JP6887635B2 - Accelerator pedal erroneous operation prevention mechanism - Google Patents

Description

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY According to the present invention, it is possible to suppress an erroneous operation of the accelerator pedal such that the driver of the vehicle mistakenly operates the accelerator pedal and the brake pedal by mistake, or the accelerator pedal is depressed due to loss of consciousness during driving. Regarding the prevention mechanism.

In recent years, many vehicle accidents have occurred due to incorrect depression of the driver's brake pedal and accelerator pedal. This is largely due to the generalization of automatic transmissions that do not operate the clutch pedal and the increase in the number of elderly drivers. Various proposals have been conventionally made in order to reduce such erroneous operation of the vehicle by the driver (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 to 3).

For example, Patent Document 1 describes a technique in which the accelerator pedal is made smaller than the brake pedal to prevent mistakes in stepping. Further, Patent Documents 2 and 3 describe a technique in which a lever-shaped accelerator is integrally provided with a brake pedal so that the accelerator is moved laterally with respect to the brake pedal.
Further, as in Patent Document 4 and Patent Document 5, attempts have been made to suppress erroneous operations by controlling using software.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2012-91765 (see, for example, paragraphs 0003, 0005 and FIG. 4). Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2014-151898 (see, for example, the description in FIGS. 1 and 2). Japanese Patent No. 2753405 (see, for example, the description in FIGS. 8 to 10) Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2015-205536 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2014-6853

However, even in the current vehicle, the accelerator pedal is smaller than the brake pedal, and erroneous operation can be effectively suppressed by simply making the size of the accelerator pedal smaller than the size of the brake pedal as in the technique described in Patent Document 1. Can't.
Further, as in Patent Documents 2 and 3, if the operation direction of the accelerator pedal is orthogonal to the operation (depression) direction of the brake pedal, it is considered that erroneous operation can be effectively suppressed, but automobiles have become widespread. Since then, changing the operating direction of the conventional step-on accelerator, which has a long history, to the side is not only difficult for ordinary drivers to get used to, but may also cause an accident.

Furthermore, software-controlled devices such as Patent Documents 4 and 5 are complicated, such as the need to place sensors and rewrite programs, and if they are not widely used and generalized, there is a risk of malfunction due to bugs, etc. There is a problem.
More recently, due to illnesses such as heart disease and brain disease, the driver lost consciousness during driving, and the accelerator pedal was pressed hard, causing the vehicle to plunge into a line of children and crowds, resulting in many casualties. There are many incidents that occur, and it has become a social problem.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and it is possible to effectively suppress an erroneous operation in which the driver mistakenly presses the accelerator pedal and the brake pedal in the case of a vehicle, and the driver can drive due to illness or the like. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a vehicle erroneous operation prevention mechanism having a simple structure that can prevent an accident by naturally releasing the foot from the accelerator pedal even if the driver loses consciousness on the way.

As a result of diligent research by the inventor of the present invention in order to solve the above problems, it has been found that a driver who has fallen into a panic state has a strong tendency to step on the pedal over the entire sole. For such an operation, it is not enough to make the accelerator pedal smaller than the brake pedal. Also, when a person loses consciousness, the muscles of the legs are usually weakened and the knees open outward, which causes the legs to lean outward. The inventor of the present invention paid attention to such an action and found that the foot should be naturally dropped from the accelerator pedal when the person loses consciousness.

Therefore, the inventor of the present invention arranges the accelerator pedal adjacent to the brake pedal and adjusts the width of the accelerator pedal to the extent that the first toe and the second toe of the toes are applied, preferably the first toe. I came up with the idea that the width should be such that it can be hung, and that the length of the accelerator pedal should be about the same as the length from the first toe to the ball of the driver's foot.
By doing so, it is possible to effectively suppress an erroneous operation in which the driver who has fallen into a panic state depresses only the accelerator pedal.
In addition, by arranging the accelerator pedal as described above next to the brake pedal arranged almost on the extension line of the center of the driver's trunk, the driver's foot can be moved from the accelerator pedal when the driver loses consciousness. It can be easily dropped off naturally.

The height of the operating surface of the accelerator pedal when not operated may be lower than the height of the operating surface of the brake pedal when not operated.
Also, depending on how much height difference is provided between the brake pedal and the accelerator pedal, if the height difference is large or the driver's foot is very small, between the brake pedal and the accelerator pedal. There is a risk that the tip of the driver's foot will get stuck in the gap. Therefore, in order to suppress such a situation, it is advisable to provide a contact member with which the driver's foot comes into contact with the end edge of the accelerator pedal on the brake pedal side. Further, if such a contact member is provided, even if the accelerator pedal is small, the driver's foot can be easily put on the accelerator pedal by simply moving the driver's foot to the brake side until it touches the contact member. There is also the advantage of being able to do it. Further, since the brake pedal and the accelerator pedal have some play in the lateral direction, an interference suppressing means may be provided to prevent the brake pedal from interfering with the accelerator pedal arranged adjacently when the brake pedal is operated. ..

Specifically, as described in claim 1, the present invention is an accelerator pedal erroneous operation prevention mechanism for preventing an erroneous operation of depressing the accelerator pedal and the brake pedal by mistake or depressing the accelerator pedal while losing consciousness. The accelerator pedal is provided adjacent to the brake pedal, and the accelerator pedal has a width that allows only the first and second toes of a driver having a foot size of 20 cm to 22 cm to hang. The size of the foot is 28 cm to 30 cm, and the width is such that at least the first toe of the driver can hang . Further, as described in claim 2, the height of the operating surface of the accelerator pedal when not operated may be lower than the height of the operating surface of the brake pedal when not operated.

To prevent the tip of the driver's foot from getting into the gap between the accelerator pedal and the brake pedal, for example , as described in claim 3 , one of the accelerator pedal and the brake pedal has the first toe. It is advisable to provide a contact member for contacting the brakes. In this case , as described in claim 4, it is preferable to provide interference prevention means for preventing interference between the contact member and the brake pedal or the accelerator pedal on either the brake pedal or the accelerator pedal.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
[First Embodiment]
FIG. 1 relates to the first embodiment of the erroneous operation prevention mechanism of the present invention, (a) is a plan view for explaining the positional relationship between the brake pedal and the accelerator pedal and the size of the accelerator pedal, and (b) is the brake pedal and the accelerator pedal. It is a side view explaining the height relation of the operation surface of an accelerator pedal.

The brake pedal 1 has a size that is sufficiently easy to operate by the driver's foot F, and can be the same as a conventional brake pedal for a vehicle. The arrangement position of the brake pedal 1 determines the arrangement position of the accelerator pedal 2, which will be described later. Therefore, the position of the brake pedal 1 is set so that the knee opens outward due to the driver's loss of consciousness and the foot F naturally falls off from the accelerator pedal 2. Therefore, it is preferable to arrange the brake pedal 1 as close to the center line of the driver's trunk as possible, but in a general vehicle, the brake pedal 1 is arranged at almost this position even in the past. The position may be the same as before.
The size of the foot F differs depending on the size and gender of the driver's body, but in this embodiment, the width H of the accelerator pedal 2 is the five fingers f1 of the driver having the foot F of an average size. Of f5, the first toe f1 and the second toe f2 are applied. The length L of the accelerator pedal 2 is based on the length between the first toe f1 and the ball f1a of the driver's foot F having an average size foot F as a guide.

In this way, even a driver with a large size (about 28 cm to 30 cm) foot F can hang at least the first toe f1 on the accelerator pedal 2, and a small size (about 20 cm to 22 cm). Even a driver having a foot F can hang the tips of the first toe f1 and the second toe f2 on the accelerator pedal 2.
By reducing the width H and length L of the accelerator pedal 2 and arranging them adjacent to the brake pedal 1 in this way, the driver is in a panic, especially when the driver panics. It is possible to reduce the possibility that the foot F is mistaken for the brake pedal 1 and only the accelerator pedal 2 is depressed.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating another operation of the present invention. By arranging the accelerator pedal 2 having the width H and the length L sufficiently smaller than the driver's foot F as in the present invention next to the brake pedal 1, as shown in FIG. When driving, the driver puts his foot F on the accelerator pedal 2 as shown by the solid line in FIG. 2, but when the driver loses consciousness during driving due to illness or the like, the driver's foot As shown by the virtual line in FIG. 2, F naturally tilts outward due to the relaxation of the muscle strength of the leg (the outward tilting direction is indicated by the arrow X), and the foot F naturally falls off from the accelerator pedal 2. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the vehicle from running out of control by depressing the accelerator pedal 2 when the person loses consciousness.

Further, the height of the operation surface 2a of the accelerator pedal 2 may be positioned lower than the operation surface 1a of the brake pedal 1. This is the same as that of the current vehicle, and by providing such a height difference, it is possible to operate the vehicle without discomfort in the same manner as the brake pedal 1 and the accelerator pedal 2 of the conventional vehicle. Further, the front-rear position of the accelerator pedal 2 with respect to the brake pedal 1 may be such that the front end of the accelerator pedal 2 is substantially the same as the front end of the brake pedal 1 as shown in the figure.

[Second Embodiment]
In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the width H of the accelerator pedal 2 is further reduced than that of the accelerator pedal 2 of the first embodiment described above, and five drivers having average-sized feet F are provided. Of the fingers f1 to f5, only the first toe f1 is hung. For a driver with a large size (about 28 cm to 30 cm) foot F, the first toe f1 may slightly protrude from the accelerator pedal 2, but the center of the first toe f1 can be placed on the accelerator pedal 2. There is no problem in operation.
By making the width H smaller than that of the first embodiment in this way, it is possible to further reduce the erroneous operation of the brake pedal 1 and the accelerator pedal 2. In addition, the possibility of vehicle runaway due to the driver's loss of consciousness can be further reduced.

[Third Embodiment]
As in the present invention, when the accelerator pedal 2 is arranged adjacent to the brake pedal 1 and the height of the operation surface 2a of the accelerator pedal 2 is positioned lower than the operation surface 1a of the brake pedal 1, the brake pedal 1 The toes of the toes (particularly the first toe f1) got into the gap between the accelerator pedal 2 and the accelerator pedal 2, and the first toe f1 could not be successfully escaped from the gap at the moment, and the brake pedal 1 It is possible that the operation of stepping on is delayed.

Therefore, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the first toe f1 of the driver's foot F comes into contact with the edge of the operation surface 2a of the accelerator pedal 2 on the brake pedal 1 side, and the first toe f1 is described above. A contact member 3 is provided to prevent the vehicle from entering the gap. The width and height of the abutting member 3 may be such that the first toe f1 can be prevented from entering the gap by abutting with the first toe f1. Further, it is assumed that the upper end of the contact member 3 does not protrude upward from the operation surface 1a of the brake pedal 1.

If the accelerator pedal 2 is made smaller and adjacent to the brake pedal 1, it may be difficult for the driver to understand the position of the accelerator pedal 2. However, by providing such a contact member 3, the driver can make it difficult to understand. It is only necessary to move the foot F to the brake pedal 1 side until it comes into contact with the contact member 3, and there is an advantage that the position of the accelerator pedal 2 becomes easy to understand.

[Fourth Embodiment]
When the brake pedal 1 and the accelerator pedal 2 have "play" in the lateral direction (the left-right direction of the paper surface in FIGS. 1A and 3), the operation surface 2a of the accelerator pedal 2 as in the third embodiment. If the contact member 3 is provided on the edge of the brake pedal 1, the lower surface of the brake pedal 1 may interfere with the contact member 3 when the brake pedal 1 is operated, and the accelerator pedal 2 may be operated indiscriminately. When the brake pedal 1 and the accelerator pedal 2 are operated at the same time, the operation of the brake pedal 1 can be prioritized or the operation of the accelerator pedal 2 can be invalidated by the control using software.

In this embodiment, apart from these controls or in combination with these controls, as shown in FIG. 5, a semi-cylindrical interference prevention member 4 is provided on the accelerator pedal 2 side of the lower surface of the brake pedal 1.
Then, as shown in FIG. 5 (b), when the lower surface of the brake pedal 1 interferes with the contact member 3 of the accelerator pedal 2 by depressing the brake pedal 1, the interference prevention member 4 comes into contact with the contact member 3 as shown in FIG. 5 (c). The accelerator pedal 2 is pushed to the outside of the brake pedal 1 via the member 3 so that the accelerator pedal 2 is not operated by the brake pedal 1.

Although a preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described, the accelerator pedal erroneous operation prevention mechanism of the present invention is not limited to the above description.
For example, in the third and fourth embodiments described above, the contact member 3 is provided on the accelerator pedal 2 side and the interference prevention member 4 is provided on the brake pedal 1 side, but the contact member 3 is provided on the brake pedal 1 side. May be provided and the interference prevention member 4 may be provided on the accelerator pedal 2 side.
Further, the present invention can be applied not only to vehicles but also to ships and other transportation machines as long as they have similar brake pedals and accelerator pedals.

According to the first embodiment of the erroneous operation prevention mechanism of the present invention, (a) is a plan view for explaining the positional relationship between the brake pedal and the accelerator pedal and the size of the accelerator pedal, and (b) is the brake pedal and the accelerator pedal. It is a side view explaining the height relation of the operation surface. It is a figure explaining the operation of the erroneous operation prevention mechanism of this invention, and is the figure explaining how the driver's foot falls off from the accelerator pedal at the time of loss of consciousness. FIG. 5 is a plan view for explaining the positional relationship between the brake pedal and the accelerator pedal and the size of the accelerator pedal according to the second embodiment of the erroneous operation prevention mechanism of the present invention. According to the third embodiment of the erroneous operation prevention mechanism of the present invention, (a) is a side view in which a contact member is provided on the accelerator pedal, and (b) is an arrow view in the I direction of (a). It is a figure which concerns on the 4th Embodiment of this invention which provided the interference prevention member in the brake pedal, and explains the action of the interference prevention member with the operation of a brake pedal.

1 Brake pedal 1a Operation surface 2 Accelerator pedal 2a Operation surface 3 Contact member 4 Interference prevention member F Foot f1 First toe f1a Ball of toe f2 Second toe

Claims (4)

It is an accelerator pedal erroneous operation prevention mechanism to prevent erroneous operation such as depressing the accelerator pedal and brake pedal by mistake or depressing the accelerator pedal when unconsciousness is lost.
Having the accelerator pedal arranged adjacent to the brake pedal,
The accelerator pedal has a width that allows only the first and second toes of a driver having a foot size of 20 cm to 22 cm to hang, and at least the first toe of a driver having a foot size of 28 cm to 30 cm. Being width ,
Accelerator pedal erroneous operation prevention mechanism featuring. The accelerator pedal erroneous operation prevention mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the height of the operating surface of the accelerator pedal when not operated is made lower than the height of the operating surface of the brake pedal when not operated. The accelerator pedal erroneous operation prevention mechanism according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a contact member for abutting the first toe is provided on either one of the accelerator pedal and the brake pedal. The accelerator pedal erroneous operation according to claim 3, wherein an interference preventing means for preventing interference between the contact member and the brake pedal or the accelerator pedal is provided on either the brake pedal or the accelerator pedal. Prevention mechanism.

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