The present invention relates to an accelerator pedal assembly of a vehicle. More specifically, the present invention relates to a bracket sandwich between accelerator pedal arm and accelerator pedal bracket mounted to dash panel of vehicle.
Background:
In a vehicle layout, there may be a high gap between accelerator pedal arm and vehicle floor even at the full pedal pressed position due to the high positioning of the accelerator pedal assembly. Further, there is no stopper provided on floor to support accelerator pedal arm during excessive/abusive loading. Due to this, when a driver applies excessive/abusive load on accelerator pedal arm, the accelerator pedal arm breaks. It is important to note that the accelerator pedal arm is designed in such a manner that the accelerator pedal arm breaks at a certain load to prevent damage to the accelerator pedal housing. Thus, strengthening the accelerator pedal arm may not be desired as the abusive forces on the accelerator pedal arm would eventually damage the accelerator pedal housing. However, at the same time, providing an accelerator pedal arm designed to break at lower loads is also not desirable as the high frequency of accelerator pedal arm breakage may occur. FIG. 1 exemplarily illustrates an accelerator pedal assembly including an accelerator pedal arm, and an accelerator pedal bracket, where the accelerator pedal arm is not supported by a stopper arrangement on the floor. Thus, an abusive force beyond the fully pressed position causes breakage of the accelerator pedal arm.
Thus, there is an unfulfilled and unresolved need for a solution which can prevent easy breakage of the accelerator pedal arm while preventing the damage to accelerator pedal housing.

Summary:
The present invention relates to an accelerator pedal assembly of a vehicle. The accelerator pedal assembly comprising an accelerator pedal bracket, an accelerator pedal arm, and a sandwich bracket. The sandwich bracket is sandwiched between the accelerator pedal bracket and the accelerator pedal arm. The sandwich bracket has a substantial planar region; and a load bearing region. The load bearing region has a lip profile, wherein width of the lip profile is less than the width of the other portion of the load bearing region. The load bearing region further comprising a bent profile bending outwards, a plurality of flanges along the edges of the load bearing region, and a bead structure. The lip profile is one of a J-shaped or U-shaped structure. The lip profile engages the accelerator pedal arm in case of excessive load after full pressed condition.
The lip profile deforms within a permissible limit of force applied on the accelerator pedal arm and allows breakage of the accelerator pedal arm beyond the permissible limit of force to avoid any damage to the accelerator pedal housing. The plurality of flanges and the bead structure increase the strength of the load bearing region. In an aspect, the substantially planar region is provided with a plurality of mounting holes for mounting the sandwich bracket between the accelerator pedal bracket and the accelerator pedal arm.
Brief description of the drawings:
The invention will be more clearly understood from the following description of an embodiment thereof, given by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: -
FIG. 1 exemplarily illustrates an accelerator pedal assembly, where the accelerator pedal assembly is not supported by a stopper arrangement on the floor in accordance with the prior art;

FIG. 2 exemplarily illustrates a perspective view of the accelerator pedal assembly including a sandwich bracket installed on a vehicle in accordance with one of the embodiments of the present invention;
FIG. 3 exemplarily illustrates an exploded view of the accelerator pedal assembly of FIG. 2 in accordance with one of the embodiments of the present invention;
FIG. 4 exemplarily illustrates a perspective view of the sandwich bracket in accordance with one of the embodiments of the present invention; and
FIG. 5 exemplarity illustrates a sectional view of the accelerator pedal assembly of FIG. 2 in accordance with one of the embodiments of the present invention.
Detailed description:
FIG. 2 exemplarily illustrates a perspective view of the accelerator pedal assembly having a sandwich bracket 2 installed on a vehicle in accordance with one of the embodiments of the present invention. The sandwich bracket 2 is sandwiched between the accelerator pedal arm 1 and the accelerator pedal bracket 3.
FIG. 3 exemplarily illustrates an exploded view of the accelerator pedal assembly of FIG. 2 in accordance with one of the embodiments of the present invention.
With reference to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the accelerator pedal assembly comprises an accelerator pedal bracket 3; an accelerator pedal arm 1 and a sandwich bracket 2. The sandwich bracket 2 is sandwiched between the accelerator pedal bracket 3 and the accelerator pedal assembly 1.
FIG. 4 exemplarily illustrates a perspective view of the sandwich bracket in accordance with one of the embodiments of the present invention; and FIG. 5 exemplarity illustrates a sectional view of the accelerator pedal assembly of FIG. 2 in accordance with one of the embodiments of the present invention.

With reference to FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, the sandwich bracket 2 has a substantial planar region 210; and a load bearing region 212. The load bearing region 212 has a lip profile 204, wherein width of the lip profile is less than the width of the other portion of the load bearing region 212. The width of lip profile 204 is kept less that the other portion of the load bearing region 212 so as to make the lip profile 204 less rigid than the other portion. The lip profile 204 is one of a J-shaped or U-shaped structure. The lip profile 204 engages the accelerator pedal arm 1 in case of excessive load after full pressed condition. The load bearing region 212 further comprising a bent profile 201 bending outwards, a plurality of flanges 202 along the edges of the load bearing region 212, and a bead structure 203.
The lip profile 204 deforms within a permissible limit of force applied by the accelerator pedal arm 1 and allows breakage of accelerator pedal arm 1 beyond the permissible limit of force to avoid any damage to the accelerator pedal housing. The plurality of flanges 202 and the bead structure 203 increase the strength of the load bearing region 212. In an aspect, the substantially planar region 210 is provided with a plurality of mounting holes 205 for mounting the sandwich bracket 2 between the accelerator pedal bracket 3 and the accelerator pedal arm 1.
Thereby, the accelerator pedal assembly of the present invention increases the amount of force that may be sustained on the accelerator pedal arm 1 thus providing an accelerator pedal arm 1 having a substantial breaking force. A person skilled in the art would appreciate that this would improve the durability of the accelerator pedal arm 1 and at the same time protect the critical components/ non-serviceable components i.e. the accelerator pedal housing.
In the specification the terms "comprise, comprises, comprised and comprising" or any variation thereof and the terms "include, includes, included and including" or any variation thereof are considered to be totally interchangeable and they should all be afforded the widest possible interpretation and vice versa.
A person skilled in the art would appreciate that the above invention provides a robust and economical solution to the problems identified in the prior art.

The invention is not limited to the embodiments hereinbefore described but may be varied in both construction and detail.

we claim

1. An accelerator pedal assembly of a vehicle, the accelerator pedal assembly
comprising:
5 an accelerator pedal bracket 3;
an accelerator pedal arm 1; and
a sandwich bracket 2 sandwiched between the accelerator pedal bracket 3 and the
accelerator pedal arm 1, wherein the sandwich bracket 2 comprising:
a substantial planar region 210; and
10 a load bearing region 212 comprising
a lip profile 204, wherein width of the lip profile is less than the width of
the other portion of the load bearing region 212.
2. The accelerator pedal assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the load bearing
15 region 212 further comprising
a bent profile 201 bending outwards;
a plurality of flanges 202 along the edges of the load bearing region 212; and
a bead structure 203.
20 3. The accelerator pedal assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the lip profile 204 is
one of a J-shaped or U-shaped structure.
4. The accelerator pedal assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the lip profile 204
engages the accelerator pedal arm 1 in case of excessive load after full pressed condition.
25
5. The accelerator pedal assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the lip profile 204
deforms within a permissible limit of force applied on the accelerator pedal arm 1 and
allows breakage of the accelerator pedal arm 1 beyond the permissible limit of force.
30 6. The accelerator pedal assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the substantially
planar region 210 is provided with a plurality of mounting holes 205 for mounting the
sandwich bracket 2 between the accelerator pedal bracket 3 and the accelerator pedal
arm 1.