JP7743385B2 - Vehicle operation pedal device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a vehicle operation pedal device.

Vehicle operation pedal devices such as brake pedals may be equipped with sensors, switches, and the like (hereinafter referred to as sensors) for detecting pedal operation. In such pedal devices, to protect the sensors from inadvertent loads, such as a kick from a passenger's foot, a bumper bracket is provided on the side of the sensors where such loads are likely to be applied (see Patent Documents 1 to 3). The bumper bracket is fixed to the pedal arm by welding. To ensure accurate positioning of the bumper bracket relative to the pedal arm during this welding, the bumper bracket is formed with welding reference holes.

Figure 4 shows an example of a bumper bracket attached to a brake pedal. In Figure 4, bumper bracket B is fixed to the side of pedal arm P by welding. A weld bead W is formed at the welded portion. Bumper bracket B is fixed so as to protrude from the side of pedal arm P, preventing sensors from being affected by inadvertent loads such as a kick from an occupant. In Figure 4, bumper bracket B has a flat surface F that moves in contact with and away from the operating portion (not shown) of a stop lamp switch (not shown) in response to brake pedal operation to turn the stop lamp switch on and off. A welding reference hole H is formed on the side of flat surface F away from the weld bead W.

JP 2016-99794 A Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2022-29564 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2022-29565

Bumper bracket B is formed by stamping from a steel plate, and welding reference holes H are formed in predetermined locations of bumper bracket B by punching. To perform the punching process, welding reference holes H must be located at a predetermined distance or more from the outline of bumper bracket B. Therefore, the tip of welding reference hole H protrudes from bumper bracket B, forming protruding end E. As a result, the amount of protrusion of bumper bracket B from pedal arm P increases, and the moment arm becomes longer when the load point of an inadvertently applied load is at protruding end E. Therefore, in order for bumper bracket B to withstand the load, the plate thickness of bumper bracket B must be increased. This results in increased weight and cost for bumper bracket B.

The objective of this invention is to reduce the moment arm length of a load applied to a bumper bracket in a vehicle operation pedal device equipped with a bumper bracket having a welding reference hole by shortening the amount of protrusion of the bumper bracket when the load point of an inadvertently applied load is at the protruding end.

The vehicle operation pedal device of the first aspect of the present invention is a vehicle operation pedal device that swings around a support portion of the pedal arm when the pedal foot at the end of the pedal arm is depressed. It includes a bumper bracket that protrudes laterally from the pedal arm and is fixed by welding, protecting components that require protection and are located adjacent to the fixed position from inadvertent loads. The bumper bracket has a welding reference hole drilled at its tip, spaced laterally from the weld to the pedal arm, which serves as a reference position when welding the bumper bracket to the pedal arm. The welding reference hole has a notch shape that is open on the side away from the weld, and the opening direction of the notch, as viewed from the center of the welding reference hole, is the direction in which the tip of the bumper bracket protrudes adjacent to the welding reference hole and away from the weld if the welding reference hole were formed without the notch shape.

The second aspect of the present invention is a vehicle operation pedal device that swings around a support portion of the pedal arm when the pedal foot at the end of the pedal arm is depressed. It includes a bumper bracket that protrudes laterally from the pedal arm and is fixed by welding, protecting components that require protection and are located adjacent to the fixed position from inadvertent loads. The bumper bracket has a welding reference hole drilled at its tip, spaced laterally from the weld to the pedal arm, that serves as a reference position when welding the bumper bracket to the pedal arm. The welding reference hole has a notch shape that is open on the side away from the weld, and the opening direction of the notch, as viewed from the center of the welding reference hole, is a direction away from the weld on an extension of a line connecting the center of the welding reference hole to the closest point in the weld to the center of the welding reference hole.

The third aspect of the present invention is the first or second aspect of the present invention, wherein the bumper bracket includes a precision-controlled portion that requires positional accuracy control on the bumper bracket to fulfill a function other than its primary function of protecting against inadvertently applied loads, and the welding reference hole is formed on the bumper bracket on the side of the precision-controlled portion away from the weld.

The fourth aspect of the present invention is the first or second aspect, wherein the minimum opening width of the opening in the notch shape is smaller than the diameter of the welding reference hole.

The fifth aspect of the present invention is the first or second aspect of the present invention, wherein the two tip ends of the bumper bracket that form the opening in the cutout shape are each chamfered to reduce the amount of protrusion away from the weld.

According to the present invention, by making the welding reference hole a notch, there is no tip of the bumper bracket adjacent to the welding reference hole that protrudes away from the weld. This reduces the amount of lateral protrusion of the bumper bracket, and reduces the maximum value of the moment arm when the bumper bracket is subjected to an inadvertent load. As a result, the strength of the bumper bracket can be reduced, allowing for thinner plate thickness and reduced weld strength. Furthermore, by making the welding reference hole a notch, the welding reference hole can be formed by the punching process that forms the exterior shape of the bumper bracket, eliminating the need for a separate punching process and improving bumper bracket productivity.

1 is a perspective view showing a main part of an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is an enlarged plan view of a bumper bracket portion in the embodiment. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the operation of the embodiment. FIG. 3 is a plan view corresponding to FIG. 2 showing the prior art of the present invention.

<Configuration of one embodiment>
Fig. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment shows an example in which the present invention is applied to a brake pedal of a vehicle. In the figure, the directions indicated by arrows indicate the front-rear, up-down, left-right directions when the front of the vehicle is defined as the front. This also applies to Fig. 2 and subsequent figures.

As is well known, a vehicle operation pedal device 10, which is a brake pedal, has a pedal arm 11 fixed to the vehicle's instrument panel (not shown) or dash panel (not shown) via a pedal bracket (not shown). Specifically, bosses 14 fixed to both sides of the pedal arm 11 are fitted onto support shafts (corresponding to support portions) 15 spanning a pair of left and right pedal brackets. The pedal arm 11 is penetrated by the support shafts 15 between the left and right bosses 14. The bosses 14 are provided at the upper end of the pedal arm 11. In Figure 1, the bosses 14 and support shaft 15 are hidden behind the pedal arm 11, and only the right side of the pedal arm 11 is visible. The support shaft 15 is shown in a broken state.

A pedal step 12 with a substantially flat tread surface facing the occupant is fixed to the lower end of the pedal arm 11. Therefore, when the occupant presses down on the pedal step 12 with their foot, the pedal arm 11 swings downward around the support shaft 15. This swing operates the vehicle's brakes. A return spring (not shown) is disposed between the pedal arm 11 and the pedal bracket, and when the occupant releases the pedal step 12, the pedal arm 11 swings upward around the support shaft 15 due to the biasing force of the return spring and returns to its initial position. In the returned position, the pedal arm 11 abuts against a stopper (not shown), preventing further swinging.

As shown in Figures 1 and 2, a bumper bracket 13 is fixed by welding to the pedal arm 11 at a position adjacent to the boss portion 14 on the right side of the pedal arm 11. The bumper bracket 13 has a flange portion 13b bent downward at its left end, and is welded to the pedal arm 11 at this flange portion 13b. The tip of the bumper bracket 13 protrudes to the right. A weld bead (also called a welded portion) 16 is formed between the flange portion 13b of the bumper bracket 13 and the pedal arm 11 due to the welding.

<Shape of bumper bracket 13>
The tip of the bumper bracket 13 is bent upward in a crank shape between the flange portion 13b and the tip. A flat surface 13a, indicated by a phantom circle, is formed on the upper surface distal to the bent portion. The flat surface 13a faces upward, and a stop lamp switch (not shown) is disposed in that direction. The stop lamp switch is fixed to the pedal bracket. Therefore, when the pedal arm 11 is swung downward as described above, the flat surface 13a separates from the operation portion of the stop lamp switch, switching the stop lamp switch from an OFF state to an ON state. The position of the flat surface 13a determines the timing of the stop lamp switch's ON/OFF, so relatively high positional accuracy is required. Therefore, the flat surface 13a is a precision-controlled portion requiring positional accuracy control. Furthermore, the stop lamp switch is protected by the bumper bracket 13 from unintentional loads, such as a kick by a vehicle occupant, and corresponds to a component requiring protection in the present invention.

A welding reference hole 13c is drilled in the bumper bracket 13 adjacent to the flat portion 13a. The welding reference hole 13c is located at the tip of the bumper bracket 13, away from the weld portion 16. The welding reference hole 13c is a hole into which a jig fits when welding the bumper bracket 13 to the pedal arm 11 and serves as a reference position for operating a welding torch. Therefore, the position of the welding reference hole 13c is determined by the size and shape of the bumper bracket 13 and the position of the weld portion. While conventional welding reference holes 13c are simple circular holes as described with reference to Figure 4, the welding reference hole 13c in this embodiment is notched, opening at the tip of the bumper bracket 13. The opening direction of the notch is the direction DR away from the weld bead 16, along an extension of a line L connecting the center C of the welding reference hole 13c to the closest point 16a of the weld bead 16 to the center C of the welding reference hole 13c. This direction DR is the direction in which the protruding end E of the bumper bracket B adjacent to the welding reference hole H protrudes away from the weld bead W if the welding reference hole H is formed without a notch shape, as shown in Figure 4. The opening width OW of the notch shape is smaller than the diameter D of the welding reference hole 13c. In addition, the two tip ends 13e of the opening 13d that form the notch shape are each chamfered to form an R shape, reducing the amount of protrusion on the opposite side of the weld bead 16.

<Effects of one embodiment>
According to the above embodiment, by forming the welding reference hole 13c in a notched shape, the protruding end E that protrudes away from the weld bead W in the conventional bumper bracket B of FIG. 4 is eliminated. Furthermore, the protruding amount of the tip 13e of the notched opening 13d is reduced by the rounded shape. As a result, when a load is applied to the tip 13e of the bumper bracket 13 due to a kick from an occupant's foot FO, as shown by the arrow in FIG. 3, the bending stress acting on the bumper bracket 13 is reduced by the amount of protrusion of the tip 13e of the bumper bracket 13 away from the weld bead 16. This is because the moment arm when a load is applied to the tip 13e (see FIG. 2) or the protruding end E (see FIG. 4) of the bumper bracket 13 is ML2 in the conventional bumper bracket of FIG. 4, whereas it is ML1 in the present embodiment of FIG. 2, resulting in a shorter length. That is, ML2 > ML1.

As a result, in this embodiment, the strength of the bumper bracket 13 can be reduced, the plate thickness can be made thinner, and the welding strength can also be reduced. Furthermore, by making the welding reference holes 13c notched, the welding reference holes 13c can be formed by the punching process that forms the exterior shape of the bumper bracket 13. This eliminates the need for a separate punching process for the welding reference holes 13c, thereby improving the productivity of the bumper bracket 13.

In this embodiment, the flat portion 13a, which is an accuracy control portion, is located closer to the weld bead 16 than the welding reference hole 13c. This makes it easier to control the positional accuracy of the flat portion 13a. Furthermore, the welding reference hole 13c can be formed in a notched shape without being affected by the presence of the flat portion 13a.

In this embodiment, the minimum opening width OW of the opening 13d in the notch shape is set smaller than the diameter D of the welding reference hole 13c. Therefore, even if the welding reference hole 13c is formed in a notch shape, it can still function as a welding reference hole 13c.

<Other embodiments>
While specific embodiments have been described above, the present invention is not limited to those in terms of appearance and configuration, and various modifications, additions, and deletions are possible. For example, in the above embodiments, the vehicle operation pedal device is applied to a brake pedal, but it may also be applied to other pedals, such as a clutch pedal. Furthermore, while the above embodiments illustrate one example of the brake pedal structure, the present invention may also be applied to brake pedals of other structures. In the above embodiments, the component requiring protection is the stop lamp switch, but it may also be another component, such as a stroke sensor that detects the amount of pedal arm operation. In the above embodiments, the flat surface for operating the stop lamp switch provided on the bumper bracket is designated as the precision-controlled component, but the operating component for the stroke sensor provided on the bumper bracket may also be designated as the precision-controlled component. Furthermore, a precision-controlled component is not essential to the present invention.

<Effects of the above embodiments corresponding to each invention>
Finally, the effects of the above-described embodiments corresponding to the first and subsequent inventions in the "Means for Solving the Problems" section will be described.

According to the first invention, by making the welding reference hole a notch, there is no tip of the bumper bracket adjacent to the welding reference hole that protrudes away from the weld. This reduces the amount of lateral protrusion of the bumper bracket, and reduces the maximum value of the moment arm when the bumper bracket is subjected to an inadvertent load. As a result, the strength of the bumper bracket can be reduced, allowing for thinner plate thickness and reduced weld strength. Furthermore, by making the welding reference hole a notch, the welding reference hole can be formed by punching, which is the process used to shape the exterior of the bumper bracket. This eliminates the need for a separate punching process and improves bumper bracket productivity.

The second invention can achieve the same effects as the first invention.

According to the third invention, the precision control area can be placed closer to the weld than the welding reference hole. This makes it easier to ensure the positional accuracy of the precision control area. Furthermore, the welding reference hole can be formed in a notched shape without being affected by the presence of the precision control area.

According to the fourth invention, the minimum opening width of the opening in the notch shape is made smaller than the diameter of the welding reference hole, so that the welding reference hole can maintain its function as a welding reference hole even if it is made into a notch shape.

According to the fifth aspect of the invention, the tip of the bumper bracket that forms the opening in the notch shape is chamfered, thereby reducing the amount of protrusion of the tip of the opening away from the weld. This further reduces the maximum value of the moment arm when the bumper bracket is subjected to an inadvertent load, further enhancing the effect of the first aspect.

10 Vehicle operation pedal device 11 Pedal arm 12 Pedal step portion 13 Bumper bracket 13a Flat portion (accuracy control portion)
13b Flange portion 13c Welding reference hole 13d Open portion 13e Tip portion 14 Boss portion 15 Support shaft (support portion)
16 Weld bead (weld)
16a Shortest point to the center of the welding reference hole DR Direction OW Open width FO Foot ML Moment arm length

Claims (5)

A vehicle operation pedal device that swings around a support portion of the pedal arm when a pedal step portion at an end of the pedal arm is depressed,
a bumper bracket that protrudes laterally from the pedal arm and is fixed by welding, and that protects a member that needs protection and is provided adjacent to the fixed position from a load that is inadvertently applied;
The bumper bracket has a welding reference hole drilled at a tip end spaced laterally from the welded portion to the pedal arm, the welding reference hole serving as a reference position when welding the bumper bracket to the pedal arm,
The welding reference hole has a notched shape with an open side away from the welded portion,
an opening direction of the notch shape as viewed from the center of the welding reference hole is a direction away from the welded portion at the tip end of the bumper bracket. A vehicle operation pedal device that swings around a support portion of the pedal arm when a pedal step portion at an end of the pedal arm is depressed,
a bumper bracket that protrudes laterally from the pedal arm and is fixed by welding, and that protects a member that needs protection and is provided adjacent to the fixed position from a load that is inadvertently applied;
The bumper bracket has a welding reference hole drilled at a tip end spaced laterally from the welded portion to the pedal arm, the welding reference hole serving as a reference position when welding the bumper bracket to the pedal arm,
The welding reference hole has a notched shape with an open side away from the welded portion,
an opening direction of the notch shape as viewed from the center of the welding reference hole is a direction away from the welded portion on an extension of a line connecting the center of the welding reference hole and the closest point to the center of the welding reference hole on the welded portion. In claim 1 or 2,
The bumper bracket includes a precision control portion that requires control of positional precision on the bumper bracket in order to fulfill a function other than its original function of protecting the bumper bracket from an inadvertently applied load,
The welding reference hole is formed on the bumper bracket on a side of the precision control portion away from the welding portion. In claim 1 or 2,
a minimum value of an opening width of the opening portion of the notch shape is smaller than a diameter of the welding reference hole. In claim 1 or 2,
The two tip portions of the bumper bracket that form the opening in the cutout shape are each chamfered to reduce the amount of protrusion toward the side away from the welded portion.