, and the engagement is released. However, when the depression of the brake pedal 111 is stopped, the pedal arm 11 rotates toward the initial posture according to the restoring force of the pedal return coil spring 14, and the hook 121 is engaged with the pin 151 again. Thus, the foot-operated parking brake device 1 cannot be released without operating the release slider 2 (pulling in this example).

  When the brake pedal 111 is depressed after the release slider 2 is pulled in the stepped parking brake device 1 that maintains the braking state, it can be seen in FIG. 6 (for the sake of convenience, the intermediate portion of the parking pedal arm 11 is broken). In addition, the braking state is released. The release slider 2 pulled forward (moved to the right in FIG. 6) pulls the cable 21 and extends the release rotation coil spring 17 to generate a large restoring force (in FIG. 6, the release rotation coil spring 17 (See black arrow). The extension of the release rotating coil spring 17 absorbs an impact caused by the operation of the release slider 2 and does not apply the impact to the lock plate 15.

  Here, when the brake pedal 111 is depressed, the hook 121 and the pin 151 are weakly engaged, and the lock plate 15 pulls the cable 21 that is relatively superior to the restoring force of the lock rotation coil spring 16 and the coil spring for release rotation. It rotates clockwise in FIG. 6 according to the urging force given by the restoring force of 17 (see the white arrow in the vicinity of the pin 151 in FIG. 6).

  When the depression of the brake pedal 111 is stopped from the state in which the hook 121 and the pin 151 are released in this way, as shown in FIG. It rotates toward the initial posture according to the restoring force. Thus, the braking state of the foot-operated parking brake device 1 is released. When the operation of the release slider 2 is finally stopped, as shown in FIG. 8, the cable 21 pulls the release slider 2 by the restoring force of the release rotation coil spring 17 to return the release slider 2 to the original position. . The release slider 2 may be returned to the original position by a return means provided separately.

  At this time, the contraction of the release rotating coil spring 17 absorbs an impact caused by the return of the release slider 2 and does not apply the impact to the lock plate 15. For this reason, for example, the return means may surely return to the original position by applying a large biasing force to the release slider 2. As a result, the restoring force of the release rotating coil spring 17 is weakened. As a result, the lock plate 15 rotates counterclockwise by the action of the restoring force of the lock rotating coil spring 16 and returns to the initial position. In this way, a series of release operations of the foot-operated parking brake device 1 is completed.

1 Foot-operated parking brake device
11 Pedal arm
111 Brake pedal
12 Interlocking plate
121 hook
13 Mounting bracket
131 Pedal rotation axis
132 Plate rotation axis
14 Pedal return coil spring
15 Lock plate
151 pin
16 Coil spring for lock rotation
17 Coil spring for release rotation
18 Brake lever 2 Release slider
21 Cable

Claims (6)

When the brake pedal is stepped on with the foot, the lock mechanism holds the posture and the lock mechanism maintains the posture. When the brake pedal is stepped on again from the brake state, the lock mechanism is released and the pedal arm returns to the initial posture. In the foot-operated parking brake device
The lock mechanism is a pair of engaging means assigned to the lock plate that rotates in parallel with the pedal arm and the pedal arm,
A foot-operated parking brake device that releases the engaging means by rotating the lock plate by a release member operated by hand. 2. The foot-operated parking system according to claim 1, wherein the lock plate is provided with a lock turning means for always turning toward the pedal arm and a release turning means for turning away from the pedal arm only when the release member is operated. Brake device. The lock plate is pivotable by attaching a plate rotation shaft fixed to the vehicle body,
The lock rotation means is configured to apply an urging force to the lock plate to rotate toward the pedal arm,
The foot-operated parking brake device according to claim 2, wherein the release turning means is configured to apply a pulling force to the lock plate so as to turn away from the pedal arm according to an operation amount of the release member. 4. The foot-operated parking brake device according to claim 3, wherein the lock rotation means is a coil spring that spans between the lock plate and the vehicle body. The stepping type parking brake device according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the release rotation means is configured by connecting a lock plate and a cable extending from the release member. The foot-operated parking brake device according to any one of claims 3 to 5, wherein the release rotation means has a configuration in which a lock plate and a cable extending from the release member are connected via a coil spring.

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