This application claims priority from Korean Patent Application No. 10-2008-0022127 filed on Mar. 10, 2008 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an adjustable pedal system, and more particularly, to a pedal system which can be adjusted according to a driver's body condition.
2. Description of the Related Art
For several decades, automobile producers and designers have taken interest in ergonomic aspects of automobiles to accommodate drivers of different body sizes. In an effort to accommodate drivers of different sizes, they have designed automobile controllers (such as a steering wheel) to be adjustable. In addition, they have recognized that all vehicle controllers operated by drivers are very important in terms of ergonomics and safety.
Control pedals are typically provided in a vehicle and foot-operated by the driver. Separate control pedals are provided for operating brakes and an accelerator. When the vehicle has a manual transmission, a third control pedal is provided for operating a transmission clutch. A front seat of the vehicle is typically mounted on tracks so that the seat is forwardly and rearwardly adjustable along the tracks. However, the technology of moving the front seat along the tracks is not sufficient to accommodate drivers of various sizes. Therefore, a technology which can adjust positions of the control pedals according to drivers of various sizes is required. This technology is called an adjustable pedal system.
Generally, pedal systems include pendent-type pedal systems which are used in passenger cars and floor-mounting-type pedal systems which are used in large vehicles such as buses.
In a floor-mounting-type pedal system, in particular, a rail is often installed at a lower end of a pedal to control the position of the pedal. Thus, a large space is required for the pedal system in a vehicle. In addition, since separate operating structures are needed for a brake pedal and an accelerator pedal, the structure of the pedal system becomes complicated, and the cost of the pedal system is increased.
Aspects of the present invention provide a simple-structured, adjustable pedal system which can optimize the layout of the space inside a vehicle and thus increase the utilization of the lower space inside the vehicle.
However, aspects of the present invention are not restricted to the one set forth herein. The above and other aspects of the present invention will become more apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention pertains by referencing the detailed description of the present invention given below.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an adjustable pedal system including: a support bracket having a predetermined hole and a guide groove which are substantially perpendicular; a driving part including a driving arm which can make a substantially vertical motion along the guide groove and provides a driving force to the driving arm; a control arm including a hinge hole which is coupled to the driving arm by a first pin and a sliding slot which is coupled to the predetermined hole by a second pin and formed oblique to the guide groove; and a pedal arm having a pedal at one end thereof and being connected to the control arm at other end thereof, the control arm slides obliquely along the sliding slot according to the working of the driving arm when moves vertically along the guide groove and thus this causes a position of each of the control arm and the pedal arm to be changed.
The above and other aspects and features of the present invention will become more apparent by describing in detail exemplary embodiments thereof with reference to the attached drawings, in which:
Advantages and features of the present invention and methods of accomplishing the same may be understood more readily by reference to the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments and the accompanying drawings. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete and will fully convey the concept of the invention to those skilled in the art, and the present invention will only be defined by the appended claims. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout the specification.
In some embodiments, well-known processing processes, well-known structures and well-known technologies will not be specifically described in order to avoid ambiguous interpretation of the present invention.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated components, steps, operations, and/or elements, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other components, steps, operations, elements, and/or groups thereof. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.
Embodiments of the invention are described herein with reference to cross-section illustrations that are schematic illustrations of idealized embodiments of the invention. As such, variations from the shapes of the illustrations as a result, for example, of manufacturing techniques and/or tolerances, are to be expected. Thus, embodiments of the invention should not be construed as limited to the particular shapes of regions illustrated herein but are to include deviations in shapes that result, for example, from manufacturing. For ease of description, components illustrated in the drawings of the present invention may have been somewhat enlarged or reduced. Throughout the specification, like reference numerals in the drawings denote like elements.
Hereinafter, an adjustable pedal system according to embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings.
The adjustable pedal system 100 according to the present embodiment may include a driving part 10, a brake pedal arm 20, a first support bracket 30, an accelerator pedal arm 40, a control arm 50, a second support bracket 60, and a main bracket 70. In the drawings, the adjustable pedal system 100 includes two control pedals, that is, a brake pedal 22 and an accelerator pedal 41. However, it is obvious to those skilled in the art that a transmission clutch pedal can be added as a third control pedal.
The brake pedal arm 20 may have the brake pedal 22 at an end thereof and a hinge hole 23 in the other end thereof. Inside the first support bracket 30, the hinge hole 23 formed in the brake pedal arm 20 may be coupled to assembly holes 15a, which are formed in a driving arm 16a, by a first pin 34. Therefore, the brake pedal arm 20 can rotate around the hinge hole 23, that is, the first pin 34, within a predetermined range with respect to the driving arm 16a.
A sliding slot 21 may be formed in the brake pedal arm 20. Therefore, when receiving a vertical driving force from the driving part 10, the brake pedal arm 20 may make a linear motion along the sliding slot 21.
As shown in
A guide groove 31 to be substantially perpendicular and a hole 32 may be formed in the first support bracket 30. Therefore, the driving arm 16a coupled to the brake pedal arm 20 by the first pin 34 can make an upward or downward linear motion along the guide groove 31 of the first support bracket 30. That is, if a jackscrew 19a of the driving part 10 makes a downward linear motion, its downward linear motion is delivered to the driving arm 16a, thereby causing the hinge hole 23 to move downward.
By inserting a second pin 33 in the hole 32 formed in the first support bracket 30 to correspond to the sliding slot 21, the brake pedal arm 20 may be connected to the first support bracket 30. Unlike the first pin 34, the second pin 33 can rotate according to the motion of the sliding slot 21 within a predetermined range, which will be described in detail later with reference to
Referring to
If a sliding slot for rotating a pedal arm are not provided in either of the first support brackets 30, inner and outer portions of the first support brackets 30 can be efficiently sealed and thus relatively free from external impurities such as particles.
The first support bracket 30 may be coupled to the main bracket 70 to be rotatable at a predetermined angle with respect to the main bracket 70. To this end, a hinge hole 35 formed in the first support bracket 30 may be coupled to the main bracket 70 by a coupling pin 71. When a driver steps on the brake pedal 22, the first support bracket 30 can be rotated around the coupling pin 71 by a predetermined angle.
Referring to
Referring to
Since the brake pedal arm 20 is a rigid body, a distance between the hinge hole 23 and a position in the sliding slot 21 and an angle θ formed by the sliding slot 21 and brake pedal arm 20 remain unchanged.
When the hinge hole 23 is at its highest position, the square axis portion 33b of the second pin 33 is located at a front end of the sliding slot 21. Here, a distance between the hinge hole 23 and the center of the square axis portion 33b is indicated by “l.” When the hinge hole 23 is lowered to its lowest position by a distance “d,” the position of the sliding slot 21, that is, the position of the brake pedal arm 20 may be obtained by finding an intersecting point of a circle with a radius of l from the center of the hinge hole 23 at its lowest position and a circle with a radius of “r” (the length of the sliding slot 21 minus the width of the square axis portion 33b) from the center of the square axis portion 33b. In this case, the intersecting point may be the most front position in the sliding slot 21 at which the center of the square axis portion 33b can be located. It can be seen from
As is apparent from the example of
Meanwhile, the above motion of the brake pedal arm 20 may also apply to that of the accelerator pedal arm 40 which will be described later.
On the whole, the accelerator pedal arm 40 may have a similar structure to the brake pedal arm 20. However, the accelerator pedal arm 40 is not directly connected to the second support bracket 60. Instead, the accelerator pedal arm 40 may be indirectly connected to the second support bracket 60 by the control arm 50. The control arm 50 may substantially be “L”-shaped. However, since a middle portion of the control arm 50 is inclined at a predetermined angle, no rear space is required.
Referring to
The accelerator pedal 41 is substantially shaped like a rectangular plate. A film-type hinge part 43 may be formed at a lower end of the accelerator pedal 41 so that a driver can control the accelerator pedal 41 with his or her tiptoes while resting his or her heel on the floor of a vehicle. In addition, another hinge part 53 may be formed at a lower end of the control arm 50 to correspond to the hinge part 43. Therefore, according to the driver's operation, the accelerator pedal 41 may rotate at an angle around the lower end of the accelerator pedal 41. Here, a connector, which connects the accelerator pedal 41 to the control arm 50, may be shaped like small cymbals such that it can absorb a certain degree of deviation resulting from the driver's operation. However, the shape of the connector is not limited to the above example and can be changed by those skilled in the art.
Inside the second support bracket 60, the hinge hole 52 formed in the control arm 50 may be coupled to assembly holes 15b, which are formed in a driving arm 16b, by a third pin 64. Therefore, the control arm 50 can rotate around the hinge hole 52, that is, the third pin 64, within a predetermined range with respect to the driving arm 16b.
A sliding slot 51 may be formed in the control arm 50. Therefore, when receiving a vertical driving force from the driving part 10, the control arm 50 may make a linear motion along the sliding slot 51.
As shown in
A guide groove 61 to be substantially perpendicular and a hole 62 may be formed in the second support bracket 60. Therefore, the driving arm 16b coupled to the control arm 50 by the third pin 64 can make an upward or downward linear motion along the guide groove 61 of the second support bracket 60. That is, if a jackscrew 19b of the driving part 10 makes a downward linear motion, its downward linear motion is delivered to the driving arm 16b, thereby causing the hinge hole 52 to move downward.
By inserting a forth pin 63 in hole 62 formed in the second support bracket 60 to correspond to the sliding slot 51, the control arm 50 may be fixed to the second support bracket 60. Unlike the third pin 64, the fourth pin 63 can rotate according to the motion of the sliding slot 51 within a predetermined range. The structure of the fourth pin 63 may be identical to that of the second pin 33 described above with reference to
Referring to
A speed controller 42 may be installed at the end of the accelerator pedal arm 40 which is connected to the control arm 50. In this case, the accelerator pedal arm 40 may be connected to the control arm 50 by the speed controller 42. When a driver operates the accelerator pedal 41, the speed controller 42 measures the quantity of motion or rotation of the accelerator pedal arm 40. Based on the measurement results, the speed controller 42 adjusts the amounts of fuel and air supplied to an engine, thereby controlling the rotation of the engine. In this way, the speed controller 42 controls the speed of the vehicle. The speed controller 42 may include a sensor (not shown) which measures the quantity of motion or rotation of the accelerator pedal arm 40.
Referring to
In a conventional floor-mounting-type pedal system used in large vehicles such as buses, a rail is often installed at a lower end of a pedal to control the position of the pedal. Thus, a large space is required for the pedal system in a vehicle. In addition, since separate operating structures are needed for a brake pedal and an accelerator pedal, the structure of the pedal system becomes complicated, and the cost of the pedal system is increased.
However, in the adjustable pedal system 100 according to the present embodiment, the accelerator pedal arm 40 is coupled to the control arm 50 while an upper end of the accelerator pedal 41 is connected to the accelerator pedal arm 40 and the lower end of the accelerator pedal 41 is connected to the control arm 50. Accordingly, the position of the accelerator pedal 41 can be controlled in the same way that the position of the pedal in the floor-mounting-type pedal system is controlled, without installing a rail at the lower end of the accelerator pedal 41. Consequently, the space inside a vehicle can be efficiently used, and the appearance of the interior of the vehicle can be improved. Moreover, since the adjustable pedal system 100 can have an integrated structure for the brake pedal 22 and the accelerator pedal 41, its structure can be simplified, resulting in a reduction in the cost of the adjustable pedal system 100.
Referring to
If the driving part 10 structured as shown in
Referring to
The rotary motion of the rotation motor 11 is delivered to the first and second worm gears 17a and 17b which engage with first and second pinion gears 18a and 18b, respectively. Here, a gear ratio of a worm gear and a pinion gear may determine a rotation ratio of the worm gear and the pinion gear. Taps 18a-1 and 18b-1 may be formed in the centers of the first and second pinion gears 18a and 18b and coupled to the screws, respectively.
Referring to
In the example of
As described above, in the adjustable pedal system 100 according to the present embodiment, the driving arms 16a and 16b can be moved using the single rotation motor 11. Thus, the inconvenience of having to control a plurality of control pedals individually can be reduced, and the control pedals can be controlled in connection with each other. That is, if a driver selects a desired position of the brake pedal 22, the accelerator pedal 41 can also be adjusted accordingly. This is because the structure of the adjustable pedal system 100 shown in
This structure allows a distance and an angle, by which the brake pedal 22 is moved and rotated, to be adjusted differently from a distance and an angle, by which the accelerator pedal 41 is moved and rotated, by using the driving arms 16a and 16b. For example, if the position of a brake considerably varies from driver to driver while that of an accelerator varies relatively less considerably, a rotation ratio of the first worm gear 17a and the first pinion gear 18a may be set different from a rotation ratio of the second worm gear 17b and the second pinion gear 18b in
The adjustable pedal system 100 according to the present embodiment may further include an electronic circuit (not shown) which is programmed in advance and remembers a setting for a control pedal according to a driver's choice. The electronic circuit may be provided by a location transducer such as a voltage divider or an encoder. This memory option may be a computer module which is integrated into the rotation motor 11 or separated from the rotation motor 11. The electronic circuit may sense the position of a control pedal or a pedal arm and transmit the sensed position to the computer module in the form of a signal.
The brake pedal 22 and the accelerator pedal 41 have been described above as examples of the control pedals. However, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that the above structure can also apply to the transmission clutch pedal. Representative vehicles to which the adjustable pedal system 100 according to the present embodiment can be applied may be automobiles. However, the application of the present invention is not limited to automobiles. That is, the adjustable pedal system 100 can be used in various forms of vehicles such as trucks and airplanes.
An adjustable pedal system according to the present invention provides at least one of the following advantages.
First, the position of a pedal can be controlled in the same way that the position of a pedal in a floor-mounting-type pedal system is controlled, without installing a rail at a lower end of the pedal. Consequently, the space inside a vehicle can be efficiently used, and the appearance of the interior of the vehicle can be improved.
Second, since no slot is formed to penetrate a support bracket, an enclosed space is formed within the support bracket. Thus, problems caused by the introduction of foreign matter into the support bracket can be solved.
Third, the adjustable pedal system according to the present invention has a simpler structure and can be made smaller than the conventional adjustable pedal system. Hence, the cost of the adjustable pedal system according to the present invention can be reduced.
However, the effects of the present invention are not restricted to the one set forth herein. The above and other effects of the present invention will become more apparent to one of daily skill in the art to which the present invention pertains by referencing the claims.
While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the following claims. The exemplary embodiments should be considered in a descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation. Therefore, the scope of the invention is defined not by the detailed description of the invention but by the appended claims, and all differences within the scope will be construed as being included in the present invention.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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10-2008-0022127 | Mar 2008 | KR | national |