The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 06, 2000
Filed:
Oct. 26, 1998
Sundar Ananthasivan, Farmington Hills, MI (US);
Christopher J Rixon, Tecumseh, CA;
Teleflex Incorporated, Plymouth Meeting, PA (US);
Abstract
A pedal assembly (12) for a vehicle (10) includes a bracket (16), a pedal arm (20) and a support mechanism (26). The bracket (16) is adapted to be mounted to a vehicle structure (18) such as firewall or vehicle dashboard assembly. The pedal arm (20) extends downwardly from the bracket (16) to a distal end (22) for supporting a pedal pad (24). The support mechanism (26) interconnects the pedal arm (20) and the bracket (16) for allowing pivotal movement of the pedal arm (20) in an operating plane (28) relative to the bracket (16) during normal operation and for guiding the pedal arm (20) out of the operating plane (28) in response to a predetermined force between the pedal arm (20) and the bracket (16). Thus, under normal operation the pedal assembly (12) is pivotally moved between a rest position and a use position, but when the load exerted on the pedal pad (24) exceeds a pre-determined force the support mechanism (26) moves the pedal assembly (12) laterally with respect to the bracket (16) so that the pedal assembly (12) is moved away from a vehicle driver (14).