JPH06299874A - Vehicle accelerator pedal device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To secure a good driving property in all ranges of accelerator operating amount and to make the accelerator pedal return for certain, even if returning force added to the accelerator pedal has reduced, by multiplying hysteresis characteristic between the accelerator operating amount and the stepping-down strength in accordance with the accelerator operating amount. CONSTITUTION:A No.1 rotor 11 rotates in one unit with a rotary shaft 5 and causes an accelerator pedal to generate its returning strength by giving deflection to springs 15, 17 sandwitched between a No.2 rotor. Steel ball grooves 43, 45 to axially support a steel ball 41 is formed obliquely on the end surfaces where No.2 rotor and a stopper 47 face each other. As the return strength increases, the steel ball grooves 43, 45 start to face each other at their shallow areas. Thus pressure applied to a rotary shaft side friction plate 27, which rotates in one unit with the rotary shaft 5, and to a housing side friction plate 29, which is fixed to a housing 7, increases and mobile drag corresponding to the returning force is impressed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle accelerator pedal device for applying a restoring force to an accelerator pedal in accordance with an accelerator operation amount, and more particularly, to a hysteresis characteristic in the correspondence between the accelerator operation amount and the pedaling force. The present invention relates to a vehicle accelerator pedal device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an internal combustion engine is equipped with a spring whose strain increases in accordance with the amount of accelerator operation, and this spring provides a restoring force that increases in accordance with the amount of accelerator operation.
It is applied to the accelerator pedal via a mechanical transmission mechanism such as a control cable. However, in recent years, so-called linkless throttles have come to be used, which electrically detect the accelerator depression amount and control the throttle opening degree and the like based on this. When the linkless throttle is used, the accelerator pedal is not subjected to a load from the internal combustion engine side, and only the restoring force by the spring and the stepping force by the driver are applied. Then, the accelerator operation amount reflects the fluctuation of the depression force as it is without mechanical transmission loss, so that it becomes extremely difficult to keep the accelerator operation amount constant, which in turn deteriorates the drivability of the internal combustion engine. .

Therefore, in the accelerator pedal device used for this kind of linkless throttle, the restoring force of the spring is applied to the accelerator pedal, and the movement resistance is applied by a friction plate or the like. When the movement resistance is applied to the accelerator pedal in this manner, the hysteresis characteristic is added to the correspondence relationship between the accelerator operation amount and the stepping force thereof, and the drivability can be improved. For example, when the depression force is slightly weakened after depressing the accelerator pedal, the depression force is less than the restoring force applied to the accelerator pedal, but movement resistance is applied to the accelerator pedal. Therefore, the accelerator operation amount does not decrease until the stepping force falls below the value obtained by subtracting the movement resistance from the restoring force. In this way, by applying the movement resistance to the accelerator pedal, it becomes possible to maintain the accelerator operation amount at a desired value even if the stepping force slightly changes.

In addition, in a range where the accelerator operation amount is large, the accelerator operation amount is often kept constant for operation, and conversely, in a range where the accelerator operation amount is small, it is necessary to finely adjust the accelerator operation amount. Therefore, it is desirable that the hysteresis characteristic applied to the accelerator pedal is large in a range where the accelerator operation amount is large, and that the hysteresis characteristic is small in a range where the accelerator operation amount is small. Further, if a large hysteresis characteristic is given in the range where the accelerator pedal depression amount is small, there is a risk that a so-called return failure occurs in which the accelerator operation amount does not become 0 even when the foot is released from the accelerator pedal.

Therefore, as described in JP-A-4-128519, there has been proposed a device for increasing the movement resistance of the accelerator pedal as the accelerator operation amount increases. In this device, the hysteresis characteristic given to the correspondence between the accelerator operation amount and the depression force can be increased according to the accelerator operation amount, and good drivability can be secured in the entire range of the accelerator operation amount.

[0006]

However, in the accelerator pedal device of this type, when the spring is partially damaged and the restoring force is weakened, there is a possibility that a returning failure may occur as follows. For example, in automobiles of recent years, a restoring force is applied to the accelerator pedal by two series of springs so that the accelerator pedal returns even if one of the springs is disconnected. In this case, if one of the springs breaks,
The restoring force applied to the accelerator pedal with the same amount of operation is almost halved. Then, the moving resistance of the accelerator pedal set for the accelerator operation amount may exceed the restoring force. This prevents the accelerator from returning even when the foot is released from the accelerator pedal.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the hysteresis characteristic imparted to the correspondence between the accelerator operation amount and the depression force is increased according to the accelerator operation amount to secure good drivability in the entire range of the accelerator operation amount. Another object of the present invention is to provide an accelerator pedal device capable of reliably returning the accelerator pedal even when the restoring force applied to the accelerator pedal is reduced due to a failure or the like.

[0008]

The invention according to claim 1 (hereinafter referred to as the first invention) made in order to achieve the above-mentioned object is to operate the accelerator pedal when the accelerator pedal is operated. A restoring force applying unit that applies a restoring force that increases according to the amount, and a moving resistance applying unit that applies a moving resistance of the accelerator pedal that increases with the increasing restoring force are provided. The invention is directed to an accelerator pedal device for a vehicle, and an invention according to claim 10 (hereinafter, referred to as a second invention) is, when an accelerator pedal is operated, a restoring force that increases according to the operation amount of the accelerator pedal. And a moving resistance applying means for applying a moving resistance of the accelerator pedal that increases as the stepping force of the accelerator pedal increases. The use an accelerator pedal device has a gist.

[0009]

In the first aspect of the invention thus constituted, the restoring force of the accelerator pedal applied by the restoring force applying means increases in accordance with the accelerator operation amount, and the moving resistance applying means increases with the increasing restoring force. Apply increasing movement resistance to the accelerator pedal. Therefore, the movement resistance of the accelerator pedal increases as the accelerator operation amount increases. For this reason, the hysteresis characteristic given to the correspondence between the accelerator operation amount and the depression force becomes large according to the accelerator operation amount.

Further, even when the restoring force of the accelerator pedal applied by the restoring force applying means decreases due to a failure or the like, the moving resistance applying means applies the moving resistance corresponding to the reduced returning force to the accelerator pedal. Therefore, the restoring force can surely return the accelerator pedal.

Further, in the second invention, the restoring force of the accelerator pedal applied by the restoring force applying means increases in accordance with the accelerator operation amount, and the stepping force for operating the accelerator pedal also increases with the increasing restoring force. To increase. Since the movement resistance applying means applies the movement resistance, which increases with an increase in the stepping force, to the accelerator pedal, the movement resistance of the accelerator pedal increases with an increase in the accelerator operation amount. For this reason, the hysteresis characteristic given to the correspondence between the accelerator operation amount and the depression force becomes large according to the accelerator operation amount.

When the restoring force of the accelerator pedal applied by the restoring force applying means is reduced due to a failure or the like, the depression force of the accelerator pedal is also reduced accordingly.
In this case, the movement resistance applying means applies movement resistance corresponding to the reduced pedaling force to the accelerator pedal, so that the accelerator pedal can be reliably returned by the reduced restoring force.

Further, in the second invention, if the depression force of the accelerator pedal is reduced, the movement resistance is reduced regardless of the magnitude of the restoring force. Therefore, the second invention operates as follows. That is, when the moving resistance applying unit is deteriorated or damaged, the moving resistance applying unit may apply a moving resistance larger than a preset moving resistance to each stepping force. For example, in an accelerator pedal device for a vehicle that applies movement resistance by friction, the friction coefficient may be abnormally increased due to damage on the friction surface. In such a case, the movement resistance corresponding to the stepping force may be larger than the return force corresponding to the predetermined stepping force.

However, the stepping force can be arbitrarily reduced by the driver's operation. Therefore, even when the movement resistance corresponding to each stepping force increases, the movement resistance can be made smaller than the restoring force. Therefore, in the second invention, even when the movement resistance increases due to deterioration,
The accelerator pedal can be reliably returned.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. First, an embodiment corresponding to the first invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 3 is a side view showing a mounting state of the vehicle accelerator pedal device 1 according to the first embodiment. The accelerator pedal device 1 of the present embodiment is fixed to a front wall 70a at the lower front of the driver's seat of a vehicle via a fixing member 1a. A bearing member 73 is provided on the floor surface 70b at the lower front of the driver's seat. And by this support member 73,
An accelerator pedal 75 is rotatably supported around a rotation shaft 75a. An engaging piece 7 is attached to the tip of the accelerator pedal 75.
7 is provided in a protruding manner, and a notch 77a that engages with the lever 3 attached to the accelerator pedal device 1 is formed in the engaging piece 77. Therefore, the driver can
When is depressed, the lever 3 rotates about the rotation shaft 5 of the accelerator pedal device 1. Further, from the support member 73, a bolt 79 that receives the accelerator pedal 75 and defines the rotation range of the accelerator pedal 75 is projected.

Next, FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing the structure of the accelerator pedal device 1, and FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view thereof. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the rotation shaft 5 is rotatably inserted into the housing 7 of the accelerator pedal device 1. A first rotor 11 is fixed to the center of the rotating shaft 5,
The lever 3 (FIG. 3) can be fixed to the end portion 5a. The other end of the rotary shaft 5 is inserted into an accelerator position sensor 13 provided on the side surface of the housing 7.

A small diameter spring 15 is attached to the first rotor 11.
Further, a small-diameter annular groove 21 and a large-diameter annular groove 23 into which the large-diameter spring 17 can be inserted from the side opposite to the end 5a are formed. The annular grooves 21 and 23 are formed concentrically around the rotary shaft 5. Small diameter spring 1
The large-diameter spring 5 and the large-diameter spring 17 correspond to a restoring force applying unit that applies a restoring force to the accelerator pedal 75, and each of them is composed of a torsion coil spring. Engagement portions 21a and 23a are formed at the bottoms of the annular grooves 21 and 23, and engage the tips 15a and 17a of the springs 15 and 17, respectively. A spur gear 25 having the rotating shaft 5 as an axis is formed on the end surface of the first rotor 11 on the side of the end portion 5a. Further, the first rotor 11
A ridge 11a extending in the axial direction is formed on the outer periphery of the. When the first rotor 11 returns due to the urging force of the springs 15 and 17, the protrusion 11a engages with the protrusion 7a provided in the axial direction of the housing 7 to define the return position of the first rotor 11.

Next, a rotary shaft side friction plate 27 is disposed on the bottom surface 7b of the housing 7. The rotary shaft side friction plate 27 has an internal gear 27 a that fits into the spur gear 25. A housing-side friction plate 29 is arranged on the surface of the rotating shaft-side friction plate 27. The housing-side friction plate 29 is the protrusion 7 of the housing 7.
It has an engaging piece 29a (FIG. 2) that engages with a, and this engagement prevents rotation with respect to the housing 7. Also,
The housing side friction plate 29 is formed with a circular insertion hole 29b through which the spur gear 25 can be inserted. Subsequently, on the surface of the housing-side friction plate 29, the above-mentioned first rotor 11 configured integrally with the rotating shaft 5 is arranged. At this time, the rotary shaft 5 is inserted into the insertion hole 7c of the housing 7, and the spur gear 2
5 is fitted into the internal gear 27a of the rotary shaft side friction plate 27 through the insertion hole 29b of the housing side friction plate 29. With this configuration, the rotation shaft side friction plate 27 and the first rotor 11 rotate together with the rotation shaft 5.

Next, a washer 31 having a diameter smaller than that of the small-diameter annular groove 21 is disposed on the surface of the first rotor 11 through the rotary shaft 5, and the small-diameter annular groove 21 and the large-diameter annular groove 2 of the first rotor 11 are arranged.
3 includes the small-diameter spring 15 and the large-diameter spring 1 described above.
7 are inserted respectively. Further, on the surface thereof, the washer 31, the small diameter spring 15, and the large diameter spring 1
The second rotor 33 is disposed with the device 7 in between.

The second rotor 33 has an insertion hole 33a into which the rotary shaft 5 can be inserted and is rotatably inserted into the rotary shaft 5. Further, the small-diameter annular groove 35 and the large-diameter annular groove 37 into which the small-diameter spring 15 and the large-diameter spring 17 can be inserted are formed on the end surface of the second rotor 33 on the first rotor 11 side. It is formed so as to face the large-diameter annular groove 23. The annular grooves 35 and 37 are also the annular grooves 21 and 2.
Similar to 3, the tips 15b and 17b of the springs 15 and 17
Has locking portions 35a and 37a for locking the. on the other hand,
On the end surface of the second rotor 33 opposite to the first rotor 11, three steel ball grooves 43 for supporting the steel balls 41 and three projections 45 are formed alternately every 60 °.

A disk-shaped stopper 47 is arranged on the surface of the second rotor 33 with the three steel balls 41 interposed therebetween. The stopper 47 includes an insertion hole 47a into which the rotary shaft 5 can be rotatably inserted, three arc-shaped arc holes 49 into which the protrusions 45 of the second rotor 33 can be individually inserted, and steel ball grooves 43. Three steel ball grooves 51 that support each steel ball 41 are formed facing each other. Here, as shown in FIG. 4, the steel ball groove 51 gradually becomes shallower along the direction in which the steel ball groove 43 and the second rotor 33 rotate (arrow B). Is formed. Therefore, the second rotor 33
Is rotated about the rotation shaft 5 with respect to the stopper 47,
As described below, the distance between the second rotor 33 and the stopper 47 changes.

Referring back to FIGS. 1 and 2, a flange 47b is formed on the end of the stopper 47 opposite to the second rotor 33,
An engagement groove 47c (FIG. 2) that engages with the protrusion 7a of the housing 7 is formed on the outer periphery of the stopper 47. This Tsuba 47
b is a circlip 55 arranged on the surface of the stopper 47.
Along with the groove 7d formed along the opening of the housing 7.
To fit. With this configuration, each member arranged in the housing 7 can be held in the housing 7.
Further, the engaging groove 47c engages with the ridge 7a,
The stopper 47 is prevented from rotating with respect to the housing 7. Then, the accelerator position sensor 13 (FIG. 1) described above is provided on the surface of the stopper 47 and the upper surface of the housing 7.
Is attached.

Next, the operation of the accelerator pedal device 1 thus constructed will be described. First, when the driver depresses the accelerator pedal 75, the lever 3 rotates in the direction of arrow A in FIG. Then, the first rotor 11 also turns via the turning shaft 5. Further, the rotary shaft side friction plate 27 is also the spur gear 2
Since it rotates together with the first rotor 11 via 5, the rotation shaft side friction plate 27 also rotates in the same manner as the lever 3. On the other hand, the housing side friction plate 29 is fixed to the housing 7 so as not to rotate. Therefore, a frictional force is generated between the first rotor 11 and the housing side friction plate 29, between the housing side friction plate 29 and the rotating shaft side friction plate 27, and between the rotating shaft side friction plate 27 and the bottom surface 7b of the housing 7. To do. That is, the housing side friction plate 29 and the rotating shaft side friction plate 27 correspond to the movement resistance applying means.

The small-diameter spring 15 is a small-diameter annular groove 2.
At the bottom of 1, 35, the large-diameter spring 17 has a large-diameter annular groove 2
Since they are engaged with the bottom portions of the springs 3 and 37, the springs 15 and 17 are distorted as the lever 3 rotates. This distortion applies a restoring force to the accelerator pedal 75 via the lever 3 and moves the second rotor 33 as follows.

When the accelerator pedal 75 is not operated, the force from the springs 15 and 17 does not act on the second rotor 33 so much. Therefore, the positional relationship between the second rotor 33 and the stopper 47 is as illustrated in FIG. That is, the deepest portions of the steel ball groove 43 of the second rotor 33 and the steel ball groove 51 of the stopper 47 face each other, and the steel ball 41 is arranged between them.

However, when the accelerator pedal 75 is depressed and the springs 15 and 17 are distorted, a force in the direction of arrow B is applied to the second rotor 33. By this, the second
The rotor 33 rotates with respect to the stopper 47 in a direction in which the steel ball grooves 43 and 51 both gradually become shallow, and the positional relationship illustrated in FIG. 4B is obtained. That is, the relatively shallow portions of the steel ball grooves 43 and 51 come to face each other, and the steel ball 41 is arranged between them. Then, the stopper 47 becomes the collar 47.
Since it is fixed by b and the circlip 55, the second rotor 33 is pressed in the direction of arrow C.

This pressing force is applied to the first through the washer 31.
The frictional force applied between the rotor 11, the housing-side friction plate 29, the rotating shaft-side friction plate 27, and the bottom surface 7b of the housing 7, which acts between these members, increases. In addition, as the strain of the springs 15 and 17 increases, that is, as the restoring force applied to the accelerator pedal 75 increases, the force in the arrow B direction applied to the second rotor 33 increases. Along with this, the steel ball grooves 43 and 51 come to face each other at a shallower portion, and the pressing force in the arrow C direction also increases. That is, as the restoring force of the accelerator pedal 75 increases,
The frictional force acting between the first rotor 11, the housing-side friction plate 29, the rotating shaft-side friction plate 27, and the bottom surface 7b increases.

Therefore, between the stepping force for depressing the accelerator pedal 75 and the stepping amount of the accelerator pedal 75, as shown in FIG.
Has a correspondence illustrated by a solid line. That is, as the depression force of the accelerator pedal 75 increases, the depression amount also increases linearly. Also, when the depression force of the accelerator pedal 75 decreases, the depression amount linearly decreases accordingly.
However, the first rotor 11, the housing side friction plate 29,
Due to the influence of the frictional force acting between the rotary shaft side friction plate 27 and the bottom surface 7b, there is a difference in the depression force corresponding to the same depression amount when the depression force of the accelerator pedal 75 increases and when it decreases (( Hereinafter, this difference is referred to as the amount of hysteresis).

This is because when the stepping force increases, the frictional force acts in the direction opposite to the stepping force, and when the stepping force decreases, the frictional force acts in the same direction as the stepping force. The resultant force of the stepping force and the friction force is the spring 15,
This is because it balances the resilience of 17 (which is approximately proportional to the amount of depression). Further, as described above, the frictional force increases as the strain of the springs 15 and 17 increases. For this reason, the amount of hysteresis increases as the amount of depression increases. Therefore, when the accelerator pedal 75 has a large depression amount, it is easy to operate with a constant depression amount,
In the range where the depression amount is small, it is easy to finely adjust the depression amount. As a result, the accelerator pedal 75
Good drivability can be secured in the entire range of the depression amount.

If the restoring force applied to the accelerator pedal 75 decreases due to the spring 15 or 17 breaking, the amount of hysteresis also decreases. The corresponding relationship between the stepping force and the stepping amount when the small diameter spring 15 is broken is illustrated by the broken line in FIG. It should be noted that the same correspondence is obtained when the large-diameter spring 17 is broken instead of the small-diameter spring 15. When one of the springs 15 and 17 breaks, the restoring force applied to the accelerator pedal 75 is halved, but at the same time, the frictional force is also halved. That is, the amount of hysteresis is halved. Therefore, the stepping force corresponding to each stepping amount is about half of the normal value on both the increasing side and the decreasing side of the stepping force. Therefore, it is possible to reliably prevent the depressing force from becoming 0 and the accelerator pedal 75 returning defectively even if the depressing amount is not 0.

In the above embodiment, the two series of springs 15 and 17 are used as the restoring force applying means.
As the restoring force applying means, a series of springs, rubber,
Alternatively, a restoring force can be similarly applied to the accelerator pedal 75 by using an air spring or the like. Also in this case, good drivability is ensured in the entire range of the depression amount of the accelerator pedal 75, and if the restoring force is reduced due to deterioration of the restoring force applying means or the like, the return failure of the accelerator pedal 75 is surely prevented. You can

Further, in the above embodiment, the accelerator pedal 7
The friction force applied between the first rotor 11, the housing-side friction plate 29, the rotating shaft-side friction plate 27, and the bottom surface 7b of the housing 7 is changed in accordance with the restoring force applied to the accelerator pedal 5, Although the movement resistance of the accelerator 75 is adjusted, the movement resistance of the accelerator pedal 75 can be adjusted by various other configurations.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the structure of the vehicle accelerator pedal device 101 of the second embodiment. A large gear 107 is fixed to a rotary shaft 105 to which the lever 3 (FIG. 3) can be fixed. A pressure sensor 111 is fixed to the bottom surface 109a of the housing 109 through which the rotary shaft 105 is inserted. Further, a spring 115 is arranged inside the housing 109. One end of the spring 115 abuts on the pressure receiving surface of the pressure sensor 111, and the other end is locked to the rotating shaft 105 via a rotor (not shown). Therefore, the spring 115 applies a restoring force to the accelerator pedal 75 via the rotation shaft 105 according to the amount of depression of the accelerator pedal 75 (FIG. 3). In addition, the pressure sensor 11
1 outputs a detection signal corresponding to the restoring force.

On the other hand, the housing 109 is the DC motor 12
It is housed in the case 123 together with 1. Also, DC
The small gear 125 attached to the motor 121 is the large gear 1
It meshes with 07. Further, the detection signal of the pressure sensor 111 is input to the electronic control circuit 131, and the electronic control circuit 13
1 controls the DC motor 121 based on this detection signal as follows.

The electronic control circuit 131 includes a pressure sensor 111.
The detection signal is differentiated to detect the rotation direction of the rotation shaft 105. Subsequently, based on the magnitude of the detection signal, a DC voltage that increases according to the restoring force of the accelerator pedal 75 is applied to the DC motor 121 in a direction in which the rotation of the rotation shaft 105 is suppressed. This causes the DC motor 121 to move the pinion 12
5, the movement resistance can be applied to the accelerator pedal 75 via the large gear 107 and the rotating shaft 105. Further, since this movement resistance increases in accordance with the restoring force applied to the accelerator pedal 75, this embodiment can obtain the same effect as that of the first embodiment.

Next, FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the structure of the vehicle accelerator pedal device 201 of the third embodiment. The rotation shaft 205 that can fix the lever 3 (FIG. 3) is a lever 207.
It is connected to the cylinder 209a of the damper 209 via. The lever 207 and the cylinder 209a are rotatably connected, and the damper 209 expands and contracts by rotating the rotating shaft 205. Also, the piston 209c
A damper-side bevel gear 211 is fixed to the tip of a control rod 209d that adjusts the operation resistance of the piston 209c by changing the radius of an orifice (not shown) provided in the. Further, a DC motor 221 is fixed to a support member 213 that supports the tip of the piston rod 209b, and a motor-side bevel gear 223 that meshes with the damper-side bevel gear 211 is attached to the DC motor 221.

On the other hand, in the housing 225 into which the rotary shaft 205 is inserted, as in the second embodiment, the rotary shaft 205 is inserted.
A spring 227 that applies a restoring force to the accelerator pedal 75 (FIG. 3) via the pressure sensor 229 and a pressure sensor 229 that detects the pressure applied from one end of the spring 227 are provided. Then, the detection signal of the pressure sensor 229 is input to the electronic control circuit 231, and the electronic control circuit 231 controls the DC motor 221 based on this detection signal as follows.

That is, the electronic control circuit 231 rotates the control rod 209d via the DC motor 221 so that the operating resistance of the piston 209c increases in accordance with the restoring force of the accelerator pedal 75. As a result, the movement resistance applied to the accelerator pedal 75 by the damper 209 increases according to the restoring force. Therefore, also in this embodiment, the same effects as those of the first and second embodiments can be obtained.

Next, an embodiment corresponding to the second invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing the configuration of a vehicle accelerator pedal device 301 of the fourth embodiment, and FIG. 9 is an exploded perspective view thereof. The accelerator pedal device 301 of this embodiment is also connected to the accelerator pedal 75 of FIG. 3 via the lever 3 as in the above embodiments.

As shown in FIG. 8, a rotary shaft 305 is rotatably inserted into a housing 303 in which two arms 304 project laterally from the vicinity of the opening 303a.
A cam-equipped rotor 311 is coaxially fixed to the rotating shaft 305, and the cam-equipped rotor 311 is disposed on the bottom surface 303b of the housing 303. Also, the rotating shaft 30
The lever 3 (FIG. 3) can be fixed to one end portion 305a of the No. 5 and the other end is inserted into an accelerator position sensor 313 provided outside the housing 303. Here, on the end surface on the end portion 305a side of the rotor 311 with cam,
At a predetermined angle θ (Fig. 10) described later, the accelerator pedal 75
(FIG. 3) A large number of cam surfaces 311a inclined in the direction of rotation when stepping on are formed radially. Further, projections 311b are formed on the side surface of the cam-equipped rotor 311 every 120 °. The protrusion 311b is provided on the housing 303.
It engages with a protrusion 303c described later formed on the inner wall, and defines the return position of the cam-equipped rotor 311.

A friction plate 315 with a cam is arranged on the surface of the cam surface 311a of the rotor 311 with a cam. On the end surface of the cam-equipped friction plate 315 on the cam-equipped rotor 311 side, a large number of cam surfaces 31 that are simultaneously engaged with the respective cam surfaces 311a are provided.
5a is formed, and the rotary shaft 30 is provided on the end surface on the side of the end portion 305a.
5, a spur gear 317 formed coaxially with the No. 5 is integrally formed. Further, the friction plate with cam 315 and the spur gear 31
7, a rotation hole 3 into which a rotation shaft 305 is rotatably inserted.
19 is drilled.

A housing side friction plate 321 is disposed on the surface of the friction plate with cam 315. As shown in FIG. 9, notches 321b are formed on the thick peripheral portion 321a of the housing side friction plate 321 at intervals of 120 °. The housing-side friction plate 321 is non-rotatable with respect to the housing 303 and slides in the axial direction of the rotating shaft 305 by engaging the notches 321b with the protrusions 303c formed on the inner wall of the housing 303. It is arranged freely. Returning to FIG. 8, the ridges 303c are formed from the bottom surface 303b of the housing 303 to the end portion 305a of the housing side friction plate 321.
It is formed only up to the side end surface. Therefore, the housing-side friction plate 321 can slide in the direction of the end portion 305a by the thickness of the peripheral edge portion 321a. Further, the housing side friction plate 321 is formed with an insertion hole 321c into which the spur gear 317 is rotatably inserted.

A rotor 325 with a friction surface is arranged on the surface of the housing side friction plate 321. An insertion hole 327 into which the rotation shaft 305 is rotatably inserted is formed in the rotor 325 with a friction surface, and the housing side friction plate 321 side of the insertion hole 327 has an internal gear 32 fitted to the spur gear 317.
9 is formed. With this configuration, the friction plate with cam 315 and the rotor with friction surface 325 rotate integrally.
The internal gear 329 has a sufficient length in the axial direction, and the spur gear 317 is slidable in the axial direction in the internal gear 329. Further, the contact surfaces of the friction plate 315 with cam and the rotor 325 with friction surface, and the friction plate 321 on the housing side are configured to have a predetermined friction coefficient μ.

Furthermore, a small diameter annular groove 335 and a large diameter annular groove 335 into which the small diameter spring 331 and the large diameter spring 333 are inserted are formed concentrically around the insertion hole 327 on the end surface on the end 305a side of the rotor 325 with a friction surface. A radial annular groove 337 is formed. Further, a linear communication portion 339 is formed between the small diameter annular groove 335 and the large diameter annular groove 337 as shown in FIG. Small diameter spring 331
Both end portions 331a, 331b of the large-diameter spring 333 are bent outward, and both end portions 333a, 333b of the large-diameter spring 333 are bent inward.
End portions 331 of the rotors 325 with friction surfaces 31,331
a and 333a are locked.

Small diameter spring 331, large diameter spring 3
The surface of the rotor with friction surface 325 in which 33 is inserted is
A stopper 341 is provided. Returning to FIG. 8, the stopper 341 is formed with an insertion hole 343 into which the rotation shaft 305 is rotatably inserted, and is formed concentrically around the insertion hole 343. Small-diameter annular grooves 345 and large-diameter annular grooves 347 into which the radial spring 333 can be inserted from the rotor 325 side with the friction surface are formed. Further, a communication portion (not shown) similar to the communication portion 339 is also formed between the small-diameter annular groove 345 and the large-diameter annular groove 347, and the end portions 331a and 333b of the springs 331 and 333 are connected to each other. It is locked. Further, the stopper 341 is provided with two arms 349 projecting laterally. The stopper 341 is fixed to the housing 303 by bolts and nuts (not shown) in a state where each arm 349 is superposed on the arm 304. The bolt has a sufficient length and projects from the surface of the arm 349 to fix the accelerator pedal device 301 to the fixing member 1a (FIG. 3).
It is also used for attaching to etc.

The cam-equipped rotor 3 is provided between the bottom surface 303b of the housing 303 and the cam-equipped rotor 311 and between the friction surface-equipped rotor 325 and the stopper 341.
11 and washers 351 and 353 for smoothing the rotation of the rotor 325 with a friction surface are inserted.

Next, the operation of the accelerator pedal device 301 thus constructed will be described. First, when the driver depresses the accelerator pedal 75, the rotating shaft 305 and the cam-equipped rotor 311 rotate in the direction of arrow D in FIG. 8, that is, in the direction in which the cam surface 311a of the cam-equipped rotor 311 is inclined. . Then, the turning force E (FIG. 10) is transmitted via the cam surfaces 311a and 315a to the friction plate with cam 315 and the rotor with friction surface 325 that rotates integrally with the friction plate 315. As a result, the springs 331 and 333 are distorted, and the restoring force of the accelerator pedal 75 is generated.

Further, since the turning force E is transmitted via the cam surfaces 311a and 315a having the inclination of θ with respect to the direction, the rotor 311 with cam and the friction plate 315 with cam are depending on the turning force E. A separating force F (FIG. 10) acts. That is, when the accelerator pedal 75 is not operated, no power is applied to the cam-equipped rotor 311 so that the cam surfaces 311a and 315a are entirely opposed to each other as illustrated in FIG. 10 (A). The cam-equipped rotor 311 and the cam-equipped friction plate 315 are closest to each other.
However, when the rotational force E is applied to the cam-equipped rotor 311, a similar rotational force E acts on the cam-equipped friction plate 315 and a vertical force (hereinafter, referred to as a separating force) F acts on the friction plate 315. The action of the separating force F separates the cam-equipped rotor 311 and the cam-equipped friction plate 315, as illustrated in FIG. The separating force F acts as a force that presses the friction plate 315 with cam and the friction plate 321 on the housing side toward the rotor 325 with friction surface, and as a result, the friction plate 315 with cam and friction plate 32 on the housing side.
1, the frictional force acting between the rotor 325 with a friction surface increases.

The quantitative analysis of this behavior is as follows. The rotary shaft 305 is operated by operating the accelerator pedal 75.
Let T be the torque applied to the rotor 31 with cam.
The turning force E and the separating force F at the radius r of 1
Is expressed by the following equation. E = T / r F = E / tan θ = T / (r · ta
nθ) In this embodiment, the cam surfaces 311a and 315a are
The predetermined angle θ is defined so that r · tan θ = C (constant). When configured in this way, the cam surface 311
A uniform separating force F acts on the entire surfaces of a and 315a.

Next, assuming that the effective radius of the housing side friction plate 321 is R, the total frictional force S acting on the accelerator pedal 75 is S = 2μ · F · R = 2μ · R · T / C. (A) It is expressed by the following expression. Also, as in the case of the first embodiment,
This total frictional force S corresponds to the hysteresis amount of the accelerator pedal 75. As described above, in the accelerator pedal device 301 of this embodiment, the total frictional force S acting on the accelerator pedal 75 is proportional to the torque T applied to the rotating shaft 305, that is, the stepping force of the accelerator pedal 75. The following effects can be obtained.

The restoring force of the accelerator pedal 75 applied by the coil springs 331 and 333 is the accelerator pedal 7
5, the stepping force required to operate the accelerator pedal 75, that is, the torque T, also increases with an increase in the restoring force. On the other hand, as described above, the total frictional force S acting on the accelerator pedal 75 increases as the torque T increases. Therefore, the total frictional force S increases as the accelerator depression amount increases. Therefore, the accelerator pedal 75
The hysteresis characteristic given to the correspondence relationship between the depression amount and the depression force of is similar to the characteristic of the first embodiment illustrated in FIG.
It increases with the amount of accelerator depression.

When the restoring force applied to the accelerator pedal 75 is reduced due to the spring 331 or 333 being broken, the accelerator pedal 7 will be operated as follows.
5 can be surely returned. Springs 331, 33
If one of the three is broken, the restoring force applied to the accelerator pedal 75 is halved, but at the same time, the torque T required to operate the accelerator pedal 75 by a predetermined amount is also halved. Accordingly, the total frictional force S corresponding to each stepping amount is also halved, so that the stepping force corresponding to each stepping amount is approximately half of the normal state on both the increasing side and the decreasing side of the stepping force. Therefore, it is possible to reliably prevent the depressing force from becoming 0 and the accelerator pedal 75 returning defectively even if the depressing amount is not 0.

Further, in this embodiment, if the torque T is reduced, the total frictional force S is reduced regardless of the magnitude of the restoring force, so that the following action / effect can be obtained. That is, the surface of the housing side friction plate 321 and the rotor 32 with the friction surface.
5, housing-side friction plate 321 of friction plate 315 with cam
If the contact surface or the like is damaged, the friction coefficient μ may become abnormally large.

However, the torque T applied to the rotating shaft 305 can be made sufficiently small by the driver's operation. For example, if the driver releases the accelerator pedal 75, the torque T becomes zero. In this case, the total frictional force S also becomes 0 as can be seen from the expression A. Therefore, in this embodiment, even when the friction coefficient μ becomes abnormally large, the accelerator pedal 7
5 can be surely returned.

In this embodiment, the small diameter spring 33 is used.
1, the large diameter spring 333 corresponds to the restoring force applying unit, and the cam friction plate 315, the housing side friction plate 321 and the friction surface rotor 325 correspond to the movement resistance applying unit. In the above embodiment, the pressure applied between the cam friction plate 315, the housing side friction plate 321, and the friction surface rotor 325 is changed by the positional relationship between the cam rotor 311 and the cam friction plate 315. Although the movement resistance (total frictional force S) of the accelerator pedal 75 is adjusted, the movement resistance of the accelerator pedal 75 can be adjusted by other various configurations. For example, the rotating shaft 3
If a strain gauge is provided on the 05 side surface, the depression force of the accelerator pedal 75 can be converted into an electric signal. In this case, similarly to the second and third embodiments, the movement resistance of the accelerator pedal 75 can be adjusted by the DC motor 121 and the damper 209.

FIG. 11 is a sectional view showing the structure of the vehicle accelerator pedal device 401 of the fifth embodiment. The accelerator pedal device 401 of this embodiment has substantially the same structure as the accelerator pedal device 301 of the fourth embodiment except for the following points. Therefore, the same components as those of the accelerator pedal device 301 are designated by the same numbers as those used in FIGS. 8 and 9, and the detailed description of the configuration is omitted. As shown in the figure, in the accelerator pedal device 401, the second cam-equipped rotor 42 is used in place of the cam-equipped friction plate 315, the housing-side friction plate 321, and the friction surface-equipped rotor 325.
5 are provided. The second cam rotor 425 includes
An insertion hole 427 into which the rotation shaft 305 is rotatably inserted is formed. Further, a large number of cam surfaces 425a configured similarly to the cam surface 315a are formed on the end surface of the second cam rotor 425 on the cam rotor 311 side.

Furthermore, the end portion 3 of the rotor 425 with the second cam
The small-diameter annular groove 335 and the large-diameter annular groove 33 are provided on the end surface on the 05a side.
7 small diameter annular groove 435, large diameter annular groove 437
And a second outer side of the opening of the large-diameter annular groove 437.
A friction surface 439 is formed on the end surface of the cam-equipped rotor 425. The stopper 441 is also formed with a small-diameter annular groove 445 having the same diameter as the small-diameter annular groove 435 and a large-diameter annular groove 447 having the same diameter as the large-diameter annular groove 437. The annular grooves 435, 437,
A small diameter spring 431 and a large diameter spring 433 are inserted between 445 and 447. The stopper 441 has substantially the same structure as the stopper 341 except for the radii of the annular grooves 445 and 447.

In the accelerator pedal device 401, a friction plate 453 is inserted instead of the washer 353. The friction plate 453 is formed in an annular shape facing the friction surface 439, engages with the protrusion 303c, and is non-rotatably supported. The contact surface between the friction plate 453 and the friction surface 439 is configured to have the above-mentioned friction coefficient of 2μ.

In the accelerator pedal device 401 of the present embodiment constructed as described above, the above-mentioned turning force E is applied in the direction of arrow D.
Is added, the above-mentioned separating force F acts between the cam-equipped rotor 311 and the second cam-equipped rotor 425. This separation force F
The friction plate 453 and the friction surface 439 are brought into pressure contact with each other, and the total friction force S acting on the accelerator pedal 75 changes similarly to the accelerator pedal device 301.

Therefore, the accelerator pedal device 4 of this embodiment is
With 01, the same action and effect as in the fourth embodiment can be obtained. Further, the accelerator pedal device 401 of the present embodiment has a smaller number of parts than the accelerator pedal device 301 of the fourth embodiment, and the configuration can be greatly simplified. For this reason,
Production costs can also be reduced. In this embodiment, the friction plate 453 is inserted between the rotor 425 with the second cam and the stopper 441. However, the rotor 425 with the second cam and the stopper 441 are brought into direct contact with each other and the friction coefficient of the contact surface is increased. Even if the value is set to 2μ, the same action and effect can be obtained. In this case, the structure can be further simplified.

Further, as the accelerator position sensors 13 and 313 in the first to fifth embodiments, various types such as contact type sensors and non-contact type sensors can be applied. For example, the contact type sensor may be a potentiometer, and the non-contact type sensor may be an optical encoder or a hall element. In addition, two or more identical sensors may be provided so that the accelerator depression amount can be reliably detected even when one fails.

[0062]

As described above in detail, in the vehicular accelerator pedal device according to the first and second aspects of the present invention, the hysteresis characteristic given to the correspondence between the accelerator operation amount and the stepping force is as follows.
It increases with the accelerator operation amount. Therefore, good drivability can be secured in the entire range of the accelerator operation amount.

Further, in the first invention, even when the restoring force applied to the accelerator pedal is reduced due to a failure or the like, the movement resistance applying means applies the movement resistance corresponding to the reduced restoring force to the accelerator pedal. Therefore, even in such a case, the accelerator pedal can be reliably returned.

Similarly, in the second aspect of the invention, the stepping force also decreases as the restoring force decreases, and the moving resistance applying means applies the moving resistance corresponding to the decreased stepping force to the accelerator pedal.
Therefore, even when the restoring force applied to the accelerator pedal is reduced due to a failure or the like, the accelerator pedal can be reliably returned.

Further, in the second aspect of the invention, even if the movement resistance of the accelerator pedal increases due to deterioration or the like, the movement resistance can be made smaller than the restoring force by sufficiently reducing the stepping force. Therefore, even in such a case, the accelerator pedal can be reliably returned.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration of a vehicle accelerator pedal device according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing a configuration of a vehicle accelerator pedal device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing a mounted state of the vehicle accelerator pedal device of the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the operation principle of the vehicle accelerator pedal device of the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a graph showing a correspondence relationship between an accelerator depression amount and a depression force according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a vehicle accelerator pedal device according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a configuration of an accelerator pedal device for a vehicle according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing a configuration of a vehicle accelerator pedal device according to a fourth embodiment.

FIG. 9 is an exploded perspective view showing a configuration of a vehicle accelerator pedal device according to a fourth embodiment.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing the operating principle of the vehicle accelerator pedal device of the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a sectional view showing a configuration of a vehicle accelerator pedal device in a fifth embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 101, 201, 301, 401 ... Accelerator pedal device for vehicle 3 ... Lever 5, 105, 205, 305 ... Rotating shaft 11 ... First rotor 13, 313 ... Accelerator position sensor 15, 331, 431 ... Small diameter spring ( Restoring force applying means) 17,333, 433 ... Large diameter spring (restoring force applying means) 115,227 ... Spring (restoring force applying means) 27 ... Rotating shaft side friction plate (moving resistance applying means) 29, 321 ... Housing Side friction plate (moving resistance applying means) 33 ... Second rotor 41 ... Steel ball 43 ... Steel ball groove 47 ... Stopper 55 ... Steel ball groove 121 ... DC motor (moving resistance applying means) 209 ... Damper (moving resistance applying means) 311 ... Rotor with cam 315 ... Friction plate with cam (moving resistance applying means) 325 ... Rotor with friction surface (moving resistance applying means) 425 Second cammed rotor (movement resistance applying means) 453 ... friction plates (movement resistance applying means)

Claims (18)

[Claims] 1. A restoring force applying means for applying a restoring force to the accelerator pedal, the restoring force increasing in accordance with an operation amount of the accelerator pedal, and the accelerator pedal increasing with an increase in the restoring force. And a moving resistance applying means for applying the moving resistance of the vehicle. 2. The vehicle accelerator pedal device according to claim 1, wherein the movement resistance applying means applies movement resistance by a frictional force applied to the accelerator pedal. 3. The vehicular accelerator pedal device according to claim 1, wherein the movement resistance applying means applies movement resistance by a flow resistance of a fluid flowing according to movement of the accelerator pedal. 4. The accelerator pedal device for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the movement resistance applying means applies movement resistance by an electromagnetic actuator that works in conjunction with the accelerator pedal. 5. The moving resistance applying means applies the moving resistance based on a displacement amount of a mechanical element that is displaced according to the restoring force. Vehicle accelerator pedal device. 6. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the movement resistance applying means applies the movement resistance based on the restoring force electrically detected by a detection element. Accelerator pedal device. 7. The accelerator pedal device for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the restoring force applying means comprises two series of springs. 8. The accelerator pedal device for a vehicle according to claim 2, wherein the movement resistance applying means includes a friction plate that is displaced according to the restoring force. 9. The method according to claim 7, wherein the two series of springs are a pair of concentric torsion coil springs and are individually twisted in accordance with the operation of the accelerator pedal. Vehicle accelerator pedal device. 10. A restoring force applying means for applying a restoring force to the accelerator pedal, the increasing force corresponding to the operation amount of the accelerator pedal when the accelerator pedal is operated, and the increasing force as the depression force of the accelerator pedal increases. An accelerator pedal device for a vehicle, comprising: a moving resistance applying unit that applies a moving resistance of the accelerator pedal. 11. The vehicular accelerator pedal device according to claim 10, wherein the movement resistance applying means applies movement resistance by a frictional force applied to the accelerator pedal. 12. The accelerator pedal device for a vehicle according to claim 10, wherein the movement resistance applying means applies the movement resistance by a flow resistance of a fluid flowing according to the movement of the accelerator pedal. 13. The accelerator pedal device for a vehicle according to claim 10, wherein the movement resistance applying means applies the movement resistance by an electromagnetic actuator which is interlocked with the accelerator pedal. 14. The moving resistance applying means applies the moving resistance based on a displacement amount of a mechanical element that is displaced according to a depression force of the accelerator pedal. Vehicle accelerator pedal device. 15. The vehicle according to claim 10, wherein the movement resistance applying means applies the movement resistance based on the stepping force electrically detected by a detection element. Accelerator pedal device. 16. The accelerator pedal device for a vehicle according to claim 10, wherein the restoring force applying means comprises two series of springs. 17. The accelerator pedal device for a vehicle according to claim 11, wherein the movement resistance applying means includes a friction plate which is displaced in accordance with a depression force of the accelerator pedal. 18. The pair of torsion springs arranged in a concentric circle shape, and the two series of springs are individually twisted in accordance with the operation of the accelerator pedal. Vehicle accelerator pedal device.