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

Claim 8:
9. 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 be capable of restricting 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 at least one processor configured to determine switching of a locking operation by the lock mechanism, and to control a driving operation of the actuator,
wherein the controller is configured
to detect an approaching object from behind the vehicle during a travel of the vehicle in the locked state of the pedal lever,
to transition from the locked state to the unlocked state of the pedal lever in response to a detection of the approaching object from behind the vehicle during the travel of the vehicle by driving the actuator to overcome a lock holding force defined by the biasing element of the lock mechanism.