One-touch stop-lamp switch of vehicle

A one-touch stop-lamp switch of a vehicle can contribute to reducing manufacturing costs of a vehicle and ensuring stable and durable quality by quickly and simply mounting the stop-lamp switch at an appropriate position with respect to a brake pedal and stably maintaining the position.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims priority of Korean Patent Application Number 10-2009-0081874 filed Sep. 1, 2009, the entire contents of which application is incorporated herein for all purposes by this reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a stop-lamp switch that turns on/off stop lamps after sensing whether the brake pedal of a vehicle is pressed down, in detail, a technology that makes it possible to simply and stably mount a stop-lamp switch on a mounting bracket.

2. Description of Related Art

It is necessary for safe driving, such as ensuring a safety distance from the following vehicles, to indicate whether the brake pedal of a vehicle is operated, by turning on/off the stop lamps at the rear of the vehicle.

A mechanism for detecting whether a brake pedal is operated is mounted on a mounting bracket around a brake pedal in the related art. In the above mechanism, it is very important to mount the stop lamp at a relatively appropriate position with respect to the brake pedal, in order for the stop lamp to generate appropriate electric signals in accordance with the operation of the brake pedal.

The appropriate mounting position of the stop-lamp switch should be set such that the switch knob that elastically protrudes from the stop-lamp switch and the amount of protrusion changes in accordance with the movement of the brake pedal is pressed inside a cover forming the outer shape of the stop-lamp switch when the brake pedal is not pressed down, and the cover forms a gap within a few millimeters from the brake pedal to keep the switch knob sufficiently pressed inside the cover, without directly contacting with the brake pedal.

In assemblage of the vehicle, it is also very important to allow for quick and simple mounting, on the assumption that the stop-lamp switch is mounted at an appropriate position, in terms of manufacturing cost of the vehicle, and it is also a very important technical object to stably maintain the position of the stop lamp mounted as described above.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Various aspects of the present invention are directed to provide a one-touch stop-lamp switch that can contribute to reducing manufacturing costs of a vehicle and ensuring stable and durable quality by being quickly and simply mounted at an appropriate position with respect to a brake pedal and stably maintained at the position.

An aspect of the prevent invention provides a one-touch stop-lamp switch of a vehicle, which includes a mounting bracket fixed to a predetermined position with respect to a brake pedal that is in a free position, a switch cover forming the outer shape of a stop-lamp switch, a cover locker fixed to the mounting bracket and changing the position of fixing the switch cover in accordance with relative rotational angle to the switch cover, and/or a rotation-restraining locker connected to the cover locker to change relative rotatable position of the switch cover to the cover locker

The present invention can contribute to reducing manufacturing cost of a vehicle and ensuring stable and durable quality by quickly and simply mounting a stop-lamp switch at an appropriate position with respect to a brake pedal and stably maintaining the position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring toFIGS. 1 to 4, various embodiments of the present invention include a mounting bracket3fixed to a predetermined position with respect to a brake pedal1that is in a free position, a switch cover5forming the outer shape of a stop-lamp switch, a cover locker7fixed to mounting bracket3and changing the position of fixing switch cover5in accordance with relative rotational angle to switch cover5, and a rotation-restraining locker9connected to cover locker7to change relative rotatable position of switch cover5to cover locker7.

The free position of brake pedal1corresponds with a position when a driver does not press down brake pedal1and an electric switch of which electric connection is changed by movement of a switch knob elastically protruding toward brake pedal1is disposed in switch cover5.

Cover locker7has a cover-mounting hole11that allows a portion of switch cover5to move straight therethrough and the portion, which is inserted in cover-mounting hole11, of switch cover5has a uniform cross section in the insertion direction while having a locking surface13that is perpendicular to the insertion direction and a male-threaded portion15that is engaged in accordance with relative rotation to cover locker7. Corresponding to this configuration, a female-threaded portion17that is engaged with male-threaded portion15of switch cover5is formed on the inner side of cover-mounting hole11of cover locker7.

That is, the portion of switch cover5that is inserted in cover-mounting hole11has a circular cross section with a portion cut by locking surface13, not a complete circular cross section, and accordingly, male-threaded portion15are partially formed, as shown in the figures.

Therefore, as shown inFIG. 4, with cover locker7fixed to mounting bracket3, switch cover5is inserted into cover-mounting hole11such that the end of switch cover5contacts with brake pedal1, and then rotated such that male-threaded portion15is engaged with female-threaded portion17, and as a result, straight movement of switch cover5in cover-mounting hole11is restrained.

In particular, as described above, with the end of switch cover5inserted to contact with brake pedal1, as male-threaded portion15is engaged with female-threaded portion17by rotation, a gap within a few millimeters preventing direct contact between the end of switch cover5and brake pedal1is naturally formed while switch cover5retreats a little. Accordingly, it is possible to very quickly and simply fix switch cover5of the stop-lamp switch at an appropriate position with respect to brake pedal1.

The position of switch cover5ensured as described above is more stably ensured by rotation-restraining locker9, which is described in detail below.

In various embodiments, two locking surfaces13of switch cover5are formed at both sides of switch cover5in parallel with each other, and correspondingly, rotation-restraining locker9has locking fork portions19that are in surface contact with two locking surfaces13and combined with cover locker7to change the surface contact of locking fork portions19with locking surfaces13by sliding straight perpendicular to the insertion direction of switch cover5into cover locker7.

Locking fork portions19of rotation-restraining locker9are formed in a U-shaped flat plate, a guide protrusion21protruding from the U-shaped flat plate is formed at the separate ends of the U-shape, a guide slot23is formed at cover locker7for rotation-restraining locker9to slide straight, and release stoppers25protrude from both sides of guide slot23to restrain straight motion of guide protrusions21such that rotation-restraining locker9is not separated from cover locker7.

Snap protrusions27are formed at both sides of guide slot23to prevent rotation-restraining locker9from moving in the separation direction from cover locker7, when locking fork portions19are inserted to be in surface contact with locking surface13and guide protrusions21are locked after passing by elastic deformation of locking fork portions19.

An insertion-restraining protrusion29that restricts insertion depth of rotation-restraining locker9in cover locker7by contacting with cover locker7is formed at the connecting portion of the U-shaped flat plate of locking fork portions19.

Further, a grip31protrudes in the opposite direction to insertion-restraining protrusion29of rotation-restraining locker9to provide force for sliding straight rotation-restraining locker9with respect to cover locker7.

Therefore, as described above, with male-threaded portion15of switch cover5engaged with female-threaded portion17of cover-mounting hole11, when rotation-restraining locker9is inserted and locking fork portions19are in surface contact with locking surface13of switch cover5, switch cover5is prevented from rotating with respect to cover locker7, such that it is possible to prevent unexpected disengagement of male-threaded portion15and female-threaded portion17and changes in position of switch cover5.

Rotation-restraining locker9is assembled in advance with cover locker7, as shown inFIG. 1and naturally prevents switch cover5from rotating, when switch cover5is inserted and fixed by rotation in cover-mounting hole11, as shown in FIG.3, and guide protrusions21are inserted through snap protrusion27to be restricted by insertion-restraining protrusion29, such that the position of switch cover5can be stably maintained.

On the other hand, in maintenance of a vehicle, it is possible to easily separate switch cover5by pulling rotation-restraining locker9from cover locker7, holding grip31of rotation-restraining locker9.

In this operation, rotation-restraining locker9is pulled until guide protrusions21are locked to release stoppers25and not completely separated from cover locker7, such that the position shown inFIG. 1where it can be assembled again to prevent switch cover5from rotating is maintained.

FIGS. 5 and 6show another embodiment of the present invention, which is different in configuration of rotation-restraining locker9from the above embodiment.

That is, rotation-restraining locker9has a locking hole33where the portion of switch cover5inserted in cover-mounting hole11is inserted and prevented from relatively rotating, and an anti-rotation means that fixes rotation-restraining locker9to cover locker7is included to prevent locking hole33from rotating with respect to cover locker7.

In various embodiments, rotation-restraining locker9is formed in a flat plate shape with locking hole33and the anti-rotation means has an elastic locking hook35protruding toward cover locker7and a rotation-restricting surface37formed such that elastic locking hook35is locked to cover locker7to be prevented from rotating.

Rotation-restricting surface37may be a hole formed through cover locker7, but in various embodiments it is formed of a locking slot39formed on the outer surface of cover locker7.

In various embodiments described above, as shown inFIG. 6, with rotation-restraining locker9inserted in switch cover5through locking hole33, switch cover5is inserted and rotated in the locker cover to be fixed at a predetermined distance from brake pedal1, elastic locking hook35of rotation-restraining locker9is fitted in locking slot39such that anti-rotation surface37forming locking slot39can prevent rotation of elastic locking hook35. As a result, switch cover5is prevented from rotating with respect to cover locker7, such that switch cover5is stably fixed with respect to cover locker7.

For convenience in explanation and accurate definition in the appended claims, the terms “rear”, “inside”, and etc. are used to describe features of the exemplary embodiments with reference to the positions of such features as displayed in the figures.