Patent ID: 7228759
Filing Date: 2007-06-12
Classification: B60R,B60T,G05G,Y10T

Abstract:
1. Apparatus for releasing a motor vehicle foot pedal, in a frontal crash, said apparatus comprising in combination: (i) a primary pedal arm adapted to be mounted adjacent an upper end on a first pivot pin and adapted to carry a foot pad at a lower end; (ii) a secondary pedal arm adapted to be mounted adjacent an upper end of said secondary pedal arm on a second pivot pin spaced from said first pivot pin, and providing, at a lower end of said secondary pedal arm an open aperture; (iii) a linkage connecting said primary pedal arm to said secondary pedal arm during normal operation of said motor vehicle foot pedal, said linkage including a linkage pin receivable in said open aperture of said secondary pedal arm; (iv) a trigger lever mounted on said secondary pedal arm and provided at one end with an abutment surface adapted, when said arrangement is installed in a motor vehicle and when in a frontal crash situation, to be struck and displaced by a non-deformed portion of said motor vehicle, and provided at another end with an open aperture also to receive said linkage pin and, in normal operation of said arrangement, to captivate said linkage pin within said open aperture of said secondary pedal arm; and (v) a connection between said trigger lever and said secondary pedal arm that, in normal operation, restrains movement of said trigger lever with respect to said secondary pedal arm so as to retain captivation of said linkage pin, said connection being shearable in a frontal crash situation upon application of a force on said abutment surface of said trigger lever to cause shearing of said connection, whereby said struck trigger lever is displaced to a non-captivating position in which said linkage pin is free to exit said open aperture of said secondary pedal arm, thereby disconnecting said primary pedal arm from said secondary pedal arm and causing release of said primary pedal arm.