Accelerator device

Abstract

An accelerator device (10) is provided with a pedal pad (20) which is depressed by a driver, a pedal (40) which is turned to an accelerator opening direction by a depression force of the pedal pad (20), an arm (50) which links the pedal pad (20) and the pedal (40), and a force applying member (60) which applies a force to the pedal (40) in an accelerator closing direction. An end portion (51) of the arm (50) is embedded in a linking portion (22) of the pedal pad (20) by press-fitting. The pedal pad (20) has play removing portions (71, 72, 73, 74) which bring the end portion (51) and the linking portion (22) into abutment and eliminate play in a press-fitting direction of the end portion (51) and the linking portion (22).

Description

[0001] Cross-references to related applications

[0002] This application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2020-192456, filed on November 19, 2020, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0003] This disclosure relates to accelerator devices. Background Technology

[0004] Patent Document 1 discloses an accelerator device. This accelerator device is installed on the floor near the feet of the driver sitting in the vehicle cabin, and uses an arm to connect the pedal inside the housing to the foot pad outside the housing to detect the amount of pressure applied by the driver to the foot pad.

[0005] Existing technical documents

[0006] Patent documents

[0007] Patent Document 1: Chinese Utility Model No. 201511825 Specification Summary of the Invention

[0008] In Patent Document 1, the protrusion of the arm is pressed into the connecting part of the pedal, thereby assembling the pedal and the arm together. However, because a gap in the pressing direction needs to be set between the protrusion and the anti-detachment part of the connecting part in the design, a play will be generated between the protrusion and the connecting part after pressing. If this play exists, when the driver switches the pedal operation between "pedaling" and "returning", the contact point between the protrusion and the connecting part will change, thus causing abnormal noise. The object of this disclosure is to provide an accelerator device that suppresses the generation of abnormal noise.

[0009] The accelerator device disclosed herein includes: a housing disposed on a floor; a foot pad disposed outside the housing for the driver to step on; a pedal disposed inside the housing and rotated in the accelerator opening direction by the stepping force of the foot pad; an arm connecting the foot pad and the pedal; and a force-applying member that applies force to the pedal in the accelerator closing direction.

[0010] One end of the arm is pressed into the connecting part of the foot pad. One or both of the arm and the foot pad have a clearance removal part that eliminates clearance in the pressing direction between one end and the connecting part by abutting the connecting part. Accordingly, the connecting part of the foot pad and one end of the arm can be configured to have no clearance. Therefore, abnormal noise caused by clearance during the "stepping" and "returning" operations of switching foot pads is eliminated. Attached Figure Description

[0011] The above-mentioned objects, other objects, features, and advantages of this disclosure will become more apparent from the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings. The drawings are as follows:

[0012] Figure 1 This is a side view of the accelerator device according to the first embodiment.

[0013] Figure 2 yes Figure 1 Sectional view along line II-II;

[0014] Figure 3 It means Figure 1 A 3D view of the assembly process of the footrest and arm;

[0015] Figure 4 It means Figure 1 The cross-sectional view of the footrest and arm during the assembly process is related to... Figure 2 Corresponding diagram;

[0016] Figure 5 This is a cross-sectional view of the connection between the foot and the arm of the accelerator device in the second embodiment, and is related to... Figure 2 Corresponding diagram;

[0017] Figure 6 This is a cross-sectional view of the connection between the foot and the arm of the accelerator device in the third embodiment, and is related to... Figure 2 Corresponding diagram;

[0018] Figure 7 This is a cross-sectional view of the connection between the foot and the arm of the accelerator device in the fourth embodiment, and is related to... Figure 2 Corresponding diagram;

[0019] Figure 8 This is a cross-sectional view of the connection between the foot and arm of the accelerator device in other embodiments, and is related to... Figure 2 Corresponding diagram;

[0020] Figure 9 Is with Figure 8 A cross-sectional view of the connection between the foot and arm of the accelerator device in different embodiments, which is similar to... Figure 2 Corresponding diagram;

[0021] Figure 10 This is a cross-sectional view of the connection between the foot and arm of the accelerator device in a comparative manner. Figure 2 The corresponding diagram. Detailed Implementation

[0022] Hereinafter, several embodiments will be described based on the accompanying drawings. For structures that are substantially the same as those in the embodiments, the same reference numerals will be used and descriptions will be omitted.

[0023] [First Implementation Method]

[0024] like Figure 1As shown, the accelerator device 10 of the first embodiment is installed on the floor panel FP of the vehicle body. Figure 1 In this diagram, the x-axis represents the vehicle's direction of travel, the y-axis represents the vehicle's width, and the z-axis represents the vertical upward direction. Unless otherwise specified, the following description refers to the shape or structure of the accelerator device 10 in its vehicle body mounting configuration. For example, "above" or "upper side" refers to the accelerator device 10 being mounted above or on the upper side of the vehicle body.

[0025] The accelerator device 10 includes a housing 30 mounted on the floor panel FP, a foot pad 20 stepped on by the driver, a pedal 40 that rotates in the accelerator opening direction due to the force applied by the foot pad 20, an arm 50 connecting the foot pad 20 and the pedal 40, and a spring 60 serving as a force-applying component that applies force to the pedal 40 in the accelerator closing direction. Figure 1 The image shows the housing 30 with the cover (not shown) located near the front of the paper removed.

[0026] The foot pad 20 is disposed outside the housing 30 and is rotatably supported at its lower end by the fulcrum 31 of the housing 30. On the side of the foot pad 20, a protective wall 21 is provided to block the gap between the foot pad 20 and the housing 30 in order to prevent the driver's foot from being pinched.

[0027] The pedal 40 and spring 60 are disposed within the housing 30. The pedal 40 is rotatably supported by a support shaft 41 substantially parallel to the y-axis. The spring 60 is clamped between the pedal 40 and the inner wall surface 32 of the housing 30. The housing 30 has a partition wall portion 33 located between the foot pad 20 and the pedal 40. In the partition wall portion 33, there is an opening 34 through which the arm 50 passes, a fully closed limiting member 35 that stops the arm 50 in the fully closed position of the accelerator, and a fully open limiting member 36 that stops the foot pad 20 in the fully open position of the accelerator.

[0028] The arm 50 has a shaft portion 51 located at one end on the side of the foot pad 20 and a locking portion 52 located at the other end on the side of the pedal 40. The shaft portion 51 is assembled to a connecting portion 22 located in the middle of the length direction of the foot pad 20. The locking portion 52 is locked to the front end 42 of the pedal 40.

[0029] The structure in which the foot pad 20 is rotatably supported by the housing 30 on the floor and connected to the pedal 40 via the arm 50 is referred to among those skilled in the art as an "accordion pedal structure". When the foot pad 20 is not being stepped on, the arm 50 abuts against the fully closed limit member 35. In addition, if the foot pad 20 is stepped to the fully open position, the foot pad 20 abuts against the fully open limit member 36.

[0030] like Figure 2 , Figure 3As shown, the shaft portion 51 is integrally provided on the resin arm 50, protruding to both sides in the width direction (i.e., the y-axis direction) of the foot pad 20. The foot pad 20 has a pair of support walls 23 that rotatably support the shaft portion 51. The pair of support walls 23 are integrally provided on the back of the resin foot pad 20, facing each other and sandwiching the shaft portion 51 in the width direction of the foot pad 20. The support walls 23 protrude from the plate-shaped base 24 constituting the stepping portion in the connecting portion 22 toward the housing 30.

[0031] A bearing portion 25 is formed on the support wall 23. The bearing portion 25 is recessed in the center of the support wall 23 in the width direction. One end 53 of the shaft portion 51 engages with the bearing portion 25 of one support wall 23, and the other end 54 engages with the bearing portion 25 of the other support wall 23. The portion of the support wall 23 further from the front end than the recessed bearing portion 25 becomes an anti-disengagement portion 26. The shaft portion 51 is pressed into the pair of support walls 23 of the connecting portion 22. The pressing direction of the shaft portion 51 is approximately the same as the opening and closing direction of the accelerator.

[0032] Here, on Figure 10 The problems with the comparison method shown will be explained. In the comparison method, the foot pad 29 and arm 59 are assembled together by pressing the shaft 51 into the connecting part 22 and embedding it into the bearing part 25. However, considering dimensional tolerances, in order to ensure that the arm 59 and foot pad 29 are reliably assembled together, a gap 80 in the pressing direction needs to be set between the shaft 51 and the anti-detachment part 26 of the support wall 23. Therefore, corresponding to the amount of gap 80, a play is generated between the shaft 51 and the connecting part 22 after pressing. If this play exists, when the driver switches the foot pad operation between "pedaling" and "returning", the contact point between the shaft 51 and the connecting part 22 will change between the anti-detachment part 26 side and the base 24 side (i.e., between the accelerator opening direction side and the accelerator closing direction side), thus causing abnormal noise.

[0033] In contrast, in the first embodiment, the foot pad 20 has a protrusion 71, which serves as a "clearance removal part," to eliminate clearance between the shaft portion 51 and the connecting portion 22 in the pressing direction by abutting the shaft portion 51 against the connecting portion 22. Hereinafter, the protrusion 71 will be described as the clearance removal protrusion 71. The anti-detachment part 26 is located on one side of the pressing direction (i.e., the accelerator opening direction side) relative to the shaft portion 51, while the clearance removal protrusion 71 is located on the other side of the pressing direction (i.e., the accelerator closing direction side) relative to the shaft portion 51. The clearance removal protrusion 71 eliminates the clearance between the shaft portion 51 and the connecting portion 22 in the accelerator closing direction by protruding from the base 24 of the connecting portion 22 and abutting against the shaft portion 51, and eliminates the clearance between the shaft portion 51 and the connecting portion 22 in the accelerator opening direction by pressing the shaft portion 51 toward the anti-detachment part 26 in the pressing direction. In other words, the clearance removal protrusion 71 causes the shaft portion 51 to abut against the connecting portion 22 on both sides of the accelerator opening direction. In the first embodiment, the clearance removal protrusion 71 is provided at the center of the shaft portion 51 in the axial direction.

[0034] like Figure 4 As shown, when the shaft portion 51 is pressed in, a pair of support walls 23 are pushed away by the shaft portion 51, elastically deforming in a warping manner from the root to the front end. The protrusion 71 is removed from the less rigid side of the arm 50 and the foot pad 20. Therefore, if from... Figure 4 As shown, when the shaft portion 51 is pressed further into the clearance removal protrusion 71 at the point where it contacts the clearance removal protrusion 71, the clearance removal protrusion 71 undergoes plastic deformation. Then, if the interference between the anti-detachment part 26 and the shaft portion 51 is released, the support wall 23 elastically recovers, as shown. Figure 2 The bearing portion 25 is fitted into the ends 53 and 54 of the shaft portion 51 as shown. The clearance removal protrusion 71 is adjusted so that when the shaft portion 51 is pressed into the connecting portion 22, plastic deformation occurs so that the clearance between the shaft portion 51 and the connecting portion 22 in the pressing direction just disappears.

[0035] (Effect)

[0036] As explained above, in the first embodiment, the shaft portion 51 of the arm 50 is pressed into the connecting portion 22 of the foot pad 20. The foot pad 20 has a clearance removal portion 71 that eliminates clearance between the shaft portion 51 and the connecting portion 22 in the pressing direction by abutting the shaft portion 51 and the connecting portion 22. Accordingly, the connecting portion 22 of the foot pad 20 and the shaft portion 51 of the arm 50 can be configured to have a structure without clearance. Therefore, the abnormal noise caused by clearance during the "stepping" and "returning" operations of switching foot pads is eliminated.

[0037] Furthermore, in the first embodiment, the connecting portion 22 has an anti-detachment portion 26 located on one side of the shaft portion 51 in the pressing direction. The clearance removal protrusion 71 is a protrusion located on the other side of the shaft portion 51 in the pressing direction and protrudes from the connecting portion 22 toward the shaft portion 51 or from the shaft portion 51 toward the connecting portion 22. Accordingly, when the arm 50 is assembled to the foot pad 20, the side of the shaft portion 51 in the pressing direction abuts against the anti-detachment portion 26, and the other side in the pressing direction abuts against the clearance removal portion 71, thus preventing clearance in the pressing direction.

[0038] Furthermore, in the first embodiment, the clearance removal protrusion 71 is provided on the less rigid side of the arm 50 and the foot pad 20. Accordingly, when the shaft portion 51 is pressed into the connecting portion 22, the clearance removal protrusion 71 can be actively plastically deformed.

[0039] Furthermore, in the first embodiment, the clearance removal protrusion 71 absorbs the clearance between the shaft portion 51 and the connecting portion 22 in the pressing direction by undergoing plastic deformation when the shaft portion 51 is pressed into the connecting portion 22. Accordingly, the connecting portion 22 of the pad 20 and the shaft portion 51 of the arm 50 can be configured to have a structure without clearance.

[0040] [Second Implementation]

[0041] In the second embodiment, such as Figure 5 As shown, two clearance removal protrusions 71 are provided in an axial arrangement along the shaft portion 51. In other embodiments, three or more clearance removal protrusions 71 may also be provided. In this way, the number of clearance removal protrusions 71 can be changed, for example, according to the adjustment of the pressing load of the shaft portion 51.

[0042] [Third Implementation Method]

[0043] In the third embodiment, such as Figure 6 As shown, the clearance removal protrusion 72 is integrally provided on the shaft portion 51. The clearance removal protrusion 72 is a protrusion that protrudes from the body of the shaft portion 51 toward the base 24. In the third embodiment, the clearance removal protrusion 72 is provided at the center in the axial direction of the shaft portion 51. In this way, the object to which the clearance removal protrusion 72 is formed can be changed, for example, according to the material of the arm 50 and the foot pad 20.

[0044] [Fourth Implementation Method]

[0045] In the fourth embodiment, such as Figure 7 As shown, two clearance removal protrusions 72 are provided in a manner arranged along the axial direction of the shaft portion 51. In other embodiments, three or more clearance removal protrusions 72 may also be provided. In this way, the number of clearance removal protrusions 72 can be changed, for example, according to the adjustment of the pressing load of the shaft portion 51.

[0046] [Other Implementation Methods]

[0047] In other embodiments, such as Figure 8 As shown, the clearance removal part 73 can also be a spring made of metal or resin, etc., fixed to the foot pad 20 or arm 50. Figure 8 In this embodiment, the clearance removal part 73 is embedded in the foot pad 20. Additionally, in other embodiments, such as... Figure 9 As shown, the clearance removal part 74 can also be an elastic component made of rubber or the like, fixed to the foot pad 20 and the arm 50. Figure 9 In this configuration, the clearance removal part 74 is bonded to the foot pad 20. Thus, the clearance removal part can be constructed using a different component than the foot pad and arm, and it can also undergo plastic deformation during the pressing of the shaft. In short, it only needs to function in a way that eliminates clearance in the pressing direction between the shaft and the connecting part by bringing them into contact.

[0048] In other embodiments, the clearance removal portion may also be configured to be integrally provided on the mat or arm and have holes or gaps, etc., so that it is easy to undergo elastic deformation.

[0049] In other embodiments, the clearance removal portion may also be provided on both the foot pad and the arm.

[0050] This disclosure is not limited to the embodiments described above, and can be implemented in various ways without departing from its spirit.

[0051] This disclosure has been described in accordance with embodiments. However, this disclosure is not limited to these embodiments and structures. This disclosure also includes various modifications and equivalent variations. In addition, various combinations and methods, as well as other combinations and methods that include only one element, more elements, or fewer elements, also fall within the scope and spirit of this disclosure.

Claims

1. An accelerator device, characterized in that, have: The casing, which is set on the floor; A footrest, which is disposed on the outside of the housing, is stepped on by the driver; The pedal, which is disposed within the housing, rotates in the accelerator opening direction by the stepping force of the foot pad; An arm that connects the footpad to the pedal; and A force-applying component that applies force to the pedal in the direction of accelerator closure; One end of the arm is pressed into the connecting part of the mat. One or both of the arm and the foot pad have a clearance removal part that abuts the end of the arm against the connecting part to eliminate clearance in the pressing direction between the end of the arm and the connecting part.

2. The accelerator device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The connecting portion has an anti-detachment portion located on one side of the pressing direction relative to the one end. The clearance removal portion has a protrusion on the opposite side relative to the first end in the pressing direction, protruding from the connecting portion toward the first end or from the first end toward the connecting portion.

3. The accelerator device according to claim 2, characterized in that, There are multiple protrusions.

4. The accelerator device according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that, The protrusion is located on the side with lower hardness of the arm and the foot pad.

5. The accelerator device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, The clearance removal section absorbs the clearance between the one end and the pressing direction of the connecting part by undergoing plastic deformation when the one end is pressed into the connecting part.

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