Claims
- 1. A kickdown mechanism for a pedal providing a tactile feedback to a foot of a user comprising:a) a case; b) a plunger having a recess and a first and second end, the first end disposed within the case, the second end extending from the case; c) a first spring biasing the plunger outwardly from the case; d) a rod retained by the case; and e) a second spring biasing the rod into the recess such that the pedal, when depressed, urges the plunger from a first position in which the rod is located in the recess to a second position in which the rod is located outside the recess.
- 2. The kickdown mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the case has a pair of slots in which the rod is retained, the slots allowing the rod to travel in and out of the recess.
- 3. The kickdown mechanism according to claim 2, wherein the mechanism is mounted in a pedal housing.
- 4. A kickdown mechanism for a pedal providing a tactile feedback to a foot of a user comprising:a) a case; b) a plunger having a recess, the plunger engagable by movement of the pedal so as to cause the plunger to travel linearly; c) a friction generating assembly retained by the case and engagable with the plunger, so as to provide a tactile feedback to the user, the friction generating assembly including: c1) the plunger having a first and second end, the first end disposed within the case, the second end extending from the case; c2) a first spring biasing the plunger outwardly from the case c3) a rod retained by the case; and c4) a second spring biasing the rod into the recess such that the pedal, when depressed, urges the plunger from a first position in which the rod is located in the recess to a second position in which the rod is located outside the recess.
- 5. The kickdown mechanism according to claim 4, wherein the case has a pair of slots in which the rod is retained, the slots allowing the rod to travel in and out of the recess.
- 6. The kickdown mechanism according to claim 4, wherein the mechanism is mounted in a pedal housing.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED AND CO-PENDING APPLICATIONS
This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/677,311, filed 09/29/2000 and entitled, “Electronic Accelerator Pedal having a Kickdown Feature”, the contents of which are herein incorporated by reference.
US Referenced Citations (9)
Foreign Referenced Citations (3)
Number |
Date |
Country |
0748713 |
Dec 1996 |
EP |
0670235 |
Aug 1997 |
EP |
0926581 |
Jun 1999 |
EP |