| 摘要 |
A brake pedal is constructed as two separate pieces, a primary lever 7 and a secondary lever 8 pivotally connected by a pivot rod 9 to a deformable part 4 of the body structure of the motor vehicle. The primary lever 7 is constructed as a 'U' section and envelops the secondary lever 8. Both of the levers 7, 8 are attached together by a pivot 13, positioned below a brake booster pushrod 12 and are clamped together by a latching means or catcher 10. During a crash there is an interaction of the top of the catcher 10 and another part of the vehicle structure. Cross-car beam 14, is deformed at a different rate to the part 4 to which the two levers 7,8 are attached. If the crash is sufficiently severe to cause the beam 14 to contact the catcher 10 then it causes the catcher 10 to pivot around the pivot rod 9 allowing the primary lever 7 to be released from the catcher 10. As the pivot 13 of the primary and secondary levers 7, 8 is lower than that of the booster pushrod 12, the primary lever 7 will rotate away from the lower leg of an operator thereby reducing potential injury to the operator. In a second embodiment (figs 6 and 7) a single lever (7) is provided which is connected to a push rod (99) this lever acts as a normal top mounted brake lever allowing an input force from a vehicle operator to activate the brakes of the vehicle. In the event of a frontal or offset collision when the bulkhead (4) is pushed back, the pedal box (5) is moved towards the operator; this allows hands (118) to move into contact with the cross beam (14). The U shaped hanger (10) is then rotated from its normal position to a second position allowing the lever to become uncoupled from the pivot rod (99) and to rotate about pin (12) This moves the pedal pad (17) away from the operator again reducing potential injury to the lower leg of the operator. |
