Claims
- 1. A pedal, suitable for a vehicle, comprising:a pedal arm, a pedal plate mounted to the pedal arm, a restoring-spring element, and a friction damper including a friction body and a friction surface; wherein the pedal arm is pivotable about a pivot axis and is deflectable by the pedal plate, by foot force, and is pivotable back into an initial position by the restoring-spring element; the friction damper is for damping movement of the pedal arm, the friction body being connected to a lever arm of the pedal arm and being prestressed against the friction surface by the restoring-spring element; wherein the friction body is arranged eccentrically with respect to the pivot axis; and the pedal further comprises a second lever pivotably mounted at one end and having said friction surface on one side, wherein said restoring-spring element is a compression spring which engages said second lever on an other side of the second lever spaced from said one end, and presses said friction surface against said friction body.
- 2. The pedal as claimed in claim 1, wherein the friction body comprises an eccentric cam.
- 3. The pedal as claimed in claim 1, wherein the restoring-spring element has a progressive spring characteristic.
- 4. The pedal as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second lever and the pedal respectively are pivotal about spaced apart pivot points.
- 5. The pedal as claimed in claim 1, wherein said restoring-spring element has an axis parallel to an imaginary line joining said pivot points.
- 6. A pedal, suitable for a vehicle, comprising:a pedal arm, a pedal plate mounted to the pedal arm, a restoring-spring element, and a friction damper including a friction body and a friction surface; wherein the pedal arm is pivotable about a pivot axis and is deflectable by the pedal plate, by foot force, and is pivotable back into an initial position by the restoring-spring element; the friction damper is for damping movement of the pedal arm, the friction body being connected to a lever arm of the pedal arm and being prestressed against the friction surface by the restoring-spring element; wherein the friction body is arranged eccentrically with respect to the pivot axis; and the pedal further comprises a second lever pivotably mounted at one end and having said friction surface on one side, wherein said restoring-spring element is a compression spring which engages a free end of said second lever on an other side of the second lever, and presses said friction surface against said friction body; and wherein said friction surface is on the free end of said second lever.
- 7. The pedal as claimed in claim 6, wherein the second lever and the pedal respectively are pivotal about spaced apart pivot points.
- 8. The pedal as claimed in claim 6, wherein said restoring-spring element has an axis parallel to an imaginary line joining said pivot points.
Priority Claims (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
197 55 980 |
Dec 1997 |
DE |
|
RELATED APPLICATION
This application is a division of our application Ser. No. 09/710,577 filed Nov. 9, 2000, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,336,377 issued on Jan. 8, 2002, which in turn is a divisional application of our application Ser. No. 09/212,910 filed Dec. 16, 1998 (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,250,176 which issued Jun. 26, 2001, the contents of which are incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
US Referenced Citations (5)
Foreign Referenced Citations (5)
Number |
Date |
Country |
8915641 |
Jan 1991 |
DE |
4321517 |
Jan 1995 |
DE |
4426549 |
Feb 1996 |
DE |
19517172 |
Nov 1996 |
DE |
29700862 |
Apr 1997 |
DE |