Abstract:
The present invention a pedal depressor is for use in a vehicle having a steering wheel and control pedals. The pedal depressor includes an apparatus for applying downward actuating forces to at least one of said vehicle control pedals, using said steering wheel as a counterforce to said downward actuating force. The pedal depressor further includes a longitudinal rail plate, at one end of said rail, for bearing and applying force against said vehicle control pedal; and a car adapted to slidably move along said rail, said car cooperating with and connected to a device for adjusting said counterforce against said steering wheel, thereby adjusting said force against said control pedal and maintaining said control pedal at a preselected position.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The present invention relates to devices used for depressing control pedals in a vehicle, and more particularly, to pedal depressor used for commercial and non commercial vehicles.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    In some jurisdictions there are laws in place which require drivers of commercial vehicles, such as trucks, buses and school buses to carry out periodic inspection of their vehicles brake lights, pneumatic braking systems, and in particularly, the pneumatic brake cylinder travel. In order to carry out these type of inspections, traditionally, one person positioned in the cab of the vehicle would depress the brake pedal or any other control pedal necessary, and a second person outside of the vehicle would walk around the vehicle to carry out the various brake light and other brake inspections required by whatever applicable law.  
           [0003]    The present device contemplates eliminating the person in the cab to depress the control pedals, therefore, eliminating one person from the inspection process. In other words, the driver without further help could carry out his own brake light and brake and/or other inspection without a second person.  
         THE PRIOR ART  
         [0004]    A number of devices which are currently patented have attempted to provide a solution to similar problems. These patents are as follows:  
           [0005]    1. U.S. Pat. No. 3,722,266 Titled: BREAK BLEEDING TOOL by John C. Dunham, Filed Jan. 3, 1972 and Issued Mar. 27, 1973 described a spring loaded bar assembly for temporarily holding down an automatic brake pedal.  
           [0006]    2. U.S. Pat. No. 5,345,796 Titled: VEHICLE BRAKE PEDAL LOCKING DEVICE by Peter Chieh et al., Filed Mar. 8, 1993 and Issued Sep. 13, 1993 describes a JO device which spans between the brake pedal and the seat of a vehicle in order to lock the brake pedal in the down position. The device is directed towards preventing vehicle theft by keeping the brake system on.  
           [0007]    3. U.S. Pat. No. 5,181,404 Titled: MOTOR VEHICLE BRAKE PEDAL LOCKING DEVICE by Franklin Baker, Filed: Sep. 30, 1991 and Issued Jan. 26, 1993 again describes a brake pedal locking device which spans between the vehicle floor pan and a brake pedal. Again the device is directed at preventing theft of a vehicle by locking the brake in the down position.  
           [0008]    4. U.S. Pat. No. 4,699,238 Titled: STEERING WHEEL LOCKING DEVICE FOR ROAD VEHICLES by Mosheh Tamir, Filed: Nov. 18, 1986 and Issued Oct. 13, 1997 describes a device which spans between the steering wheel and the brake pedals is directed towards a device which prevents moving the steering wheel or locking the steering wheel in a lock position, and at the same time preventing depression of the brake pedals. Again this device is directed towards preventing theft of the vehicle by disabling the steering wheel and the brakes with one apparatus.  
           [0009]    Unlike the above mentioned patents, the present invention is directed towards a device which will enable the driver of the vehicle to depress a brake and/or any other control pedal temporarily for the purpose of inspecting various components of a vehicle such as brake and pneumatic lines and/or carrying out repair work. The device is designed to be mounted and dismounted quickly and efficiently, and to provide for a positive depression and/or position placement of control pedals including but not limited to the clutch, brake and gas pedal of a vehicle.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0010]    The present invention a pedal depressor for use in a vehicle having a steering wheel and control pedals, said pedal depressor comprises:  
           [0011]    a) a means for applying downward actuating forces to at least one of said vehicle control pedals, using said steering wheel as a counterforce to said downward actuating force.  
           [0012]    Preferably said applying means comprises:  
           [0013]    a) a longitudinal rail;  
           [0014]    b) a plate means, at one end of said rail, for bearing and applying force against said vehicle control pedal; and  
           [0015]    c) a means, moveable along said rail, for contacting and applying a counterforce against said steering wheel.  
           [0016]    Preferably said moveable contacting means includes:  
           [0017]    a) a means for adjusting said counterforce against said steering wheel, thereby adjusting said force against said control pedal and maintaining said control pedal at a preselected position.  
           [0018]    Preferably said adjusting means comprises:  
           [0019]    I) a threaded shaft threadably received through a threaded aperture defined in said moveable contacting means;  
           [0020]    ii) said shaft having a means at a first end for engaging with said steering wheel; and  
           [0021]    iii) said shaft including a means at a second end for manually turning said shaft for urging said engaging means against said steering wheel for providing a counterforce to the force applied to said control pedal.  
           [0022]    Preferably said engaging means includes a yoke pivotally attached with a ball and socket joint to said first end of said shaft for making contact with and engaging said steering wheel.  
           [0023]    Preferably said moveable contacting means includes:  
           [0024]    a) a car adapted to slidably move along said rail, said car cooperating with and connected to said adjusting means, for bringing said adjusting means into contact with said steering wheel.  
           [0025]    Preferably said moveable contacting means further includes:  
           [0026]    a) an arm with a first end rigidly attached to and extending from said car; and the second end connected to and co-operating with said adjusting means.  
           [0027]    Preferably said moveable contacting means further includes a lug integrally connected to said arm at said second end for connecting with said adjusting means.  
           [0028]    Preferably said lug includes a threaded lug aperture defined within said lug for threadably receiving said threaded shaft there through.  
           [0029]    Preferably said rail including transverse grooves on a bottom side and top side of said rail; and said car including transverse ridges cooperating and meshing with said grooves when an off centre force is applied to said car thereby locking said car in a preselected position.  
           [0030]    Preferably said plate means includes a base plate pivotally connected to one end of said rail for making contact with said control pedal.  
           [0031]    Preferably said plate means further includes a bracket integrally connected to said base plate and pivotally connected to one end of said rail with a pin.  
           [0032]    Preferably said plate means further includes a lip integrally part of said base plate which is adapted to extend around and contact the under side of said control pedal for preventing accidental disengagement of said base plate from said control pedal. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0033]    The invention will now be described by way of example only with references to the following drawings in which:  
         [0034]    [0034]FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective representation of the present invention, a pedal depressor.  
         [0035]    [0035]FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the present invention, a pedal depressor  
         [0036]    [0036]FIG. 3 is a side plan view of the pedal depressor shown in FIG. 2.  
         [0037]    [0037]FIG. 4 is a side plan view of the present invention; a pedal depressor, shown deployed in a schematic representation of a portion of a driver&#39;s cab of a vehicle having a seat, steering wheel and brake pedal arrangement.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0038]    The present invention, a Pedal Depressor, shown generally as  20  in FIG. 1 comprises the following major components, the base plate  30 , rail  32  and tightening mechanism  40 .  
         [0039]    The tightening mechanism  40  includes car  42  having an arm  44  and a lug  46  integrally part of car  42 . A handle  50  rigidly connected to threaded shaft  48  passes through threaded lug  46 . Threaded shaft  48  has a ball and socket joint  52  at one distill end thereof, which connects yoke  54  with threaded shaft  48 .  
         [0040]    Base plate  30  preferably includes bracket  64  which is pivotally attached to plate end  63  of rail  32  with a pin  60 . Pin  60  is oriented concentrically along pivot axis  62  and connects base plate  30  pivotally to rail  32 .  
         [0041]    Rail  32  preferably has grooves  70  which run transversally across the top side  80  of rail  32  and the bottom side  81  of rail  32 . Grooves  70  preferably run along the entire length of rail  32  and are on both the top side  80  and bottom side  81  of rail  32 . Corresponding ridges  72  are found within rail aperture  74  in car  42  and are adapted to mate and co-operate with grooves  70  located on rail  32 . Ridges  72  within rail aperture  74  of car  42  engage with grooves  70  in cantilever fashion to lock car  42  in a given position. Ridges  72  within rail aperture  74  can be provided for example by a set screw (not shown) threaded into car  42  such that a portion of the threads of the set screw are exposed within rail aperture  74  for cooperating and engaging with grooves  70  on rail  32 . The exposed threads of the set screw provide the necessary ridges  72  for engaging with grooves  70 . In this manner when the threads (ridges  72 ) on the set screw become worn they can be simply replaced by inserting another set screw into car  42 . It will be apparent to persons skilled in the art that other systems other than using grooves and ridges can be used on rail  32  and rail apertures  74  in order to lock car  42  along the length of rail  32  at any selective position. For example car  42  may be prevented from moving along rail  32  by applying an offset force (offset from longitudinal axis  83 ) to car  42  thereby creating frictional resistance when car  42  impinges upon rail  32  in a skewed manner due to the offset forces. Additionally locking screws, pins, or clamping mechanisms can be provided to lock car  42  in a desired position along rail  32 .  
         [0042]    In addition, rail  32  has a stop  76  at stop end  67  to prevent car  42  from completely coming off rail  32 .  
         [0043]    In use, as best viewed in FIG. 4, pedal depressor  20  is shown inside cross sectional view deployed in driver&#39;s cab  100 , wherein pedal depressor  20  is mounted between brake pedal  110  and steering wheel  120  of the vehicle. Drivers cab  100  may be the cab of a truck, bus, car or other vehicle having control pedals and a steering wheel.  
         [0044]    A typical vehicle will have a seat  124 , seat back  126 , a steering column  122  having mounted thereon a steering wheel  112 , which has a steering wheel rim  114 . Normally, steering column  122  emerges from dash  120  and underneath dash  120  is located control pedals including clutch pedal, gas pedal, brake pedal, emergency brake pedals, and other pedals necessary to control the vehicle. For simplicity, in FIG. 4 only shows a brake pedal  110  and pedal depressor  20  deployed between break pedal  110  and steering wheel rim  114 .  
         [0045]    When a driver or mechanic would like to depress any control pedal including break pedal  110  for inspection of brake lights, for inspection of porous or leaking break lines, for inspection of brake wear, for inspection of brake travel throw, for inspection of clutch pedal free play or clutch plate clearance, for inspection of diesel injection pump throttle positions, for inspection of hydraulic and pneumatic break components and/or for any other reason, pedal depressor  20  can be installed to span between a control pedal or, as in this example, brake pedal  110  and steering wheel  112  as shown in FIG. 4.  
         [0046]    In order to install pedal depressor  20 , base plate  30  is placed over brake pedal  110  and lip  90  of base plate  30  wraps around and engages the back of brake pedal  110  in order to prevent accidental disengagement and/or catapulting of pedal depressor  20  from brake pedal  110  when the pressure is released from brake pedal  110 .  
         [0047]    To install pedal depressor  20 , first of all, base plate  30  is placed onto brake pedal  110  in such a position that lip  90  is mounted over top and makes contact with the back of brake pedal  110 .  
         [0048]    Subsequently, car  42  is urged along rail  32  until yoke  54  makes contact with steering wheel rim  114  as shown in FIG. 4. The ball and socket joint  52  will accommodate any angular relationship between brake pedal  110  and steering wheel rim  114 . Once yoke  54  is in place and making contact with steering wheel rim  114 , handle  50  is rotated preferably clockwise, thereby rotating threaded shaft  48 , which in turn urges yoke  54  against steering wheel rim  14 , thereby applying counter force against steering wheel rim  114  and force against brake pedal  110 . When counter force is applied to yoke  54 , the force transmitted through lug  46 , arm  44  and to car  42  results in locking car  42  along rail  32  in a locked position by engaging grooves  70  with ridges  72  within rail apertures  74 . A force applied to car  42  which is off centre from longitudinal axis  83  results in ridges  72  co-operating and meshing with grooves  70 , thereby looking car  42  in a pre-selected position.  
         [0049]    By continuing to rotate handle  50  increased counter force is applied to steering wheel rim  114 , and therefore, increased force is applied to brake pedal  110 . The user, therefore, can continue to rotate handle  50  until the brake pedal  110  is depressed to the desirable location. Brake pedal  110  can be partially or completely depressed as desired. When enough force has been applied by rotating handle  50 , pedal depressor  20  can be left in position wherein base plate  30  is applying force against brake pedal  110 , and a counterforce is being applied against steering wheel rim  114  via yoke  54 .  
         [0050]    Once pedal depressor  20  is in place then the necessary inspections and/or repair work can be done on the various systems on the vehicle including brake light inspections, hydraulic brake leak inspections, brake travel inspections, air brake leak inspections, gas pedal travel inspections, clutch travel inspections, clutch free-play inspections and other inspections can also be carried out by using pedal depressor  20 .  
         [0051]    In order to disengage pedal depressor  20 , handle  50  is rotated in a counter clockwise direction in order to release the counter force being applied by yoke  54  against steering wheel rim  114 , and the force of base plate  30  against brake pedal  110 . As the force is released, brake pedal  110  will move back to its home position. To ensure that there are no sudden releases of pressure and to ensure that rail  32  does not unexpectedly disengage from brake pedal  110  in an uncontrollable manner, lip  90  prevents pedal depressor  20  from disengaging from brake pedal  110  without using manual intervention.  
         [0052]    It will be noted that FIG. 4 depicts a brake pedal  110  as an example of how pedal depressor  20  can be installed. Pedal depressor  20  can also be installed onto an accelerator pedal or a clutch pedal or any other control pedal.  
         [0053]    It is also evident that many different configurations of base plate  30  are possible to accommodate different thickness and dimensions of various control pedals.  
         [0054]    It should be apparent to persons skilled in the arts that various modifications and adaptations of this structure described above are possible without departure from the spirit of the invention the scope of which defined in the appended claims.