Parking brake operating device

A method of manufacturing a parking brake operating device including:

• a lever body that includes a proximal end portion that includes a section that has a substantially inverted U-shape and an operating portion with a substantially cylindrical shape, the proximal end portion being arranged across a support member and pivotally supported;
• a pole that is pivotally arranged inside the proximal end portion of the lever body, and restricts pivoting movement of the lever body so as to maintain a parking brake in an operating state when the pole is meshed with a ratchet provided in the support member in accordance with an urging force of an urging member;
• and
• a release rod that is connected to the pole so as to be able to pivot relative to the pole, and causes the pole to pivot so that the pole is disengaged from the ratchet when a release knob, which projects from a distal end of the operating portion, is pushed in,
• the release rod includes a pivot connecting portion at which the release rod is connected to the pole,
• the operating portion being provided with a slit that is formed in a circumferential wall of the operating portion and that is continuous with an opening with the inverted U-shape in the proximal end portion, and extends in an axial direction of the substatially cylindrical shape;
• the slit having a width dimension defined between respective edges of the circumferential wall that are opposed to each other in a direction perpendicular to a pivot plane of the lever body, the width dimension allowing the release rod to be introduced, the slit including a wide portion that is provided in a distal end of the slit toward the proximal end portion in the axial direction, the width dimension in the wide portion being larger than in another portion of the slit, which is other than the wide portion, such that the pivot connecting portion is able to be introduced through the wide portion of the slit into the operating portion of the lever body;
• the wide portion having an open end provided with a pair of protrusions that extend from the respective edges of the circumferential wall of the operating portion to an outer circumferential side of the operating portion, the protrusions being parallel to each other in a section perpendicular to the axial direction;
• the proximal end portion being provided with a pair of flanges that are bent outwardly away from a pair of side walls of the proximal end portion with the substantially inverted U-shape;
• an opening being provided over an entire length of the lever body in the axial direction, the opening consisting of the slit, an opening between the pair of protrusions and an opening between the pair of flanges;
• and
• the release rod and the pole fitted at given positions in the lever body by introducing the release rod into the operating portion through the slit, and moving the release rod in this state toward the proximal end portion, wherein:
• the pivot connecting portion is bent to be offset from another portion of the release rod, which is other than the pivot connecting portion, in the direction perpendicular to the pivot plane of the lever body,
• the urging member is disposed on the release rod and extends in an axial direction of the release rod, so as to force the release rod in a direction that causes the pole to be meshed with the ratchet provided in the support member, and
• a distance from the wide portion of the slit to the distal end of the operating portion is smaller than a distance from the pivot connecting portion that is to be offset from the other portion of the release rod in the direction perpendicular to the pivot plane of hte lever body, to one of axial opposite ends of the urging member, the one of the axially opposite ends being remote from the release knob,
• the method comprising:
• preparing a first assembly including at least the lever body and the support member that supports the lever body;
• preparing a second assembly including at least the release rod and the pole that are attached to each other;
• moving the second assembly relative to the first assembly, such that at least the pole and the pivot connecting portion of the release rod is introduced into a space inside the lever body, by passing the pole and the pivot connecting portion through the wide portion of the slit, and such that the pole is positioned in a first position distant from the ratchet provided in the support member in a longitudinal direction of the lever body;
• and
• moving the second assembly relative to the first assembly in a direction which reduces a distance from the pole to the ratchet in a longitudinal direction, such that the pole is positioned in a second position in which the pole can mesh with the ratchet.