1. A vehicle pedal structure equipped with a pedal that swings about a swing shaft inclined with respect to a width direction of a traveling vehicle in a top view of the traveling vehicle, the vehicle pedal structure comprising: a mechanical link mechanism that converts swinging of the pedal into sliding in a front-rear direction of the traveling vehicle, wherein the link mechanism has a plurality of link structures that include a pair of swing members and a rod connected to the pair of swing members, the pair of swing members includes: a first swing member that swings about a first swing shaft in accordance with the swinging of the pedal; and a second swing member that swings about a second swing shaft in accordance with the swinging of the first swing member, the swinging being transmitted via the rod, the rod has: a first end, which is one end that is inserted into an opening provided in the first swing member; and a second end, which is another end that is inserted into an opening provided in the second swing member, each of the first end and the second end of at least one of the rods is restricted from sliding along an entering-exiting direction in which the first end and the second end are each inserted into the openings and removed from the openings, and in the plurality of link structures, in the top view, a second angle of the second swing shaft with respect to the width direction is smaller than a first angle of the first swing shaft with respect to the width direction.

2. The vehicle pedal structure according to claim 1, wherein the link structure includes a first link structure and a second link structure to which the swinging of the pedal is transmitted via the first link structure, the first link structure is a link structure closer to the pedal than the second link structure, at least in the second link structure, each of the first end and the second end is restricted from sliding along the enteringexiting direction, and a difference between the first angle and the second angle in the first link structure is smaller than a difference between the first angle and the second angle in the second link structure. 17

3. The vehicle pedal structure according to claim 2, wherein the length of the rod of the second link structure is longer than the length of the rod of the first link structure.

4. The vehicle pedal structure according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising: a fixing pin that fixes the first end; an insertion hole, into which the fixing pin is inserted, in the first end; and a protrusion that protrudes from the first end in a direction orthogonal to the entering-exiting direction, wherein in the entering-exiting direction, the first swing member is disposed between the fixing pin and the protrusion, so that sliding of the first end is restricted, and the fixing pin is inserted into the insertion hole such that the rod is removable from the first swing member.

TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001]
The present invention relates to a vehicle pedal structure
that includes a pedal that swings about a swing shaft inclined
with respect to a width direction of a traveling vehicle in a top
view of the traveling vehicle.
BACKGROUND ART
[0002]
Patent Literature 1 discloses a vehicle pedal structure that
includes an accelerator pedal and a mechanical link mechanism that
converts the swinging of the accelerator pedal into sliding in a
front-rear direction of a traveling vehicle. As illustrated in
Fig. 4 of Patent Literature 1, when the accelerator pedal is
disposed such that the toes of the operator are obliquely oriented
in the front-rear direction in a top view of the traveling vehicle,
the operator is able to place their foot on the accelerator pedal
in a comfortable posture with the legs apart.
CITATION LIST
PATENT LITERATURE
[0003]
Patent Literature 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open
No. 2015-95245.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
TECHNICAL PROBLEM
[0004]
In the vehicle pedal structure of Patent Literature 1, the
accelerator pedal swings about a swing shaft along a width
direction of the traveling vehicle in a top view of the traveling
vehicle. As a result, when the operator steps on the accelerator
pedal, the accelerator pedal moves only in the front-rear direction
without moving in the width direction in a top view. Therefore,
in a state where the toes of the operator are oriented obliquely,
the accelerator pedal is stepped on while being laterally displaced
with respect to the foot of the operator. Consequently, the
operator may have to adjust the position of the foot while stepping
on the accelerator pedal.
[0005]
In order to improve the operability of the accelerator pedal,
3
it is assumed that the accelerator pedal is swung by a swing shaft
inclined with respect to the width direction in a top view. In
the vehicle pedal structure of Patent Literature 1, because a wire
is used as one of the link members constituting the link mechanism,
only the displacement in the front-rear direction can be
transmitted by the wire having a high degree of freedom of
arrangement. As a result, even if the swing displacement of the
accelerator pedal has a width-direction component, the swinging
of the accelerator pedal can be converted into sliding in the
front-rear direction of the traveling vehicle.
[0006]
However, because the rigidity of the wire is generally lower
than that of a rigid member such as a rod, there has been the
problem that a time lag is likely to occur from the moment the
accelerator pedal is operated until the interlocking of the wire,
and the operability is likely to deteriorate. In addition, when
a foreign substance (for example, sand, stone, and the like) enters
between the wire and the tubular member covering the wire, there
is the problem that the wire does not move smoothly and operability
of the accelerator pedal deteriorates. Furthermore, such
deterioration in the operability of the pedal is not limited to
the accelerator pedal, and may occur in other pedals (for example,
a brake pedal or the like) having a similar structure.
[0007]
Therefore, in order to solve the above-described problems,
an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle pedal
structure that includes a pedal that swings about a swing shaft
inclined with respect to a width direction of a traveling vehicle
in a top view of the traveling vehicle, wherein operability of the
pedal can be improved.

We Claim:
1. A vehicle pedal structure equipped with a pedal that swings
about a swing shaft inclined with respect to a width direction of
a traveling vehicle in a top view of the traveling vehicle, the
vehicle pedal structure comprising:
a mechanical link mechanism that converts swinging of the
pedal into sliding in a front-rear direction of the traveling
vehicle, wherein
the link mechanism has a plurality of link structures that
include a pair of swing members and a rod connected to the pair
of swing members,
the pair of swing members includes:
a first swing member that swings about a first swing
shaft in accordance with the swinging of the pedal; and
a second swing member that swings about a second swing
shaft in accordance with the swinging of the first swing member,
the swinging being transmitted via the rod,
the rod has:
a first end, which is one end that is inserted into an
opening provided in the first swing member; and
a second end, which is another end that is inserted
into an opening provided in the second swing member,
each of the first end and the second end of at least one of
the rods is restricted from sliding along an entering-exiting
direction in which the first end and the second end are each
inserted into the openings and removed from the openings, and
in the plurality of link structures, in the top view, a
second angle of the second swing shaft with respect to the width
direction is smaller than a first angle of the first swing shaft
with respect to the width direction.
2. The vehicle pedal structure according to claim 1, wherein
the link structure includes a first link structure and a
second link structure to which the swinging of the pedal is
transmitted via the first link structure,
the first link structure is a link structure closer to the
pedal than the second link structure,
at least in the second link structure, each of the first end
and the second end is restricted from sliding along the enteringexiting direction, and
a difference between the first angle and the second angle in
the first link structure is smaller than a difference between the
first angle and the second angle in the second link structure.
17
3. The vehicle pedal structure according to claim 2, wherein
the length of the rod of the second link structure is longer
than the length of the rod of the first link structure.
4. The vehicle pedal structure according to any one of claims
1 to 3, further comprising:
a fixing pin that fixes the first end;
an insertion hole, into which the fixing pin is inserted, in
the first end; and
a protrusion that protrudes from the first end in a direction
orthogonal to the entering-exiting direction, wherein
in the entering-exiting direction, the first swing member is
disposed between the fixing pin and the protrusion, so that sliding
of the first end is restricted, and
the fixing pin is inserted into the insertion hole such that
the rod is removable from the first swing member.