JPH0911827A - Pedal retracting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To ensure safety of a driver by sufficiently securing a distance between a pedal and a driver when an engine moves back because of large impact force acting from the front. SOLUTION: A pedal retracting device is provided with an engine 3, which is mounted on a forward part of a car, and a pedal 1, which is arranged close to a driver's feet under a driver's seat, while a connecting means 10, which connects the engine 3 to the pedal 1, is interposed. When large impact force acts on from the front of the car, the pedal 1, which is connected to the engine 3 by means of the connecting means 10, is retracted, so that a sufficiently large distance can be ensured between the pedal 1 and a driver.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a pedal retractor suitable for use in a brake pedal of a vehicle such as an automobile.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, at the foot of a driver's seat of an automobile,
As shown in FIG. 3, an accelerator pedal 4, a brake pedal 1, and a clutch pedal 5 (in the case of an A / T vehicle, an accelerator pedal 4 and a brake pedal 1) are provided, and each pedal 1, 4, 5 is operated. By doing so, the starting, stopping, acceleration and deceleration of the vehicle can be controlled.

Further, a toe board 2 is arranged in front of each of these pedals 1, 4, 5 and a side sill 6 is arranged on the side. Further, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, an engine 3 is disposed in front of the toe board 2, and the toe board 2 separates the engine room and the vehicle compartment. As shown in FIG. 4, the brake pedal 1 includes a toe board 2 via a brake pedal bracket 7.
Is attached to the upper end portion 1A of the brake pedal 1.
Is rotatably attached to the brake pedal bracket 7.

The brake pedal 1 is connected to a master cylinder 9 via a push rod 8.

[0005]

By the way, in such a vehicle, when a large impact is input from the front of the vehicle,
The engine 3 retracts and the toe board 2 deforms,
As a result, as shown in FIG. 5, the toe board 2 may be pushed out toward the passenger compartment. In such a case, in the conventional pedal mounting structure, it is considered that the brake pedal 1 (or the clutch pedal 5) similarly enters due to the entry of the toe board 2 into the vehicle interior, as indicated by the arrow in FIG. To be

By the way, for example, JP-A-63-49568
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 3-500257 discloses a device configured to forcibly crush the steering column and forcibly wind up the seat belt when a large impact force is applied from the front of the vehicle. There is. According to such a device, when a large impact force is applied from the front, the driver's chest is prevented from being hit by the steering wheel (steering wheel), and the occupant is restrained by the seat to ensure the safety of all occupants. it can.

However, these techniques are not such as to prevent the movement of pedals such as brakes and clutches when a large impact force is applied from the front to prevent the driver's foot from being hit. The present invention has been devised in view of such a problem, and when a large impact force acts from the front of the vehicle and the engine retracts, it is possible to secure a sufficient distance between the pedal and the driver. The purpose is to provide a device.

[0008]

For this reason, the pedal retracting device of the present invention according to claim 1 comprises an engine mounted on the front of the vehicle and a pedal arranged at the foot of the driver's seat of the vehicle. A connecting means for connecting the engine and the pedal is provided. Therefore, when a large impact force is applied from the front of the vehicle, the pedal connected to the engine is pulled by the connecting means, and a sufficient distance is secured between the pedal and the driver's foot.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the structure of the first aspect, the connecting means has a wire and a pulley, and one end of the wire is connected to the engine. In addition, the other end of the wire is connected to the turning portion of the pedal, and the pulley is arranged so as to be in sliding contact with the intermediate portion of the wire.

Thus, when a large impact force acts from the front of the vehicle and the engine moves rearward, one end of the wire connected to this engine is pulled, and the other end of the wire is slidably contacted with the intermediate portion of the wire. The pedal connected to is pulled in, and a sufficient distance is secured between the pedal and the driver's foot. The pedal retractor according to a third aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in addition to the configuration according to the second aspect, the pulley is attached to a side of the engine on a vehicle body side. Therefore, when the position of the engine moves, the relative positional relationship between the engine and the pulley surely changes, and the pedal is reliably pulled in.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the structure of the third aspect of the present invention, one end of the wire extends from an engaging portion with the pulley in a vehicle width direction or a vehicle width direction. Coupled to the engine so that it goes further rearward,
The other end of the wire is connected to the pedal so that the other end of the wire extends toward the rear of the vehicle from the engaging portion with the pulley. Therefore, when one end of the above wire is pulled rearward as the engine moves, the other end of the wire is pulled forward and the pedal is pulled forward, so that the distance between the pedal and the driver's foot is sufficiently maintained. To be done.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the structure according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the connecting means includes a tensioner for applying tension to the wire. It is characterized by having. Therefore, tension is always applied to the wire of the connecting means by the tensioner, and even if the wire tension changes due to engine vibration or pedal operation, the wire will not loosen and come off the pulley. You can expect it to work.

The pedal retractor according to a sixth aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in addition to the structure according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, the pedal is a brake pedal. Thus, when a large impact force is applied from the front of the vehicle, the brake pedal connected to the engine is pulled by the connecting means, a sufficient distance is secured between the brake pedal and the driver's foot, and the braking force is applied to the vehicle. Works.

Further, the pedal retracting device of the present invention according to claim 7 is characterized in that, in addition to the structure according to any one of claims 1 to 5, the pedal is a clutch pedal. As a result, when a large impact force is applied from the front of the vehicle, the clutch pedal connected to the engine is pulled by the connecting means, and a sufficient distance is secured between the clutch pedal and the driver's foot as well as the vehicle's foot. The transmission path of the driving force is separated.

[0015]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION A pedal retractor according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view for explaining its entire structure and its operation. (A) is a diagram showing a state before actuation, (b) is a diagram showing a state after actuation, FIG. 2 is a schematic side view for explaining the actuating state, and (a) is a diagram before actuation And (b) is a diagram showing a state after the operation.

As shown in FIG. 1A, in the vehicle using the present invention, the brake pedal 1 is connected to the engine 3 through the connecting means 10, and the engine 3 is located rearward (that is, on the toeboard 2 side). When it moves, the brake pedal 1 is pulled forward. Connection means 10 described above
Is mainly composed of a wire 11, a pulley 12, and a tensioner 13. One end 11A of the wire 11 is connected to the engine 3, and the other end 11B of the wire 11 is connected to the brake pedal 1. And this wire 11
A pulley 12 is provided at an intermediate portion of the wire 11
Both ends 11A and 11B are set rearward of the pulley 12.

The pulley 12 is rotatably attached to a stay 14 provided on the side of the engine 3 on the side of the vehicle body. The pulley 12 has a wire 1 (not shown).
A groove portion that engages with the wire 1 is formed so that the wire 11 does not come off the pulley 12. The reason why the pulley 12 is attached to the stay 14 projecting toward the vehicle body side is that the pulley 12 itself does not move backward when the engine 3 moves backward due to a large impact force acting from the front of the vehicle (or. This is to ensure that the wire 11 is tensioned so that the brake pedal 1 can be pulled forward.

The upper end 1A of the brake pedal 1 is attached to the brake pedal bracket 7, and the brake pedal bracket 7 is fixed to the toe board 2. And the other end 1 of the wire 11
1B is connected to a turning portion 1B below the upper end portion 1A of the brake pedal 1. By the way, as described above, the connecting means 10 is provided with the tensioner 13 for applying a tension to the wire 11. As shown in FIG. 1A, this tensioner is configured such that a predetermined tension is constantly applied to the wire 11 by a biasing means 13A such as a spring, so as to prevent the wire 11 from loosening. Has become.

As a result, even if the tension of the wire 11 changes due to vibration of the engine 3 or pedal operation, the wire 11
Does not come loose from the pulley 12. The tension applied to the wire 11 by the tensioner 13 is the minimum tension required to prevent the wire 11 from loosening, and is set so that the tension of the tensioner 13 does not actuate the brake. Has been done.

Since the pedal retracting device as one embodiment of the present invention is constructed as described above, it is normally in the state as shown in FIGS. 1 (a) and 2 (a).
In such a normal state, the tensioner 13 adjusts the vibration of the engine 3 and the change in tension due to the operation of the brake pedal 1, and the engagement state between the wire 11 and the pulley 12 is maintained. Then, the driver can perform the usual brake operation.

On the other hand, when a large impact is input to the front of the vehicle and the engine 3 moves rearward, the other end 11B of the wire 11 is pulled forward via the pulley 12 according to the amount of movement. As a result, the brake pedal 1 is pulled forward. At this time, the state becomes as shown in FIG. 1B and FIG. 2B, and even if the toe board 2 is deformed by the rearward movement of the engine 3, the brake pedal 1 is pulled forward, so that the brake pedal 1 is pulled forward. 1 is prevented from moving to the rear of the vehicle. This ensures a sufficient distance between the brake pedal 1 and the driver's foot (particularly the shin) even when a large impact is applied to the front of the vehicle, thus ensuring the driver's safety. You can

Further, in such a case, by forcibly pulling the brake pedal 1 forward by the wire 11, the brake pedal 1 is depressed and a large braking force is applied to the vehicle. This has the advantage that the vehicle can be stopped and the vehicle can be held in a stopped state.

Although the brake pedal 1 and the engine 3 are connected by the wire 11 in the present embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this, and the engine 3 and the clutch pedal 5 are connected by the connecting means 10, for example. (See FIG. 3) may be connected. With this configuration, when a large impact force acts on the front of the vehicle and the engine 3 moves rearward, the clutch pedal 5 can be pulled forward, and also between the driver's feet and the clutch pedal 5 sufficiently. It is possible to secure a large distance.
And, by this, the safety of the driver can be ensured.

Further, according to this structure, the clutch pedal 5 is depressed when the vehicle collides, so that the transmission of the driving force from the engine 3 can be cut off and the vehicle safety can be improved. It also has the advantage that

[0025]

As described above in detail, according to the pedal retracting device of the present invention as set forth in claim 1, the engine mounted on the front portion of the vehicle and the pedal disposed at the foot of the driver's seat of the vehicle. With a structure in which a connecting means for connecting the engine and the pedal is provided, when a large impact force is input from the front of the vehicle, the pedal is pulled by the connecting means and the pedal and the driver's foot are connected. A sufficient distance can be secured between them. As a result, the safety of the driver can be sufficiently ensured.

According to the pedal retracting device of the present invention as defined in claim 2, in addition to the structure of claim 1,
The connecting means includes a wire and a pulley, one end of the wire is connected to the engine, the other end of the wire is connected to a turning portion of the pedal, and the pulley is in sliding contact with an intermediate portion of the wire. With such a configuration, when a large impact force is input from the front of the vehicle, the pedal is pulled by the connecting means, and a sufficient distance can be secured between the pedal and the driver's foot. As a result, the safety of the driver can be sufficiently ensured. Further, the simple configuration as described above has an advantage that it can be compactly stored even in an engine room where there are relatively many restrictions. Furthermore, there is an advantage that it can be easily applied to most automobiles with almost no increase in weight and cost.

According to the pedal retracting device of the present invention as defined in claim 3, in addition to the configuration of claim 2,
Since the pulley is attached to the side of the engine on the side of the vehicle body, the relative positional relationship between the engine and the pulley changes when the engine moves rearward.
The pedal can be reliably pulled forward with respect to the movement of the engine.

According to the pedal retracting device of the present invention as set forth in claim 4, in addition to the configuration of claim 3,
One end of the wire is coupled to the engine so as to extend from the engaging portion with the pulley toward the vehicle width direction or rearward of the vehicle width direction, and the other end of the wire from the engaging portion with the pulley to the vehicle. With the configuration in which the pedal is coupled to the rearward direction, the pedal is reliably pulled as the engine moves rearward, and again the sufficient distance between the pedal and the driver's foot can be secured.

According to the pedal retracting device of the present invention as set forth in claim 5, in addition to the structure as set forth in any one of claims 1 to 4, the connecting means applies tension to the wire. With the configuration including the tensioner, there is an advantage that even if the tension of the wire changes due to engine vibration or pedal operation, the wire does not loosen and can be prevented from coming off the pulley. In addition, this makes it possible to reliably operate the device.

According to the pedal retracting device of the present invention as set forth in claim 6, in addition to the structure as set forth in any one of claims 1 to 5, the pedal is a brake pedal. Even when a large impact force is input from the front, a sufficient distance can be secured between the brake pedal and the driver's foot, and the driver's safety can be secured. Further, there is an advantage that a braking force can be applied to the vehicle by forcibly pulling in the brake pedal at this time. This has the advantage that the vehicle can be stopped and the surrounding safety can be ensured.

According to the pedal retracting device of the present invention described in claim 7, in addition to the structure described in any one of claims 1 to 5, the pedal is a clutch pedal. Even when a large impact force is input from the front, a sufficient distance can be secured between the clutch pedal and the driver's foot, and the driver's safety can be secured. Further, at this time, there is an advantage that the driving force from the engine can be cut off by forcibly pulling in the clutch pedal.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view for explaining the overall configuration and operation of a pedal retracting device as an embodiment of the present invention, in which (a) is a view showing a state before operation,
(B) is a figure showing a state after operation.

2A and 2B are schematic side views for explaining an operating state of the pedal retracting device as one embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 2A is a diagram showing a state before the operation, and FIG. It is a figure which shows the state of.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing an example of an arrangement of pedals in a driver's seat of an automobile.

FIG. 4 is a schematic side view showing the feet of the driver's seat of the own vehicle.

FIG. 5 is a schematic side view showing the feet of a driver's seat of an automobile, showing an example of a deformed state of the toe board when the engine moves rearward.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Brake Pedal 1A Brake Pedal Upper End 1B Brake Pedal Rotating Part 2 Toe Board 3 Engine 4 Accelerator Pedal 5 Clutch Pedal 6 Side Sill 7 Brake Pedal Bracket 8 Push Rod 9 Master Cylinder 10 Connecting Means 11 Wire 11A, 11B Wire End 12 Pulley 13 Tensioner 13A urging means 14 stay

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. An engine mounted on a front portion of a vehicle and a pedal provided at a foot of a driver's seat of the vehicle, and a connecting means for connecting the engine and the pedal is provided. A pedal retractor characterized by. 2. The connecting means comprises a wire and a pulley, one end of the wire is connected to the engine, and the other end of the wire is connected to a turning portion of the pedal, and the pulley is connected to the swing part of the pedal. The pedal retracting device according to claim 1, wherein the pedal retracting device is arranged so as to be in sliding contact with the intermediate portion. 3. The pedal retraction device according to claim 2, wherein the pulley is attached to a side of the engine body on the side of the vehicle body. 4. One end of the wire is connected to the engine so as to extend from an engaging portion with the pulley toward the vehicle width direction or rearward of the vehicle width direction, and the other end of the wire is connected to the pulley. The pedal retracting device according to claim 3, wherein the pedal retracting device is connected to the pedal so as to extend from the engaging portion toward the rear of the vehicle. 5. The pedal retraction device according to claim 1, wherein the connecting means includes a tensioner for applying a tension to the wire. 6. The pedal retraction device according to claim 1, wherein the pedal is a brake pedal. 7. The pedal retracting device according to claim 1, wherein the pedal is a clutch pedal.