JPH10250539A - Brake pedal supporting mechanism for automobile - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a brake pedal supporting mechanism for automobile which improves the safety by reducing or eliminating the retreat of a brake pedal. SOLUTION: An end of a pedal arm 3a is supported rotatably at the adequate position of a pedal support bracket 2' which is fixed to a body side dash panel 1. The front end side of the pedal support bracket 2' is fixed and supported by a cowl 7 fixed to the dash panel 1 and an instrument panel reinforcement 8. A first reinforcing member 6' and a second reinforcing member 9 are provided, and the first reinforcing member 6' has an opening groove at the fastening end with the cowl 7, and it is made removable from the fastening means through the opening groove. A hole 2a' is opened near the front end of the pedal support bracket 2'.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a brake pedal support mechanism for a vehicle such as a passenger car.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 5 shows an example of a conventional brake pedal support mechanism. In the figure, a pedal support bracket 2 is fixed to a dash panel 1 on the body side, and a pedal arm 3a of a brake pedal 3 is rotatably supported at an appropriate position on the pedal support bracket 2. Pedal arm 3a
Can move at a constant stroke in the front-rear direction (arrows F and R) via the support shaft 4.

In this brake pedal support mechanism, a pivot 5 is connected in the middle of the pedal arm 3a, and an end (rear end side) of the pedal support bracket 2 is fixedly supported on a cowl 7 by a reinforcing member 6. You.
Note that an instrument panel / reinforce 8 is disposed at a position away from the pedal support bracket 2 by a predetermined distance (arrow R). The instrument panel / reinforce 8 is fixed to an undeformed portion on the body side.

[0004]

In an ODB front collision (offset deformable barrier front collision), which is one of the simulation tests assuming an actual collision accident, as shown in FIG. In this case, the backward movement of the brake pedal 3 poses a serious safety problem in an actual vehicle. That is, if the brake pedal 3 retreats in an actual vehicle, it may hit the lower leg of the occupant as it is and may cause injury.

In a conventional brake pedal support mechanism,
As one of the causes of the retraction of the brake pedal 3, as shown in FIG. 6, the dash panel 1 largely protrudes rearward from the regular position shown by the dotted line due to the ODB front collision, which causes the brake pedal 3 to retreat in translation. In addition, as a result of the pedal support bracket 2 being deformed due to the relative displacement between the dash panel 1 and the cowl 7 or the relative displacement between the dash panel 1 and the instrument panel / reinforce 8, the pedal portion 3b side largely projects toward the occupant.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a brake pedal support mechanism for an automobile which improves safety by effectively reducing or eliminating retraction of a brake pedal.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, an end of a pedal arm is rotatably supported at a proper position of a pedal support bracket fixed to a body side dash panel. The tip end of the pedal support bracket is fixedly supported by a cowl fixed to a dash panel and an instrument panel / reinforce.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an automobile brake pedal supporting mechanism, wherein the first reinforcing member connects the distal end side of the pedal support bracket to a cowl fixed to the dash panel, and the distal end side of the pedal support bracket. The second to connect the instrument panel / reinforce side
And a reinforcing member.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the first reinforcing member has an open groove at a fastening end portion with the cowl, and the first reinforcing member has an open groove to the fastening means via the open groove. It is characterized in that it can be detached.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a brake pedal supporting mechanism for an automobile, wherein a hole is formed near a tip of the pedal support bracket.

Furthermore, in the brake pedal support mechanism for a vehicle according to the present invention, the second reinforcing member is provided on the distal end side of the pedal support bracket via a steering column support connected to the instrument panel / reinforce. And the instrument panel / reinforce.

According to the present invention, the members are deformed or displaced by restraining the retreat of the brake pedal at the time of ODB front collision by devising the arrangement and coupling structure of the members. In particular, the second connecting the distal end side of the pedal support bracket to the instrument panel / reinforce side.
By providing the reinforcing member, the pedal support bracket is deformed downward. In this case, the first reinforcing member can be detached from the fastening means through an open groove at the fastening end portion with the cowl, or a hole is opened near the tip of the pedal support bracket, so that the pedal support bracket can be moved downward. Thus, a structure that is easily deformed can be realized.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIGS. 1 to 4, the same reference numerals are used for members which are substantially the same as or correspond to those of the conventional example, and a preferred embodiment of the brake pedal supporting mechanism for an automobile according to the present invention is described. The form will be described.

FIG. 1 shows an example of a brake pedal support mechanism in this embodiment. The basic configuration of the brake pedal support mechanism is substantially the same as the conventional case. That is,
A pedal support bracket 2 'is fixed to the dash panel 1 on the body side, and a pedal arm 3a of the brake pedal 3 is rotatably supported at an appropriate position on the pedal support bracket 2'. Here, the pedal arm 3a can move through the support shaft 4 in a front-rear direction (see arrows F and R in FIG. 4) at a constant stroke.

A pivot 5 is connected in the middle of the pedal arm 3a. An instrument panel / reinforce 8 is disposed behind the pedal support bracket 2 'at a predetermined distance. The instrument panel / reinforce 8 is fixed to an undeformed portion on the body side.

The front end (that is, the rear) of the pedal support bracket 2 'is provided with a cowl 7 fixed to the dash panel 1 and an instrument panel / reinforce 8
And fixedly supported by. That is, in this brake pedal support mechanism, a first reinforcing member 6 'for connecting the distal end side of the pedal support bracket 2' and the cowl 7 fixed to the dash panel 1, and the distal end side of the pedal support bracket 2 ' And a second reinforcing member 9 connecting the instrument panel and the reinforcement 8 side.

The first reinforcing member 6 'includes screws 10 and 11
Respectively, thereby being fastened to the pedal support bracket 2 'and the cowl 7, respectively. Further, the second reinforcing member 9 connects the distal end side of the pedal support bracket 2 ′ and the instrument panel / reinforce 8 side via a steering column support 12 which is connected to the instrument panel / reinforce 8. This second reinforcing member 9
Are fastened to the pedal support bracket 2 'and the steering column support 12 by screws 10 and 13, respectively. The first reinforcing member 6 'and the second reinforcing member 9 can be formed of a plate having a certain strength.

An elongated hole 2a 'in the vertical direction is formed near the tip of the pedal support bracket 2'.
This elongated hole 2a 'is set so as to be crushed and deformed, for example, as shown in FIG. At the base side of the pedal support bracket 2 ', for example, a trapezoidal hole 2b' is opened as shown in FIG. 1, and the lower side is deformed as shown in FIG. The shape of the long hole 2a 'or the hole 2b' is not limited only to the illustrated example.

Here, the first reinforcing member 6 'has an open groove 6a' at the fastening end with the cowl 7, as shown in FIG. This open groove 6a 'can be formed by a notch such as a U-shape. The first reinforcing member 6 '
The screw 11 as the fastening means as described above is inserted in the open groove 6a '.
To the cowl 7. The first reinforcing member 6 ′ is set so as to be detachable from the screw 11 via the open groove 6 a ′ when a load of a predetermined value or more acts on the first reinforcing member 6 ′.

In the brake pedal support mechanism of the present invention, the distal end side of the pedal support bracket 2 'is connected to the cowl 7 and the instrument panel / reinforce 8 via the two reinforcing members 6' and the reinforcing members 9, respectively. Now, due to the ODB front collision, the dash panel 1 projects rearward from the regular position shown by the dotted line as shown in FIG.

In this case, the pedal support bracket 2 '
2a 'and 2b' are crushed and deformed as shown in FIG.
Alternatively, when the first reinforcing member 6 ′ is detached from the screw 11 through the opening groove 6 a ′, the support shaft 4 of the brake pedal 3 is released.
Can be suppressed from rotating (counterclockwise). Further, the second reinforcing member 9 connected to the steering column support 12 pulls the tip of the pedal support bracket 2 'downward, and the pivot 5 is displaced downward. As a result, at the time of the ODB front collision, each member in the brake pedal support mechanism is deformed or displaced so as to suppress the retreat of the brake pedal 3 as shown in FIG.

As is clear from FIG. 4, even when an impact load is applied by an ODB front collision, the retreat of the brake pedal 3 can be effectively reduced or eliminated as compared with the conventional brake pedal support mechanism. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the pedal portion 3b side of the brake pedal 3 from protruding largely toward the occupant, thereby ensuring high safety for the occupant's lower limbs even during an ODB front collision.

[0023]

As described above, according to the present invention, in this type of brake pedal support mechanism, by devising the arrangement and connection structure of each member, it is possible to suppress the retreat of the brake pedal during an ODB front collision and to reduce the safety. Performance can be improved. Further, in this case, there is an advantage that the change of the structure of the mechanism can be minimized and the cost can be substantially reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a configuration example of an embodiment of a vehicle brake pedal support mechanism according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a deformation process of a member at the time of ODB front collision in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing a configuration example according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a deformed state of a member at the time of an ODB front collision in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing a configuration example of a conventional brake pedal support mechanism.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a deformed state of members of a conventional brake pedal support mechanism.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Dash panel 2 'Pedal support bracket 3 Brake pedal 3a Pedal arm 3b Pedal part 4 Support shaft 5 Pivot 6' First reinforcement member 6a 'Open groove 7 Cowl 8 Instrument panel reinforce 9 Second reinforcement member 10,11 , 13 Screw 12 Steering column support

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An automobile brake pedal support mechanism in which a pedal arm end is rotatably supported by a pedal support bracket fixed to a body-side dash panel, wherein a tip side of the pedal support bracket is attached to the dash panel. An automobile brake pedal support mechanism fixedly supported by a fixed cowl and an instrument panel / reinforce. 2. A first reinforcing member for connecting a distal end side of the pedal support bracket and the cowl fixed to the dash panel, a distal end side of the pedal support bracket, and an instrument panel / reinforce side. 2. A vehicle brake pedal support mechanism according to claim 1, further comprising a second reinforcing member for connecting the brake pedal. 3. The first reinforcing member has an open groove at a fastening end with the cowl, and is detachable from the fastening means via the open groove. 4. A brake pedal support mechanism for an automobile according to claim 1. 4. The vehicle brake pedal support mechanism according to claim 2, wherein a hole is formed near a tip of the pedal support bracket. 5. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the second reinforcing member connects a distal end side of the pedal support bracket and the instrument panel reinforce via a steering column support connected to the instrument panel reinforce. The vehicle brake pedal support mechanism according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein