Electronic throttle control pedal assembly

A pedal assembly for a vehicle, the assembly comprising:

• a housing having a friction generating surface;
• and
• a pedal arm assembly having a pedal arm having an exterior surface and an opposite inner surface, the pedal arm further having:
• a hub portion and a friction generating member, the hub portion is curvilinear in shape, the friction generating member having a pair of spaced apart lobes connected by a cross member, each of the pair of lobes positioned on a respective side surface of the hub portion and the cross member extending within the hub portion, each of the pair of lobes of the friction surface geometrically matches the curvilinear shape of the hub portion, the pedal arm is pivotally connected to the housing at the hub portion,
• a spring carrier coupled to the pedal arm and received within the housing, the spring carrier having a friction generating portion extending from a rear surface;
• and
• at least one spring extending between the inner surface of the pedal arm and the spring carrier,
• wherein when the pedal arm is depressed, the at least one spring and the spring carrier leverages a load applied to the at least one spring by movement of the pedal arm to engage the friction generating portion against the cross member of the friction generating member positioned within the hub portion and a portion of each of the pair of lobes of the friction generating member is pivotally engaged against the friction generating surface of the housing thereby creating at least two independent friction generating surfaces to create a hysteresis proportional to the depression of the pedal arm.

A method of a final assembly of installing a pedal arm assembly into a housing, the method comprising:

• inserting an inner spring with an outer diameter into an inner diameter of an outer spring to form a spring package, the outer diameter of the inner spring is smaller than the inner diameter of the outer spring;
• inserting one end of the spring package into a spring receiving portion of a pedal arm, the pedal arm having a hub portion and a friction generating member, the friction generating member having a lobe, the lobe positioned on a side surface of the hub portion, a cross member extending from the lobe within the hub portion such that a portion of the cross member is exposed within a hub aperture, the pedal arm is pivotally connected to the housing at the hub portion;
• inserting another end of the spring package into a spring receiving portion of a spring carrier, the spring carrier having a friction generating portion extending therefrom;
• and
• inserting the spring carrier and the pedal arm into a hub receiving cavity of the housing such that the pedal arm and the spring carrier are pivotally mounted to the housing, the housing having a friction generating surface;
• wherein when the pedal arm is depressed, the spring package and the spring carrier leverages a load applied by movement of the pedal arm to pivotally engaged at least a portion of the lobe of the friction generating member against the friction generating surface of the housing and to engage the friction generating portion against the cross member of the friction generating member positioned within the hub aperture thereby creating a hysteresis proportional to the depression of the pedal arm.