Arrangement for permitting vehicle foot pedal retraction, and vehicle incorporting same

摘要

An arrangement for permitting retraction of a vehicle foot pedal, operable on a conventional push rod of a brake booster or a clutch, in a frontal crash of sufficient magnitude, comprises a rotary member (1) attached to, and mounted on a blade (13) of the foot pedal for free rotation about the pivot, and adapted to be coupled to the push rod. The rotary member (1) has a decoupling feature (3-7) that is not activated during normal operation of the foot pedal, and displacement means (10,11) is provided to cause partial rotation of the rotary member (1) upon a frontal impact of sufficient magnitude, to stress the decoupling feature (3-7) until a threshold value is reached whereupon the decoupling feature (3-7) is activated, thereby disconnecting the push rod from rotary member (1) and hence from the blade (13) of a foot pedal, to permit free pedal movement. An arrangement for permitting retraction of a vehicle foot pedal, operable on a conventional push rod of a brake booster or a clutch, in a frontal crash of sufficient magnitude, comprises a rotary member (1) attached to, and mounted on a blade (13) of the foot pedal for free rotation about the pivot, and adapted to be coupled to the push rod. The rotary member (1) has a decoupling feature (3-7) that is not activated during normal operation of the foot pedal, and displacement means (10,11) is provided to cause partial rotation of the rotary member (1) upon a frontal impact of sufficient magnitude, to stress the decoupling feature (3-7) until a threshold value is reached whereupon the decoupling feature (3-7) is activated, thereby disconnecting the push rod from rotary member (1) and hence from the blade (13) of a foot pedal, to permit free pedal movement.