US1558454A - Foot control for automobiles - Google Patents

Description

Octn '27, 192s.

o. E. BARTHEL. Er AL FOQT CONTROL FOR AUTOHOBILES Filed Oct. 4, 1924 anemia tiet.,

tric;

DLIVER E. BARTI-IEL .iND JOHN W. IVICCREA, OF DETROIT, MCHIGAN. i

FOUT CONTRDL FOR AUTOMOBILES.

Application filed October Il, 1924.

To all 'whom may conce/la:

Be it known that we, Onrvnn Buurman and JOHN W. lvcCnnA, citizens oi the United States, residing at Detroit, in the county ot lVayne and State oi' -Michigaiu have invented certain newk and useful linv proveimnitsA in Foot Controls for Antonio-V being held in an unnatural position when` actuating or when in readiness to actuate a lever or device, and where, due to toot weariness on the part oi the operator or to the vibration of the automobile, undesirable pressure upon or actuation of the said lever or device is liable to occur with consequent interference with the proper oontrol o't the automobile.

For such purposes the use of pedals in the Yform of auxiliary toot plates rockably or hingedly mounted with the toe portion extending over the lever, rod or device to he operated thereby have been suggested, but although these devices do in some cases tend to cause the foot to assume a more nearly natural position which is more restful to the toot of an operator, they do not e'l'lec# tively overcome the tendency to exert pressure on the levers or devices at undesirable times such as when subjected to the influence ot the vibration ot the automobile.

lt is, theretore, an object yoli this invention to provide a device which will meet these requirements in a very eflieient man ner and -which will consequently `hicilitate the proper l'oot control ot an automobile to which, it is applied.

A truther object is to provide i'or the resilieiu` support oit a 'tout pedal adapted for the control oi" atout lever, rod or devire` the said resilient support yieldingly tending to retain the slid pedal' in a normal. .inoperative position and to thereby support and relieve the strain upon the toot or' an operator. p

rlhe invention further purposes to provide a device for the purposes set forth Serial No. 741,542.

whereinaJ foot pedal is hingedly mounted approximate to the heel portion thereof, with the toc portion adapted to extend over a device to be operated thereby, and `re silientmeans bearing upwardly against the underside ot the said pedal.

Still Yturther objects subsidiary to. orl resulting 'from the aforesaid objects, or from the construction or operation of the invention as it may be carried into effect, will become apparentk as the saiddnvention is hereinafter further disclosedj v In carrying the said invention into etliect, we may provide a toot zpcdal inthe form oit a foot-plate having hinged beneath the heel portion thereo'll a member or support which yextends downwardly there- :trom to the toot-board or other surface to which the device is tobe att-ached, the said support having a base adapted to be secured to the said toot-board in any suitable manner, said base being extended Aforwardly and upwardly in the term of a plate spring towardkthe center or tread` portion of the toot-plate and provided with adjustable means engaging the underside of the said tread portion by the adjustment of which means the resistance of the said spring to the depression of' the said foot pedal may be increased ordecreased The foot pedal is adapted to be situated for use with the toe portion there-otv extending over errattached to a lever, rod or otherdevice which it is intended to operate, the arrangement being preferably such that the said foot pedalwhen applied to aninclined tootboard normally lies in a plane approximately parallel with the plane of the said ootboard whereby the footot an operator may be supported in an easy andl natural position. i l

All of which is ymore particularly dcscribed and ascertained hereinafter, by way of example, having reference to the aecompanying drawing, wherein Figure l a plan of a `foot pedal cow structed in accordance with the'said inveu tion, parts et the rubber facing thereof boing broken away;

Figure 2 is a vertical longitudinal section oit' the same;

Figure 3 is an end elevation of the same;

Figure e is a side elevation of the said.

Figure 5 is a fragmentar ydetail sectional illustration showing a modified form of the resilient foot-plate support;

Figure G is a fragmentary view, partly in section, of the foot-board and adjacent parts of an automobile having the improved foot pedal applied thereto and adapted to actuate the accelerator thereof; and

Figure 7 is a similar view to Figure G, illustrating the application of the invention to the control of a. clutch pedal.

Similar characters of reference indicate similar parts in the several figures of the drawing.

The foot pedal comprises a foot plate 1 provided at the heel end with a raised flange 2 for the positioning of the heel of an operator and in its intermediate portion with upwardly pressed abutments Sadapted to prevent forward slipping of the heel on the said plate; and t is an upwardly extending` lateral lug preventing side motion of the foot on the said foot-plate. The said footplate is recessed at 5 and G for the reception of no'n-slip rubber or other inserts 7 and 8. All of these features may however be varied to suit matters of taste, conveniences of manufacture or questions of expense as may be found necessary or desirable and are not regarded as essential to the invention.

Struck downwardly from the heel portion of the said foot-plate are lugs 9 which support the pintle 1() of a hinge 11 on the upper end of a support 12. Y This support preferably forms an integral part of a plate having a base 13, perforated at 1st whereby it may be attached by screws to the floorboardv 16 of an automobile, and also having a forwardly and upwardly extending portion 17 in the form of a plate spring, the outer end of which is provided with a bolt 1S passing therethrough, the head 19 of which bolt bears on the underside of the tread portion of the said foot plate.

20 and 21 are nuts by the manipulation of which the said bolt may be adjusted upwardly or downwardly in the member 17 and its bearing on the underside of the said foot-plate thereby varied so that the resistance of the spring member 17 to the depression of the said foot-plate may be increased or decreased to suit requirements and whereby also the normal elevation of the toe portion of the said foot-plate may be varied.

One of the principal applications of the said device is to an accelerator rod 22 as shown in Figure 6, whereby the resistance of the spring member 17 tends to prevent undesired pressure being exerted on the said accelerator rod, particularly due to vibration of the car, and a more even control of the automobile is thereby secured.

In Figure 7 the application of the device to a clutch pedal 3 is illustrated, the free end of the said clutch pedal bein-,e` provided.

with a pin ist which works in the slotI 25 of a slotted projection 26 on the underside of the toe portion of the pedal.

in this case the tendency which many drivers often experience to unconsciously press down the clutch pedal while driving and thereby more or less close the clutch and wear or burn the lining thereof is almost completely overcome, the advantages of resting the foot being also maintained as in connection with the application of the pedal to the operation of other levers, rods or devices.

In Figure 5 a substitute for the adjustable bolt 1S is indicated wherein a bolt 27 is illustrated having adjusting nuts 28 and Q9, the bolt supporting a resilient button comprising a piston member SO slidably housed in a hollow cylindrical casing 31 which encloscs a compression spring 32, the upper surface of the said casing being denied to reduce the area of contact with the underside of the foot-plate. This spring 32 may either act in an auxiliary capacity to the member 17, or the member 17 in this case may be more or less rigid and the spring 32 forni the sole or main yielding means for the said footplate as will be readily under-stood, but in the illustrated device Figure 5, the resiliency is mainly attained by the fact that the casing is in the form of an air enclosing dash pot.

It will be seen that the described arrangement includes a combination foot-plate,

bracket and spring, wherein the foot-plate is adjustable for various heights of levers, rods or devices to which it is to be applied, and is subjected to spring tension to resist the el'lects of vibration and acts as a stabilizer to the device. In other words, the device comprises a resiliently mounted foot rest peculiarly adapted to the control of foot levers or similar devices in automobiles.

This invention may be developed within the scope of the following claims wit-hout departing from the essential features of the said invention, and it is desired that the specification and drawing be read as being merely illustrative and not in a limiting sense, except as necessitated by the prior art.

lVhat we claim is 1. A device of the class described, comprising a foot-plate, a support hingedly secured to the rear part of said plate, stabilizing means yieldingly bearing on the underside of said plate forward of said support, and adjustable means varying the resilient elevation of said stabilizing means on said foot plate.

2. A device of the class described coinprising a foot-plate, a support hingedly secured thereto, and vertically adjustable stabilizing means carried by said support and yieldingly bearing on the underside of said foot-plate forward thereof.

253. lu combination with the foot lever of an automobile, a resiliently mounted foot rest operably engaging said lever, and adjustable meansl regulating the normal eleva tion of said foot rest.

4T. In Combination with the foot lever of an automobile, a resiliently mounted ioot rest, a support attaoliable to the foot-board of sueh automobile mounting said rest operably engaging said lever, and adjustable means Varying the elevation of the lever engaging end of said foot rest.

5. In a device of the class described, a toot plat-e7 and means hlngedly and resiliently supporting said foot plate, said means comprising a single metallic member having its rear end bent upwardly to liingedly engage tlie heel portion of said foot plate, its intermediate portion being adapted to be secured to the foot board of an automobile and its forward end extended upwardly and forwardly to form a resilient support for the forward part of said foot plate, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures.-

OLIVER E.' BARTI-IEL. JOHN W. MCCREA.

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