US1436154A

US1436154A - Accelerator-control mechanism

Info

Publication number: US1436154A
Application number: US501793A
Authority: US
Inventors: Raleigh C Dickerson
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1921-09-19
Filing date: 1921-09-19
Publication date: 1922-11-21
Anticipated expiration: 1939-11-21

Description

R C. DICKERSON.

ACCELERATOR CONTROL MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT 19, 192'].

1,4L36fll54, Patented Nov. 21, 1922.

i'tozc 14 Patented Nov. 21, 1922.

STATES ACCELERATOR-CONTROL MECHANISM.

Application filed September 19, 1921.

To all whmm. it mag 0011mm:

Be it known that I, RALEIGH C. DIOKER- SON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Seattle, in the county of King and State of Washington, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Accelerator- Control Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in foot accelerator control mechanism for installation in connection with foot throttle devices of the type commonly used on motor vehicles, and the object of my invention is to provide foot accelerator control that may be quickly and easily attached to foot accelerator devices of standard construction without alteration of the standard parts and that will automatically hold the accelerator pedal in an depressed position in which it is place thereby relieving the driver of the necessity of holding the leg and foot under contact tension when using the foot accelerator pedal in driving.

Another object is to provide accelerator control mechanism that will hold the accelerator pedal in a depressed position but that is arranged so that it may quickly and easily be moved to release the accelerator pedal by a slight sidewise movement of the foot with which the accelerator pedal is operated.

ator control mechanism that is constructed and arranged so that when the foot brake pedal is depressed to apply the foot brake the accelerator control mechanism will be automatically moved to release the footaccelerator pedal if the same is in engagement with the control mechanism thereby making it impossible to set the brake without shutting off the supply of fuel to the engine.

Further objects are to provide foot acceler ator control mechanism of this nature that is strong and simple in construction, reliable in operation, not expensive to manufacture,

and easy to install in connection with foot accelerator devicesof an ordinary type of construction.

Other and more specific objects will be apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.

In driving motor vehicles when the foot accelerator is used the leg and foot of the driver are necessarily under constant tension or strain during the time the foot accelerator pedal is held down thus often tir- Serial No. 501,793.

I g the leg and foot severely. The present invention is deslgned to prevent this inconvemence and fatlgue by providing a. device that will automatically hold the foot accelerator pedal in any position into which it is depressed thereby permitting the driver to depress the foot accelerator pedal until the desired speed is attained by the vehicle and then relax the muscles of the leg and foot or even remove the foot from the accelerator pedal while the Same is held in the depressed posit on by the control mechanism.

It 1s always desirable to have the fuel supply to the engine shut off at the time the 70 brake of the vehicle is applied and for this reason the accelerator control mechanism is provided with means that are arranged to be engaged by the foot brake pedal for releasing the foot accelerator pedal in case'the same is being held in a depressed position when the foot brake is applied, said means preferably being arranged so that it will not be operated by applying the foot brake easily as might be done to merely check the 89 speed of the vehicle but will be operated whenthe brake is set fomibly as in stopping the vehicle in case of emergency thus making it impossible for a driver in confusion to apply the brake forcibly In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 1s a fragmentary sectional view of the foot board of a. motor vehicle showing in elevawithout shutting off the supply of fuel to the engine. A further object is to provide foot accelertion a foot accelerator and brake pedal hav- 90 ing my invention installed in connection therewith;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same as seen from the lower side;

Figs. 3, 4 and 5 are views partly in section and partly in elevation substantially on broken line 3, 8, of Fig. 1, showing certain operating parts in three different positions;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view partly in section and partly in elevation showing a brake we pedal in a depressed position and in engagement with the device for automatically releasing the foot accelerator control mecha-- msm;

Fig. 7 is a plan view of the mechanism as it appears on the bottom side of the foot board the positions of the several parts differing from that shown in Fig. 2 and parts of the foot accelerator mechanism being omitted; and

Figs. 8 and 9 are detached views in perspective of details of my invention.

Like reference numerals designates like parts throughout the several views.

In the drawings the numeral 10 designates the foot board of a motor vehicle and 11 designates a foot accelerator pedal on the upper end of a shank 12 that passes through a suitable hole in the foot board and is connected at its lower end with an arm 13 that projects sidewise at substantially right angles to the shank 12 and has its outer end bent downwardly as at 14 and connected by a pivot 15 with an operating rod 16 that may be connected with a throttle valve on the carburetor of an engine, not shown, in such a manner as to control the supply of fuel to the engine. The arm 13 has an integral or otherwise rigidly connected supporting arm 17 that is pivotally connected with a fixed bracket 18 on the foot board 10 so that when the foot pedal 11 and shank 12 are depressed the arm 13 will swing about the pivot in the bracket 18 and the rod 16 will be moved to open the throttle valve and permit more fuel to be supplied to the en- All of the parts hereinbefore described are of well known standard form of construction, this invention comprising certain devicesthat are arranged to be attached to the previously described parts. A

In accordance with my invention I provide at the side of the foot accelerator shank 12 and substantially arallel therewith a bar 20 preferably of at metal having its upper end twisted into a plane at right angles to the plane of the main portion of the bar to form a foot piece 21 and having on its edge adjacent the shank 12 notches 22 like saw teeth that are arranged to engage with a detent member 23 that is secured to the bottom side of the foot board 10, the bar 20 projecting upwardly through a slot or opening 24 in the foot board 10 in such a position that the foot piece 21 will be beside the foot pedal 11 in close proximity thereto so that as the foot of the driver, indicated by dotted lines 25 in Figs. 4 and 5, rests on the accelerator pedal 11 the edge of the foot will be against or very near to the foot piece 21 whereby a slight sidewise movement of the foot will move the bar 20 from a position in which it engages the detent member 23 as shown in Fig. 4, into a position in which it is clear of the detent member as shown in Fig. 5.

At the lower end the bar 20 is bent at right angles to form a portion 26 that projects sidewise, thence it is again bent at right angles to form ,a portion 27 that projects rearwardly and downwardl in substantially parallel relation to the oot board 10 and thence it is again bent downwardly at right angles to form a terminal portion 28 that is connected at the outer end by the ,With the downwardly bent end 14 of the throttle rod 16 and the foot accelerator rod 13. A tension spring 30 is connected with the portion 27 of the foot accelerator control member to yieldingly urge the notched portion of the bar 20 into engagement with the detent member 23.

The end of the terminal portion 28 that is connected with the pivot pin 15 is preferably rounded as at 31, on both sides to better adapt it for the slight rocking or sidewise motion that is imparted to the accelerator control member which is made up of the foot piece 2 l,'bar 20 and

portions

26, 27 and 28.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that when the accelerator control member is connected with the pivot pin 15 as described such control member will move simultaneously with the foot accelerator parts at all times, the bar 20 and foot piece 21 moving up and down with the accelerator pedal 11 and shank 12 so that if the pedal 11 is depressed the bar 20 will be depressed also and by reason of the engagement of the detent member 23 within the notches 22 will hold the accelerator parts in any depressed position in which they are placed. If the foot 25 that rests on the accelerator pedal is pressed against the foot piece 21 the bar 20 will be tilted or moved against the tension of the spring 30 into the inclined position shown in Fig. 5, thus disengaging it from the detent member 23 and permitting the ,foot accelerator parts to be moved by the usual springs, not shown, back into the position that they occupy in Figs. 1 and 3.

As a safety device to prevent a driver, in confusion, from setting the foot brake forcibly while the foot accelerator parts are in an open position and are being so held by the accelerator control mechanism I provide pivot pin 15 with an automatic release member having a straight flat, medial portion 32 that is pivotally secured to the foot board 10 as by a screw 33, and is provided on the end adjacent the bar 20 with an integral end member 34 that is arranged to engage with the notched edge of the bar 20 and move the same away from the detent member and that is provided on the other end with a downwardly bent curved member 35 that is arranged to be engaged by foot brake lever 36 of the usual form of construction when such brake lever is depressed, see Fig. 6, to apply the brakes, the engagement of the curved end'35 by the foot brake lever 36 serving to oscillate the automatic release member on the pivot 33 and by pressing the end 34 against the bar 20 to move such bar out of engagement with the detent member 23 thereby releasing the foot accelerator pedal.

The curved end portion 35 is preferably located so that it W111 not be engaged by the brake lever when the brakes are only set lightly but will be engaged and operated by forcible application of the brakes.

The automatic release member has a tension spring 37 connected therewith for normally holding the same in a retracted position.

In operation if the foot is placed on the accelerator pedal 11 in the position shown in Fig. 4 and the pedal is depressed. the bar 20 will move downwardly therewith, the notched portion 22 riding over the detent member 23 and holding the accelerator mechanism in an position into which it is moved by depression of the pedal 11. If it is desired to release the accelerator mechanism to permit the supply of fuel to the engine to be decreased or shut off the foot is pressed against the foot piece 21, as shown in Fig. 5, thus disengaging the bar 20 from the detent member so that the accelerator pedal may move upwardly. If the foot is held against the foot piece as shown in Fig. 5, the accelerator pedal may be moved to open and close the throttle valve to the engine and will operate in the same manner that it would operate if the accelerator control mechanism were not connected therewith.

The accelerator control mechanism thus serves to relieve the driver of the necessity of holding the accelerator pedal in a fixed position by tension in the foot and leg thereby greatly relieving the strain on the driver especially when he is driving under conditions that make it desirable for him to maintain a constant speed for a considerable period of time.

This apparatus is chea and simple in construction, reliable and e cient in operation, not liable to get out of order and easy to install on motor vehicles without alterations of the standard parts of such vehicles.

The foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings clearly disclose the principles of construction and method of operation of my device, but, while I have shown and described what I now consider to the. preferred embodiment of my invention it will be understood that the disclosure is merely illustrative and that such changes in the forms, dimensions and arrangement of parts of my device may be made as are within the scope and spirit of my invention.

What I claim is: 1. The combination with the usual foot accelerator mechanism of a motor vehicle including a movable foot pedal, of control means arranged to be connected with said accelerator mechanism to hold the same in any set position and a foot piece on said control means and located at the side of said accelerator foot pedal whereby sidewise movement of the foot as it rests on said accelerator foot pedal will move said foot piece and piece on the upper end of said bar and arranged to be engaged by the foot as it rests on said foot pedal.

3. The combination with the foot accelerator mechanism of a motor vehicle, of control means for holding said foot accelerator mechanism in any set position and devices operated automatically by the application of the vehicle brake for releasing said control means.

4. The combination with the foot accelerator mechanism of a motor vehicle of control means for holding said foot accelerator mechanism in any set position and devices arranged to be automatically actuated by depression of the foot brake pedal of the vehicle for moving said control means to release said accelerator mechanism.

5. The combination with the foot accelerator mechanism of a motor vehicle, of control means for holding said foot accelerator mechanism in any set position, a bracket member pivoted to the lowermost side of the vehicle foot board and arranged to be moved by depression of the foot brake pedal of the vehicle, and an arm on said bracket member for engaging with and moving said control means to release said foot accelerator mechanism when said bracket member is moved.

In Witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 12th day of September A. D.

RALEIGH C. DICKERSON.