Accelerator pedal and brake mechanism

A foot pedal for use on powered vehicles driven by an operator, comprising

• a rotatable shaft whose position determines the speed of the vehicle, and having initial and secondary ranges of rotation;
• a first generally planar surfaced member connected with the shaft and engagable with the fort of the operator as the shaft is in its initial range of rotation;
• and
• a second generally planar surfaced member connected with the shaft, and whose surface is positioned at a relatively small angle to the plane of the first surfaced member and engagable with the operator's foot as the shaft is in its secondary range of rotation, said rotatable shaft being offset from the plane defined by the second surface.

A vehicle comprising:

• a plurality of ground engaging wheels including a driven wheel;
• a frame carried by the wheels;
• a power source carried by the frame;
• drive means for transmitting power form the power source to at east one of the ground engaging wheels and having forward and reverse modes;
• first control means for selecting the forward or reverse mode;
• second control means for adjusting the rate at which power is transferred through the drive means to the driven wheel, said second control means being adapted for a non-driving mode and a plurality of driving modes;
• and
• means for connecting the first control means and the second control means, said connecting means being adapted to prevent the drive means' mode from being changed when the second control means is in a driving mode, said connecting means also being adapted to limit the maximum rate of power transferred in reverse mode to a rate less than the maximum rate attainable in the forward mode;
• said second control means further including:
• input means for adjusting the amount of power transmitted to the wheels;
• a control rod connected to the input means;
• and
• a foot actuated pedal connected to the control rod;
• said first control means further including:
• a first selection rod connected with the drive means and whose position affects the forward or reverse mode;
• a swingable selection arm connected to the first selection rod;
• a second selection rod connected to the selection arm;
• a hand actuated direction lever connected to the second selection rod;
• said connecting means further including:
• a connecting rod attached to the input means;
• and
• a connecting arm means swingably attached to the connecting rod for blocking the movement of the selection arm between the positions corresponding to the forward and reverse modes when the foot pedal is depressed, and whose range of movement is restricted by the presence of the selection arm when the selection arm is in a position corresponding to the drive means' reverse mode.

A vehicle comprising:

• a plurality of ground engaging wheels including a driven wheel;
• a frame carried by the wheels;
• a power source carried by the frame;
• drive means for transmitting power form the power source to at least one of the ground engaging wheels and having forward and reverse modes;
• first control means for selecting the forward or reverse mode;
• second control means for adjusting the rate at which power is transferred through the drive means to the driven wheel, said second control means being adapted for a non-driving mode and a plurality of driving modes;
• and
• means for connecting the first control means and the second control means, said connecting means being adapted to prevent the drive means' mode from being changed when the second control means is in a driving mode, said connecting means also being adapted to limit the maximum rate of power transferred in reverse mode to a rate less than the maximum rate attainable in the forward mode;
• said second control means further including:
• input means for adjusting the amount of power transmitted to the wheels;
• a control rod connected to the input means;
• and
• a foot actuated pedal connected to the control rod;
• said first control means further including:
• a first selection rod connected with the drive means and whose position affects the forward or reverse mode;
• a swingable selection arm connected to the first selection rod;
• a second selection rod connected to the selection arm;
• a hand actuated direction lever connected to the second selection rod;
• said drive means further including:
• a plurality of belts;
• a variator pulley in contact with a belt;
• and
• an idler pulley in contact with a belt;
• said input means further including an idler arm that carries the idler pulley;
• said connecting means further including:
• a connecting rod attached to the idler arm;
• and
• a connecting arm swingably attached to eh connecting rod, said connecting arm being adapted to block movement of the selection arm between the positions corresponding to the forward and reverse modes when the foot pedal is depressed, and whose range of movement is restricted by the presence of the selection arm when the selection arm is in the position corresponding to the drive means' reverse mode.

A foot pedal for use near the floor of an operator station of a powered vehicle driven by an operator, comprising:

• a rotatable shaft whose position determines the speed of the vehicle, and having initial and secondary ranges of rotation;
• a first generally planar surface defined by the pedal, said first surface being in contact with the ball portion of the operator's foot during the initial range of motion while the heel of the operator's foot is in contact with the floor of the operator station,
• a second generally planar surface defined by the pedal and extending at a relatively small angle from the plane defined by the first surface, said second angle being in contact with the middle portion of the operator's foot when the operator shifts his foot forwardly to pivot the shaft to the secondary range while the heel of the operator's foot remains in contact with the floor of the operator station, and
• said rotatable shaft being offset from the plane defined by the second surface.