Patent ID: 7337867

Claim:
A vehicle-pedal backward-displacement preventing device for a vehicle having a driver's seat, a vehicle body member, and a dash panel, which is displaceable relative to the vehicle body member in the event of backward displacement of the dash panel toward the driver's seat, said device comprising: a pedal bracket having a pair of mutually opposed side plates each including (i) a front end at which said pedal bracket is attached to the dash panel and (ii) a bulge which protrudes in a protruding direction away from the other of said plates; an operating pedal disposed pivotably about an axis of a support shaft connecting said side plates, and having a depressible portion which is provided by a lower end portion thereof to be depressed; and a guide member disposed in relation to an upper end portion of said pedal bracket and the vehicle body member, and restraining said depressible portion of said operating pedal from being backwardly displaced toward the driver's seat, upon backward displacement of said pedal bracket together with the dash panel toward the driver's seat; wherein said guide member is configured to cause said upper end portion of said pedal bracket to be downwardly displaced following a predetermined displacement path, upon displacement of said pedal bracket relative to the vehicle body member, and causes said pedal bracket to be deformed with said side plates being made to buckle; and wherein each of said side plates has an aperture located in a region thereof which includes a crest portion of said bulge, such that a strength of each of said side plates against a load, which is exerted by said guide member upon the backward displacement of the dash panel, is made smaller in said crest portion than in the other portion of each of said side plates, so that each of said side plates can be made to buckle with said crest portion of said bulge being displaced in said protruding direction.