Vehicle Pedal Load Sensor Mounting for Precision Force Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing load-sensor-equipped operating devices for vehicles, such as brake pedals, face complexity and increased size due to the need for a pivotable pushrod and spring arrangement, leading to higher production costs and potential instability in detecting operating forces.
Innovation Solution
A load-sensor-equipped vehicle operating pedal device with a shaft-like member, annular case member, and strain body that detects operating forces through relative displacement, featuring a sensor-mounting member with flat mounting surfaces and rest surfaces to maintain load-bearing functionality even with varying input loads, reducing flexure deformation and enhancing precision.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a pivotable pushrod and spring arrangement is used to detect operating forces, then the detection functionality is achieved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the detection functionality from the mechanical pushrod-spring arrangement and relocates it to a sensor system. The load sensor is mounted on the pedal body at the connecting position, separating the detection function from the mechanical linkage, thereby simplifying the overall structure while maintaining detection capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The mechanical pushrod-spring detection system is replaced with an electrical load sensor. Instead of using mechanical components to detect and measure the operating force, an electrical sensor directly mounted on the pedal body provides the detection function, reducing mechanical complexity.
2Measurement precision
If the pushrod, spring and sensor are placed on the operating pedal at the side areas, then the detection is enabled, but the device size increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention merges the sensor mounting location with the existing connecting position structure. The load sensor is integrated into the pedal body at the connecting position where the connecting pin is located, utilizing the existing structural space rather than adding separate side-area components, thereby reducing overall device size.
3Reliability
If a robust rigid structure is used for the operating pedal, then the operating stability is ensured, but the production cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies local reinforcement only at the connecting position where the load sensor is mounted and where the connecting pin connects to the reactive member. This localized strengthening ensures operating stability at the critical load-bearing point without requiring the entire pedal structure to be robust and expensive, thereby reducing production costs.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution allows for a compact, cost-effective, and precise detection of operating forces with reduced flexure deformation, maintaining stability and reliability across varying input loads, thus improving the overall design and functionality of vehicle operating pedal devices.
Implementation Method 1
a strain body disposed between the shaft-like member and the case member... electrically detecting the operating force based on a relative displacement between the shaft-like member and the case member
Data Source
AI summary
A load-sensor-equipped vehicle operating pedal device includes a load sensor (30) having a case member (34) formed with a pair of mounting wall portions (62a, 62b) converged in a convex shape at a predetermined apex angle α. The pair of mounting wall portions (62a, 62b) are held in surface contact with a pair of rest surfaces (28a, 28b), formed in a sensor-mounting hole (28) in a fixed and positioned state. Thus, even if a direction of an input load (reactive force), applied to a clevis pin (26) varies with an operating pedal 16 being progressively depressed, the pair of rest surfaces (28a, 28b) always bear the input load via the pair of mounting wall portions (62a, 62b). This suppresses the case member (34) from flexure deforming due to stress concentration. As a result, positional displacement of a sensor is prevented regardless of a variation in the direction of the input load, improving detecting precision.