Kickdown for pedal assembly
AssigneeDrivesol Worldwide, Inc.
InventorAvtar S. Kalsi
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A pedal assembly (12) for electronically controlling an engine throttle (38). The pedal assembly (12) includes a pedal housing (14), a pedal arm (18) pivotally engaging the pedal housing (14), and an electrical generator (30) supported by the pedal housing (14). The pedal arm (18) is operable between an idle position (24) and a plurality of operable positions. When the pedal arm (18) is pivoted to a predetermined operable position (50), a kickdown member (46) provides a kickdown feel to a user. Simultaneously, the electrical generator (30) generates a control signal having a predetermined magnitude causing the automatic transmission (42) to downshift to a next lower gear. The kickdown member (46) is adjustable to synchronize the kickdown feel provided by the kickdown member (46) with the downshift to the next lower gear.
Claims26
A pedal assembly (12) for use in a vehicle (10), comprising:
- a pedal housing (14);
- a pedal arm (18) pivotally engaging said pedal housing (14) and operable between an idle position (24) and a plurality of operable positions;
- a kickdown member (46) directly engaging a portion (48) of said pedal arm (18) when said pedal arm (18) is pivoted to a predetermined operable position (50) from said idle position (24) such that a force required to further pivot said pedal arm (18) after said pedal arm (18) reaches said predetermined operable position (50) is greater than a force required to pivot said pedal arm (18) from said idle position (24) to said predetermined operable position (50);
- and
- an electrical generator (30) supported by said pedal housing (14) for generating a control signal that varies in magnitude in proportion to the extent of movement of said pedal arm (18) relative to said pedal housing (14);
- said assembly characterized by an adjustment mechanism (52) for adjusting said kickdown member (46) relative to said pedal arm (18) to ensure that said portion (48) of said pedal arm (18) directly engages said kickdown member (46) when said pedal arm (18) is at said predetermined operable position (50).
A method of providing a kickdown feel in a pedal assembly (12) having a pedal housing (14), a pedal arm (18) pivotally engaging the pedal housing (14), an electrical generator (30) for generating a control signal that varies in magnitude in proportion to the extent of movement of the pedal arm (18) relative to the pedal housing (14), and a kickdown member (46) for being directly engaged by the pedal arm (18), said method comprising the steps of:
- detecting a magnitude of the control signal of the electrical generator (30);
- and
- moving the pedal arm (18) relative to the pedal housing (14) while detecting the magnitude of the control signal;
- said method characterized by adjusting the kickdown member (46) relative to the pedal arm (18) in response to detecting a predetermined magnitude of the control signal so that the pedal arm (18) directly engages the kickdown member (46) to generate the kickdown feel when the control signal of the electrical generator (30) is at the predetermined magnitude during operation of the pedal assembly (12).
A pedal assembly (12) for use in a vehicle (10), comprising:
- a pedal housing (14);
- a pedal arm (18) pivotally engaging said pedal housing (14) and operable between an idle position (24) and a plurality of operable positions;
- a kickdown member (46) engaging a portion (48) of said pedal arm (18) when said pedal arm (18) is pivoted to a predetermined operable position (50) from said idle position (24) such that a force required to further pivot said pedal arm (18) after said pedal arm (18) reaches said predetermined operable position (50) is greater than a force required to pivot said pedal arm (18) from said idle position (24) to said predetermined operable position (50);
- and
- an electrical generator (30) supported by said pedal housing (14) for generating a control signal that varies in magnitude in proportion to the extent of movement of said pedal arm (18) relative to said pedal housing (14),
- said assembly characterized by an adjustment mechanism (52) for adjusting said kickdown member (46) relative to said pedal arm (18) to ensure that said portion (48) of said pedal arm (18) engages said kickdown member (46) when said pedal arm (18) is at said predetermined operable position (50), wherein said adjustment mechanism (52) includes a kickdown housing (54) enclosing said kickdown member (46) with a first slot (56a) defined in said kickdown housing (54) and a first adjusting fastener (64a) extending through said first slot (56a) into said pedal housing (14) to adjustably connect said kickdown housing (54) to said pedal housing (14).
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.