The present application claims benefit of the filing date of Japanese Patent Application No. 2009-146734 filed on Jun. 19, 2009 which is incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pedal device which is provided in a vehicle.
2. Description of Related Art
For example, a pedal (an organ pedal) whose fulcrum is on a floor side of a vehicle body may be used as an accelerator pedal of a vehicle. JP 2004-106776 A discloses an accelerator pedal in which a pad member is fixed to a stopper member by a snap-fit mechanism by which a nail member including a nail provided on a resinous pad member is engaged with the stopper member on a vehicle body side at the time of mounting.
According to the technique disclosed in JP 2004-106776 A, the nail is engaged with the stopper member by the snap-fit mechanism which elastically deforms a supporting plate which connects the nail to the resinous pad member. Therefore, the supporting plate should be formed to be thin so that it can be elastically deformed enough.
Also, because the nail is engaged with the stopper member by elastically deformed supporting plate, an amount of deformation of the supporting plate increases when the nail is large. Therefore, the nail should be made to be small so as to suppress the amount of deformation of the supporting plate.
Therefore, there arises a problem that the accelerator pedal tends to be degraded over the years because the strength of the nail member including the supporting plate and the nail decreases.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a pedal device in which the pad member can be fixed to the stopper member easily at the time of mounting, and which does not tend to be degraded over the years.
In order to solve the above problem, the present invention provides a pedal device including: a stopper member attached to a floor of a driver's seat of a vehicle; and a pad member which is fitted into the stopper member and has a pad to receives a depression force exerted by a driver. Also, the pad member includes a pad-side fitting section on which an engagement nail which can be elastically deformed and a fitting nail whose stiffness is higher than that of the engagement nail are formed; and a hinge section to connect the pad to the pad-side fitting section, in which the stopper member has a stopper-side fitting section including an engagement section with which the engagement nail is engaged, and an insertion section into which the fitting nail is inserted, and the fitting nail is formed at a location which is opposite to the hinge section.
According to the present invention, the pedal device, in which the fitting nail to be inserted into the insertion section of the stopper member is provided at the pad-side fitting section to which the pad receiving the depression force exerted by the driver is connected via the hinge section, can be provided. Also, the fitting nail is formed at the location which is opposite to the hinge section.
The fitting nail is configured to have a stiffness which is higher than that of the engagement nail formed at the pad-side fitting section, and can receive a load applied to the pad-side fitting section via the hinge section. Therefore, the pad member is made to enhance its strength to the load, thereby resulting in the pad member which does not tend to be degraded over the years.
Also, the fitting nail of the pad-side fitting section is inserted into the insertion section of the stopper-side fitting section, the engagement nail of the pad-side fitting section is engaged with the engagement section of the stopper-side fitting section, and the pad member is fixed to the stopper member by the snap-fit mechanism.
Also, the pedal device according to the present invention further includes a bracket which is fixed to the floor, and to which the stopper member is attached, and the bracket is provided with a supporting section to support at least one of the engagement nail which is engaged with the engagement section and the engagement section from the floor side.
According to the present invention, when the engagement nail of the pad member is engaged with the engagement section of the stopper member, at least one of the engagement nail and the engagement section can be supported by the supporting section provided on the bracket from the floor side. Therefore, the engagement nail of the pad member can be prevented from being bent in a direction departing from the engagement section of the stopper member, thereby being prevented from coming off the engagement section of the stopper member.
Also, the engagement section of the stopper member can be prevented from being bent, thereby preventing the engagement nail of the pad member from coming off the engagement section of the stopper member.
Also, even if a load is applied to the stopper member in a direction towards the floor, the stopper member can be prevented from being operated towards the floor side.
Hereinafter, referring to
As shown in
A fulcrum 2a is formed at the side of the floor 100 of the pad 20, and the pad 20 is turned around the fulcrum 2a in response to the depression force exerted by a driver from a upright condition to a reclined condition relative to the floor 100. That is, the pad 20 is reclinable relative to the floor 100. Also, an arm 1a to drive a throttle valve (not shown) is attached to a tip 2b (an end opposite to the fulcrum 2a) of the pad 20.
The arm 1a is provided with a biasing unit (not shown), and is biased in a direction in which the pad 20 is made to be upright relative to the floor 100. According to this structure, the pad 20 is supported to be upright relative to the floor 100 when the driver does not depress the pad 20.
In addition, a contact section 3c is formed on the stopper bracket 3 by affixing an elastic body at a location to which the reclined pad 20 is touched.
When the driver depresses the pad 20 by applying the depression force to the depressed surface 20a of the pad 20, the arm 1a increases an opening degree of the throttle valve (not shown) so that a revolution speed of an engine (not shown) is increased.
When the driver stops depressing the pad 20 and releases the pad 20, the opening degree of the throttle valve (not shown) is decreased by a force from the biasing unit (not shown) of the arm 1a, the revolution speed of the engine (not shown) is decreased, and the pad 20 is made to be upright relative to the floor 100.
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
Therefore, the hinge section 22 connects the pad 20 to the pad-side fitting section 21 integrally.
In addition, the pad 20 may be fixed to the hinge section 22 by adhesion or welding.
Also, the pad 20 has the depressed surface 20a to be depressed by the driver. The depressed surface 20a is oriented toward rear of the vehicle so as to face the driver.
Also, a back surface 20b of the pad 20 is opposite to the depressed surface 20a. The back surface 20b is oriented toward front of the vehicle.
For example, the hinge section 22 is a thin plate member, and extends from the top face 21a of the pad-side fitting section 21 upward so that a surface of the hinge section 22 is oriented to the same direction of that of the depressed surface 20a of the pad 20. A connecting section between the hinge section 22 and the pad-side fitting section 21 is thinned locally so as to form a resinous hinge. The hinge section 22 is configured to be reclined toward front of the vehicle from the upright condition (i.e., reclinable) relative to the pad-side fitting section 21 so that the depressed surface 20a is oriented to the driver. Also, the fulcrum 2a of the pad 20 is formed by the resinous hinge.
In the pad member 2 configured as above, the hinge section 22 is provided on the top face 21a of the pad-side fitting section 21. In addition, for example, the hinge section 22 may be attached to the pad-side fitting section 21 by a hinge structure whose rotation axis is a pin (not shown).
As shown in
Also, a fitting nail 24 to fit into the stopper bracket 3 (see
The fitting nail 24 projects from an end of the pad-side fitting section 21 toward rear of the vehicle, and is formed on the bottom face 21b of the pad-side fitting section 21 on which the hinge section 22 is formed along the end of the pad-side fitting section 21.
For example, the fitting nail 24 is formed by making a portion which is opposite to the hinge section 22 of the bottom face 21b to be thick so as to improve a stiffness, and by making the thick portion to project toward rear of the vehicle.
Therefore, the pad-side fitting section 21 has a portion of high stiffness because the hinge section 22 is formed at the portion and the portion is made to be thick toward the bottom face 21b.
Also, on the fitting nail 24, a sloped section 24a which slopes toward the pad-side fitting section 21 upward is formed at a portion which projects toward rear of the vehicle.
Further, at a vehicle front side of the pad-side fitting section 21, an engagement nail 23 is formed.
The engagement nail 23 includes a supporting plate 23a which is formed at a front end of the pad-side fitting section 21 so that it extends from the bottom face 21b downward in a vertical direction, and an engagement projection 23b which projects from a lower end of the supporting plate 23a forward. The engagement projection 23b slopes toward the pad-side fitting section 21 upward. Also, the supporting plate 23a is formed to be deformed elastically by elasticity of the resinous pad-side fitting section 21.
In addition, the engagement nail 23 is formed corresponding to a location of a described later engagement section 33 (see
Also, it is desirable that the fitting nail 24 is formed to have higher stiffness than that of the supporting plate 23a of the engagement nail 23.
Next, a configuration of the stopper bracket 3 according to this embodiment will be explained.
As shown in
The stopper bracket 3 has a stopper-side fitting section 31 at which the pad 20 is located (see
The insertion section 32 is formed by bending an end of the stopper-side fitting section 31 downward so that a side shape of the stopper-side fitting section 31 is approximately the same as that of the fitting nail 24 of the pad member 2 (see
In addition, a front side of the insertion section 32 is opened.
Also, at a peripheral portion on a front side of the through hole 3b, at least one engagement section 33 with which the engagement nail 23 of the pad member 2 (see
The engagement section 33 is configured by making an engagement hole 33b on the supporting plate 33a extending from the peripheral portion of the through hole 3b below the stopper-side fitting section 31. The engagement hole 33b is made so that the engagement projection 23b of the engagement nail 23 (see
A procedure by which a worker who assembles the pedal device 1 (see
As shown in
At this time, because the sloped section 24a is formed at the fitting nail 24, the stopper bracket 3 does not interfere with the fitting nail 24. Therefore, the pad member 2 is tilted so that the engagement nail 23 is below the stopper bracket 3.
Next, the worker rotates the pad member 2 about the fitting nail 24 which serves as a fulcrum in the direction of the arrow by raising the engagement nail 23.
The supporting plate 23a of the engagement nail 23 is deformed elastically by the supporting plate 33a of the engagement section 33. As shown in
As described above, the pad-side fitting section 21 is fitted into the through hole 3b, the fitting nail 24 is inserted into the insertion section 32, the engagement nail 23 is engaged with the engagement section 33, and the pad member 2 is fitted into the stopper bracket 3.
At this time, a juncture between the pad member 2 and the stopper bracket 3 may be fixed by an adhesive. According to this structure, the pad member 2 can be surely suppressed to be tottering.
The fitting nail 24 is inserted into the insertion section 32, the engagement nail 23 is engaged with the engagement section 33, and the pad member 2 is fixed to the stopper bracket 3 by the snap-fit mechanism. Therefore, an adhesive strength of the adhesive may be low as long as the pad member 2 and the stopper bracket 3 are suppressed to be tottering.
When the driver depresses the pad 20, a load is applied to the pad-side fitting section 21 of the pad member 2 from the fulcrum 2a downward.
As shown in
Also, because the fitting nail 24 is inserted into the insertion section 32 of the stopper bracket 3, the fitting nail 24 of the pad member 2 fitted into the stopper bracket 3 obtains the same effect as that of being reinforced with the insertion section 32 so as to have higher strength. Therefore, in the pedal device 1 (see
Also, the pad member 2 can receives the load applied from the fulcrum 2a by the thick fitting nail 24, and the engagement nail 23 whose stiffness is lower than that of the fitting nail 24 can be prevented from receiving a large load.
Therefore, the engagement nail 23 whose stiffness is lower than that of the fitting nail 24 can be suppressed to be degraded over the years. As a result, the pedal device 1 (see
As described above, the stopper bracket 3 into which the pad member 2 is fitted is attached to the floor 100 (see
As shown in
For example, the mounting bracket 4 is formed by pressing a sheet metal, is fixed to the floor 100 by a plurality of bolts B2, and has a plurality of bolt holes 4a into which a plurality of bolts B1 are screwed so as to attach the stopper bracket 3.
The stopper bracket 3 has a plurality of fixing holes 3a, and the plurality of bolts B1 are screwed into the plurality of bolt holes 4a of the mounting bracket 4 through the fixing holes 3a so as to attach the stopper bracket 3 to the mounting bracket 4.
Also, the mounting bracket 4 is provided with a pad supporting section 4b which serves as a supporting section to support the stopper bracket 3, into which the pad member 2 is fitted, from the side of the floor 100.
Specifically, as shown in
In addition, a floor carpet FC to be laid on the floor 100 may be sandwiched between the mounting bracket 4 and the stopper bracket 3.
As shown in
If the engagement nail 23 or the engagement section 33 is bent with the engagement nail 23 of the pad-side fitting section 21 being engaged with the engagement section 33 of the stopper-side fitting section 31, the engagement nail 23 may possibly come off the engagement section 33. However, by supporting at least one of the engagement nail 23 and the engagement section 33 from the side of the floor 100 with the pad supporting section 4b, the engagement nail 23 and the engagement section 33 can be suppressed to be bent, and the engagement nail 23 is effectively prevented from coming off the engagement section 33.
Also, when the driver depresses the pad 20, a load is applied to the pad member 2 downward (i.e., toward the floor 100), the pad member 2 is moved to the side of the floor 100, and the driver may feel uncomfortable that the pad 20 sinks.
By supporting at least one of the engagement nail 23 and the engagement section 33 from the side of the floor 100 with the pad supporting section 4b with the engagement section 33 of the stopper-side fitting section 31 being engaged with the engagement nail 23 of the pad-side fitting section 21, the pad member 2 can be prevented from moving to the side of the floor 100. As a result, the uncomfortable feeling of the driver can be reduced.
Also, as shown in
When constructed as described above, as shown in
Further, for example, if a locking wall 3d to surround the pad-side fitting section 21 is provided under the stopper-side fitting section 31 of the stopper bracket 3, the pad member 2 can be effectively suppressed to be tottering.
Also, as shown in
As shown in
When the L-shape of the mounting nail 34 sandwiches the mounting bracket 4, the stopper bracket 3 is surely fixed to the mounting bracket 4.
Also, the mounting nail 34 facilitates positioning of the stopper bracket 3 at the time of attaching the stopper bracket 3 to the mounting bracket 4, and the worker can easily position a plurality of fixing holes 3a (see
Therefore, the worker can easily attach the stopper bracket 3 to the mounting bracket 4.
From the above, as shown in
On the bottom face 21b of the pad-side fitting section 21 of the pad member 2, the thick fitting nail 24 having high stiffness is located at a location opposite to the pad 20, and the fitting nail 24 is inserted into the insertion section 32 (see
According to this structure, when the driver depresses the pad 20, the thick fitting nail 24 whose stiffness is higher than that of the engagement nail 23 can receive the load applied to the pad member 2 downward. As a result, the pedal device 1 which does not tend to be degraded over the years can be obtained.
Also, the engagement nail 23 (see
Further, as shown in
Also, as shown in
According to this structure, the worker can easily fit the pad member 2 into the stopper bracket 3, and further can attach the stopper bracket 3 to the mounting bracket 4 by the plurality of bolts B1 as shown in
Also, the worker can easily remove the stopper bracket 3 fitted into the pad member 2 from the mounting bracket 4 by removing the plurality of bolts B1, and further can easily remove the pad member 2 fixed to the stopper bracket 3 by the snap-fit mechanism from the stopper bracket 3.
As described above, as shown in
Also, the fitting nail 24 having high stiffness can receive the load which is applied via the pad 20 (see
Therefore, the pad member 2 can easily be attached to the stopper bracket 3, and the pedal device 1 which does not tend to be degraded over the years can be obtained.
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