Patent ID: 11958355
Assignee: DENSO CORPORATION
Field: Mechanical elements (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B  G | IPC B  G

Claim 5:
6. An accelerator pedal system for a vehicle, comprising:
a pedal lever configured to operate in accordance with a step-on operation;
a lock mechanism configured to restrict the operation of the pedal lever, the lock mechanism including a locking member and a biasing member, the biasing member biasing the locking member;
an actuator configured to switch between a locked state in which the operation of the pedal lever is restricted by the lock mechanism and an unlocked state in which the operation of the pedal lever is free from restriction by the lock mechanism; and
a controller including
a lock operation determination unit configured to determine switching of a locking operation by the lock mechanism,
an actuator control unit configured to control a driving operation of the actuator,
an approaching object detection unit configured to detect an approaching object from behind the vehicle, and
wherein the lock operation determination unit is configured to transition from the locked state to the unlocked state of the pedal lever, when the approaching object detection unit detects the approaching object from behind the vehicle during a travel of the vehicle in the locked state of the pedal lever, by driving the actuator to overcome a lock holding force defined by the biasing member of the lock mechanism.