Patent ID: 7722130
Filing Date: 2010-05-25
Classification: B62L

Abstract:
1. A brake system for a vehicle including at least front and rear wheels, the brake system comprising: a braking force generating mechanism that applies a braking force to at least one of a front wheel and a rear wheel of the vehicle, the braking force generating mechanism comprising a master cylinder disposed on a handlebar of the vehicle and a piston reciprocally movable along an axis within the master cylinder; a brake lever assembly rotationally supported on the handlebar of the vehicle, wherein the master cylinder is disposed adjacent the brake lever assembly, and including a hand-operated lever and a force actuator, the force actuator moving between at least first and second positions so as to selectively actuate the braking force generating mechanism to produce a braking force, the force actuator interacting with the hand-operated lever such that movement of the hand-operated lever moves the force actuator from the first position to at least the second position; a foot-operated brake pedal coupled to the force actuator of the brake lever assembly by a cable, in which a first end of the cable is connected to the foot-operated brake pedal and a second end of the cable is connected to the force actuator through an engagement member, wherein the engagement member is coupled for movement with the second end of the cable, the engagement member defines a slot that is parallel to the axis of the piston, and wherein the force actuator includes pedal input portion that is in sliding engagement with the slot such that movement of the brake pedal moves the cable, which causes a portion of the engagement member defining an end of the slot to contact the pedal input portion and move the force actuator from the first position to the second position, and wherein the pedal input portion slides within the slot when the force actuator is moved by the hand-operated lever such that the cable and the foot-operated pedal are not moved as a result of movement of the force actuator by the hand-operated lever.