Pedal arrangement with safety device

Abstract

Pedal arrangement with a pedal lever (1), a bearing block (2) for pivotably mounting the pedal lever (1) on the body of a vehicle, with a strut- or rod-shaped actuating member (3) acting on an actuator, and with a safety device, wherein an operative connection is established between the pedal lever (1) and the actuator by the actuating member (3), which is arranged on the underside (10) of the pedal lever (1), which operative connection is interrupted by the safety device in the event of an impact or a strong deceleration of the vehicle by the activation of at least one gas generator, and wherein, upon triggering of the at least one gas generator, the actuating member (3) is destroyed, namely broken, by an operative transmission element (4) moved by the escaping gas, characterized in thatthat the actuating member (3) is destroyed upon triggering of the gas generator by a compressive force exerted by the rod- or strut-shaped effect-mediating element (4) against the actuating member (3), which force results from a strong acceleration of a free end of the effect-mediating element (4) against the actuating member (3).

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a pedal assembly according to the preamble of claim 1. In particular, the invention relates to a pedal assembly for vehicles equipped with a safety device. It relates to a pedal assembly with at least one pedal whose pedal lever is pivotally mounted on the body of a motor vehicle via a bearing block. The safety device prevents a person operating the pedal from being injured in the legs by the pedal lever when the vehicle collides with an obstacle due to the pedal lever intruding into the passenger compartment and / or during a sharp deceleration of the vehicle.

[0002] DE 296 23 940 U1 discloses a device for releasing the anchoring of a pedal lever pivotable about a pedal axis from the body of a motor vehicle. The pedal lever is anchored to the vehicle body via the pedal axis and a support element connected to a vehicle component in such a way that the pedal lever can be pivoted about the pedal axis with a specific actuation force during normal operation. The support element can be moved out of its support position configured for normal operation due to excessive forces acting on the vehicle from the outside. The support element is designed to be deformable for movement out of the support position, with the deformation force being formed by a force accumulator, in particular a pyrotechnic force accumulator. The support element is an actuation rod arranged between the pedal lever and the vehicle component, which transmits a pedal actuation to the vehicle component.

[0003] DE 195 15 852 A1 describes an actuating arrangement for a motor vehicle with a pedal which is fastened to the body by means of a first articulation point and which acts as a movement transmitter and is coupled to a movement receiver via at least one essentially dimensionally stable transmission element by means of a second articulation point, and with a release device which is activated in the event of a vehicle accident to ensure that the pedal can be pivoted forwards in the direction of travel, wherein the release device for decoupling the pedal from the actuating arrangement is assigned a predetermined breaking point or a detachable connecting means which is assigned to at least one functional element which is part of a component assembly which encloses the two articulation points and serves to transmit the movement.The functional element with the predetermined breaking point is a push rod acting as a transmission element, through which a master brake cylinder acting as a movement sensor of a braking system installed in the motor vehicle can be at least indirectly actuated. A brake booster controllable by movements of the push rod is provided between the push rod and the master brake cylinder. The release device is associated with a release agent, which is a pyrotechnic propellant and can be activated by an accident sensor.

[0004] DE 198 40 463 A1 discloses a pedal arrangement for a motor vehicle, comprising a pedal, a pedal push rod connected to the pedal for transmitting thrust movements or thrust forces exerted on the pedal, and a buckling device which, in the event of an accident, causes a lateral buckling of the pedal push rod and thereby a displacement of the pedal towards a firewall of the motor vehicle due to a force acting on the pedal push rod. The buckling device comprises a sensor-activated actuator which, in the event of an accident-related activation, causes a pedal displacement at least up to the immediate vicinity of the firewall through controlled buckling of the pedal push rod. The actuator is arranged on the interior side of the firewall to the side of or above the pedal push rod and / or the pedal, with an actuator of the actuator acting on the pedal push rod in a pivoting plane of the brake pedal.

[0005] In recent decades, motor vehicle manufacturers have made significant efforts to improve vehicle safety. Measures to increase the passive safety of vehicle occupants are particularly aimed at reducing the risk of injuries due to the intrusion of vehicle parts into the passenger compartment and deformation of the passenger compartment in the event of an impact, as well as due to strong acceleration or deceleration forces acting on the occupants.

[0006] To protect the leg area of ​​vehicle occupants, measures must be taken to prevent injuries, for example, from rigid and / or sharp-edged parts of the vehicle's pedal system in the event of an impact. Particular attention should be paid to rigid pedal levers and the associated actuating elements, such as the push rod that acts on the brake pressure cylinder or brake booster when the brake pedal is depressed.

[0007] Solutions have become known and are already in use in which, as a result of a relative movement between the foot pedal assembly and another vehicle component, such as a vehicle cross member, the parts of the pedal assembly that pose a risk of injury are displaced or partially destroyed. However, due to overall improvements in vehicle safety, deformation of the passenger compartment and intrusions of vehicle parts into the passenger compartment have been significantly reduced. This also means that in the event of an impact, the relative movements required to trigger safety devices of the type described above sometimes no longer occur or do not occur to a sufficient extent. As a result, the previously explained solutions for safety devices in the pedal assembly carry the risk that they may not trigger at all or may not trigger properly.

[0008] In contrast, safety devices for pedal systems that are equipped with a gas generator similar to an airbag are more advantageous, whereby their operation is not tied to relative movements of vehicle parts caused directly and immediately by an impact or a strong deceleration as a result of deformation of the body. A corresponding solution is described, for example, in DE19617372C1. This document describes a pedal arrangement for a motor vehicle, according to which a pedal of the arrangement is equipped with a decoupling device by which the respective pedal is decoupled in the event of an impact either from an actuating element, such as a strut acting on the master brake cylinder when the brake pedal is depressed, or from the pedal bearing via which the pedal is pivotally mounted on the vehicle.

[0009] In one embodiment of the solution described in the cited publication relating to the decoupling of the pedal lever from the actuating element, i.e. from the push rod acting on a brake booster, when a gas generator is triggered by the escaping gas, a hollow cylinder referred to as a control sleeve is displaced axially along the push rod against a spring force. This releases a locking element engaging in a groove in the push rod, via which the push rod is held in another sleeve connecting it to a pivot point on the pedal lever. This, in turn, can then cause the push rod to slip out of the latter sleeve, decoupling from its connection to the pedal lever. Due to the complicated mechanism, there is a risk that parts of the assembly will jam and prevent the push rod from being reliably decoupled from the pedal lever.Furthermore, the relatively large number of parts of the device results in a relatively complex structure, which disadvantageously leads to increased material expenditure, but also to increased assembly effort when connecting the pedal lever to the push rod or the actuating element. Furthermore, a certain amount of effort must be made to ensure that the volume accommodating the control sleeve and the gas flowing out of the gas generator is gas-tight in the gas inflow area, so that sufficient gas pressure builds up to displace the control sleeve against the spring force and that a vent opening provided elsewhere to prevent excess pressure from pushing the control sleeve back again remains free.

[0010] The previously described disadvantages are avoided by the alternative solution of the pedal assembly according to the invention, which is characterized by the features of patent claim 1. Advantageous developments and refinements of the invention are provided by the subclaims. Despite its simple design, the pedal assembly ensures with high reliability that, in the event of a vehicle impact or sudden deceleration of the vehicle, the pedal lever does not protrude into the passenger compartment as a rigid obstacle, potentially causing injuries to the foot or leg area of ​​a vehicle occupant.

[0011] The proposed pedal arrangement essentially consists of a bearing block and at least one pedal lever pivotally mounted on the body of a vehicle by means of the bearing block, and comprises a pyrotechnic safety device. An actuating element is arranged on the underside of the pedal lever, between its linkage to the bearing block and its free end, which is preferably equipped with a tread, by means of which an operative connection for transmitting forces is established between the pedal lever and an actuator actuated by the pedal lever, such as the brake booster of a braking system. This operative connection is interrupted by the aforementioned safety device in the event of an impact or severe deceleration of the vehicle by triggering at least one gas generator, preferably designed as a micro gas generator.This simultaneously interrupts the flow of force between the pedal lever and the actuator, which would otherwise be possible when there is an active connection.

[0012] For this purpose, the safety device is designed such that, upon activation of at least one gas generator, the actuating element located on the underside of the pedal lever is destroyed by a rod- or strut-shaped action-transmitting element that is moved by the gas escaping from the gas generator and thereby acts on the actuating element. Due to the destruction of the actuating element, the pedal lever, previously held at a distance from the floor of the passenger compartment by the actuating element, moves downward. Consequently, it no longer protrudes into the footwell as a rigid element.Even if this interrupts the normal operative connection between the pedal lever and the actuator actuated by it, or the flow of force, and possibly no longer transmits forces acting on the pedal lever to the actuator, the simple design measure according to the invention described above advantageously significantly reduces the risk of injury to vehicle occupants. The simple structure of the arrangement promotes its very trouble-free and reliable operation.

[0013] In the case of a rod- or strut-shaped design of the actuating element, as is often the case, this will be broken when the gas generator is triggered by the action-mediating element accelerated by the escaping gas.

[0014] According to the invention, the actuating element is destroyed upon triggering the gas generator by a compressive force exerted against the actuating element by the aforementioned action-mediating element. This compressive force results from a strong acceleration of a free end of the action-mediating element against the actuating element.

[0015] According to one possible embodiment, the gas generator or micro gas generator and the action-mediating element, which is moved by the escaping gas upon its activation and is in this case a strut- or rod-shaped element, are integral components of a pyrotechnic activator in a practical embodiment of the invention. The action-mediating element, which is partially accommodated by a cylinder of such an activator but protrudes from said cylinder at one end, is pushed further out of the cylinder of the activator upon activation of the gas generator. The pyrotechnic activator is preferably attached to the bearing block below the pedal lever, so that the bearing block forms a counterbearing for the cylinder that partially accommodates the action-mediating element.

[0016] A possible embodiment of the pedal arrangement according to the invention will be explained below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The accompanying drawings show: Fig. 1: a design of the pedal arrangement in the normal state, i.e. when the gas generator of the safety device is not triggered, Fig. 2: the pedal arrangement according to Fig. 1 after the gas generator is triggered.

[0017] The Fig. 1 shows a possible embodiment of the pedal assembly according to the invention in a three-dimensional view. As can be seen and is generally known, the pedal assembly essentially consists of a bearing block 2, by means of which a pedal lever 1 is pivotally mounted on the body of a vehicle. On the underside of the pedal lever 1, between its articulation on the bearing block 2 and the tread 8 formed on the free end 7 of the pedal lever 1, a rod-shaped actuating member 3 or a pressure rod acting on an actuator (not shown) is connected to the pedal lever 1. When the pedal lever 1 is actuated, a force flow is established from the pedal lever 1 to the relevant actuator via the operative connection established by the aforementioned actuating member 3 to the actuator, for example, the brake booster of a brake system. A pyrotechnic activator 5 is arranged below the pedal lever 1.This consists of a cylinder 6, a micro gas generator (not shown in detail here), which is of course coupled to an impact sensor (not shown), and an action-transmitting element 4 in the form of a rod partially protruding from the cylinder 6 and rigidly connected to the actuating element 3. The pyrotechnic activator 5 is attached to the bearing block 2, which forms an abutment for the activator 5 and thus for its cylinder 6.

[0018] In the event of a vehicle impact or a sharp deceleration of a vehicle equipped with the pedal assembly, the micro gas generator is triggered and, as shown in the Fig.As can be seen in Figure 2, the rod-shaped action-mediating element 4 is moved at high speed out of the cylinder 6 of the activator 5 toward the actuating member 3, or rather the push rod, by the escaping gas. As a result, the action-mediating element 4, i.e., the rod rigidly connected to the actuating member 3, breaks the actuating member 3. The pedal lever 1 now moves downward without having to overcome any resistance, so that it no longer protrudes into the passenger compartment of the vehicle as a rigid, damaging obstacle. Reference symbol 1 pedal lever 2 bearing blocks 3 Actuator 4 Effect mediating element 5 pyrotechnic activator 6 cylinders 7 free end 8 Tread

Claims

[1] Pedal assembly comprising a pedal lever (1), a bearing block (2) for pivotally mounting the pedal lever (1) on the body of a vehicle, a strut- or rod-shaped actuating element (3) acting on an actuator, and a safety device, wherein the actuating element (3), which is arranged on the underside (10) of the pedal lever (1), establishes an operative connection between the pedal lever (1) and the actuator, which is interrupted by the safety device in the event of an impact or strong deceleration of the vehicle by activating at least one gas generator, and wherein, upon activation of the at least one gas generator, the actuating element (3) is destroyed, namely broken, by a mediating element (4) moved by the escaping gas. characterized by, that the actuating element (3) is destroyed when the gas generator is triggered by a pressure force exerted against the actuating element (3) by the rod- or strut-shaped transmission element (4), which results from a strong acceleration of a free end of the transmission element (4) against the actuating element (3). [2] Pedal arrangement according to claim 1, characterized by , that the gas generator and the activation element (4) are components of a pyrotechnic activator (5), wherein the activation element (4), which is partially enclosed by a cylinder (6) of the activator (5) and protrudes from this cylinder (6) at one end, is pushed further out of the cylinder (6) when the gas generator is triggered. [3] Pedal arrangement according to claim 2, characterized by, that the pyrotechnic activator (5) is fixed below the pedal lever (1) on the bearing block (2), so that the bearing block (2) forms a support for the cylinder (6) of the pyrotechnic activator (5).

Images