UNTED STATES DISTRICT COURTEASTERN DISTRCT OF MICHIGAN

SOUTHERN DIVISION

TELEFLEX INCORPORATED,

Plaintiff,Case No. 02 74586

v.Hon. Lawrence P. Zatkoff

KSR INTERNATIONAL CO.,Magistrate Judge Pepe

Defendant.

RODGER D. YOUNG (P2652)STEVEN SUSSER (P52940)Young & Susser, P.C.Counsel for Plaitiff

26200 American Drive, Suite 305Southfield,MI 48034248.353.8620

JAMES W. DABNEYPenne & Edmonds, LLPCounsel for Defendant1155 Avenue of the AmericasNew York, NY 10036212.790.9090

KENNTHJ. MCINTYR (P17450)Dickison Wright, PLLCCounel for Defendat500 Woodward AvenueSuite4000 .Detroit, MI 48226313.223.3500

)

TELEFLEX'S RESPONSE TO KSR'S MOTIONFOR SUMY JUGMENT OF INALIDITY

"

SUBMITTED BY:

Rodger D . Young (P22652) .Steven Susser (P52940)Kevin B. Hirsch (P58757)

Yo~g & Susser, P.C.26200 America Drive, Suite 305Southeld,MI 48034

248.353~8620

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURTEASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN

SOUTHERN DMSION

TELEFLEX INCORPORATED,

Plaintiff,Case No. 02 74586

v.Hon. Lawrence P. Zatkoff

KSR INTERNATIONAL CO.,Magistrate Judge Pepe

Defendant.

RODGER D. YOUNG (P22652)STEVEN SUSSER (P52940)Young & Susser, P.C.Counsel for Plaintiff26200 American DriveSuite 305Southfield, MI 48034248.353.8620

JAMES W. DABNEYPenne & Edonds, LLPCounsel for Defendant1155 Avenue of the AmericasNew York, NY 10036212.790.9090

KENNETH J. MCINTYR (P17450)Dickion Wright, PLLC

Counsel for Defendant500 Woodward AvenueSuite 4000Detroit, MI 48226313.223.3500

TELEFLEX'S RESPONSE TO KSR'S MOTIONFOR SUMY JUGMENT OF INALIDITY

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 1

STATEMENT OF FACTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , . . .. 1

PROCEDURAL HISTORY .................................... 3

APPLICABLE LAW. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 5

A. Burden of Proof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 5

B. Obviousness. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 6

1. Test for Obviousness ............................... 6

2. Combination of Elements within the Prior Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 7

3. Problem Addressed by the Invention . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . ... 10

ARGUMENT ............................................ 11

A. Sum of Argument . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 11

B. No Teaching or Suggestion in Prior Art to Combine theElements in the Maner. Specified in Claim 4 of theEngelgau Patent ;. . . . . . '.' . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ; . . . . . . . . . .. 13

C. KSR Mischaracterized Problem Solved by the EngelgauPatent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 16

D. KSR's Misuse of Prior Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 18

1. Asano Pedal Involved a Complex Design that

Could NotHave Motivated Solution to ProblemSolved by Engelgau . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 19

2. Patent Examer Review of Prior Art ................... 20

3. KSR's Discussion of the Rixon '593 Patent. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 21

E. Secondar Considerations of Non-Obviousness Bolster

Teleflex's Position that the Engelgau Patent Is Valid. . . . . . . .. . . . . .. 22

CONCLUSION . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . '.' . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. 23

i

TABLE OF AUTHORITIES

CASES

~ Aero Industries, Inc. v. John Donovan Enterprises-Florida, Inc.,~ 80 F. Supp. 2d 963, 975 (S.D. Ind. 1999) ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 10InC'

ro~ Ashland Oil, Co. v. Delta Resins & Refractories, Inc.,

776 F.2d 281, 291 (Fed. Cir. 1985) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 6~C'oo:..'

~ ATD Corp v. Lydall Inc.,~ 159 F.3d 534, 546 (Fed. Cir. 1998) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 9u::

:i Avia Group, Int'l, Inc. v. L.A. Gear California, Inc.,w~ 853 F.2d 1557, 1567 (Fed. Cir. 1998) ........................... 5,22I-::oui Colorado v. New Mexico,

467 U.S. 310,316, reh'g denied, 468 U.S. 1224 (1994) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 6w;;~o.Z(' Custom Accessories, Inc. v. Jeffey-Allan Indus., Inc.,~ 807F.2d 955, 959 (Fed. Cir. 1986) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 8::.cooC'toC\

Ecolochem, Inc. v. Southern California Edison Co.,227 F.3d 1361, 1371 (Fed. Cir. 2000) ......................... 8,9, 14

~liJI-¡; Elmer v. ICC Fabricating, Inc.,ut: 67 F.3d 1571, 1574 (Fed. Cir. 1995) .............................. 5¡;lio$: Emerson Electric Co. v. Spar Tool, LLC,~ 223 F. Supp.2d 856 (N.D. Ohio 2002) ............................ 10uiw$:

\3 Graham v. John Deere Co.,: 383 U.S. 1, 17-18; 86 S. Ct. 684; 15 L. Ed.2d 545 (1966) ................ 6!:::ui

~ Grain Processing Corp. v. American Maize-Products Corp.,~ 840 F.2d 902, 907 (Fed. Cir. 1988) . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8, 18~wui

gi Heidelberger DruckmchIen AG v. Hantscho Commercial Prods.,uicl 21 F.3d 1068, 1072 (Fed. Cir. 1994) .............................l!Z::o:-

7-9

IntercoImect Plang'Corp. v. Feil,

774 F.2d 1132, 1143 (Fed. Cir. 1985) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 8ii

II' Lindeman MaschinefabrIk Gmbh v. American Hoist and Derrick Company,

I 730F.2d 1452 (Fed. Cir. 1984) .............................. .9, 10

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Novo Nordisk AIS v. Becton Dickinson & Co.,304 F.2d 1216 (Fed. Cir. 2002) .............................. 15, 16

Richardson-Vicks, Inc. v. Upjohn Co.,122 F.3d 1476 (Fed. Cir. 1997) ................................ 15

Robotic Vision Systems, Inc. v. View Engineering, Inc.,189 F.3d 1370, 1377 (Fed. Cir. 1999) ............................. 5

In Re Rouffet,149 F.3d 1350, 1357-58 (Fed. Cir. 1998) ......................... 7, 10

Ryko Manufacturing Co. v. Nu-Sta Co.,

950 F.2d 714, 717 (Fed. Cir. 1991) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .-~

14, 15

smIA Neurosciences, Inc. v. Cadus Pharaceutical Corp.,225 F.3d 1349, 1355 (Fed. Cir. 2000) ............................. 5

Smithine Diagnostics, Inc. v.Helena Labs. Corp.,859 F.2d 878, 887 (Fed. Cir. 1988) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 8

Stratoflex, Inc. v. Aeroquip Corp.,713 F.2d 1530, 1534 (1983) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 5

Wesley Jessen Corp. v. Coopervision, Inc.,207 F. Supp.2d 1103, 1109 (C.D. Cat 2002) . .'. . . . ; . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 13

Winer International Royalty Corp. v. Wang,202 F.3d 1340, 1348 (Fed. Cir. 2000) ........................... 9, 10

WMS Gamg, Inc. v. International Game Technology,184 F.3d 1339, 1359 (Fed. Cir. 1999) ............................ 10

Yamanouchi Pharaceutical Co., Ltd. v. Danbury Pharcal,Inc.,

231 F.3d 1339, 1343 (Fed. Cir. 2000) ............................. 7

Hi

RULES

35 U.S.C. § 253 ................................................ 4

o 35 U.S.C. § 282 ................................................. 5C\toOJM

g¡ 35 U.S.C. § 103 ................................................ 6ro~~~8 OTHER00~z~ McCarhy's Desk Encyclopedia of Intellectual Propert. Second Edition ............... 5,6:iu::o.JIi¡;.:iI-::oui

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I. INTRODUCTION

To succeed in its attempt to invalidate the Engelgau Patent, KSR must prove to the Court

~ by clear and convincing evidence that, as a matter of law, it is invalid -- despite the fact that thetoo:M

g¡ experts, the United States Patent and Trademark Offce, have already affed its validity. Toro~~~ do so, KSR has attempted to demonstrate that the Engelgau Patent describes nothg, more than('oo:~z'"l!:iu::o.J¡¡ mischaracterized the Engelgau Patent as simply a combination of

two known features. Actually,:iI-:ig the Engelgau Patent represented a unique way to combine an adjustable pedal with an electronic

an adjustable pedal with an attached electronic control and that it would have been obvious to

combine these two features. But KSR's attempt fails because, among other reasons, it has

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~ control -- until that point, many inventors had tried to combine these two elements but none hadz.cu~w::.cooC\wC\

been able to do so in the way that Engelgau did. As a result, the United States Patent and

Trademark Offce bestowed on him a patent.

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~ question, the Engelgau Patent would have been obvious at the time to one of ordinary skill in theu¡;lio3:w;;I-Ulw$:inoC'WI-::Ul.

KSR's approach here highlights the tre issue between the parties: Whether as a factual

ar. This is a question that a jury should decide after the trial (currently scheduled to begin in

December 2003). Teleflex respectfully suggests that in light of its dispositive motion on KSR's

iningement of the. Engelgau Patent, the only viable issues that remain in ths case are whether

the Engelgau Patent is valid and the amount of damages. Teleflex requests that the Cour denyun:

~ KSR's invalidity motion, grant Teleflex's infringement motion, and allow the jur to decide thewUlUl:::: issues of validity and, if appropriate, damages.l!z6 II. STATEMENT OF FACTS;,

II Teleflex is a leading

maufactuer and supplier of adjustable peda systems that are used

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pedals closer to their feet, enabling them to attin maximum comfort while stil sitting as far

back from the steering wheel as possible to prevent air bag related injuries.

Some of the Teleflex adjustable pedal systems include an electronic control. An electronicoNtoOJM

g¡ control is a device that senses the depression and release of the pedal and produces an electronicro~~

signal corresponding to this movement. Adjustable pedal systems with electronic controls send~C'ao:~z.cl!:iU::o-i¡¡ vehicle performance and better control than the traditional pedal system utilizing a cable or rod:cI-::~ mechanism. The manufacture and supply of adjustable pedal

systems with electronic controls is

the electronic signals to the engine to register the pressure applied by the driver on the

accelerator, clutch, and/or brake. These adjustable pedal systems are designed to offer enhanced

w;;g¡ an expanding and profitable product market.z.cUi:liJ::--ooC'toC'

KSR is also an automotive industry supplier and a Teleflex competitor. KSR also

manufactures and sells adjustable pedals that incorporate electronic controls. On its website, KSR

~ claim that it is "an industry leader in the design, engineering and manufacturing of adjustablewI-ZWUwU¡;lio

and fixed brake pedal modules (and) electronic thottle controls . ." rSee,

htt://www.ksrint.comlabout%20ksr~html KSR's sales numbers support this claim; KSR's$:w;;I-uiw$:

"(a)nnual brake pedal production for adjustable and fixed unts exceeds 310 milion components

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(See, htt://www.ksrint.comlenglish.html A

significant portion of these modules are the type of product at issue in this case -an adjustableun:~ pedal with an incorporated electronic control. Indeed, KSR's website touts its electronic thottlewuiui::~ control as a "companon to the patented KSR adjustable pedal technology." rSee,l!zis http://www.ksrint.comlelectronic %20thottle %20controls.html;,

II In its Second Amended Complaint, Teleflexalleged that

certin KSR adjustable pedals

I! with an incorporated electronic controlininge thee Teleflex patents: United States Patent No.

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6,237,565, invented by Steven Engelgau ("the Engelgau Patent"); United States Patent No.

6,374,695 ("the '695 Patent") and United States Patent No. 6,305,239 ("the '239 Patent")

(together the '695 Patent and the '235 Patent wil be referenced as "the Johansson Patents").

The Engelgau Patent claim an adjustable pedal that allows a driver to move the pedal

closer to or farer from the driver to achieve maximum driving comfort. It also describes and

claim an electronic control that replaces the traditional cable linge between the pedal and the

corresponding part of the vehicle. In the Engelgau Patent, the electronic control module is

attched to the mounting bracket of the adjustable pedal and, consequently, it remain fixed both

when the pedal ar moves during adjustment and when the pedal ar moves operationally. rSee,

Ex. A, '5.)

The Johansson Patents also describe and claim an adjustable pedal that incorporates an

electronic control. The Johanson Patents, however, describe and claim a different design than

that described in the Engelgau Patent. Specifically, in the Johansson Patents, the electronic

control moves with the pedal during adjustment -- that is, the pedal ar. itself moves about one

pivot point, and the pedal assembly as a whole moves about a second pivot point.

III. PROCEDUR mSTORY

On November 18, 2002, Teleflex filed this action against KSR for iningement of the

EngelgauPatent and the Johason Patents. On March 13, 2003, KSR fied a declaratoryua .i5 judgment action in Delaware against Technology Holding, a wholly owned subsidiar ofTeleflex,uiui

~ claimg that KSR does not infringe the Engelgau and Johansson Patents and, if it does, that thosel!zg patents are invalid. The Delaware action is the mirror image of the Michigan action. In it, KSR;,

maintainedthat.Technology Holding, not Teleflex, was the proper party to allege iningement

againt KSR. On April 2, 2003, KSR filed a Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Subject Matter

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Jurisdiction in this Court. This Court recently denied KSR's Motion to Dismiss as it relates to

the Engelgau Patent. The Delaware action has been stayed pending ths Court's jurisdictional

ruling. i

On July 7, 2003, Teleflex filed two Motions for Sum Judgment of Infringement, one

relating to the Engelgau Patent and the other relating to the Johanson Patents. On the same day,

KSR fùed it& Motion for Sum Judgment of Invalidity, requesting that the Court declare the

Engelgau and Johansson Patents invalid.

The parties recently stipulated to the dismissal with prejudice of the Johanson Patents,

which Teleflex has decided to dedicate to the public under 35 U.S.C. § 253. Because of the

dismissal of the Johansson Patents, the single remaining claim in ths case relates to KSR's

infringement of the Engelgau Patent. Based on this recent development, Teleflex's Motion for

Sumary Judgment of Iningement of Johanson Patents and KSR' s. arguments relating to. the

validity of the Johanson Patents are moot. Therefore, in this Response Brief, Teleflex intends

to address only KSR's validity arguents regarding the Engelgau Patent. Teleflex wil explain

in this Response why the adjustable pedal patents and products that KSR cites as prior art do not

render the Engelgau Patent obvious. Indeed, ths prior art demonstrates why the United States

Patent and Trademak Offce was correct in deciding to award a patent .for the Engelgau

invention.

The simple solution to KSR's concerns regarding jurisdiction would be to haveTeleflex amend its Complaint to join Technology Holding as a Plaintiff. In doing so, neither thesubstace nor timg of this cae would change, given that Technology Holding is merely a

holding company and does not maufactue, make, or use any pars or patents. Fora more

detailed discussion of the jurisdictiona issue, Teleflex refers the Cour to its Response to KSR'g .Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Subject Matter Jurisdiction.

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IV. APPLICABLE LAW

A. Burden of Proof

Importantly, on the issue of validity, KSR bears the burden of proof. 35 U.S.C. § 282.

This burden of proof is not the standard "preponderance of the evidence" burden; rather, KSR

must prove invalidity by clear and convincing evidence. Elmer v. ICC Fabricating. Inc., 67 F. 3d

1571, 1574 (Fed. Cir. 1995).2 KSR must meet this burden because once a patent has been

granted, it is presumed to be valid, primarily because the United States Patent and Trademark

Offce subjects a patent application to rigorous scrutiny; the presumption of validity requires that

the decision-maker employ an approach "that stas with the acceptace of the patent claimed as

valid and that looks to the challenger for proof to the contrary." Stratoflex. Inc. v. Aeroquip

Corp., 713F.2d 1530, 1534 (1983).3

Moreover, a party that asserts invalidity "not only has the procedural burden of

proceeding first in establishing a prima facie case, but the burden of persuasion on the merits

remain with that party until a final decision." Stratoflex, 713 F .2d at 1534 (emphasis added).

According to the United States Supreme Court, in order to demonstrate a proposition by clear

and convincing evidence, the par caring the burden must "place in the mind of the ultimate

fact finder an abidig conviction that the trth of its factual contentions are 'highly probable.'''

..f 2 The Cour of Appeals for the Federal Circuit maintains exclusive appellate~- jursdiction over civil suits that arse under the federal patent laws. See, J. Thomas McCary,* McCarhy's Desk Encyclopedia of Intellectual Proper. Second Edition, p. 104.::uicll!z::o;,

3 See, SmIA Neurosciences. Inc. v. Cadus Pharceutical Corp., 225 F.3d 1349,1355 (Fed. Cir. 2000); Robotic Vision Systems. Inc. v. View Engineering. Inc. , 189 F .3d 1370,1377 (Fed. Cir. 1999) ("There is a strong presumption of validity for issued. patents . . .therefore an accused infringer who raises patent invalidity as a defense bears the burden ofshowing invalidity by facts supported by clear and convincing evidence. "); Avia Group.Int'LInc. v. L.A. Gear Californa. Inc. , 853 F.2d 1557, 1567 (Fed.Cir. 1998) (grantig motion forsummar judgment of non-obviousness).

5

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Colorado v. New Mexico, 467 U.S. 310, 316, reh'g denied, 468 U.S. 1224 (1994), quoting C.

McCormick, Law of Evidence 320, p. 679 (1954) (emphasis added). Thus, for purposes of its

o motion for summary judgment, KSR must prove by clear and convincing evidence that there isC'toOJ

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no genuine issue of material fact that the design depicted in the Engelgau Patent would have been

obvious to one of ordinar skil in the art -- despite the fact that the United States Patent and~C'oo:"'Z.cl!:iu::o.JW¡;:iI-::om

Trademark Offce found the patent to be valid.

B. Obviousness

1. Test for Obviousness

In order to prove that a patent clai is invalid as obvious, a party must demonstrate that

w;;~ the differences between the claimed invention as a whole and the prior art "are such that thez.cUa: subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to aw::.c

g person having ordinar skill in the art." 35 U.S.C. § 103.4 An obviousness inquiry is highlyilC'

5 fact specific, and requires an examintion of the following: (1) the scope and content of the priorI-zI..UWU¡;lio

ar; (2) the differences between the patented invention and what already existed in the prior ar;

(3) the ordinary level of skill of people working in the field; and (4) other objective evidence$:w;;~-mw$:

which may suggest that the invention would not have been obvious. Graham v. John Deere Co.,

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g 383 U.S. 1, 17-18; 86 S. Ct. 684; 15 L. Ed.2d 545 (1966); Ashland OiL. Co. v. Delta Resins &wI-::ui

Refractories. Inc., 776 F.2d 281, 291 (Fed. Cir. 1985). The facts here argue againt KSR'sÚn:

5- invalidity motion.mm::(/cll!z::,0;,

'I 4 Prior ar encompasses

the existing body oftechnological inormtion against which

Ii an invention is judged to.

determe if it is patentable as being a novel and nonobvioui; invention.

See. 1. Thomas McCarhy, McCary's Desk Encyclopedia of Intellectual Propert. Second Edition,

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2. Combination of Elements within the Prior Art

An accused infringer who challenges a patent on obviousness grounds is essentially

admitting that no one piece of prior art describes the invention; instead, the infringer is saying

that if one were to choose certin aspects of prior ar and then mi and match them, one would

arrive at the patent-in-suit (here, the Engelgau Patent). Courts have traditionally been skeptical

of this approach because, at some level, virly all inventions are combinations of old'

elements.5 Indeed, in hindsight, many inventions seem obvious. Therefore, court have held that

there must be some suggestion to combine specific prior ar in such a way as to arrive at the

particular combination disclosed in the patent at issue. See,~, Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical

Co., 231 F.3d at 1343 ("To counter this potential weakess in the obviousness constrct, the

suggestion to combine requirement stands as a critical safeguard against hidsight analysis and

rote application of the legal test for obviousness. "); Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG v.

Hantscho Commercial Prods., 21 F.3d 1068, 1072 (Fed. Cir. 1994). In other words, there must

be "somethg in the prior art as a whole to suggest the desirabilty, and thus the obviousness,

of makg the combination. "6$:w;;I-uiw$: 5 See, YamanouchiPharmaceutical Co.. Ltd. v. Danbury PharacaL. Inc., 231 F.3dIng 1339, 1343 (Fed. Cir. 2000) quoting In Re Rouffet, '149 F.3d 1350, 1357-58 (Fed. Cir. 1998)~ ("If identification of each claimed element in the prior ar were'suffcient to negate patentabilty,::ui very few patents would ever issue. Furtermore, rejecting patents solely by finding prior ar

~ corollaries for the claimed elements would permt an examer (or accused ininger) to use the~ claimed invention itself as a blueprint for piecing together elements in the prior ar to defeat the

m patentabilty of the claimed invention. ").::il~ 6 See, Interconnect Planing Corp. v. Feil, 774 F.2d 1132, 1143 (Fed. Cir. 1985);~ Custom Accessories. Inc. v.Jeffey-Allan Indus.. Inc., 807 F.2d 955, 959 (Fed. Cir. 1986) (a:- patent wil not be deemed invalid merely because it is made up of a 'combination of oldii elements. '); SmithKline Diagnostics. Inc. v. Helena Labs. Corp.,

859 F.2d 878, 887 (Fed. Cir.I 1988) (" A fiding that cla.im which combine several prior ar references are invalid based merely! upon the fact -tht those similar-elements exist.-is'contrar to statute and .would -defeat the

congressiona purpose in enacting Title 35.' ").

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This requirement of a suggestion to combine prior art to demonstrate obviousness prevents

hindsight reconstruction by accused iningers, like KSR, who try to use the patent-in-suit as a

guide though the maze of prior art references, combinig the right references in the right way

so as to achieve the result of the claims in suit. Grain Processing Corp. v. American Maize-

Products Corp., 840 F.2d 902, 907 (Fed. Cir. 1988). See also, Ecolochem. Inc. v. Southern

California Edison Co., 227 F.3d 1361, 1371 (Fed. Cir. 2000) ("(Tlhe best defense againt

hindsight-based obvious analysis is the rigorous application of the requirement for a showing of

a teaching or motivation to combine the prior ar references. . . . Combing prior ar references

without evidence of such a: suggestion, teaching, or motivation simply taes the inventor's

disclosure as a blueprint for piecing together the prior art to defeat patentabilty -- the essence of

hindsight. "). It is well-established that the showing of the motivation to combine references must

be "clear and paricular. "

In Heidelberger, supra, the assignee of a patented device called a" chopper, " which folded

sheets of printed matter as they emerged from a printing press; sued a printing press manufacturer

for infringement. The defendant alleged that the patent was invalid for obviousness. Although

each of the elements of the patent could be found somewhere within the prior ar, the Federal

Circuit rejected tle obviousness challenge and emphaized that "the several prior ar

choppers

were encumbered by limtations and disadvantages tht had not previously been overcome."u

~ Heidelberger, 21 F .3d at 1072. Moreover, several companes, including the defendant, had triedwuiui

~ and failed to meet the particularized need for a precise and high-speed chopper. By combingcll!zga "double offset circle drive mechansm" with a "printing press

chopper, " the patentee was able;,II

to overcome many of the limtations that had hindered progress in this area. - Explicitly noting

I that" (tlhe motivation to combine references cannot come from the invention itself," the cour

8

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held that "(t)here is nothing in the prior art to lead a person of ordinar skil to the combination

of the structures in these references to design a high-speed chopper for use in rotay printing

presses, other than the hindsight knowledge of (the inventor's) construction." Id. See also,

Ecolochem, supra, 227 F.3d at 1371 ("'Hindsight reconstrction' canot be used 'to pick and

choose among isolated disclosures in the prior art to deprecate the claimed invention.'''); ATD

Corp v. Lydall Inc., 159 F.3d 534, 546 (Fed. Cir. 1998); Winner International Royalty Corp.

v. Wang, 202 F.3d 1340, 1348 (Fed. Cir. 2000).

If it were suffcient for a party to simply demonstrate that all of the elements of a claim

are found in multiple patents, virtually all patents would be invalidated on obviousness grounds.

Lindemann MaschinefabrIk Gmbh v. American Hoist and Derrick Company, 730 F.2d 1452

(Fed. Cir. 1984), is instrctive in ths regard. In Lindemann, the patent at issue related to a

machine used for crushing massive metal scrap. The invention combined one featue previously

,, used in a garbage compactor with a second feature found in a large shearing device. The FederalwI-Zwu Circuit held that the district court's broad definition of the problem as "the problem ofwu¡;

~ compressing waste materials" was clearly erroneous and reversed the holding of obviousness.$:w;;lñ Id. at 1460. "That the claimed invention may employ known principles does not

in itselfw$:ing establish tht the invention would have been obvious. Most inventions do." Id. at 1462.w!:::ui Significatly, court routinely hold that it - is a question of fact whether a par hasu~- established the requisite motivation to combine. See,~, Winner International Royalty Corp.,Wilil~ supra, 202F.3dat 1348; Emerson Electric Co. v. Spartn TooL. LLC, 223 F. Supp.2d856 (N.D.¿sl!zÕ Ohio 2002).;,

9

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3. Problem Addressed by the Invention

In determining whether a particular combination of prior art would be obvious, a court

is to consider the nature of the problem that the inventor was trying to solve. The problem

confonting the inventor is significant because whether one of ordin skill in the art would find

a particular combination to be obvious depends on whether ths hypothetical person was

confonted with the same problem as the inventor. See, In Re Rouffet, 149 F.3d at 1357 (to

make a rmding of obviousness, there must be evidence that "a skiled artisan, confronted with

the same problems as the inventor and with no knowledge of the claimed invention, would select

the elements from the cited prior art references for combination in the maner claied").7 In

other words, an obviousness challenge must fail if it does not frame the challenge in terms of the

problem confronted by the inventor.

v. ARGUMNT

A. Summry of Argument

KSR claims that the Engelgau Patent is obvious. However, before the Engelgau Patent,

no inventor had combined, in the way that Engelgau did, an adjustable pedal and an electronic

control so that the electronic control was attached to the pedal mounting bracket. The

7

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thottle control mechanisms. Subsequently, inventors replaced cables with electronic controls on

these fixed pedal assemblies. These electronic controls were attched to the pedal itself. The

next significant inventions were adjustable pedals with electronic controls. In the early

adjustable pedal with electronic control designs, the electronic control was attached directly to

the pedal, in the same maner that those electronic controls had been attached to fixed pedal

assemblies. ,The novelty of the Engelgau Patent stems from the decision to separate the pedal

from the electronic control. Engelgau viewed this change as a way to overcome the major

disadvantage of priòr adjustable pedaUelectronic control designs: They were complicated and

expensive to assemble and tookup a significant amount of packaging space. (See, Ex. A, '7.)

KSR's invalidity challenge fails because it is built on an erroneous assumption. KSR

assumed that the problem that the inventor, Steven Engelgau, wanted to solve was the following:

How to attch an electronic control to an adjustable pedaL. Having made this assumption, KSR

found prior ar that solved this problem -- the combination of the Asano adjustable pedal patent

(United States Patent No. 5,010,782) and the CTS 503 Series electronic control. It then

concluded that a typical pedal engineer who needed to attach an electronic control to an adjustable

pedal assembly would have known to combine an assembly like Asano with an electronic control

like the CTS sensor.

But this house of cads falls because the problem that Engelgau was tring to solve was_

Un:~ not simply the combintion of an adjustable pedal with an attached electronic control. Rather,wuim

~. Engelgau tried to invent an adjustable peda assembly with an electronic control that was lessl!zôcomplex, less expensive, and easier to package than its predecessors. (See, Ex. A, '7.) In~

III

particular, Engelgau needed to develop an adjustable peda with electronic control that would

IiI' allow the movement of the pedal back and fort within a narow pedal comparent; he solved

11

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his space constraints by (among other means) placing the electronic control on the pedal mounting

bracket as opposed to the variety of other locations at which he could have placed the electronic

control. (See, Ex. A, '8.)

The Engelgau patent examiner had before hi several examples of adjustable pedals and

electronic controls -- including prior art that is actually closer to the Engelgau Patent than that

cited by KSR here -- but none of these examples suggested a combination like the one that

Engelgau invented.8 Because no other person had invented an adjustable pedal assembly with

electronic control that placed the electronic control on the pedal mounting bracket like Engelgau

did, the United States Patent and Trademark Offce issued a patent to Engelgau.

B. No Teaching or Suggestion in Prior Art to Combine the Elements in theManner Specifed in Claim 40f the Engelgau Patent

Obviousness determiations are made by placing oneself in the shoes of a person of

ordinary skill in the art.9 Teleflex's experts are Professor Clark Radcliffe and Timothy

Andresen. Dr. Radcliffe is a professor of mechancal engineering at Michigan State University;

Mr. Andresen is an automotive pedal engineer with 26 years of experience at Ford Motor

Company. Both have concluded that the Engelgau Patent involved a combination of elements that

Inan)w!:g 8 The most pertent prior ar references for puroses of ths Motion are United States

J Patent Nos. 5,632,183; 4,915,075; 4,958,607; 5,233,882; and 5,887;488. (See. Exs. B, C, D, E, F.)~ The relevancy of these patents will be discussed in greater detail below. Attached as Exhibit G is:J the form that the patent examiner used to indicate the prior ar that he considered.ui::ui~ 9 Teleflex defies a person of

ordin skill in the ar as one with an undergraduate

3 degree in mechanical engineering (or an equivalent amount of industr experience) who has~ famiarity with peda control systems for vehicles. KSR's defition sets a lower theshold ofiii a person with "a mium of two (2) years of college level traing in mechancal engineering

and two-thee years' work experience spang at least one complete pedal design 'cycle' ." rSee,.1 Brief in Support ófKSR's Motion for Sumar Judgment on Invalidity ("Invalidity BrieF), p.I 18.) Regardless of which defition ths Court chooses to adopt, the-obviousness analysis would

I remain substatially

unaffected. 12

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would not have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art. rSee, Ex. H, '14; Ex. I, "7,9.)

Conversely, neither Larry Wilemsen nor Danel Krger (whose Declarations KSR attached to

KSR's Motion for Summary Judgment) have offered any opinion regarding whether the

combination found in the Engelgau design would have been obvious to one of ordinar skill in

the art. See, Wesley Jessen Corp. v. Coopervision. Inc., 207 F. Supp.2d 1103,1109 (C.D. Cal..

2002) (court denied sumy judgment on invalidity where the defendant's expert "does not state

in either his declaration or deposition that the language of the (prior art) patent suggested to a

person of ordinary skil in the ar that the Knpp patent should be combined with the LeGrand-

Fuhan lenses" ).10

KSR has done little to meet its substantial burden of demonstrating that Professor

Radcliffe and Mr. Andresen are wrong. In fact, KSR has done nothing more than claim that both

adjustable pedals and electronic controls existed within the prior art. This is far from sufficient

~ to carry the burden of proving that this combination in the maner claimed in Clai4 of theI-zW

~ Engelgau Patent would have been obvious to one of ordinay skill in the art. As explained inu¡;Ii~ Subsection IV.B of this Brief, before this Court can declare the Engelgau Patent invalid, KSRw;;§ must demonstrate, among other things, that there was some teachig or suggestion in the prior$:In ,~ art to combine the elements in the maer specified in the claim. See,~, Ecolochem. Inc.,!:::Ul_ supra, 227 F.3d at 1371. KSR seeks to satisfy the motivation requirement by arguing that theuii~ prior ar includes" specific teachigs with respect to the desirabilty of electronic, as distinguishedUlui::: from mechanical, thottle controls in automotive vehicles" and, in paricular, includes teachingl!zg of the desirabilty of employing "linkges between vehicle accelerator pedals and engine

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10 Even if KSR belatedly offered opinions from Mr. Wilemsen and Dr. Krger,these opinons would be suspect because Mr. Wilemsen ¡sa KSRemployee and Dr. Krger'sbackground is in aerospace, not automotive; engineering.

13

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throttles" and of locating an electronic pedal position sensor "inside the vehicle's passenger

compartment, rather than in a vehicle's engine compartment." rSee, Invalidity Brief, p. 23-24.)

KSR claims that Teleflex's motivations for combining Asano with an of - the-shelf

electronic pedal position sensor are at least as convincing as the motivations that the Federal

Circuit found sufficient to prove obviousness in the following cases: Ryko Manufactuing Co.

v. Nu-Star Co., 950 F.2d 714, 717 (Fed. Cir. 1991); Novo Nordisk A/S v. Becton Dickinson

& Co., 304 F.2d 1216 (Fed. Cir. 2002); Richardson-Vicks. Inc. v. Upjohn Co., 122 F.3d 1476

(Fed. Cir. 1997). KSR's argument would only have merit if the problem confonted by Engelgau

were as simple as KSR seeks to characterize it - that is, merely combing an adjustable pedal

assembly with an electronic control.

Such simplistic combinations are the definig characteristic of the cases cited by KSR.

For intace, in Ryko Manufacturing Co., the Federal Circuit characterized the "difference

~ between the prior art and the claim at issue (as) essentially the substitution of a keypad codewI-Z1.iU device for a coin box or other common input device." There, the problem that the inventor triedwu¡;

-~ to solve was putting a keypad code in an automatic car wash. Because the keypad entry system$:w;;li that the patentee combined with an automatic car wash was prevalent in the prior ar, and therew$:

~ was nothng uIique about the strcture of the combination, the court deemed the patent invalidwI-::ui as obvious.

Un:

Similarly, in Richardson-Vicks. Inc. v. Upjohn Co., 122 F.3d1476 (Fed. Cir. 1997), the~,wuiui

~ court held tht the combintion of two well-known medications into one tablet for the relief ofcll!z::~

cough, cold and flu symptoms was invalid as obvious. There,.the problem that the inventor tried

ii

to solve was putting two common medications together. The overriding factor in the court's

III

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analysis was that doctors had long prescribed both medications together, although not combined

into one mixture, for that very purpose.

Finally, in Novo Nordisk A/S v. Becton Dickinson & Co., 304 F.2d 1216 (Fed. Cir.

2002), the relevant claim involved an injection pen with 30 gauge needles. The prior ar included

pen-style insulin injection systems that either did not state the needle size or showed needles of

27 and 28 gauge. In addition, the prior art included 30 gauge needles for insulin injections. The

court determed that there was nothing unique about the maner in which the inventor combined

the two elements from the prior art. 11

Again, these cases are inapposite because they address situations in which the problems

that the inventors tried to solve simply required the perfunctory combination of common

elements. Here, the actual problem that Engelgau confonted -- as distinguished from the

fictional problem that KSR fabricates in its brief -- could not be solved by the routine combination

~ of common elements.wI-z-telU C. KSR Mischaracterized Problem Solved by the Engelgau Patentwu¡;lio KSR's entire invalidity arguent is based on an erroneous assumption. KSRhas claimed$:w;;~ that the problem faced by Engelgau could have been solved by combing the design of the Asano$:In

g patent with any off-the-shelf electronic- thotte control like the CTS 503 Sensor. However,w -I-::ui combining Asano with an electronic control would not have solved any of the problemsun:~ confonting - Engelgau in his design of the Engelgau Patent.wuiui::uicll!z::~ II Moreover, the Federal Circuit inNovo Nordisk merely upheld ajur's verdict that

the invention was obvious. Affiing a jur verdict involves a far more lenient standard than ths

Cour faces in ruling on a motion for sumar judgment. The Novo Nordiskcour merelyhad todetermine thatareasonablejurcould have found that the invention was obvious. Conversely, KSR

asks ths Cour to find, asa matter oflaw,that no reasonable jur could fid that the invention was

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KSR acknowledges that "(t)he relevant ar is defined by the' nature of the problem

confronting the would-be inventor." rSee, Invalidity Brief, p. 21.) However, KSR has

mischaracterized the problem facing Mr. Engelgau at the time that he developed the Engelgau

Patent in order to ease its burden of proving obviousness. KSR has claimed that "the 'problem'

ostensibly confonting the '565 inventor was to provide an adjustable pedal assembly that could

be intalled in a vehicle whose engine utilized an electronic, rather than a cable-actuted, thottle

control system." rSee, Invalidity Brief, p. 21.) But this was not the essence of the problem

Engelgau confronted. Indeed, the Engelgau Patent concedes that adjustable pedals for use with

engines utilizing electronic thottle control systems were known in the prior ar. In fact, in the

section of the Engelgau Patent entitled "Background of the Invention," the patent states that

"(o)ne such adjustment apparatus used with an electronic thottle control is shown in U;S. Pat.

No. 5,819,593 assigned to the assignee of the present invention." rSee. Ex. J, Co!. 1, lines 43-

47.) Clearly, therefore, KSR's characterization of the problem addressed by Engelgau canot

be correct.

Rather, as expressly stated in the Engelgau Patent, the problem that Engelgau confronted

was developing a peda assembly that not only "includes both an adjustment apparatus and anIn

g electronic control" but that is not expensive, time consumg to assemble, and that does notwI-::~ require a signficat amount of packaging space. rSee, Ex. J, co!. 1, lines 48-53.) KSRun:

i:- disingenuously ignores multiple, credible references to the actual problem confronted byui -ui::~ Engelgau. In its First Set of Interrogatories, KSR requested that Teleflex "identify each and anyl!zgproblem that Teleflex contends (a) was (solved by) any claimed invention of any Patent-in-Suit;

and (b) was not solved by any pedal assembly disclosed in the prior ar of any of the Patents-in-

Suit." Teleflexresponded as follows:

I,

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16

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To the extent that this interrogatory asks which problem or problems Teleflexcontends were intended to be solved by the Teleflex Automotive Patents, Teleflexresponds as follows: as for the '565 Patent, Teleflex attempted to provide adesign for an adjustable pedal system with electronic control that wouldaddress issues of packagig, assembly, and cost . . .

(emphasis added). Teleflex's response mirrored the text of the Engelgau Patent which sets fort

the background of the invention and provides a detailed explanation of the problem that Engelgau

set out to solve.

When a vehicle control pedal assembly includes both an adjustment apparatus andan electronic thottle control, the pedal assembly can be complex with a greatnumber of parts. These control pedal assemblies can be expensive, timeconsumig to assemble, and require a significant amount of packaging space.

rSee, Ex. J, co!. 1, lines 48-53.) The "Summary of the Invention and Advantages" section of

the Engelgau Patent furter explain that "the subject invention provides a simplified vehicle

control pedal assembly that is less expensive, and which uses fewer parts and is easier to package

within the vehicle." rSee, Ex. J, co!. 2, lines 2-5.)

There were various possible ways that Engelgau could have sought to resolve this problem

and there was nothng in the nature of the problem that inexorably led him to the design of the

Engelgau Patent. For example, Engelgau could have placed the electronic control in any number

of locations with the vehicle, such as inside the engine comparent, on a vehicle fiewall

spaced from the mounting bracket, ona vehicle dashboard, or on a different tye of adjustment

~ element. (See, Ex. A, '8.)~wuiui::uicll!z::o;,

D. KSR's Misuse of Prior Art

Because KSR canot demonstrate motivatiòn to combine by lookig at the prior ar at the

time of the Engelgau Patent, it engaged in an improper hidsight analysis. That is, KSR staed

with the elements of the Engelgau Patent and then attempted to locate each of those elements in

the prior ar. Court have been careful to prevent hidsight reconstrction by accused iningers

17

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like KSR who try to use the patent-in-suit as a guide though the maze of prior art references,

combinng the right references in the right way so as to achieve the result of the claims in suit.

See, Grain Processing COl1, supra, 840 F.2d at 907. If this were the proper way to test for

obviousness, virtually every patented invention would be deemed invalid. Rather, the appropriate

way to view obviousness is to ask whether, without knowing of the Engelgau Patent, the prior

ar reference,s make obvious Engelgau's solution to the problem of developing an inexpensive,

more easily assembled, and more conveniently packaged adjustable pedal assembly with

electronic control. This question must be answered in the negative.

1. Asano Pedal Involved a Complex Design that Could Not HaveMotivated Solution to Problem Solved by Engelgau

The Engelgau Patent provided a feature previously unavailable, specificaly, an "electronic

throttle control attached to the support for controlling an engine thottle." This electronic control

responded to the pivotal motion of the adjustable pedal at the support, thereby providing a simpler

mounting position that was both less expensive and easier to package than devices in the prior ar.

rSee, Ex. A, '7; Ex. H, '15.) Contrary to KSR's suggestions, it would not have made sense for

Engelgau to combine the design of the Asano patent with the CTS 503 Series pedal position

sensor in order to create an adjustable pedal with ETC that would b,e inexpensive, easily

assembled,and would utilize less vehicle space. First, the Asano patent nowhere discloses an

~ adjustable pedal assembly that includes an electronic control. Nor does KSR point to any~wi: teaching or suggestion in the Asano patent to incorporate an electronic control into the pedal::uicl~ assembly, let alone any suggestion that it be incorporated in the maner specified in Claim 4 of::o;.

the Engelgau Patent. Second, the Asano patent is directed to an entirely different problem than

that confonted by Engelgau. Asano addressed the problem of developing an adjustable pedal in

I which

the force applied to the peda "is held substatially constat under the same pivotaI 18!.;1I

displacement distance of the pedal pad caused by a driver's depression action of the pedal,

irrespective of the adjusted pedal pad position." rSee, Ex. K, col. 1, lines 57-60.)12 In other

~ words, Asano wanted to invent an adjustable pedal that would require the same pressure to movetoOJM

g¡ the pedal regardless of where the pedal was located on the adjustment spectru.ro~~

In order to solve this problem, Asano developed a complex mechanical assembly that was~C'aOJ

~ expensive, time consuming to assemble, and required a significant amount of packaging space..cl!:iu::o.JW~ 12 The "Summary of

the Invention" section of the Asano patent sets fort the goalsI-ôthat the inventor sought to accomplish and the problem(s) that the design was intended to solve:ui

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Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a pedal assembly fora vehicle which enables a position of a pedal pad . . . to be adjusted forwardly andrearwardly of the vehicle, Le. in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle, whereina force applied to an operating member which transmits the applied force to avehicle operation system such as a brakg system, an engine thottle valve anda clutch system, is held substatially constat under the same pivotal displacementdistace of the pedal pad caused by a driver's depression action of the peda,irrespective of the adjusted pedal pad position.

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Another object of the present invention is to provide a position adjustable pedalassembly, wherein a required depression force or leg power for depressing thepedal pad by the same distace is maitained substatially constant, irrespectiveof the adjusted pedal pad position.

A further object of the present Ihvention is to provide a position adjustable pedal 'assembly, wherein a full depression displacement distace of the pedal pad in

circumerential direction is held substatially constat by using adjustable stopper

mean, irrespective of the adjusted peda position.un:

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A stil fuer object of the present invention is to provide a position adjustablepedal assembly, wherein a reaction force applied to components of the pedalassembly in the direction along a lengt of the vehicle, Le. in the longitudial

direction of the vehicle to be generated in response to the depression force appliedto the pedal pad by the driver is considerably reduced so as to attin the strengtof the pedal assembly as well as smooth pedal operation feelings.

rSee, Ex. K, col. 1, lines 48-68; col. 2, lines 1-12;) Clearly, none of the objectives that

Engelgau sought to address -were considered by Asano.

19

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rSee, Ex. A, '10; Ex. H, '16.) Thus, someone in Engelgau's shoes, who was trying to create

an adjustable pedal assembly with an attched electronic control that was easy to package in a

narow space and was also relatively simple and inexpensive, would shun Asano.

2. Patent Examier Review of Prior Art

Significantly, the Engelgau patent examer considered a patent that was far closer to the

Engelgau Patent than was the Asano patent; he also considered numerous patents that were

analogous to the CTS 503 Series pedal position sensor. Having considered these superior

references, the examner stil allowed the Engelgau Patent to issue. The reference that is superior

to Asano is United States Patent No. 5,632,183 ("the Rixon '183 patent"), which was invented

by another Teleflex employee and a co-worker of Engelgau. rSee, Ex. B.) The patents that are

analogous to the CTS 503 Series pedal position sensors are United States Patent Nos. 4,915,075

("the '075 patent"); 4,958,607 ("the '607 patent"); 5,233,882 ("the '882 patent"); and 5,887,488

("the '488 patent") (collectively referred to as "the cited electronic sensor patents") rSee, Exs.

C, D, E, F.)

KSR does not discuss the Rion '183 patent at all in its Invalidity Brief because KSR

recognizes that the Rixon '183 patent is closer to the Engelgau patent than is the Asano patent.Ina;: Simlarly, KSR did not discuss any of the cited electronic sensor patents in its Invalidity Brief!:::ui - -~ because KSR recognied that these patents are at least - equivalent to the CTS 503 Series pedal

un:

~ position sensor. In other words, the patent examer considered the same, or better, prior aruiui::~ than that presented by KSR and deterted that the Engelgau Patent was not obvious

based onl!z~ the teachings in that prior ar

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3. KSR's Discussion of the Rion '593 Patent

KSR briefly discusses another Teleflex patent, namely United States Patent No.5 ,819 ,593

("the Rixon '593 patent") in its Invalidity Brief. (See, Ex. L.) Unlike the Asano Patent which

lacks an electronic control, the Rixon '593 patent depicts an adjustable pedal assembly with

electronic control. Therefore, KSR's suggestion that "the 'problem' ostensibly confronting the

'565 inventor was to provide an adjustable pedal assembly that could be instaled in a vehicle

whose engine utilzed an electronic, rather than a cable-actuated thottle control system" is

completely erroneous. The Rixon '593 patent had already solved that problem. Moreover, given

that the inventor of the '593 patent had assigned his invention to Teleflex, there would have been

no motivation for Teleflex to engage Engelgau to fid a solution to a problem that had already

been solved by one of its own employees.

The adjustable pedal assembly depicted in the Rixon '593 patent contains an electronic

control situated away from the pedal assembly's support, thereby requiring more complex

mounting -- both mechanically and electrically -- than the Engelgau Patent. The complexity, cost

and packaging difficulties associated with the Rion '593 patent highlighted the problem

subsequently addressed by the Engelgau Patent. (See, Ex. A, '7; Ex.H, '17.)

E. Secondary Considerations of Non;.Obviousness Bolster Teleflex's Position that_the Engelgau Patent Is Valid

Commercial success represents an objective indicator of non-obviousness. See, A via

Group Int'l. Inc. v. L.A. Gear California. Inc., 853 F.2d 1557, 1563-64 (Fed. Cir. 1988).

Teleflex has experienced considerable commercial success with its adjustable pedal assemblies

conceived from the Engelgau Patent. For example, Teleflex's adjustable pedal assembly design

has been placed in Ford'sU-137/P431 program~ rSee,Ex. M, '3.) The U-137/P-131 program

vehicles are the Ford Excursion,F~250,andF-350. rSee,Ex. M,'+) Todate~ Te1eflex.h21

'I

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shipped approximately 150,000 adjustable pedal units to Ford for the U-137/P-131 program.

rSee, Ex. M, '5) In addition, upon information and belief, the GMT-800 and GMT-360

platforms are large-volume programs, furter demonstrating the commercial success of

Engelgau's invention.

VI. CONCLUSION

Based on the stipulated dismissal with prejudice of Teleflex's claim for infringement of

the Johansson Patents, this Court need not make any findings with respect to the validity or

invalidity of the Johanson Patents. With respect to the Engelgau Patent, KSR has failed to

demonstrate via clear and convincing evidence that - the combination of elements found in the

Engelgau Patent would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art. At least, this is an

issue of disputed fact to be decided by a jury. Therefore, Teleflex respectfllyrequests that this

Court deny KSR's Motion for Sumary Judgment on Invalidity of the Engelgau Patent in its

5 entirety.I-zWuwU¡;lio$:w:;~-mw3:-inoC'WI-::ui

YOUNG & SUSSER, P.C.

ua:

~wmm::uicl~ Date: August 11, 2003::o;,

B:~~~2652)STEVEN SUSS (P52940)KEVIN B. HIRSCH (P58757)Attorneys for Defendant26200 American Drive, Suite 305Southeld, MI 48034

248.353.8620

22

I!

tl

mx::õ';:):

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURTEASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN

SOUTHERN DIVISION

o TELEFLEX INCORPORATED,(\wOJ~ Plaintiff,ro..C'~ v.

Case No. 0274586

')

~C'a~ KSR INTERNATIONAL CO.,z '.cl!¡i Defendant.::Cl

~ RODGER D. YOUNG (P22652)li -~ STEVEN SUSSER (P52940)::~- Young & Susser, P.C.

w Counsel for Plaintiff~ 26200 American Drive

~ Suite 305.c~ Southfield, MI 48034~ 248.353.8620.coaC\toC'

Hon. Lawrence P. Zatkoff

Magistrate Judge Pepe

JAMES W. DABNEYPenne & Edmonds, LLPCounsel for Defendat1155 A venlIe of the AmericasNew York, NY 10036

212.790.9090

~WI-ZWUwuïi'lio$:w;;I-uiw$:InaC'w!:::ui

KENNETH J. MCINTYRE (P17450)Dickinson Wright, PLLCCounsel for Defendant500 Woodward AvenueSuite 4000Detroit, MI 48226313.223.3500

AFFIDAVIT OF STEVEN ENGELGAU

. I, Steven Engelgau, being duly sworn, depose ~d state as follows:

1. I am the named inventor of United States Patent No. 6,237,565 ("the Engelgau

~ Patent").0:WuiUl::uicll!z::o;,

2. I invented the Engelgau Patent while employed by Teleflex Incorporated.

3. I assigned the Engelgau Patent to Teleflex Incorporated.

4. I no longer work for Teleflex.

I

i

I,I''I

d

5. The Engelgau Patent describes and claims an adjustable pedal that allows a driver

to move the pedal closer to or farther from the driver to achieve maximum driving comfort. It

a also describes and claims an electronic control that replaces the traditional cable linkage between(\toOJ

~ the pedal and the corresponding part of the vehicle. In the Engelgau Patent, the electronicro~~ control module is attached to the mounting bracket of the adjustable pedal and, consequently,~n)o~ it remain fixed when the pedal arm moves.z.cl!

G 6. Before designig the Engelgau Patent, I was generally aware of the various designs::o¡: in the fields of fixed and adjustable pedal assemblies as well as electronic controls. I was¡;:iI-::5l specifically aware of various combinations of fixed and adjustable peda assembly with electronicw~ controls, including United States Patent No. 5,819,593 ("the Rixon '593 patent"), and theoz~ electronic control used on General Motor Corporation's fixed pedaL.~w::.cg 7. My goal in designing the Engelgau Patent was to invent an adjustable pedalC\toC\

Ii assembly with an electronic control that was less complex, less expensive, and easier to package_ wI-Zt: than its predecessors. In particular, I sought to develop an adjustable pedal with electronicwu¡;~ control that would allow the movement of the peda back and forth within a narow, confined$:w

~ pedal space.w$:

~ 8. I accomplished my goal by (among other thgs) placing the electronic control onwi-::ui the vehicle mounting strctue. There were various possible solutions that I considered before

u~_ concludig that the electronic control would be best situated there. In particular, I consideredwuiui

¡¡ the advantages and disadvantages and overall feasibilty of placing the electronic control incll!zg various locations with the vehicle.:-

2

9. To the best of my knowledge, at thetime I invented the Engelgau Patent, no other

person had invented an adjustable pedal assembly with electronic control that placed the electronic

o control on the pedal mounting structure.C'toro

~ 10. I am familar with the Asano patent, United States Patent No. 5,010,782. It would

ro..'

~ not have made sense for me to combine the design of the Asano adjustable pedal assembly with~C'o~ an electronic control because the Asano design contained a complex mechancal assembly that isz.cl!

i. expensive, time consuming to assemble, and taes up a significant amount of packaging space --::o¡j precisely the problem that I was attemptig to solve in designing the Engelgau Patent.¡;:iI-:Jom

w;;~oz.cu~w::.c

. aaæ Dated: ~.-ii-03

UNOA R. WYNN

Not Puc. Oakan Couty. Mf

My Corr Ex S- 11. amua:a:wuiui::uicll!z::o;,

3

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United States Patent (19)Rion et al.

111111 iaiiii ~i11~i 1111I 11111 1111111 111m 1111111111~i111 m mii 11m

USOO5632183A -

(11) Patent Number:(45) Date of Patent:

5,632,183May 27, 1997

(54) ADJUSTABLE PEDAL ASSEMBLY

(75) Inventos: Chnopher J. Rion. Tecumseh.Caad Chopher BortoloD,Oawson, Mich.

(73) Assignee: Comfort Ped Ioc., Waren, Mi.

(21) AppL No.: 513,017

(22) Filed: Aug. 9, 1995

(51) lot. CL6 __;._._......_......._..._._._.......... GOSG V14(52) U.S. Cl. "'''_......_..........._....__..._.. 74/512; 74/560(58) Field of Searc ._..............."'..__.74/478,512,513,

74/514, 560; 403/109, 377

(56) Refereces CitedU.s. PAT DOCUS

3,151,499 10/1964 Roe .........._._......................... 74/5603,319,487 5/1967 Lysta _Ilt al. ....._................ 74/5603,359,821 1211967 Beaey Ilt al. ...................... 74/4783,643,525 211972 Giba .._................................ 7415123,958,677 5/1976 Spael .................................. 74/5134,870,871 10/1989 Ivan .........._......................_._ 74/5134,875,385 10/1989 Sitr .........._...._................... 74/5124,989,474 211991 Cicott et ai. _.........."............ 74/512

5,010,782 4/1991 Asano Ilt ai. ...........................74/5125,078,024 1/1992 Cicott et ai. ........................_. 74/5125,46,061 10/1995 Redi et al ........_........... 74/512

Priry &aminl'ars A. - MarorAssistant Exiner-Mar An BattAtm~ Agent, or FinnYoung & Basile, P.c.

(57) ABSTRCT

An adjustable control peda apparats for a motor vehicle.The peda assemly is slidably mouted at it upper end ona sie hollow gude rod exndig reaardly from atismssion housing which in tu is pivotay mounted to

a brckt secured to the fiewal of the vehicl. A nut is

positioned slidably with the holow guide rod and a screwsh extends reaardly from the transmsion housing for

theaed engaemnt with the nut. A key extends from thenut to the ped assemly so that liea movement of th nutwith the holow rod as generted by rotation of the screwshaf resuts in forard and rearard movement of the peda

assembly along the gude rod The scrw sha is drven by

a trsmsion posioned in the transmssion housing and

the transmsion is in tu drven by a cable drven by an

electrc motor.

15 Cl 3 Drawi Sheets

U .8. Patent May 27, 1997 Sheet 1 of 3 , 5,632,183

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u.s. Patent May 27, 1997 Sheet 2 of 3 5,632,183

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u.s. Patent May 27, 1997 Sheet 3 of 3 5,632,183

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5,632,183

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2peda ar extendig downwardly - from the upper gude

strcte. Th argement provides a simle and e1ective

mea for readiy adjustig the position of the peda strc-tue.

Th invention relate to control peda apparatses and 5 Accordig to a fuer feae of the invention, the guidemore parcularly to adjustnt mea for selecvely adjust- rod is holow; the screw shaf is postioned concentrcay

ing the position of one or more of the control ped of a with the hollow of the gude rod; and the uppa guidemotor vehcle. strcte of the peda stctu includes an oute hub strc-

In a conventional automotive vehcle pes are provide tu sldaly mound Oil the gude ro, a nut positionedfor controllg bra and engie thotte. If the velue ha 10 sldably with the hollow of the gude rod and theadbly

a maual trsmission a clutch ped is alo provide These recivig the scrw sha. and drve meas drvigly inte-pedas ar foot opeated by the drver. In order for the drver connectg the stcte and the nut. Th specic pacgigto mata the most advantageous position for worg argemt as between. the pe stcte. screw shaf andthese control ped the vehcle frnt seat is usuay slidably gude rod provde a com and sile apparat formounted Oil a seat trck with mean for sec the seat ready adjustig the pe position.along the trck in a plurty of adjustment positions. 15 Accordg to a fuer featu of the invention, an clon-

The adjustment provided by movig the seat along the gated slot is provided in the hollow gude rod strct and

seat track does not accommodae al vehcle operator due to the drve mea compes a key secued at one end thereofdiernces in anatomica dinsions. Furer, there is grow- to the nut, passig though the slot, and inteconnecg theing conce tht the use of seat trck, and especiy long nut and the pe ste. Th specc drvig arnge-seat tracks. constitutes a safety haz in that the seat may 20 ment as beteen the nut and the ped stcte provides apu loose from the trck dug an acdent with resultat simple and effectve drve packge.injunes to the drver and/or passenger. Fuer, th.e use of Accorg to a fuer featue of the invention, theseat trcks to adjust the seat position has the efec of foiard mountig strctu includes a trsmssion housingpositioning short opetors extremely close to the ~g rearardly of the gude rod; the drve mes includes awheel where they ar susceptiöle in an accdent to injur 2S trsmsion position.edin the tranmision housin andfrom the steerg wheel or frm an expodng ai bag. It is includig a fist transmsion meer drvig th screw

therefore desirable to either elat the seat track entiely sha and a second trmisson member drvig the fistor shoren the seat track to an extnt that it wil be strong trsmssion meer, and the drve mes fuer includeenough to reta the seat dung an imct Shortg or a cale drvig the send trsion me. 'I speelnatig theseattrclrequies th mean be prvided to 30 cic arngemnt prvide a siple and effcient mea forselectvely move the varous contol peds to accommte providing the power for movi the peda strct.varous size drver.

Varous proposal wer made over a perod of may year BRI DESCRON OF TH DRAWIGSto provide selectve adjustment of the ped positions to FIG. 1 is a perpective frgmenta view of the inventon

accommodae varous size drver but none of these propos- 35 adjustable pe assemy;als met with any signicat commci acceptace sice ~e FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the pe assemly;proposed mechsm w~ unduly complex and exensive FIGS. 3 and 4 are cross-sectiona views tan respectvelyand/or were extmely dicu to opete and/or acco- Oil lies 3-3 and 4- of FIG l' andpli~ed the req~d p~ adj~stmnt 0D!y at ~e exnse of FIGS 5 6 d 7 . deta bo~om . ews of individualalteg other CIca diensiona relationshi as beteen _ _ ., an jle vithe .drver and the varous pes. Rently a contr pe 40 components of the peda asemly.mechanm has been developed which is simle and inex- DEl~ DESCRON OF THpensve and easy to opete and that accomplies the PRE EMODIMrequid pe adjustmnt witout alterig fuer aitica ., .' i b dldinsonal relationshps as beteen the drver and the T~e inv~ntion control peda apparatus. roa yvarous peds. Th contrl pe mechansm is diclosed in 4S consided, mclde a mountig brckt 12: a pe supportU.S. Pat. Nos. 4.875,385; 4.989.474 and 5.08,024 al assembly.14,apeda asembly 16. and a drve as~emly 18.assigned to the assignee of the prsent applicaon. The Moung !n~t 12 ~ be fou~ of any su!tle sheetpresent invention reesents .imrovements to

the basic met mate.m a suie stamg operaton an isadjustable control peda desi diosed in thes patent. inteded for suie. secemnt to .the fiwal

19 of the

. SO assoed motor vehcle. Brackt 12 mclde a top wa12

SUM OF TH INON and latey spaced side wa! l2 and 12. . .Ped suppo assely 14 incldes a trsmss10n hous-

Th invention is died to the provision of a sile. ing 20, a ci gude rod 22, - and a pivot ar 24.inexpensive and efecte appars for adjustg the control 'Ismsion houg 20 and guide rod 22 may be fompeda of a motor vehcle. as separte ite but preferbly. as shown, are fonnd as a

Ths invention adjustable pe apartus is intended for S5 single forged piece.use with any of the control peda ofa moto vehe and Trsmsion housig 20 ha a genery cubica confgu-provides a simle and efectve. mes of adjusti the ration and dees a hollow 20a opeg at the front face 20b

position of the pe- to match the pacu anmica of the housing and a cetr bore 20c defied in a rea waldiension of the oper. 20d of the housig.

The invention pe appas incldes a ped suppor 60 Guide rod 22 exds ridly reaardly from the reastcteincldigafoiardmountigstictandagu wal20d of the trsion housig 20. is holow so as toro exendig reaardly an riy - from the montg provde a tubul coguon deni a centr boe 22stcture; a screw shaf extendi proxite to and parel concentc.wi bar-20c, is open at it rea end 22b. '!dto the guide rod; drve me for drving th scrw sh; andinc1udea bottm ax slot 22 exnding from lIlocatona ped stcte incldi an upper gude strct_. deg 6S proxe trsmon wal20dto a loction proxe~da smooth guide bor slday rece the gude rod and a rea end 22.Slot22 is o1sere1tive to the centr verca1hdedbore tldably recevi the scrw sh and a ax 2Softhe aptu

1ADJUSTABLE PEDAL ASSEMBLY

BACKGROUN OF TH INON

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)

5 ,632, 1833 4Pivot ar 24 includes an elongated plate 26, a pivot pin lower end 46b to side face 38a of ped ar 38 utig

28 fiedy secured to the upper end of the plate 26 and fasteners 50. The appartus is now ready for intaaton in

suitaly pivotay mounted proxúte the rear end of bracket a motor velucle.12 in bracket side wals 12b and 12c. and. a control pin 30 Instaon in a motor ve1cle is accomlihed siply byfiedy seced to plate 24 and adapted to pivotay recive s secug the bracket 12 and the motor 52 to the fiewal 19one end of a contrl rod 32 controllng. for exle. the of the ve1cle and couplig control rod 32 to contrl pael

brake mecanm of the moto velucle. The lower end of 30. .plate 24 is fiedly seced as by fastener 34 to a side face In opeon, the position of the ped 36 relative to the20e of transmssion housing 20. opertor is selectvely adjusted by selecvely energ

Ped assemly 16 includes a ped 36. a peda ar 38 10 motor S2 to selectiely move nut 44 forwardly and re-caing the peda 36 at its lower end, and an upper guide wardly wit gude rod bore 22 and thereby, via the keystrcte 40. 46, move the peda assembly selectvely forwardly and

Uppe guide stctue 40 includes a hub strcte 42. a nut rearardly along the guide rod with the lits of forard

44 and a key 46. ' and reaard movemnt deted by engagement of the

Hub strcte 42 is fiedly secured to the upper end of 1S key with the respetive forard andreaar ends of the slot

peda ar 38 and is size to be slidably mounted on guide 22c.rod 22 with the aid of buslugs 48 positioned in suitble The invention wil be seen to provde an adjustble peda

annular recesses 42a proxúte the forward and rearar appaatus that is extemey sile in stcte. extemelyannul edges of the hub strctue. Hub strctu 42 and relible. extremely inexpensive, and capable of precisely

buslungs 48 wil be seen to coact to define a smooth gude 20 adjustig the position of the ped so as to accommodatebore slidably reciving guide rod 22 whereby to enable the opetors of vag anatomica diensions.

peda assemly to move smoothy axaly forardly and Wherea a preerred emodnt of the invention hasrearardly with respect to the guide rod. been ilustr and descrbed in deta it wil be apparent

Nut 44 may be fonned of platic. has a cicul cross- that varous chages may be made in the diclosed emb-sectional confguation, is sized to fit slidably with the bore ment without deparg from the scope or spirt of the22 of the gude rod, and includes a theaded central bore 2S invention. For exle, although the invention has been44 ilustrat and decrbed with respect to an adjustale appa-

Key 46 has an elongate plate confgurtion and is fiedly ratus in wmch no proviion is made to provide constant ratio

seced at its uppe end 46a in a keyay 44b provided in the a.djustent. and constlt p~ l?ads, in al ad~uste posi-

lower face of nut 44 in ofset relaon to the centr vercal tions of the peda the mvention is equaly applicable to an

ax 2S of the appartus. Key 46 passes downwardly though 3Oadjustale at'artus. such for exaple as the appartuses

elongated axal slot 22c in the lower side of the guide rod shown m as~gne~'s U.S. ~a~N~s. 4.875,385; 4;?89.474 andand though an apere 42b in the hub strcture 42 for 5,078,02, in which provisl0n 18 made to provide constat

secuement at its lower end 46b. utig fastner 50, to ratio adjustment and constnt peda force itespetive of

side face 38a of peda ar 38. peda position. Fuer, alth?~gh the invention. as ~closedDrve assembly 18 includes a motor 52 a cable 54 a 3S contemplates that each individual operator wil adjust the

bra 56, a wonn 58. a worm whee60.~d a scrw s~ peda to sui~ hi own stae each ti he ente the vehe62. af the ve1cle ha been opeated by another operor, the

Moto S2 compnses a sin electrc mOtor of knwn form motor of ~~ pe assemly may be equipped with aand may be secured. for example. to fiewal 19. Cable 54 is memoiy facity whereby ~ operator may e1T~t ~vementdriven by the output sha of motor 52 and is mounted at its 40 of .the peda ass~ly.to hi own .umque p~sition simply.bydist end S4a on a bracketS6 secured to side face 20fof suily announcmg ~ presence in the ve1c1e and alowm.g

transmission housig 20. Cable 54 dnves a wor 58 jour- the menoiy to au~inca1y move the peda assembly to hinaled in across bore 20g in trnsmision housig 20 in 0"; ~;~.positiOn.overying reaton to housing cavit 20a. Worm 58 is in e.. .dñving engagement wit wor wheeltíO positioned in 4S 1. ~ a~Justale ped apparatus for a motor veluclecavity 20a. coining.

Wor whee 60 include a front tron 60a joum in a pe suppor assemly includig a fo~ar mountga bushig 64 fiedy posioned in the open forard end of st~e and a hollow gucJ rod extendig rearardlycavi 200 and a rea trunon 60b jouraled in acounteore and ngidly frm

the mountig strcte;

20g of bore 20c. Scrw shaf 62 is fiedy secued to wor so a screw sha positioned with the hollow of the gu

wheel 60 and exteds reaiidly therefm though bore rod and exdig parel to said gude rod;

20c and rea~dly though guide rod boe 20a for theaded drve means for dnvigthe screw shaf andengagemc:nt wi the theade centr bor 44.0: nut 44 so a pe assembly inc1dig a hub stcte defg.athat rotation of shaf 62 ~s ~e efec of sldig nut 44 smooth guide bore sldably receivi said gude rod. aforwardly and rea~dly ,,it boe 22. . . . ss nut positioned with the holow rod and defnig a

:roassely .~ inventon appartus. pivot pin 28 ~ thde bor tldaly receving said screw shaf a

sOltaly mount in br~ .12. the l~werend of pla~ 26 ~ ped an extendig downwardly from said hub~edlys~c~ed to tr~sionhousig 20. nut ~ is pooi- strcte, and me dnvingly inteconnectg the nuttioned witn bore 22 i.n thc:.ded ~gagemet :withScr~ and the hub stcte wherby rotation of the screw62. ~d hub strcte 42 is positionedin sUUundi relation shaf mov the nut with the holow rod and the dreto gOlde rod 22 With peda ar 38 extendig downwardly 60 . es. .so as to algn apee 42b with slot 22c. nut 44 is suitably means trlates the nut movement into movement ofadjuste anguarly wi boe 22 to aln keay 44b the hub strct an~ the ped ar . .angully with reec to slot 22cand ap42b .hub 2. An apparats accdig to clai 1 wherem.strcte 42 is adjuste axy to algn aper 42b ~y the apps fuer includes a mountig brackt; andwith keyway 44b. and key 46 is slid upwardly though 6S the forard mounting stcte is pivotay seced to theapere42b and thugh slot 22 for seatig engagement in mountig brcktkeyway 44b. wher the key is fiedy secud at its 3. An apparus accordig to clai 1 wher:\.

ì/

5,632,1835 6the gude rod and the gude bore have a cicu cross a peda support assemly includig a foiwar mountig

sectona confguaton. strcte and a holw gude rod extendig reaardly4. An apparat accrdig to cla 1 wherei: and ngidly frm the mountig strct and includig

an elongated slot is provided in the holow guide rod; and an elongated slot;the interconnectg mean compses ngd stcte pass4 5 a screw sh positned concentrcaly with the holow

ing though the slot and ngdly inteonnecg the nut of the gude rod and extendi proxite and pareland the hub strcte. to the gude rod;

5. An appars accordg to cl 1 wherei: dre mean for drvi the screw sh andthe forward mountig strcte includes a trsmission 10 a ped assembly includig an upp guide strct and

housing foiwardly of the guide ro; a ped ar exndig downwardly from said upperthe dnve means includes a trssion positioned in the gude strcte;

trsmission housing and includig a fit trsmion

memer drvig the screw shaf and a secnd trsms- the upper gude strct includig an outer hub stctsion member drvig the fist trsion membe 15 sIidably mounte on the gui rod and includig

an

and apere, a nut positioned slidaly wi the holow ofthe drve mean fuer includes a cable drvig the the guide rod and theadaly receivig the scrw sha

second transmision member. and mea drvigly inteonnect the peda assem-6. An appars according to cl 5 wherein th drve bly and the nut;

mes fuer includes an elecc motor dnving the cable. 20 the inteonnectg me coninsig a key secued at7. An apparats accordig to cl 5 wherein: one end therf to the nut passig though the slot inthe peda support assembly fuer includes a mountig the rod and though

the aper in the hub strctue,bracket; and and secured at its oter end to th peda ar

the forward mountig strcte fuer include a pivot 14. An adjustale ped appartus for a motor' vehcle

ar fied to th trmision housig and pivota 2S coninsig:mounted on the mounting brck amountig brackt;

8..~ adjustable pe appartus for a motor vehicle a holow guide ro includig an elongated ax slot;compnsi~: means pivota mountig the gu rod on the mountig,a mountig brackt; 30 brackt with the gude rod extendig rearar;a hollow guide rod a peda strcte includi an uper hub strcte slidalymeans pivotay mountig the guide rod on the mountig mounted on the gu rod and includig an apere andbrac with the guide rod exendig reaary; a ped ar extendig downwardly from the hub strc.

a peda strct inclding an upper hub strctue slidably tue;mounted on the guide rod and a peda ar extendig 3S a nut positioned slidaly in the hollow of the guide rod;downwardly from the hub stct; a screw positioned with the gude rod and thadably

a nut positoned sIidably in the hollow of the guide rod. engagig the nut;a screw positioned with the guide rod and theadaly mes for rotag the scew; andengagig the nut: . a key fied to the nut and passing though the elongated

dnve mes intennectig the nut and the pe stc. 40 slot and thugh. the apee for secent to thetue; and ped stctu.meas for rotag the screw. 15. An adjustale pe appatus for a moto vehcle9. A peda appartus accrdig to cl 8 wherein the compg:

rotatig mean are positioned forwarily of the sc. 45 a peda supprt assemly includig a forward moung10. A pe appars acordi to cla 8 wherein: strctue and a hollow gude ro extendig rearaidly

the guide rod inclde an elongatd ax slot; and and ngidly from the mountig strcte;

the dnve mea includes a key fied to the nut and passig a screw sha positioned with the hollow of the gu, thoug the elongat slot forsecurem.t to the peda rod and extndig paralel to the

guide ro:

stcte. .,.. 50 dnve me fordrvig the screw sh andlL A peda appartus acordig to cla 8 wherein: a pe assemby includig an uppe gude stctthe appar.atus includes a housing positoned forardly of deg a smoo gu bo slldably revi said

the gude rod; and guide rod, a nut potioned wi the holow ro andthe rotatig mes includes trsmon measposi- deng a theaded bore tbeadly receivig sad

tioned in the housi and includig a fist trssion SS screw sha a ped ar exndig dowardly frmemer drvig the screw and a second trnsmssion said upper gude strcte,and mes drvigly in-memer dnvig the fit tranmission mem. connecg the nut and the gude stct whery

12 A pe appartus accdig to cl 11 wherein: rotation of the scrw sh moves the nut wi the

the rotátigmeans fuer incldes an elecc motor and hollow rod and the dnve mean trlate. the nuta cable drven by the electrc motor and drvig the 60 movement into movement of the gude stct andsecond transmision meer. the peda ar

13. An adjustble pe appars for a motor vehiclecompr~g: * * * * *! "

mx::0-;:o

United States Patent (19)Brown

(11) Patent Number:

(45) Date of Patent:

4,915,075Apr. 10, 1990

(54)

(75)

(73)

(21)

(22)

(51)(52)

(58)

ACCETOR PEDAL POSION SENSORInventor: RJdid L BroWD Peki m,

Asignee: Cateril Ine. Peori m.AppL No.: 326,U9

Fied: Ma. 20, 1989.

ID Cl" ....._.............. F02D 11/10; HOie 10/00U.s a. ......._........................ 121399 73/118.1;

74/513; 123/494; 338/153

FIel of Sech ............ 1231357, 361, 399, 494;

73/118.; 324/208; 34/870.38; 338/108, 153;

74/513

(S6j Referen CitedU.S. PATE DOCUS

4,519,360 5/1985 Mur ............._....... 123/3994,52,590 7/1985 Bisui ct al. ...............338/1534,537,168 811985 Dur __..........._.. 73/11.1 X4,60,675 8/1986 lunger et a1 ..........._ 123/4784,612,615 9/1986 Mur .................... 364/431.074,118,380 111988 Katayos et a1 ............._.. 123/3994,77829 9/1988 Pieng et a1 ..;............... 318/139

OTH PUBUCATIONSNews Relea titled "Wil WM-S16 Electronic

)

Accelertor Designed for Electronic Fuel Control"dated Dec. 5, 1986.

Prmary Exminer-Tony M. ArgenbrightAttorney, Agent, or Firm-Robert E. Mui Stehcn L.Nee; Kik Vander Lee

(S71 ABSTClPedal mounted sers are useful in motor vehicles fordelverg an e1e signal correlve tò the potionof the acertor pe The elecca sign is thenus by an engie cotrUer to regte the amount of

fuel supplied to tho: engie. Some pe mounted se-sors delver anog sis which ar subjec to faultconditions which an ei¡ie contrller can not disti-

gu from vald opetig conditions. Remotelymounted sensrs are dicut to inta and repai. Thc

subject inventin is diected to peda mounted sesorswhich have a potetiomete and cicuit bo hermet-callyseed and mounted on a peal for deliverigpulsewith-modulte sign havig a duty facor re-sponsive to the pe position.

7 Cl 3 Drwig Sheets

us. Patent Apr. 10,1990

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2tie the restace of invidua wires in the wighaes ca chage. Th wirg haes degrtionca induce inures in the sign reeived by the

DESCRION engie controller sim to those caus by electromag-i. Tecca Field S netic intedercn.Th prest invention relate' generaly to a system Ot system cuently address the above mentioned

for detectig the poition of a control pe and produc. problem by combin a pedal seg potentiometering an electrca sign in resnse to th poon of an a conditiong circuit in a sigle sign genertigthe contrl ped and, more paly, to a sys for appar The condtionig cit modes the anogdete the position of an aCertor pe of a work 10 sign dever by the _ potctjometer and prouce aveh ~ prod~g a p~with-modu1te sign pulwith-modulat sign in respons to the acl-corrtive to a de cne sp er pe positin. Due to the close proxity of the2. Bacund Ar . potetiomete and th conditinig cit, the efects. In th past. th. mot coon ~ of commant- 15 or electmagnetc inteercne on the anog signmg a. d~ engue sp to an engme ha been a me- delverd to th conditionig cirt are neglgible.chlige frm th acceerr pe to th en- .gi thtte valve. However, modemengi are Furcr~re ~e ~gme controler.ca be progrBIedequipped with electrnic engie contrller and it is to reco~ mval~ waveform m th puJ-wid~-desle to replac the mechaca lige with an ~odulate sign ~~cb are caused by ell:tromagnücelecni equvalent. More parcuarly, it is dele 20 mtederce .and wig ~es. degr?ation.to provide a peda position seor for delverg ai . To date, sign S:n~UDS ~~ ba~g bo. a poten..electrca sign whicb is responsve to th potion of tiometer an coditintg circwt ma smgle unt are notthe ped. peda mounted. Therefore, a mechaicalige is used

It is common in the ar to utie a a peda mounted to connect th acceror ped to th sign generatigpotetiomete to produc an anog sign in respo. 2. appar Due to th unt's remote loction. intalationto the potion of an acertor pe. The engie co-and matence arc mae dicul expene is incuredtroller reeives the - anog sign aid cacute a de- and a rieccalige is once more requied by such,~ed ~gie spe b~ ~n an empirca derved r~a- system.tiO~. . ~ - ordr to elate U1ec iDccca The pret invention is diecte to addresing thedevcc it IS preferble to. mount the ~r diectly on 30 abve mened proble with - an appartu that ca!he pe ~ suh a locon. th~ .po~tiom:te 15 ~ be eay mounted ditly on an accelerator peal.Jec t~ a vanety of extr condi~ons mcludg seo~ Other aspe objec and advantaes ca be obtaedvibra~on, dUS et. Thefore it 15.posble for a frgie from a stuy of the drwi the dilour and theelecca deve, such as a potetiomete, to mac- ei. _t.,__ Wb th ... dtion and produce a sign whih is not inditive of the 35 append .~: e prest ~v~tion is. e-ac pe position. sc for us withan acceeror pe it IS reco~

u.s. Pat No. 4,519,360 whi isued on May 28, 1985 tht su an appartu could be adpte for use with

tci Murak and U.S. Pat. No. 4,603,675 whi isue numerous other contrl pedaon Aug. 5, 1986 to Jangiger et a1 provide sy for DISCLOSUR OF TI INIONdetectig wben a potentiomete adte to sense ped 40potion is mactionig. More spcay, both sy- In accrdce with one as of the presnt inven-te indicate when th engie thotte rem opn tion, there is provided a sign genatig apptu foreven though th actor pe is fuy relea In delverig a pulwith~modu1ted sign responsve toord to peorm thfucûon. both system requie an th potion of a movable meha mebe. A ciuitex ser for detig whe the aceltor pe is 45 bo 1ua poteti~ct mounte on a fi side and a

fuy reled. However, even thes sy ar fuer cotionig cit mounted on a secnd side. Thesubjec to in inucby.electrmagneti potetiometr ba a movàble wier porton ii movableinteerence ~d wig ha dei!adtin. conta with a stationa po Th movable wir is

More paruly, electic inteerence ca fuer connec to an movable with the movable~der with the ~~ sign proucbr the poten- SO meca meer. The cotiong cit is electio~ct therby provdig an ~urte Sign to th cay coec to.th stati porton so tht theengi contrll. Th: grea th dita~ betee th. coditionig ciuit' prouce th pulWidthpe mo~tc ~t~o~ an th engie contrUer,. moduled sign in repons to the poition or the mOvoth more liy 1t _ 15 th inercne wi afect the . _ . .anog sign. FilteR in thengi controller ca be 55 able wiper on the staona porton. ,us to remove elmagn intecr frm -an DESCRON OF TI DRAWIGSoscg portn orth anog sign however, fiters FIG . d' . si . f dalcaot corr for any chge in a DC voltage oflt . 1 15 a iagrttc. e 'Vew ? - a peinuc by the decmagnet inteeren The en- mounte senor adpted to deliver a sign m rensgie contrller ca no be prgred toditigaih 60 to the pos.ition .of the~. ..betwee a DC oft cad by elecmagnetic inte- FIG. 215 a digr seonal pa view taenrerce ii one correcy represti the accelertor along

li. n-!I of FIG. .L. .'pe position. FIG. 3 IS a digrc seona paral view taenIn adtion, the abve metioned extre conditions aloni li il-il or FIG. 2.

an al lea to a degrtin ortb wig haes us 6S FIG. 4is a dic seona pa view ta

to connt the potetiomete to th engi Cotrller. alng li IV-IV or FIG. 2-For exple, moistue ca induc conductiviy be- FlG.S isa fuctiona bloc digr of an enboi-twee inividua wi in the wig baess, andover met of the ped mounte potion ser orFlG. L

4,915,0751

ACCETOR PEDAL posmON SESOR

4ometer 52 could be replaced, for example, by a varablecapacitance or inductance device.

A conditionig circuit 66 is located on the cicuitFIG. 1 ilustrtes the relationship between an acceIer- boar second side SO and is electricaly connected to the

ator pe unit 12 of a work vehicle (not shown) and a 5 conductive strip 64 by a wie 68. The conditionigsign genertig appartu 10. The sign generatig circuit 66 receives the DC voltage delivered by theappartu 10 produce a pul-width-modulated sign potentiometer 52 and delivers a pulse-width-modulatedhavig a duty factor responsive to the position of the signal havig a duty factor responsive to th DC volt-pe 14, and delver the sign to an engi contrller age on the wire 44.16. The peda 14 is ilustrative and the sign generatig 10 A housing 70 is of sufcient size to contain the condi-appartu 10 can be adapted for use with other movable tionig ciuit 66, the circuit board 46 and the potenti-

mechaca membe In a prefered emboent the ometer 52. In the preferr cmdient. the housing 70accelertor peal unt 12 is a sees WM-SI6 maufac- is consted of polyetheride, but the housg 70tued by Wil Precion Controls of Portd" could be fonned from numerous other materal. AnOreg., an inudes the peal 14, a bige 18, a baslate IS epxy res 74 fig thc void 76 betwcen the housg20, a lcver '22, an a pin 24. Thc bas plate 20 ha a 70 and the cicuit boar 46 heeticay sea thc condi-horionta porton 26 rigidly atthed to the vehle tionig circuit 66, cicut board 46 and potentiometer 52

fre 28 by anchor bolts 3O-3 . for exple. The with the housing 70. Th housg 70 and epoxy resbas plate 20 furcr inludes an angled porton 32 74 support the circuitr and pròtect agat possiblcwhich is fixed relativc to the vehicle frae 28. The 20 mafunctons such as short circuits and broken wiesped 14 is pivotaly movable about the hige 18 relative withi the sign generatig appartu 10.

to th work vehicle frae 28. Preferably the higc 18 The housg 70 includes a molded rotor 78 having aca be poitioned on the bas platc horionta porton 26 fit end 80 integry cngagig and movable with theas shown however, the hige 18 ca al be rigidly pin 24, shown in FIG. I, and a second cnd 82 fiedlyattchcd to the vehicle fre 28. 2S connected to the movable wiper 54. Thus, when the pin

The peal 14 is movable between a fit potion cor- 24 rotates, the movable wiper 54 moves along the resis.

, rendig to engie idle spe an a send position tive strp 58 caing th potentiomete 52 to deliver acorrespondig to maum engie speed. A pe re- DC voltage correlative to the position of the pin 24.tur sprig (not shown) bias the pedal 14 to the first The molded rotor 78 can be consructed of anyone of

potion. The pin 24 is positioned on the pe lower 30 numerous nonconductive mate but is preferably

porton 34 and is rotatable relative to and in respons to polyetherde. A retu sprig 84 ha a firt end 86., pivota movement of the ped 14 by the lever 22. The connected to th molded rotor seond end 82 and a

lever 22 has fit and second end portons 23,25. The second end. 88 connected to the housing 70, and islever fit end porton 23 is fiedly connected to the pin adapted to bia the molded rotor 78 toa preselected24 and the Icver send end porton 25 includes a roller 35 position.36 in contat with and.movable ilong the base plate Turg now to FIG. 4., a block digram ilustrtesangled porton 32 in respons tomovemcnt of the pedal the functona aspects of the signal generatig appartu

14. 10. Thes functiona asects are common in the indus-In a prcferr embodient, a pai of connecting bolts tr; therefore the exact ciruitry wil not be derini::d. A

38,38b are usd to atth the sign generatig appar- 40 voltage preregultor 90 futers noise from and regultes

tu 10 to the peda 14. However, it is foreseeable to the batter voltage to a level usble by the remaiing

acmplish tl connectig fuctin usg adves or electrca ciruitry of the sign generting appartusother fasteners. The sign generatig appartu 10 is 10. In the preferred emboment, batte voltage ranges

eleccay connccted to a source of positive batte from approxitely + 9 to + 32 volts and the preregula-voltage, to ground,and to the engie contrller 16 by 45 tor 90 deliver approxiately a + 10 volt sign. Arespetive wires 40, 42, an 44. voltage regur 92 receives thi prereguated voltage

Referrg now to FIGS. 2, 3, and 4,a ciuit board 46 and deliver the fit voltage potential on the wi 61ba fit an second sides 48,50. A rotatale potetiome- and the send voltage potential on the wie 63. In thete 52 ha a movable wi54 in movable contat with preferred emboment the first voltage source 60 isa staona portn 56. The potetimeer is positioned ~ +0.7 volts and the send voltage source 62 is + S.7on the cicut board fir sie 48, and dclivers a DC volts; howcver, it is reogned tht numerous othervoltae in resonsve to the position of th peal 14 voltages may be chos without d~g from thcshown in FIG. 1: The potentimeter staona porton invention. In the preered embodiment, the voltage.56 includes a resisve stp 58 and a coductve strp 64. preregutor 90 and voltage regutor 92 are both 10-

The reistive strp is connected betwéc a fit voltage SS cate on the cicuit board seond side 48.soure 60 and a higher potenti send voltage source As previously stated, the restive strip 58 is con-62 by respeve wi 'lan 63. Preferably the res nected betwcen th fit and secnd voltage sourestive strp 58 and the conducve stp 64 are scree 60,62 The movable wiper 54 form a short cicuit frompritcd on th circuit bod fi side 48; however, it is. the resistive strp 58 to the conductive stp 64, causg

foreeeable to position the strps 58,64 on the cit 60 the potentiometer 52 to deliver a DC voltage signabod firt side 48 using method such as etcg, inert correlativc to the potion of the movable wiper 54 onmoldig, compression molding, etc. .The movable wiper the resisve strp 58. A wire 68 connects the conductive54 is of negligible resistace an effectively form a strp 64 to the conditionig circuit 66 such that the DCshrt ciruit from the restivestp 58 to the conduc- voltage signal delivered by the potentiometer 52 is re-

tive strp 64. Thus, the entie conductive strp 64 is 65 cevedby the conditioning circuit 66.mataed at DC voltage poteti correlative to the In the prefer emboment, the conditionig ciuitposition of the movable wiper 54 on the resive strip 66 includes a squae wave genertor 94, an integrator

58. One skiled in the art wi regne tht the potenti. 96, and a compartor 98. The squa wave generator 94

34,915,075

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING our THINVNTON

4,915,0755 6reves the preregu voltage from the voltage pre engie to a preselected mium in respons to invaldreguor 90 and delver a squae wave sign havig a waveform in th pulsewidth-modu1 signal Forpredetered amlitue and bae frequency. The inte- intace, if any of th wies 40,42,44 brea short orgrtor 96 integrtes th squae wave sign and delvers become dinnec a high sign is contiuouslya trguar wave sign havig a predtermed ampli- S delivered by the sign generatig appartus 10. Thetude ~d base freq~cy. In the prefe;r embodiment engie controller 16 in tu ca be progred tothe tr wave sign ha an amplitu of +S volts. reduce the amount or fuel supplied to the enge to a

The compartor 98 copar th trangu wave sign preseleced mium upon recvig a contiuous highto the DC voltage sign prouc by the potentiomete sign for a predeteni period of tie.

52 an deliver a p~width-modu1 sign~ havig.a 10 Oter as objec an advantages of thi inven-duty fato rcnsve to the DC voltage sign. It .IS tion ca be obtaed from a sty of the drwigs, theforesle th copoenta othe th thos us m dilosure, and th appeded clthe pre£~ emboen could be us for genertig I cla: .the pulsewith-modulte sign 1. A sign generatig appa for delverg a

INUST APPLICAILIT is pulwidth-modulte sign resnsive to th potion. ' . . of a movable mechacal membe, compring:

m Asume tht the sign genertig appa~ 10 is a cit boar havig fi an secnd sides;ounted 0:n.the acertor ~ or a work vehile, not a potentiometer havig. a movable wir and a sta-sh?wn ~~y, the pe 14 IS ~ to a predete- tion porton, sa movable wipe beg in mov-=ed:~ ~ ret spon¡ (not shown). At 20 able contat with sad stationa porton, sad mov-

p poSlttOn, ~ angle (theta) beL'ee able wiper and sa stationa portn beg po-the lever 22 and th ped 14 IS obtu an the sign ti' d 'd"t bod "::t si d'dgenerti¡ appatu 10 produc a pulwidth- one ?n sa .CUC 1..11 e an sa m~v-moul si havig a duty facor r retative of a~ie wiper be co~ecte to and movable withth "ti pe . . Th . cP ll. sadmovable mecha membe and,e im potton e engm contro er 16 reo 2S di .. . . ....-- .. ne -_:... .ceives th pulwith-moulted sign an cacues a con ttonigciwt ",wg l'tiO on .. ~ta desed engie spccbasd on th empirica relation- boar .secnd ~ e1ectrca~ coiued to sadshp.. potentiometer stattona portn and adpte to

Subseuently, if a vc!cle opeato de an increa ~elver sad p~width-~odulated si~ res~-in the engi sp the opertor apli a force "F' to 30 Stve ~ the potí~ of sa m?vable wiper on sadthe acertor pe 14. As the opetor applies the potentiometer

staon pOrton

forc "F', the pe14 rotates reltive to the vehcle 2. 'le app~ set fort. in ~la 1 wherei sadframe 28. abut hige 18 to. a seond potion. As the potett?~te ~ona porton includes:pe 14 is dilad from the fit position to the se- a re,:e str connectable beee a ~ v~ltageond postion, the lever:U and pin 14 rotate reltive to 35 poten~ and a send vol~ge potenti higherthe ped 14 in a presected diecon such tht the . th ~ fit ~oltage poteti an~ ..,angle (thet) inrea in magntue. a c~d~ctive Strp conec to sad condttonigRotation of the pi 24, causes the movable wipe 54 cirwt. ... .

to rotate alo~g the retive strp 58 between rust and 3. The apPtus set fort ~ ~ 2, w~er~ s:dsend ii~ons corrpondig to th peda fi and 40 m~vable ~per for. a sho~ cicwt fr?~ sad resu~esend potios respetively. The movable wiper 54 strp to sad conducnve str at a potin whee saefectiely for a short cicut fr the resisve strp movable ~r conta~ sad resve stp. . .58 t~ the C?nducve stp 64 thereor, th entie con- 4. A. si gcn~¡ appatu. for deliv~a aducUve smp 64 ha a DC voltge poteti correlative pule-with-modu1 sign i"espoDSve to th potionto the positi of the wiper 54 on th retive strp 58. 45 of a pe in ~ work vehle, compriing:Thus th potetiomet 52 dever a DC voltage sign a work vehe fre;over th wi 68 reve to the coductive stp a pedal havig a pin sad pe beig pivotay mov-voltae poteti . able relve to sad work vehicle fre betwee. The coditionig cit 66 recves the DC voltage fi an sed potins sad pin beg positionedsign frm the potetiome 52 an prouce a pul- 50 on sad pe and rotatale reltive to sa ped inwidth-modul si havig a duty facr reponsve resns to movement of sa. pedal relative to sato the DC voltae si work vehcle fre;

Bec the is no apprecle dice betwee a ci bo 1ivigfit and send siespotetiomet 52 and the cotinig cicuit 66 the a rotatale potetiomete havig a rotale wipeefec of elecomagnet inteerence on the anog 5S an a stationa porton, sa rotable wipe begsign delivered to the condti cit 66 are negl- in movable contt wi sa staona porton,giòlc. Additiony, in the evènt th electromagnetic sad rotatable wipe and sad statina portoninteñere or wig haes degradtion chge th beg posned on sad cit board fit side, anfrquen. or th DC level or p$ewidth-modulted sad rotable wir beg connec to and mov-sign produc by th. condtioni cicut 66, the 60 able with sad pinengi contrller 16 ca be progr to recogn a cotionig ciuit being positioned on sad ciuitinvalid wave£orD caus by suchinteñerence and boar send side, elecricay connected to sadwigbacs degrtion. potentiomet station porton and adated toThe engie contrll 16 reeives th. pule-width- deliver sapule-width-modulted sign in re-

modulte sign anregutcth. engies speed in 65 spou to the .potion of said movable wiper onrens ~. the duty. far or. th pul-width- sadpotctiomcte stona porton; anmodulte sign Th. engi cotroller 16 ca be pro a mcfor rotag sad pin in respons to movementgred to.reduce the amount or fuel suppli to the orsa..pe

..

4,915,0757

s. The appartu set fort in claim 4 includg a housing of a size sufcient for contanig sad conditioningcircuit, sad potentiometer, and sad circuit board; and.a means for hermeticaly sealg sad conditionig

cicuit. sad potentiometer, and sad circuit board Swith sad housing.

6. The appartus set fort in claim 4 wherein said pin

rotatig mean includes:a rigid bas plate havig an angled porton, sad an.

gled porton being fixed relative to sad verncle 10frame; and,

a lever havig first and send end portons sadlever fit end porton beig fixedy connec tosad pin and sad lever second end porton havig

15

)

8a roller in coutact with and movable along saidbas plate angled porton in resons to movementof sa pedal

7. The appartus set fort in clai 5 wherei saidhousg includes:

a molded rotor having firt and second ends, said

molded rotor firt end integrally engaging sad pin,sad molded rotor second end being fixedy con-necte to sad rotatable wiper¡ and,

a retur spring havmg first end connecte to sad

molded rotor, a second end connecte to sad hous-ing, and being adapted to bia said molded rotor toa preslec potion......

20

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mx:T0-;:o

_........_...~.....,....'.....n'___......,.......".""~..,.._..-i...........,..i.,._h~'\L\.';..\\~;.t'::;..\,.,i.,~,...."............;.."'.....i.;L.;...tõl.'::~l..'a.'........-,U..,."....,~........~..\"'.i.'-.;~......,...,..,..,....,......".,~....,.\l',.~..i.H;':.\"~l\\\,,;."~~\.;..I.~~\\\...\~~a-.,.'u....,......'..=..i.l..':~'i,~~~...l\\\.:~~\!\.w,:l.i.i.\~rl,..\\;.':~U\~U,u..,i;IX\li.~\n;i

..United. States,. Patent . (19)Lundberg,

(11) , Patent Number: . " .4,958,607(45)' 'Dale:of:Patent:":...,,sep.,25, 1990

(54) , FOOT PEDAL ARGEM FORELcrONIC TIRO'I CONTOL OFTRUex ENGIN

(7S)

(731

Inventon Outer E. Ludberg, SherwoO,Oreg.

Asignee:' Wil Contrls. Ine.. Portand,Oreg.

Appl. No.: 34,2Filed: . Apr. 18. 1989

Int. ct.' ........................ F02D 1110; G050 1/14 ';, U.s. a. .................................... 12/399;' 74/513;". ' . 180/33S'Field of Seach ................. 123/361, 399;' 74/513,

74/:160 ,180/33:1

(211

(22)

(511(52)

(581

(56) Reterence Cited

U.S. PATE DOCUMS3,958,677 5/1976 SpaieI ....__...................... 74/5134,047,145 9/197 ScwcJ ____.._.._........ Ji8/674,087,776 5/1978 Donato ..........:.................... 338/1984,123,740 10/1978 Paliier ct aL ......................... 338/67.4,528.90 7/1985 Bisui et ai. ................. 338/1534,718,380 1/1988 Katayose et ai. :0................. 123/3994,819.500 4/1989 Musumiya et ¡i. ...._........... 74/513

)

11

4,831,985 5/1989 Mabee et al '...................... 123/399

FOREGN PATENT DOCUMNIS '009729 6/1985 Japa ........;...........................74/513

OTH PUBLICATIONSThottle' controls for diesl engies, saes bro-

chure-Wilam Controls, pp. 2 & 3,119742,5/1988..

Primar Examiner-WilliR. Wolfe. , Attome,. Agent, or Firm-Robe L. Hargtn,

(Sir....,., '. ABcr. .,. - .' .'À fdOt pc ~gemt wher a support strctue ismounte to the 'frt waD or a clcs powered trck cab.A spl:g bia spor-is mounted' to 'the support stc-

'tuc' and ,is intciucctc to a potentiometer. Afootpc incladcs a .projccg ar tht is pivote to thesupport strct A flexible'li coiucction beeenthc foot peda ar and thèspl force rotation of thespool wi pivotig of the pedal The connecion is

desgned to.trslate the trtional pe movement to .

the requid spol rotation as needed for monitorig by

the potetiopieter.

8 Clai, 3 Drawig Sheets

*es

!l

us. Patent Scpo 25, 1990 Shee 1 of 3 4,958,607

11

~95

93

FIG. 1

u.s. Patent Sep. 25, 199 Shee 2 of3 4,958,607 i

8884 FIG. 2

80

40

80

53

ii'

,ii

70

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us. Patent Sep. 25, 1990 Shee 3 of 3 4,958,607

53

FIG. 4

.~

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14,958,607

2SUMARY

FOOT PEDAL ARGEMNT FOR.ELECIONIC THOTl CONTOL OF TRUCK

ENGINSThe present invention, as in the prior ar electronic

thottle controls, utiiz a rotar potentiometer to mon-

S itor the .foot pedal depression for the computer. How"FIELD OF TH INON ever, the unque arangement of the components and

. . the method of providig rota motion to the poteDti-The p:,esent invention rela~es t? a foot p~ used for ometer alows

a suspended pedal arrangement tht pro-electromc ~ottl~ cont~ol In diesel engie powerc.d vides operator convenence not previousy avaiable.trcks, and In parcu it retes to a foot pedal that iS 10 In the preferd embodiment of the invention, a spmountcd ~n thc frn! wal of the trck ca in a maer ciaIy configured support stcture is mounted to thetht pemts conventiona foot peda control. front. waI of the trk cab. The front waI is here in-

BACKGROUN OF TH INNTION teded to mea the vertca or iiea verical wall tht isforwd of the trk, drivers feet and thus in front of the

Contrllg the rate offuel dispensed to ~e crlinders, 15 foot pe (brake.ad acelerator peda) that are ma-commonly referred ~ as thttle control, in dies en- nipulatcd by the drver. The invention is dicctcd to thcgies is acomplised by adjug the output óf the fuel accclcrator foot peda and hereftr the te "footpump:Thotte controls have ~volved from a mecha- pedal" wil be us to refer to the açcerator footcalligc directly coiuectig a foot pcda to the fucl pedal.

pump, to an electonic linkage between the foot pedal 20 The support strcture provides a pivot for th footand~ a computer, thc cpmputer then controllng the fuel pedal (refercd to as a suspeded foo pedal as differcD-

pump. tiated from a floor mounted foot pedal) and a pivotaPrior to the clectronic inter-cnnection, a foot peda mountig for a spnng loaded spool tht is connecte to

was mechaicay lined to the fuel pump and actuaon the potentiometer. An exten~ed segment of the foot,of thc foot peda, altered the output of fuel pumpe by 25 pcdal aCts as a lever and is coiuccted through a cable tothe fuel pump. The foot pe was held in the home or the spool. The maner of connection of thc cable to theidle postion by a sprig arangement and the opertor spool and foot pedal establihes a relativc ,move~entwould mèrely depres the pcdal to increae the fuel bctwee the spool and foot ,pedal whercby. the tyicaloutput of the pump therby controlg the RPM iid- ra~ge of fO'?t peal movement trlates into the re-lor .powcr output of the engic. The linkage of the 30 quied. rotative movement of the spl ~d thus the.pedal to the pump was proportona thc more the pedal p0t;ntt0iicter. The foot pcda, ~l.' ~tel1tiome~ andwas deprcii the morc fuel was deliver to the cyli- thcir vanous components are sometíes collcctívely

den. Fuel dipensing was then bas purely on the refered,to asa \'foot peda argement".dema of the operator. The support strctin'cludes, ~ stop t~ i~tthe root

Thc cur,ent trend in diesl engies is eleconic con- 35 ped&! movement and asaety or idle v~atíonsWl~htrol of the fuel pump output. The fuel pump is computer ~t 15, engaged by the spl to confrm idle mode, l.e.controlled and rets to an input sign frm the foot . with the foot peal. in ~e fu.Uy retracted (non-,

, pedal. In the electrni or compute controlled system, depred) ~tate. The Invention wil.lx morc fully un-the opcrator st utiiz a foot pedal Intea of being der.st~od with ref~ce to th followig detaied de-mechaicaly liked to the pump, the pedal dep~eson 40 scnptíon and drawigs.is monitored by a computer. The monitorig fuction is DESCRON OF TH DRA WlGSachieVed thugh the Use of a potentiometer. Th po- FIG. i is. a perspetive view of a foot pedal arange-tcnti~mcter i.s rotat~d with depreson of the pedal and ,ment in aci'dance with the prest iDventioniprovides an Input signal to the compute. 45 FIG. 2 is a side view of the foot ped arngcmeat of. Thecomputercontro1s~efuelpumP.outputbascd~n FIG.li . .input data from the potcntiometer b~t ~t al f~ctors In FIG. 3 is a top view of the foot ped arrgement of

other data s.uch. as tempcrtu~e, .humidityi' engme load, FIGS. 1 and 2i and

c:tc. to provide mcreaed ~ffciency.. cc;nomy of opera- FIG.,4 is:a pepective exloded viewilustntig the 'tion, and to reduce undcsable emon to the atmo- 50 varous components of the, foot peal argement ofsphIne~ti7 th. " FIGS. 1, 2 and 3.

y e potentiomete was loced In the engmecompacntne the ful pump. This wa an undesir.. DESCRON OF:TH PREFERRable argemen due to the complex mechaca li- EMODIMNTagc requied to c:oiuect ~e foot pe to the potetio~- SS With referencc to the drawigs, the foot pe ar-ete. The opcratig cnviromnent was al a problem in ragcment 10 ha a mountig ba 12 confgu to bethat it exposed. the potetiometer to heat,; oil and dir rigidly atth~ to the, frot wall 11 ina cab of a .dies

that ~any bebeved ~ premaure faiur: of the engie power truck: Afxed to the bàS12 is a plate-potetiomete. ThcpotetiomCt was, then incorpo- li support strctue 14. The support structure'14 ex-ratcd in a foot pedal asembly strcture tht includcd a 60 tends. uutwardly frm the ,bae 11 and has a formedmeas for proviing rotative motion of the potetiome- rees 18 in side 16 (se FIG. 4). The Conned rcccs 18ter in reaction to dereSsioD of the pedal Th pedal ha radia limit. stops 20 and2Z. Exteding outwardlyassembly wa floor mounted, and lited the design out of the reces is and beond the side 16 is acyli~ri-configuration and placent. Mag adaptions to dü- ca hub 26, having a longitudina groove:i in its periph-ferg potcntiomete th requi a differnt degre of 65 cr. On th side oppOsitcside 16

(se;FIG.3) is a pad 64rotation crcatedamajor design chage. At ties, the integr with' strcture 14, tht is poitioned inalign,.modifed design coiuigurtion requied, th opetor ment with the hub 26. The hub 26 strctnre 14 and, pa

conveniencc be compromi 64 have a common though bore 30. The outward end

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4,958,6073 4or hub 26 is counter-bored to accept bearg 32 (see the potentiometer 60 tht is' atteched to pad 64 by fas-FIG. 4) and the pad 64 is counter-bored to accept bear- teners 62.

ing 66. These features of support strctue 14 provide The spnngs 56 apply a yieldable rotative force to thethe support and inter-connection fot the spool and po- spool 40, with the rotation, of spol 40 lited by the

tentimeter to be later desn'bd. S engagement of the lobe 54 agait the limt stop 20. ThsA stu portion 67 extends from side 16 spaced out~ ro~~ve position ofth.e spol an.d, tlerefore, the rotatÏ\:e

wadly from recess 18. A secnd bore 69 into the stud positin of the potentiomete~,~since they. are coupled). IS

porton 67 of strcture 14 is parel to the bore 30. A referred to as the hoine posltiO,n or the idle mode.

pivot sha 70 is supportd in bore 69. Extendig up- Adjus~bly ~ounte~ .to the flae 88 by theaeddl al si Ill ab th 18 is a tlg. e 88 10 fasteners IS a miero-sWltch 84. The micro-switch operat-war y ong e.. ove e reces , . I 86' al"' d d th am 48 ora 001

that is slotted for adjustably mountig a micro-witch mg ever IS gne an engag~ e c. . p. ' '. b 40. When the spl 40 and potentiometer 60 are m the84. ~roJeced from the lo~er edge of base . ~ IS ~ ~ce home Or ide mode, t1i operatig lever 86 wil have

pørton 13 that alo fucüo~ as a stop to limt pivoti: actued the micro-witc thereby proving an idleof the. foot pedal The abve desn'b .the suppo is . ode confiration sign to the computer by connect-

strtu The root ped spool and potetiometer. sup- ~ 'li ftA' ,.... th rt' 'tr t wi w b desnOe mg e ... .poi~ on e suppo _ s . c ure no, e The pivot ar 72 is rotiltably beag mounte on the~ spoo~ 40, g~ery m th s~ape. of an ~pen ~ded pivot sh 70 projeced into bore 69 of

struture 14, bycyllder and havig a center cavity, IS provided with a begs 7L The pivot shaf 70 has a retaer 79 tosh 42 tht ha one endngii:y attahed to a hub 5~ at 20 seur the pivot ar 1i on the shaf 10.the closed end of the s~i. The sh 42 extends The caer 44 and 74 are in alignent one with the~oug~and' beond the cavity of the spol 4t. Prject. other and the cable 90 is' aligned in the grooves of themg radiay outward from the hub 50 and adjacent the carer with the dowel 92 slidably engaging the

. clos end ~f spol 40 is a conf~ed se~ent 52, and notches 46 and 76 of the caerson ~ pepher of ~gm~nt 52 IS a caer 44. 'ne 2S In operation, the foot pe 80 is depres, pivotingcaer 4' of sepient 52, is. a formed grove havig the pivot ar 12 about the pivot shaf 70. Th pivotigparalel sides with the. ~ttm sUDace of ~e gr~ve action provides motion to the carer 74 which is tr"cued, the curature bemgan ar concentrc. (coaxal mitte to th caer 44.though the cable 90, causing a

to the sht 42. The ends 53 of the parallel sides have rotave motion of the spo14O which in turn rotates thenotccs46.' . .. . . 30 potetiomete 60. Note thta lit stop 22 in the rec

A shape ca 48 on the penpher of the ,spool 40 IS 18 limits the rotationof:the spol 40. The degree of

fo~ed nea the open end of .sp~l 40.' A lobe 54 rotation beeen limt stops 20 and 22 is dictated by thi:projects outwardly from. the cyluidrcal sUDaceof the rotational requiement neeed by. the potentiomete to

. spol 40. As ilustrted, ~ lobe 54'cxteds the length of have a JIum to iium output value.die spool 4O,The lobe 54 ha a slot tht is ope to the 35 Depresg the peal fuly rotates the spool and thecaty of tbe spool and is arged to recve the exte- potetiometer th maum degree allowed, the rota.na flges 58 of a pa of torque sprigs 56. Spacer tion being lited by the limt stop 22 Th maumwaser 53 searte the sprgs frm ach other and rotation. provides ,a' signal to computer 93 though afrom th iner face of the re 18; .. . connectig lie 95 for maum engie RPM. The

The foot pe includes a pivot ar 72 having,a bore 40 peal depreion. is inltelyadjustable from idle to

73~, Projectig radilly rrop¡ the bore 73 is. a confgUred mamum RPM.. The rate or the RPM of the engine issegmt 75, and on the penpher of segment 75 is a proportoned to the pe diplacment, Le. due to com-ca 14. The carer 74, lie carrer 44, is a fOJ1ed puter responsl: to the monionng of the spool rotation.

, grve havigpar1el sides, with the bottom 'of the The pivot 'ar in the preferred emboent ilusgrve curved, the cuate being an arc conccntnc 4S trated ha an idea angul motion of27 degree. This is(coax to th bore 73. TIe: ends 77 of th parallel sides consdered to 'be the bet arangement for opertorhave notchcs 76.' ution, saetý .and collort .Exdcd frm pivot ar 72 (atted by scew 65) . The rotaona requirement of th potentiometer 60

oppote to the exenion or segmimt 75 Crom bore 73, is dete the amount of angUlar roqmon of the spoola pe ln 78. A foot ped 80 is atthed to ar 78 by 50 40. In the prcfered emboimt,th potentiometer ,á pin 81 projected thugh tl. ar 78 and receiving requies a rotatin of 53 deg Thercfore, the litrugs 82 on the bottom ofpe8a (aeF1G. 2). A spnng stops 20 and 22 åre space ~ly at fif-three de-83 urges the peda 80 aga an angled lading 85 ongr plus a competin in consdetion of the widthar 78. of the lobe 54. The ratio of th ra distance. of the,A flexble li in the form of a cable 90, ha dowel S5 cued sur of caèr 74 engaged by. the cable 90 to

92 affed tranvcrelyat each of its ends The dowel the ra ditance of theèorrcsndng c;ured sUD~e92 engage th notches 46 76 of the camer 44 an 74 of caer 44 is therfore two-to-ne, .respectively. Thewith the ,cable fittg in the grooves of the carrers " adtiona degree of rotation that would be impa totherby pr9Vidig, a lige beteen thespoal 40 and the spool is atòuteto the "lost, motin" of the co~-the foot peal components (72, 78, 80). 60 nccg membe of the flexble li and the carer due

As previously explaied, the spl 40 ha spiry to the allowable tolerce of fit. 'wound teion spnngs 56. "and washers 53 inserted . The capabilty ofadjustig the aforementioned ratiowith the caviy of the

spl, with the outer flanges 58 or. the radü and. the angu diplacement of the limtof the sprigs engaging the slot of the 10beS4. The iner;. stops provides an electrnic thottle control tht isflge of the springs 56 fit in'thegroove 28 of the hub ~ . eay adpted todienng potentiometers26. The spool shaf 42 is rotably mounted'inbegs The confguron of the supp strture provdes a

32 an 66 ~d is axy retaed by a reter 43; The suspended tye peal dcsign, Unimied in its confgura-,sh 42 exteds into and couples with the input shaft of tiOD.

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4,958.,6075 6The micro-switch 84 provides an idle mode confirma- the ax of pivotig of the foot pedal, sad fit deter-

tion sign that is a safety featue in the event ofpotenti- mied distace and second determined distace havigometer faiure. Regares af the. signal generated by a ratio. carrespandig to the ratio of the angle af move-the potentiometer, with the foot pedal in the home ment frm minmum to. maxmum for the faot peal andpositian, the switch 84 sign the computer '3 thraugh S the spol, respectively.the connecting line cable 94 of the desired idle mode, 4. A faat pedal arrangement as .defied in clai 3thereby overnding the potetiameter. wherei the effective connections of the flexible li areDua spnngs 56 ar provided for saety in the event at a cured caer surace provid on ea of the

ane of the spnngs, brea. The tarque applied by ane spoal and foot peal, the cured suraces formed as thespnng is adequate toretum the spool to the hame or 10 raia dices correspondig to tht firs detered

idle poition. distace and ,secand detene distance far th spoolOther argements wi be apparent from the abo.ve and foot pedal resctively, sai tlex'be li ridig over

dislasure. Accordigly" the scope of the invention is the carer suaces whereby the flexible lik engagcs a

not lited to the drawigs and descrption but is de. point of tagency on each of the curved caer sudaces

teed by the appended cla 15 thug!outthe mium to maum movent of theWht is claied is: , , spl and foot peal _i. a foot pe argement for controUig the tht- S. A foot ,peda. argement as defied in cl 4

,tIe af in intern combuson engie in a vehcle COn¡- wherein the spal is rotatably mounted an the supportprig; a confgued integr support strture havig a stcture farwd of th pivota movement of the footba adap,ted far mountig onto. the upright wal of a 20 peda, sad foot pe includig a pe portan and anvemcle cab, a faat ~dal pivatay. mounted an the sup- ar portan, the pivotal connection being to the ar

port strctue, a thatte contrlling computer, an porton and an ar extension projec beyond themanitorig mea Connecte to the computer, said pivota connectian' and the caer surace of

the foot

morutong mea mounte to the support stctue, Peal provided at the ar extenan whereby pivotigliea cquplig. meas coupling the monitorig mean 2S of the pedal porton forward force pivatig of the arand foot pe wherby pivòta movement of the faot exenion reaard to draw the flexible li and forcepe is liealy monitored ,by the monitog mea: far ratation af the spool:proportanate input to the computer far cantrollig . 6. A foo pe arangement 8$ defied in. cla 2engie thattle, sad foot pedal monitoring mea and wherein sai minium postion of the peda and accord..couplig mea being maunte an the support stcture 30 ingly sad mium limt of the; spol dermesa desed'far uned mountig thereor ail to the upright wall af a idle mode of th engine, a detecting mean mounted tovehicle ca. . ~e support strctre detec the mi,um rotative

i. A foot peda argement far controllg a thttle poition af the spl, said deteting mean diectly can-

of an intern coribustionengie ina vehcle, campri, neced to the camputer to inicate the desed idle mode

ing; 3S regadles of the' input from the potetiometer.a support strcte adapted rar mountig onto the 7. A foot pedal arrangement indiectly contrlling

upright. wall af a vemcle cab: ,the thratte of an intern combus engie that iså faotpedal pivatay mounted an the support str- directly controlled by a computer compriing;tue; a confgued support stctue includig a bas at-

a thtte controllg campute 40 taed to an upright waD af an internal combusan'manitonngme far manitonng pivotal mavement ene powered trck,. a plate-lie support pro-

of the foot ,pe connected to the campute, sad jected from the baS,monitonng means maunted to the support strc- aspaol rotatably maunted to ane side of

the plate-like

tue; and support and derming an, ax ,of rotation a shaftcoupling mea for coUJlig the. monitanng meas 45 fied to the spool and projeced thaugh a bore inand root peal: the plae-lie supparia potentióiiteconnecte

said morutonn¡ mea compriing a potentiometer to the spl shaft.on the apposite sie or the plat~

an a ratatable spiibi ,spl: li support stop limits on ,the support sturesad spool coecte to the potentiamete whereby defg mium and maum rotative potions

rotatian af the,spoal is monitored by the patenti- SO af the spool, and sprig biag mea for biasingameter, Sad spol havig mium and maum tle spol toward the mimum potion,rotative lits and sad foot pedal havig mium a foot pe ar pivatay atthed to the platelikeand maum pivota potions sa foot pedal support and'deflning a piv.ota ax parel to andpivata movement betwee mium. and ma~ spaced fram the axaf rotaan af the spol, &admum positions beig pivate thugh a determed 55 ar having a' lawer portan exened below theangle tht is les th the rotative. movement be- pivot and an uppe porton extended above thetwee minium and maxum lits,of.thé spol, pivat, a foot pedal mounte iathe lower porton,and &ad cauplig mea. inluding tralation a rust cued caer portan on the spl defied bymeans to praportonately trlate. the mium to a .radius prajected frm. the ax of r~tatian af the.maum mavement o(the foot pe tocotrnd- 60 spol, a send curved caer partion on the uppering mium to maum movement of the spoL porton of the foot peal ann defined by a radius

3. A foot. pedal arangement as dermed . in clai 2 prajecte (rom the pivotl ax of the ar a tlex-

wherein the trlati mea compri a flexible link ble li attaed to the spl and uppe portan ofbetwee the spool an faotpe, the effective connec- the ar, said flexble lin extended. over

the. fit

tion of the flex'ble link to the.spl beig at a rust deter- 65 and secnd ciied caer portons, sad first andmined distaecfrom the axof rotation of the~ol, ' seconct curvcdcaer portions relatively argedand theetective connecon of th Rexble link to the whereby the flexible link is projected as a tagent(oat pedal being at.a send. determed ditace. from to both cured portons thughout rataion of the

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~ . .7

spool between mimum and maxum postions,

and

a computer,' sad potentiometer connected to the

computer, sad potentiometer monitoring the rota-

tive ~itions of the spool sha generated by rota-

4,958,6078

tion of the spol between minimum and maxum~~~. .'8. A foot pedal argement as defined in clai 7

wherein a detector on the platelike support detects the5 mium position of the spol, said detector connected

to the computer to input the minimum position of thespool independent of the potentiometer.

.. . . .

10

IS

20

2S

30

35

40

45

so

55

60

6S

mx::0-;:i:

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l)ë/1C/93 X~ 5,233,ét2unlteo ~t8tes l'8tenI (19)

Byram et ai.

(54) REOTE CONTOL LER MODULE(75) Inventors: Robe J. Byr Grand Blac;

Bryai S. Kita Davisn, both ofMich.; XeYi R. Kee Hiton,N.Y.; Dael F. Smt! Conesus,

N.Y.; Dod G. WitzL. Fairt,N.Y.; Dael A. Crwford Flt,Mich.; Stun A. Xonbllu,Davisburg, Mich.; IJ M. Uaunr,Flt, Mich.

(73) Assgnee: Gener Moton Corpration. Detroit,Mich.

(21) AppL. No.: 692,375

(22) Filed: Apr, 26, 1"1

Related U.s. AppUcatioa Data

Continuation.in.pa o(Scr. No. 552.173, Jul. 12. 199,.badoned.

(63)

(51)(52)

(58)

(56)

Iit. a.s .............................................. G0 1114U.s. 0. ....................................... 74/514; 74/512;

74/.560 123/399; 192/1..56; 30/10.1Field of Seh ................. 307/10.1; 74/.512-.514,

74/560 123/399, 361¡ 34/453; 192/1.56, 1.43,8 C; 180/335; 73/118.1, 116; 338/32 R

Reference Cited

U.S. PATENT DOENTS3,695,379 10/1972 Veieux ............................. 180/1033,702,0458 11/1972 Capacct, Sr. et à1. .......... 34/523,757,758 9/1973 Stoltma ............................; 123/1983,958,677 5/1976 Spaeli ............................. 192/3 R04.006,02 2/1977 Mincuzi ............................. 323/904.088.977 5/1978 Bowma, Jr. et à1. ............... 338/32 .04,117,401 9/1978 Ol.uen .............................. 3204/284.132.970 1/1979 Masud. etàl. .................. :138/32 R4,392,375 7/1983 Qsu et à1. ....................._. 73/1184,519,360 5/1985 Mur ......................... 123/3994.528,590 7/1985 Biuuio el al ................ 338/1534.566,18 1/1986 Yamoto ct al ................ 123/04794,601,271 7/1986 Ejinet à1. ........................... 123/3614,603,675 8/1986 Jun¡i¡er et à1. .................. 123/4784,616.50 10/1986 Over et à1. .................. 73/118.14,64.248 2/1'987 Stolua.n ............................. 423/3994.733.214 3/1988 Anres ........................... 338/128

.\.,

j

111111~i11111~i11~i1~i11111111~i U111 11111 1111111111 111111 11111111 1111

USO5233882A

(1 i). Patent Number:

(4.5) Date of Patent:5,233,882

Aug. 10, 1993

4,853,556 8/1989 Pfalgraf ct à1. .................. 307/10.14.869,220 9/1989 Imoehl ................................ 123/3994,883,037 1111989 Mab et à1. ....................... 123/3994.942.949 1/199 Dai ....................... ............ 192/1.24.94.269 7/199 Imoe .............................. 123/3994,958,60 9/199 Luberg .......................... 123/3994,976,166 12/199 Davi ct al........................... 74/5125.013,930 . 5/1991 Spaws ct à1. ................ 30/10.15,î61,422 11/1992 Sumct à1. _............. 30/10.1 X

FOREGN PATE DOUMENT172180 6/1942 Frace.

1452516 9/196 Fra ................................. 74/56.10116325 5/1971 Jap ................................. 19218 C605719 3/1985 J.pa.

WO 911' 4/1991 PC Iitl Appl. .OrnR PUBLICATIONS

US 473'183A abt.US -4781162A abtrt.US -4791902A abs.

(Lst continued on next page.)

Prmary Exminer-Vin T. LuongAnome,. Agent. or Finn-Gordon F. Belcher C. K.Veetr(57) ABCIA remote controllcver module .comprian iner shcoa1ly locte Inside an oute sh The iner andoute sh ar rotatably mounted on a support and carotate with repe to one another. A re mechamisengageaJe with the iner and outer sh enligforward rotation or the iner shaft to caus rorwarrotation of the oute sh. The retiu meehAn;,. fur-ther enles exteded forward rotation or the ineriit with respe to the outer sh, aid urges bak-ward rotation of thc incr sha to a reaost potion.The retu mecham lits bakward rotation or theiner and oute sha beyond a nonag poition.A forc sprig urges thc outer sh to the noiuatigpotion. Sesors pl'uçe elecca sign proportonato thc aigular potion or the incr and oute sh. Afncton pa ca be dipo beee th iner sha andsupport to rrictonay ret rotation of th iner ahft

with retto the support.

22 Ca . Drwii Slita

5,23,882

OTHER PUBLICATIONS

Pagc 2

\)

US 480659A abstract.US 4854283A abstract.US 4915074A abstract.US 491906A abstract.US 491907A abstract.DE 3836S07A abtrt.DE 391360A abstract.EP 126880B abstrat.EP 176967B abstract.EP 198312B abstrt.EP 2S0873A synopsEP 262883A abstract.EP 279375A abstrt.EP 289766A abstract.EP 34772A abstract.WO 880234A abstract.WO 880i3,SA abstract.Roger Bloomficld. AC Rohester lettcr with coloredanotations Rcf: Electronic Pedal Modulc Project. Jan.ii. 1991. I pagc.

Bosch. figure rrom a page. on microfichc, of a secemanua for a 1990 or 1991 BMW 735i or 750 vehcle, ipagc.YoshiakiDano et ai.. "Powcrtai Control by DBWSystem-Strategy and Modeling," No. 890760. p. 92. 93of 85-98.

"E-Gas 1st Gcnertion (or Commeral Vehcles".VD S4TRSF.. 1977-1981. p. 1-3 o( 16 pagesEuropen patent application No.' 90302674.8 (countcr-pa of U,S. Pat. No. 5.013,930). publication No.0390353AI. publication date Mar. 10. 199.13 pages.Europe Patent. Offce sech repon for Europeanpatent application No. 90302674.1. dated "Jul. 19.1m". date of seh Jun. 27. 199. 3 pagesEuropen Patent Offce examation or Europen pa-

..

tent application No. 90302674.8. date May 2. 1992. ..pagesLou Fierens. "Wil Controls Precon ControlsDivison", Dan Corpration, Apr. 26.1991 p. 3-70f7pages."Product Data Fuelg Compoents Luca EngicManement System", Lu Automotivc. 1919. p. 2of 8 pagesBob Nagy. "BMW 7SOL V-J2. A doZC goo reansfor ispig to atuence", Motor Trend. Nov. 1987.p.

76 ofpp. 74-77.

Ncus "Technca desripton or thcE-ps sys(Drive by Wirc-ys)", Pil GMBH. Jun. 9,1987 p. 1-4.9-13. 17 of J7 paes.A. 1. Pctc. ''1 Ma¡etrravc Ser, a veø-tie device (or truc", Phps Elecca CompoDents an Maie Divion o( Ampc ElecnicCorpration, 1984.2 paies

"Scnsr Deelopments" with colore anotations Au-tomotive Engieeg. vol. 100. No 3. Mar. 1992. pp.29-31 (se p. 29. A patent application ha be (ilcc . .. ).David Scg. AC Roches Memoraum, Date:Scp. 14, 1990. Subjet: Elecnic Thttc ControlFiles i page.

attahment-Elecnic Thottle Contrl CompetitorFile Litig. i page.

atthment-ETe File Refcrcnce Li 7 pagesD. F. Smith Roheste Proucts Divion Inte-orga-zaon Lette, Date De. 7. 1917, Subjet: "DriveJJyWire-BOSCHlMW 750 iL"~ 1 pagc.atthmClt-Cos Fraca "BMW 7SOL ProductionDrive By Wirc Sys 5.0 Liter V-12; Availc inEurope Now:Expetein U.S. By Mid 1981",p. 1. 4. s,8-11. 14. 17 or 17 pages"Thc BMW TSO With Ncw 5 Ltr. V 12 Light AllowEngic". Doument Traon Formt, reportgdate: Mar. 9. 1987. pp. 7, I, 19, 20. 26 of 26 pages.

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iresis efect yet enle the retur sprig to bakwardlyrotae the sht when the operator ce to depres thepe. Ths ca lit the pessble vartions in sur-

Th application is a continuation-in-part of applica- face fihes of the dis and pas.tion Ser. No. 552173, fied,Jul. 12, 1990 entitled "RE- 5 SUMMARY OF TH INNTONMOTE CONTROL LEVER MOPlJLE", now aba-doned. The prest invention provides

a reote cotrol

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTON lever module for scin¡ the an¡u potin of a lever.Such control lever modules are parciarly suite for

1. Techica Field 10 us in elecnic vehcle cotrol syi for IC thcTh inveition retes to a remote cotrol lever mod- angul potion and action of. pe lever.

ule for seg movement of a lcver. Morc pacularly, The remote contrl lever modulc copri an iirthe invention relate to a remotc control lever modulc ih coY locte inde an oute sh enbligfor seg the 'anguar pøition of . peal Icver for an retive rotatin beee the slTh oute sh haelectronic vchicle cotrl system. The lever module 15 an oute I1 stop enp¡elc with the iner sh tomay be furer adpte to includc hysteresis to siulte limt bakward rotatin of th úu ih with retthe fee of a purely mechaca llc (i.e., a pe to thc outer ih. A re mea ii cigagcable withlever connecte to a thotte valve vi a cable), and to the iner and oute sh cnlig forar rotation ofse engaement of the pe lever by the oprator. the iner th to caus forw rotation of the outer2. Back¡ound Ar ' 20 sh Th re mea fu cnles forwar rota-Vehcle engie control syste are known havig a tion of the iner I1 away from a raoat potion,

scr, suc ås a potentiometer, èoectcd to an acl- and urgcsth iner ih to thc rèat potion whenentor peal for meaur the dilaccnt of the ac- the iner shft ha forwardly rotate away fr theccerator pc. A forc sens, suc a a restive strai rct potion. Thc retrn mea lits backwadiauge. is conneced to the accerator pe which is 25 rotation of thc iner and oute sh beyond. nOnaU-able to se whether a forc is beg applied to the atig potion A

forc sprig urica the oute sh to the

pe, such as by thc operator stpping thereon. The nonactutig potion when thc outer aht is forwdlyelectronic control module (ECM) is programed to rotated away from the nonating' potion. Sensrssens the signal prouc by the force sensr and caus produce clectrca sign proprtona. to the anguthe Cigie to idle if ther is no force sese .cven if the 30 poition of

th iner and oute sh with respe to the

potentiometer indicates dislaceent of the pe.. Ths support mea.reuce the possbilty of uniteded movement of the The tron of rotation from thc iner sh tovehcle by a ren other than the oprator steping on thc oute sh and the capailty to sense the rotationthe aclertor pe. of the iner and outer th mea vi th in an

Such vehicle engic control systems .carcquire con- 35 outer shaft 1Crs enblës Ieg of thc c:dition of

siderble efort to package and inta ina vcmclcsince the ret spri¡, forc sprig, outer ih bc¡ andthey reui multiple connections to the pe and a inteedte beg. Th is duc to ihc inti rotationportion of thc vehcle which is sttiona with respect of the inersb ordiy producing rotati of theto the vehiCle, such as the bulea Al, the potenti- oute sh Also, when the oute ih ii at th nonu-ometer ca varin sic as thc peal is displaced. and ca 40 ate potin, thc iner shaf should be at thaae po.be, locted apa fro the force senSor furher compli- tion. Any devition from thes coti ca indicatecatigpagig of the sys. tht an exation of th lever module is warted.

An acerator control appartus is also known in- Thc lcver modulc may also include a frtion pa

eluding a sigle shaft which rotate in proporton to the dipo betwee the iner shan i support membe

dilacent of an acclerator peal. The shaf is cou- 45 wmch is fixed to thc support mea durg at leat apled to apoiion sensor which meaures the rotation of. porton of the ,rotatin of thc iner sh The frction

the sht. The $hft is. al . linked to i peal sesor pa ha a fin friction surac in cnp¡ement with the

switch which is opeed and clos by'åiovement of thc iner shaf to frictioiily resist rclåtive dislaentshaft .correspondig to intial displaceent of

the unde. betwee the'. frion pad and iner ih The fritionpres peal and return of the displac pe to the sa pa ha i Iend frion surac in engagement with

undisplacc poition. A comparin of the si¡ns from the support mebe to friionay ret reltive dis.the poûonser andpeser ca indicate the pl~ent bewee thc frictn pa and support mem-integrty of the appaatu. The appatus ca al in- he The fritiona rcsce provied by thMt andelude a dua coiled retur sprig havi¡ coils of approx- sed friction surac prodes a deshyscsimtely the sa si The siglc sb and lite num- 55 efec Al, the fi andseDcI fr su cahe of return sprig co ca lit the setivity of the eah setely pet retive rotati beee. theappatu toextct force applied to ihc pe, iner sh. and IUppo. mea indepently or the

An aceratig pe is al known includin. si- other.frcton suac.¡Ie sh which rotates, iQ proportn to thc displae. Thes an oth feaes and advantages of thc invcn-

ment of th pe. The sh ca be coupled to a potion 60 tion wi be more fuy undcnto frm the fonowigser which .meaurthe rotation or .the sh The desption .or ce . spec cmboimu of the in-sh includes a disk which rotates therewith. The disk vetion taen toietcr with the acmpayig drw-fits betwee pa. wmch are fixed to.. hous¡ withi ings.wmch thl: ~af rotates When th~ shft rotates the ~ad BRIEF . DESCRIPTON OF TH DRAWINGSexert a fncnonal forc on the disk toereate a des 65hysteresis effect. Thesunac of the pads which

engage In the drawigs:ihc disk, aswcJhsthe sun.ees of

the disk which enpge FlG. lis. side elevational view ofthremote cotrolthe pa,must be fmished to producethc desred hyste- lever

module connecte to a pcand vehcle;

5,233,8821

REOTE CONTOL LE MODUL

5,233,8823 4FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the remote control by the opetor depresg the pe 16 or releag a

lever module of the presnt invention; and depres pe. An outer sba beg ia pivotablyFIG. 3 is an enlarged cross seiona view of the lever support the outer sht 20 enli¡ the oute ab to

module generally in the plane indicated by lie 3- of forwardly or backwarly rotate 26,2 about its ax.FIG 1; 5 A retur mea 30 is enp¡catile with the iner andFIG. 4 is i cro setional view of the lever module outer sha U,2O enbling forward rotation 26 of the

generaly in the plane indicated by the lie 4- of FIG. iner sha to caiu forward rotation of the outer sht.3 showig the iner sha collar; The retur mea 30 furer enbles forward rotation

FIG. 5 is a cros seion view of the lever module 26 of the iner sha U to caus forwar roon ofthegenerally in the plane indicate by the lie $-5 of FIG. 10 iner ah away frm the rca potion. The ret3 showi¡ the oute sh coUar; mea 30.. ur~ the iier sh U towar th re-

FIG. , is a view of the lever module ¡eneraly in the most potion whe the iier sh hu f'orwudly roplae indicte by the lie 6- of FIG. 3 sbowig tbe tate 26 away frøm th J'eat poti Th retusupport hOUlin¡ with th pa other th the retur mca 30 Jji. baward rotation 23 of th outer shstop, beg removed from, it; . IS 20. beyond a DOtil potion with the enpp-

FIG. 7 is a vi correspondig to FIG. , showig a ment betweeilthe ii sh U and oute. sh stp 22acnd of tbe sWitch; litig bakwa rotion 23 of th in sh beoDdFIG. . is a setiona view of FIG. 7 in a plane corre- the DOnatiï. poti.

sponding to the plae indicted by the lie 1- or FIG. A forc spnng 3. bu one en anhored to the out, showig the send emboeDtof the switc; 20 sh 20 an anther eø anhor to th .upport me'::f;FlG. , is an exploded view or a acnd emboiment 24. The forCe spri¡32 waes the oute sh 20 towad(if the lever module; the nonuati jition when the oute sh ha for-. :~:FlG. 10 is a view corrponding to FIG. 3 showig wardly rotate 26 away from the noiiti¡ potion.the send emboiment of the lever module, with pars Tle force spnng 32 is suc:ent1ý yielding so tht rota.bCing broken away to show the iner and outer tags of 25 tion of the iner sh ii caus rotation or the outerthe retu spnng l%b: sba 20. ,

FIG. 11 is a setional view or FIG. 10 in the plane An iner sha ser 34 is connec to the supportindicated by the line 11-11 of FIG. 10 sbowig the mea 24 and is adte to produce n elecc: signengagement betwee the cover and upper retner, and proportona to the ansuar diplaent of the inerthe plane of the view shown Ùl FIG. 10 indicated by line 30 sh U. with ret to th support ii An outer10-10; . sha ser 36 is CQec to the support me 24 and

FIG.ii is a setional view of FIG.. 10 in the plane is adpted ,to prouc an e1ecel sign proportonaindicated by the lie U-12 of FIG. 10 showig the to the anguia dient of the outè sht 20 withenagement betwee the iner shaf coll and Jower repe to the suppOrt meretaer, and. the plane of the view shown in FIG. 10 35 More spey, Qe åner sh 12 includes a cyli.indicated by line 10-10; and dric: iner iJ axe 31 with one end havig a double

FIG. 13 is a setional view or FIG. 10 in the plane D confguatonii cros setion for atthment or theindicated by the line 13-13 or FIG. 10 showi¡ the actuati¡~ 14 th~etó. The one ei of the iner shft

arangement of the components in the, end or the sup- axe 38 may al have scew thea. The other end ofport housing aijacent to the switch. .4 theinersb axe 38 also ha a døuble D confationCorresponding'rererence chaac:en indicate corre- in crosscoD for enpgeient y.th th iner shft

sponding pa thoa¡hout the several views or the sensr 34. The ii sht' wci 38 ba a flat 40 OD itsdrawings. outer sunacThe bier ab U includes an inr sh coll 42

DESCRIPTON OF TH PRERRD 45 havig an anul l1e porton 44 pres fitted to theEMBODIMENT iner sha axe 38. The iner sh ~11a 42 ha a flt '""Ileferg DOW t9 the drawigs in det numera JO on its iDer suac which enpges th flt 40 on the

senerly indicate a remote control lever modul~ of the iner sh axe 31'10 tht the inershaf ute an iner

presnt invention. Thé lever module 10 compri a shft conar have a preeted an¡u a1pmentl.ever including an iner sht U, and an actig ar SO with rest to one anther. Th iner ab co 42'14'extendig from the iner sh at,an angle thero. A ha a cylidrspa poOD 48dep¡ fro thepC 16 is c:ec to the actuatig ar 14. . flge pon 44. Th iiër ab coll 42 ha an iner

An intermediate . beg 18 coly suounds a shft stop 50 comprig an arcute iner tab depponion of the iner shft 12. An outer sh 20 coy. .from the spa porton 48. Th iD sh st 50

. surouds a poniOD of ~e interediate beilÎ en" SS. dcfmes a i 80 degree &i. A IoDgitudi slotSI exiedsabling relaive rotion betwee theli. ard oute thugh th in sh atp 50 andspr portOD 48.shaft 12,2. The outer shft ~ ha n outer sh stop Th 10ngitudil Siot 51 is locte miway be the21 engageable with the iner shaf U to limt bakward ends of the iner sh stop SO. The iner sh conar 42rotation. indicate by numer 23, of the ÎDr shii also ha a cylic: ute portOD 49 depeding fromwith respet to the oute ab when the iner sht 60 the fWge port()n '~ md pres fitt oato the inerengages the outer sbsiop thereby dcfing areaost sh aXe 38. The ,axe porton 49 ba an anul crpotion setin which is unform along its len. Th flge

A support mea 24 includes an iner shaft beg 25 porton "and ute porton 49m~y also be molded withwhich pivotablyiupport the iner maft ii so tht, the ÌDersh ute 31 as a sie integr unt.displacement of the acuatig ar 14 caus the iner 65 The intermedte beg 18 is cylidrc: and ca beshaft 12 to rotate in a forward direction. indicate by formed from a varety of matenstht.rcuc rrionnumeral 26, or in a bacltward direction 23 about its ax. caus by sliding conta between two smac OneDisplacement of the actuatig arn 14 ca be prouced such mateal is a thermos plasic comprig 43%

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5,233,8825 6graphite, 20% phenolic with the reøg 37% com- contat betwee two s\lac: One IUh mate is aprg ilite, tac, zicite and cabon. thermost plastic compnsing 43% grphite, 20% phe-The outer sh 20 includes a cylindncal outer shat nolic with the reg 37% comprig ilite tac,

axe 53 with a hollow interor to fit over the intermedi- zicite and can.ate beg 18. The outer sh axe 53 has a nat 51 on its S Thc cnd of thc suppo housg 65 adjact the outcroute suñac. Onc end or thc outcr sha axc 53 ha sht l)g 28 ha iner and outer anular bo 10,71diamctrcay oppo longitudin prongs 54 extendig formed thereon. Thc longitu dimciiion or thethererromfor engaement with outi;r shaft sensor 36. iner bo 70 is les th thc outer bo 11. The outer

Thc outcr sh 20 includes an outer sha coDar 56 bo 11 ba a ra alot 14.havig an anula Oage porton 5Iprc fitt ther. 10 Thc reur mea 30 copn a retu rc 16Thc in .uôac or thc outer sh coDa 56 ba a nat formed in thc oute bo 71. The retur ~ "ha61 wlJch ihcflt ~1 on thc outer sha axc 53 engages ODC end locte 113.5 dc¡r from the ra aJot 14,10 tht the øu sh axc aid outer sh coDar have. aD dees a 61.5 degr arc. IS shwn ÌD FIG. 6. Theprcded anar al¡nent with repe to one re stop 63 exda into the re re 76 10 thtanothcr. Thc oute sh coDa 56 ~ . cylirica J5 1.5 de¡r of rotati pia)' is alowe beee the

spcer )'rtOD 60, exteding upwad rrom thc flange re st aD sUprt hous¡ fS. .poon 51. The'spar portn 60 is al pre fitt to Bawa rotatiOD 23 of th outer sh 20, withthe outer si axe 53. Thc flange portOD 51 and sPa . re to the aurt houslfS, isJite b)' eige-

porton 60 may al be molded with the outer sh we ment or th re stp l3 with thc rea ei or the53 IS I iigle integr unt 20 ret re 76 whi cotute . re at ,.. TheThe oute shaft;stop 22 compri an aruate tab noctti¡ potiODÎI ~ed by the angu potion

porton exteding upwar rrom the spa porton 60 of ' of the oute sh 20 wh~ thc retu atop 63 enpgesthc outer shaft coDlI 56. Thc outer shan stop 22 defies thc rea stop 78 or the ret1 rec 16.. Forwar rota-

I 154 degre arc. A longitud slot 62 is locted 80 tion 26 or the oute sh~, with ret to theaupportdcgr from, one ~ø or thc outer shft stop 22 in the 2S housg fS, II lite by enpgcmeit of the ret stopspr porton 60. .',. 63 with thc front end of th returrc 16 which

Thcouter an aicr sha stops 22,50 mesh together' constitute the rront stop 10. Th ~uatig potion isso tht they are contaed in the sae raial plae with dcrincd by the anguar: potiOD ofthc oute sh 20respe to ihe incr and ou.ter shaft axes 38;53. Since when the re atp 63 engages thc front atp 10 of thethc tota. arc length or the outcrand incr. sht stop 30 retu re 76. '

2250 is 334 dcgree there is 26 dcgree ohotatina Thcrc m~ 30 fuerincludes. retur sprigplay bewee ihc iner and outer shal$ 12,20. The mu- 81 which may copri a double ço hclica or tonionimum backward rotation 23 of the iner sha 12, with sprig. Eah coil ,of. th rctursprii'2 ha a tag Itrespetto the.outeshaft~, !s lite by thc engagc- onc end which is in into thc aJot51 in thc inerment OfODC end or the outer sha stop 22 with one end 3S shaf coll 42 to anchor thc. rctur sprig to the incr

or the inncr ~I:t stop 50 and derines the reut posi- sh 12 The other end or each coil of the return sprigtion. The maxum rorward rotaion 16 of the mner Ualso ba. tag which. is iD into the slot 61 in the

shat .i with respet to the outer sha 20, is lited by outer sh coll U to anehor. the return sprig to the

th engagement or the other end or the oute sht stop outer sh 20. The rct sp¡. '2 encicles the spii with the other end of,the iner shtstop 50 and .c portoos 48,60 when:anchored to thiner and outerdcrines thc roremost poition. sh collan 42,. Th're SPril'~ urges rorar

The retur meas 3Ø includes a retur stop 63 com- rotatin 26 or the oute sh 20 when thc iner sbfU2pnsing an arcuate tab portoii dcpeding from the is forwarly rotate. The re SPri,"1 is sufcientlynanc portion 58 in the oppote direction from' the yildig so tht, when th oute sh 20 is in ihc actut-spar porton ~. The retur stop ~ dcrmes . 60 de- 45 ing potiii thc reur sprig alows forwd rotationgrar and is spa 33.%5dcgree from oneen of the 26 or 1hciner sha .J away rro the rcaost po-outer sh stop 22. A longitudin aJot 64 is locted tiOD. Thrct sprig '2 acts on the iner sh Umidway beee ~~,ends of th rctur stop 63. whe it ba.forwarly.rotate 26 away frm thc re-

Thc support m. Ucompri a metalic support , most pOiti to .urgc th~,iner shft towad the rea-housg,65 havig :a eylindrica interir with circul 50 most poition. ': , .opegs at ca,ci..A cover 66 is dis over on Th retur sprig,ai pfCerbly compri. pa orend of thc supprt~liousg fS with the support houg spiry WQuu ,flat stp sprigs ea havig an. inerbeg crpe ovetthc cover10prcent remova oftbc aD outer tag. The ÍD tags ar in into thc aJotcovcr ihererrolJ. Thc support housg ~ ba . support 51 in the iner sh coDa 42. Th oute tap ar bo-flge Ql palel to the plac. or th cover. 66. Th 5S sha in ord to ca . tal membe fi to thesupport Oagc Ql ba thee mountig holes ror mowit- fl¡e porton 51 oI,th 'oute sh coll 56 Th taging the support ho~g 65 to a vehicle 10 tht th sup- membe ene towa the flge porton 44 of thcport housg is stationawithrcst to thc set or the iner sh coll 42 au is dipo be\\:cc th twoopetor. . flange pooa 44,58. The Oat itrp sprigs enciclc the

,Thc iner and onter shft axles 38,53, andthc incr 60 sp porton 48 oI~.in sh coll 42. Th natan outer sht col~ 42;56 ar locte hi the..support stp sprip ac on thein and oute sh ti in ahousg fS. The itersha beg 25 is dispo be. siar maer IS thc rctursprigs 11.twee the iner shaft. axe 38 and support hOUSS65, One end or th fo~ sprig 32. ha . tag whih isand compri. ba beg. inse into thcaJot 64 in the reurn sto 63 to anchor

The outer shatbeg 18 is cylindrica and dispo 6S th force sprigtothc oute sh 20. Th othcr end ofbetwcen the oute shafuxlc53and support housing ~. the force sprig 31 ba a tas which isiu into theThc outer sh beg 18 ca be (onnedfrom a varety slot 14 in the outer bo 74 to anchor thc force sprig toor matenals thatredue rriction caus by slding the support housg 65. Thc ro~ sprig 32 is di

'\

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5,233,8827 8between the iner and outer bo 70,72 when an- ver po1aty wherei its voltage output decea aschored to the outer sha 20 and support housing 65. the oute sh 20 forwardly rotates 26.The stiffnes of the force Sprii 32 is 'substatily less The outer 'sha senir 3& may altetively com-than the stiffnes of the retur spnni 82. pri a switch 92 mounte on the rea stop 71a. as

It is possible to revers the orientation of the slots S shoWn in FIGS. 7 lid S. Par si to thos shown in51,62,64,74 so that the direction of forward and back- FIGS. 1-6 have the sae reference numer with thewar rotation 26,23 of the iner and outer shats 12,20 addition of the suf .. In th emboeit, the support

with respet to the support housing 65 is rever. The ~us~ 65 an ~r housa 88,ar coiitu~ by asupport housing 65 has a send slot 74 in wluch the smgle ~te¡ral piec aD ,plaüc. 'fe force IWtc 92tag at the other end of the force spnni32 is inrt to 10 comp~ fi ~d Ied elec. ~nta ~195facitate such reversl. comprwi ret coduedve prcc IWpings

The axe porton 49 of the iner sbaft colla 42, an which ex .away fr the rea at 7I Th li andthe oilter sht axe 53 are c:aly poitioned end-to- icnd elecca cota M,l5 are ii molded hitoend. A frition pa comprii a fricton coUar 83 in- the rea atop 71a. 1b fi an ~d cota 90,9eludes a sleeve 84 formed Qf thoplasic copril 15 ~ preferIY form fr bell~-c an ~yan ElF (etylene tttruQroethyleie) tluoropolymer be altcuvely'formed fr phO&he-bii. IWtchwith 10% glas. The ~Ieeve 84 ha a rust friction sunac lea 93 exte frm the ~t and IC~ cota M,95which coy iurounds and eniages the en of the tho,?gJ the supprt ~US !S and !lto th ser

ic shaft axe 53 .,.;.~-t to th we porton 49. The h0lJg I8 Th plati ma~ of which the suppo!,ou .... . . ____._It 20 housg 65 and se bol88 is fored rets in~..eee 84 has a send CneOOn suace which ~y the fi and scd cota M,l and switch lea 93.:i.uiQunds and engages the cid of the axe porton ., bei electry islate frOm one another.~:adJ~~n.t to the out~ sh ~e 53.. v' The fi conta M is reentan exicds fuer'_ RC$li~t coUar nngs 86 fit in grooves in the s1~ e 84 away from the rea stop 78a th the scd conta 95';.to ~Iy lIund the sleeve. The colla nngs 86 15 10 that when the outer abaf 20 bawardly rotate 23~iy compre.the sleeve 84 to caus the sleeve '? toward the rea stop 7Sa the tetu stp 63 intiy

gnp th! axe portO~ ~ and outer ~Ji axe 53.. TJ cipies the rus cota Cåusg it todcnec The fitresl.ts in .the rust fnetlon suñac fncuonally reg conta 90 is suffciently st t() coderably reduce the

. relative diplacement betwee. t~e sleeve 84 ~~ outer anguar velocty of the retu stop 63 tJy reducgsJi ~e 53, ~d th.e send frction sunace fneuonaly 30 the impac. forc of the .retu stp agait the sendresling relative displacent between the sleeve 84 conta 95 Th èa result in the fi cota 90 beinganCl axe porton .,. The sleeve 84 thereby frictonaly ster ~ the send cota ".rests. relative rotation bewee the iner and outer The resiC1cy or the fi cota 90 enles the outers~ ii.. . . sht 2O~ bakwaiy rotate 23 fuc' into ci¡ae-

It IS poible for the send fnchon suñac of the 35 meit with thê send COnta 95 10 th the retun stopsleeve 84 to engage a support member other than ~e 63 enages the fi and send .totats 90,95 when

outer shaft,axe 53, so loni as the support member IS the oute sha.is:in the nóiiti pOti Thus therixed with restto the support housg 65 duri at switch 92 is aadwihed, betwee the re stop 71a andleat a porton or the rotation òf the iner sh 12 Such th retu stp 63 wiin the out ab 20 is in thea support member could, ha~e an,.an~ar~ha~ and.w nonactÎl poitiOö. .exted from the support bousg 65 in.a co 0!1enta- . The porton of th retrn stop 63 whi ci¡aci thetion with respet to the inner shaf axe 38. It IS also rus and send conta M,l5 is eleccay conducvepoible for the send- friction sunaceof the sleeve 84 10 tht contat bewC them enles an elcçca cu-to directly engage the support bousi, 65. rent to flow beeé th fi an IeCl cota vi

A sesor housg 18 conta the iner and .outer sht 45 the 'retur stop to produce the '. nonuai si¡i.sers 34,3. The sensor housg 18 is bolted to the end Thus the sadWicli results in the switch 92 ptouc-~~of the support hoUSinl 65 oppote .the cover." so tht inS the nouati sip. . . ..:"te ends of the iner and outer shaft axes 38.53cxtend The elec curent now is intepte when the-,out of the support housing into the sesor housing to oute ab 20 is in th ac potion wherein the''',engage the iner and outer sha sers 34,36. 50 mum stop 63 isdigaCro th li and seii""i- The outet sh ser 36inclvdes an anul membe contats M,95. Th caus the switch'9Zto pruce the'With diaetrcay oppo slots into which th progs actig signal.on the outer sht axe .53 ar inserted. Rotation of the It isalsopoasible rorthe oute ah scr 36 to

outer.sht 20 caus th prongs 54 to en¡ae the slots compri an anul mem which coiitatly roand caus the anular mebe to cocotatly rote.,s tatc. with the outeah axe 53 as abown hi FIG. 3,The ouic Ih ser 36 includes an oute sh sesor and a awitch 92 as show inFJGs. 7 and a.

element which is connecte to theanuJ membe and The iner sh .er 34 includes a cylidrca mem-

thery concomiwidy rotate with th oute sh zo. bercolicetrc with theaiu1 mebe or th outerThe outer shft sensr elemert produce an electrica abaft ser 36 and longituly sp ap from theforc sign proportona to th rotation of the anu1 60 supprt hou 65. Th 'cylirica membe ha raiamember (wluch equa the rotaon of the outeah 20) dettswhich exten ralay inwario its bierwith respet to the support housing 65. The force sign wal. Theeid of the ii ii axe 38 exte

into the

prouced when the oute sh 20 is in the nonactuatii cylidrca meibe beee th raia detts.1O tht

potion constitute thenonatuatii sign, and the rotation of the 'bier sheaus the. end or the inerforce signal produced whei the outer shaft is forwdly 65 sht. axe to ensaie the detctsanprouc coco-rotate 26 away from the nonauatiipoition consti- tatrotation of the cylidrica member. A SPril istutes the actuatig signL. The force signaJ prouced by connecte to thecylidrica mcibeto res forwdthe oute shaft seor element preferably ha. an in- rotation 26 or the cylidrica member therbycausg

\I

5,233,8829 10the cylindrica membe to backwardly rotate 23 con. reaost potion, the iner sh stop 50 engages thecomitatly with the iner sht axe 38. outer shan stop 22 preventig l'er backward rota-

The iner shft ser 34 prefcrably includes two tion 23 of the iner sh with repet to the outer shftincr shan resstive sesor elcments which arc con- 20. The force sprig 32 then uracs the outer sh collarnecte to the cylidrica membe and concomitatly 5 56 to backwardly rota 23 fr the ICti to nonic-rotate with th iner sha U. Eah iner shaft sesor iutig potions The return sprig 82 caus the bak.elemt produc an output voltage proportiona to the war rotation 23 of the oute sh 20 to be tranmittrotation of the iner sh U with rest to the support to the iner sh 12.housg 65. The two iner sh sënsr elements have DeviÛO from the above lCuece arc se byoppote polaties so that when rotatin of the iner 10 the iner and oute ab icrs 34 an dete byab U caus the output voltage of ODe iner ab the elecon COtrl 1)' DctiOU ca iDicteser element to incr, the output voltae of the tht an extion of the lever moul 10 ia warte.other iner ih scr element decrea by ai equa The elecc contrlsya ia .i able to de&munt. The output votages of the two. iner sha iicoD$te betwee the outpt volta prucicr elements coDStitute the elecca poition si¡n. 15 by the iiab IC, clemts of the mer alFor the embot wherei the oute shlCrlCr 34. The opte. polati of th ii sh

36. includes ai, outer sh ser clement which pro ser elemtsand th diCIt ralc at which theduce a forc sign proportona to the rotatin of the output volta¡cs clwlC, r.ta deton oflOeouter sh 20, the voltage output of the .outer sh inDSes Such incoDlte ca iicate thticr element ~ils the voltae output or the iner 20 an eution of th lever moule 10, and in puu-ih icr havig l. inve polaty when the oute ta, the mer ablCr34, fa wate The potinsh is in the noiiçtuatig poition. The chae in the si¡nal enles. the elecc contrl syste to dc-magntude ofthc voltage output of the outer shaft se- te the ansu dilaent of th mer ab U andlOr clement is substaûay grear th.the chage in control th engie in acrdce therewththe magntude of the voltage output of each iner ihat 25 The elecnic cotrllyatem is furer able to detetsensr element, aSumg equa aigular diplaceents inconsencies beee theacuanoiituatingof th iner"aid ,oute shats 12 20. sign prouce by ai outer sh ICr 36 coprig

The ser housiig- 88 has eleconic cicuitry to an anul membe -whih concotatly rotate withwhich leads (e.g., the switch leads '3) from the iner the outesh axe 53 and a "witch '2. Such incoDSis-and outer sh sers 34,36 extend. The elecnic 30 tecies ca indicate tht ai extion of the levercircuitr iselectrcay conecte to i connector sOket module 10, an in pacul, th. oute sha sensr 36,to adpted to recve i connector which is eleccay is warante.connecte to an electronic control syste for the en- It is possible to consct the lever module 10, lOa 10-

,¡ic. The eleconic cicutry in the sesor housingas. tht the"mùum 'angu diplaent of th inerfactates forwaring of the poition and force iigns 35 sh .U, iio is leu th the maxum ansu dislaceto th, el~troc contrl systemvå the connector in the ment of the oute ab 20, 2O, aid the actig arconnector soket to. Thc electrnic contJl syste is 14,140 is connèc to the oute ab and not the inerable to rea the poition and force signls. sha Th degree of opg of the en&iethde

In opetion" when the operator depres the peal valve wòuld thereby be propoona to the angu16. the iner shaft 12 forwardly rotates 26. The forward 40 displacent or the oute sh 20, 2Orotation 26 of the iner shaft 12 is trsmtte to the .'.outer sh 20 via the, l'etur sprig 82. The oute sht Sed Embodtment20 forwardly rotates 26awiy from the nonaciutig FIGS. '-13 show an altetive emboent of thepotion causg the retur stop 63 to disgage from lever module lOb. Par si to thosmoWD in FIGS.. the rea stop 78 of the retrn rec 76. Aftr the outer 45 1-1 have the sae refer numerwith the additionsh 20 ha rotated l;S degree the retrn stop 63 en- of the su b. In th embot, iner sh begslaies the front stop 80, of the retur rec 76 which 25 comprig ~ed ~ be suport the inerobructs furer foi;ard rotation 26 of the outer shaft sht at oppote ends of th ,upport hous l5 The20 with the. oute sh beg in the actuatig potion. outera of the uppe iiersh beg 25 is hed inDurig the forwar rotatiOl26 of the outer shaft 20, the 50 the cover f6 by a preflr. Th oute rac of the loweriner.s1 U rotate ver little with rcspe to .the iner ab.bci 25.is¡hcdin th suprt housgoute sh 2Osicc_;teretum sprig 82 is substially 65b by a pre fit. Th in diate of th in raster tha th force sprig 32. of both iner sh bep25 are taier th the cros

Contiued rotion or the iner sht U by depreson seon of the retive poons of th in ab axeofthepe 16 caus th mer sh to forwarly rotae 55 3Ib which exd

tJth Ea mer ab be-26 away from th reOst potion with the iner sh ini 25 ha i pa of aiul rubb me whichatop SO dinpgg from the outer sh stop 22. The exted betwee th iner and oute ra wi onefriction conar.l3. rCs relative rotation or the iner rubb mebe beg abve aid the.oth iubbe me-ab.12 with repè to the oute shaf 20. be be¡ beow theba in the be¡.The iner an oute. shft sers 34,3 meaur the 60 The iner.sh 12 includ i ster ste. iner

angu dislacment of the iner and. outer sha lhaxe 3I an a die ca alumum in sh cou,2O,resvelyò' with the degree of opeg of th 42b The in ab coll 42 is preerbly inrtengie throtte valve normly begproportiona to the molded around the in sh axe 38, with the twoanguar displacent or the iner sh 12. pabei ma as a ,sigle asbly. Th inerWhen depresn of the peal 16 ce the retum65 shaf coll 42b ca altetively be held to th in

sprig 82 urges the iner shft collar 42 to backwadly sh~e by, a pres fit.1beinr sh co1J42b has anrotate 23, with respe to the outer sh 20, toward the aiul ßage porton 44 an a cylidri axe portonreaost poition. When the iner shft 1% reches the 49b extendig upwar therm. The iner shaf colar

-." ....::*.... i:". ~

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..5,233,88211 12

42b has an iner shat stop SOb comprising an arcuate powder metalurgy pa with or without EDM pat-iner tab depeding from the flange porton 44. The tern and cote meta par.iner shaf Stop SOb dermes a 152.S degree arc. A longi- The ab. reter 114 ha . sh ai opeg 116tudinal slot SIb extends though the iner shft stop SOb through which the. iner shat axe 38 exteds. Theand spacer porton 48b. 5 shaft aial opnig 116 ha a cros seon which is

The return mea 30b comprise a pa of anuate lager th the cr setion of the porton of th inerretur recse 761 formed in the end of the support shaf we 38 which exts thugh it. The abft re-

. bousing 65b adjacent to the sensr housing 88b. as taer 114 ha. pa or downwardly extedig collarshown in FIG. 13. Eah retu rec 761 dermes a 180 pin 12 which exted into the coDakeyways iii todegree arc. The iner shat stop SO exteds into one of JO key the sha reter to the iner ab coDa 42b. as

th retur rec 761 so tht 27.S degree ofrotationa shown in FIGS. 10 an 12. The coDa pin 12 ar hddplay is alowed between the inner sha stop and support in the coll keyys l1i by a pres fit. Reltie rota-houg 65b. tion beee the sh reta 114 au iner sh collar

Bakward rotation of the iner shft lOb with re 42b is thery ob. Th sh reer 114 ha aspet to the support housing 65b. is limte by cnpge- 15 fi retaer suac 12 oppote the coDa pi 12 inmet or the iner sbaft stop SOb with the rea end of the a plae pendiul to the ai of the úm ab weOne retur re 761 whib consttutes the rea stop 3878 The reaost potion is derined by theaDgular The plati cover Øb is staed to thé one-iec pla-potion. or the iner shaf lOb when the iner sha stp tic supprt housg 65 by vibration Of'lODÍC wddig..l9 ensiges the rea stop 78 of the re re 761 20 The cover Øb includes aD interir cu surac 124"r...rward rottion of

the iner sh lOb. with respe to whih ha a pa of arte cover Oages 12 whichthe support housg 65b. isJited bycngagement of the exend inwary.aIg th ai oftbe iner sh we1ier sht stop SOb with the rront end of the one retu 38 as shown in FIGS. 10 aDd 11.

re 761 which constitutes the front stop lO The The support mea 24 includes a supon memberactutig poition is dermed by the angular potion of 25 US comprig a disk formed of a mate included inthe'iner sh lOb when the iner shaft stop SOb is the group of poible maters desribe abve ror therotated away from the rea stop 78b. dis of the sh retaer 114. The support membe US

The. return mea 30b includes a retur sprig 82b ha a support axal opeg 130 thou¡ whih the inercompriing a par of spirally wound flat meta. strp sh axe 38 exteds The support ai opcnig 130sprigs, às shown in FIGS. 10 and 12 Eah. coil or the 30 ha a cr seon which is lager th the cr setionreturn sprig 82b has an iner tag at one end which is or the porton of the iner,sha axe' 38 which extendsined into the slot SIb in the iner shaft collar 42b to 1hough it.anchor the return sprig to the iner sb l2 The ' Thciuppon mebe U8 ha a pa of upwarlyretur sprig 82b encircles the. iner shat collar 42b extending suppo pin 132 which exted into the space.when anchored to it. The other end of eah coil of the 35 betwee the coer Oages 12, as shown in FIGS. 10

retrn sprig 82bbas an outer tag which is. inseed an 11. The cros seon of ea support pin 132 corre-

into a housg slot 110 in the support housg 65b to spds to sp beee the cover flges 12 to key

anchor the return sprig thereto. The return meas 3G the support membe .i. to the cover Øb Relative

includes. plastic or meta sprig waser Its dis rotatin beee th supponmembe aDd cover Øb isbetwee the strip sprigs or the return sprig 82b The .w thereby obtr. MW diplat. of the suportsprig waser 118 ha an axal opcnig which is laier mèmbe U8 with re to the cover Øb is alowed.tha the porton. or the iner shrt collar 42b which The support membe 128 ha a iindreer sur-exteds though it. .The ,retur spriS 82b ac on th fac 134 which fac the rarretaer suW in ainer shaft, Ub when it ha forwardly rotated away plane pael ther. The support membe U8 ha afrom the reaost potion to urge the iner shft 45 sprig surac 136 whihfac th end suac 12 inatoward the reaost poition. The support housg 65 plae pael therto. .hå a send bousg slot 110 in which the oilter ta& of A friction pa 138 compr¡ uppe and lower pas"the'return'sprg 8. Ca be inrt enblig rever 140,142 is dispo bewee the ab rc 114 aDd"orthe' directions of forward and bakward rotation supprt member 128~ The uppe and lower pa 14O,14i

"26,236. with respe to . the support housg. 50 ar form of. mate. included in the poup of po-. "'e end of the iner. ab collar 42b oppote to the ble materi desbe above ,for. th .di..of the shsesor housing 88b ha . pa or cylidriCa coDa key- retaer 114. The mater of the uppe pa .140 diers

ways 112 with eah coll keyway havig an ax which from the mater of the ICnd retaer surac 134 and

is paallel to the iner sht axe 38 as $bOWD in f1G. the mate of the lower pa 142 an th mate of12. ' " th lower pa 142 difer fr th mate of the liThe iner sbUbincludes a sh reer 114 com- reer iurac l21'ariemt, wheei differ-

prig a disk which frctony re rubbing agat ent mari adjoin one another, may be aced byaD adjoing suñae.Possible maters for the di or form the lUpport membe U8 and lov.'U pa 142 of

the sha retaer 114 include met. plati includg the sae mate, and the uppe pa 140 an abphenolic andglriledplatic, or materi si to fi ret 114 of the sae mate, wherei the matethos us for coventiona brae pa or clutch lier. ,or the uppe pad 140 dier from the maeri of thThe material or which the dik of the shat retaer 114 lower pa 142. The mate of the upp aDd loweris formed sboulhave dieniona stbilty (i.e., be pas 140. 142. aDd therart an send rcter suacformable in acrdace with prec spefications), 122. 13 ca be selecte so tht relative diplamenthigh compresve stgth. highcoffciento( friction, 65 betweepredeted pa of adjoing surac QC-and the abiltytowitbd high teperatues. Possible cur when. predetered torques ar aplied to

the

materis for the shaft retaer 114 includes Lewi 121 iner shft t2b with the torque being proportona to

and Noryl 731 with 0%, 20% and 30% glas-fiings, the force applied to the pe 161.

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5.233,88213 14The friction pad 138 ha a pad axal openig 144 The actutig/nonatutig si¡i produce by the

though which the inner shaf axe 38b extends. The pad swtch ,2b is also detced by the electronic control

axal openig 144 ha a cross setion which is larger sysem, Inconsisiecs betwee the actutig/nana.than the cr setion or the porton or the iner sht tutig and position si ca indicate tht an eu.axe 38b which extnds throughit. The friction pa 138 5 nation 'of the lever moule lOb is warte. Al, in-

ha a fit friction surac 146 which cogages the firt consistencies betwee the output voltages produce byreer smac 12 and a send friction surfac 148 the two iner sh ser elements ca indite that anwhich engages the send retaer surface 134. e~tion of the lever ~odule 10, and in pacular,The suppo member 121 includes a pa of wasers the Iner ~ ser 34 .. w-rte.

comprig Beneve sprigs iso havig a bak.to-ck 10 Alteüve ~boents. or th. IcvC! moduleorientation with respet to one another di be. IO.I~,IOb ca also be us wi~ a vch~ dnven by ~twee the end and'.sprig sull 12,136 as shown in c!cc motor inte of ~ cigme whcm th eleccFIG. 10. The Be~vUe .prigs iso urie the support 1i¡i prouc by the 1nC! sh ser 34,3,3,mebe 12 in the axit direcn into enpgemeni with oute sh ser ,36 and .wi~ea t2ib ar we tothe frictin pa 138. Th rests in the friction pa 138 15 co~trl the. output orth elc ~ot.r. Morever. .thebcl reently cöíipre bewee th support memo I~ver motie io.10a,IOb ca be 1I ID oter apli-be 12 an sh rctaer 11.. Tbe lie and durbilty of UOns ~ ac. the ~ovemClt of. Icc:.th fricton pa 138, supprt membe 121 and sht Wb~thc IDvenüoil ...~ ~be by reerceretaer 11. ar invery proportal to the coprcs to ce prefered emboClts it mould be ~.JÍve force to whih they ar IUbjecte. However, it is 20 st~ tht DumerUS ~cs ~dbelDe ,with thedesle for the compresive .forc to be .uffciCltly .pait ~d ic~.o~the IDVCIUve ~ccts .de'b., . '. . ...- . .~. Accrd¡J)', it IS IDteded tht the IDVciUon Dot belage to mata ~ fnct,?n pa 1_, s~pport member lite to the dilos ciboClts but tht it have,1;and ~re~er 11. In contact with one anoth~rthe rul IC peUe by the 1ae or the fonow-IIce acaraüon ~twee them ca aDow them to Vl- 25 ini cla ,. .brate. . .,:, The emboents or

the invention in wbi an exclu-A iv.tch ,92b is mounte on thei: .top 11b. as. live propey or priviege is claed are defed as

mown In FIGS. 1~ and 13. The porton or the iner fonows:shft stop SOb w~ch en~ges the firt .~d send 1. A remote CQntrl lever module coprig:contats. ,t4,95b IS eleccay cond~ctive so that 30 a lever including an iner ab and

an actuag arcontact betwee ~em enables anelecca. cur~t to cxengfrom sad iner ab at an

angle therto;flow bewee the fi and send contact via the mner an inteediate beg c:y suundig. por.sht ,!oP. to prouce ,the nonac~uatig signal. ~us, the ti of sad iner sh ,.sadwic~g r~u1ts In the switch 92b prodUCing the an outer sh coy .ûriidi¡ a poon of sadDonacuatis. sign . . . 35 . interm~iate be¡ enlig reative rotan beThe elecca curent flow IS Intepted when the twee iadiner an oute sli sad outer shaf

iner shaft l2 is forwarly rotated away rrom the haviian oute sh stop cipgeale with sadrcos potion wherei the. iner shft stop 50 is iner sh 10

lit rotation in a bakWar diecn~n¡aged frm the rlI~ and send contactst4¡95b. ohaid iner ihwith res io sad oute sht

:r .caus the force switch 92b to produce the act- 40 whci sad iner sh is in a reos potion;IDg si~.. a support meas includ an iner sh begAn ineubaftser 34 IS connected to the support whicb pivotably iupport sad iner sh so tht,mea ~and is adapte topr?duc anelectrica ~gna1 diplaClt 'ot sad acg ar ca sadproportonal to the angu disJaClt of the iner iner sha to rotate in a forwar or bakwardsht Ub with rest to the support mea. The iner 4S direction abut its ax an an oute sh begsht sensor 34 preferably includes two iner úiaft which pivotaly .upport sad oute sh cnbliise elements as desri above with respe to . sad oute sh tofoiwary or bawary rotateinersht ser ~. . abut its ui ..

ii. opetion, whe the operator depre the pe . reti man engagealile with sa iner and outer16b. the iner shftl2 rorardly rote Ub away SO sh cili¡ foi:lr rotation of aad iner sh. fr the reost ,'pticausg the iner sh stop to caus, forW; ro~ti or aad oute ii saSO to discpgc f' the force switc 92b. The fricton retur mea fu enlii forward rotati of

pa 13 res reJätive rotation of the iner iba l2 sad iner sh to ca forwd rooi of sadwith repet to the, support mea 24. The inci sha iner al away fr sa reos poti aadser . ~ prøuce . potion sign prortna to 55 re me bcadte 10 urie sa in shtJe angu dislaentof the iner shaf Ub The towa sa ,reCl potiD whe sa in shpotionlign is ßCt by the decc cotrl ba forwiry rOaway from sa reostsystem which noniy contrls the Clgie in acr. potion, sad re mea Ii, bi~war rota.dace witbth potion signal. The force switch ,2b tiOD of sad oute ab beyod a DOtig po_prouce anacua~JÍgn when the iner shaf stop 60 ti sad cisasemClt beee sa insh andSO is.dispged from it. . outer sh stp IitiS bawar rotation of sadWhei depresn"ofthe peal 16b ce,. the retur iner sh beyon sa DOnatispotin;

sprig.2burges the iner shaft coUar 42b to bak. a forc sprig havig onecid anched'to sa outerwadl)' rotate 23 towarthè reos potion. When ab an anoth cidanhored to sad supprtthe inner sbaf 12b ,caches the reost potion, the 65 mea, sad forc apriS beg adte to urge sadinner shat stop SObenpges the rorce switch 92b The outer sh towar sad DOnatig potion wbenswitch 9lb prouce a .nonau.ting si wben. the sad outer sh ha fòrwdJy rotate away frominer shaf stpSOb is engaged with it. sad nonactuatig pouon, sad force sprig beg

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5,233,88215 16suffciently yielding so that forward rotation of sad 8. A remote control lever module as set fort in claiiner shat caus forward rotation of sad outer 7 wherein sad switch compri rust and ~nd elec-shaft; ca contact exteing from sa rea ~top, sad oute

an iner shaft sensr connected to sad support meas sh en¡ag sad rust and send conta when sadand engageale with sad iner shaft, sad iner 5 oute shaf is in Ild nonauatig potion, the portonshaft ser being adapted to produc an elecca of sad oute ab which engages sad rUit and sendpotion sign proportiona to the anguar dis contacts beg electrcay conducve 10 tht .COtactplacent of sad iner shaft with respet to sad betwee them enles an elecca currt to flow besupport meas; and twee sa rUit and sed COtats vi Ild oute sh

an outer shaf ser connecte to sad support me 10 to produc IldDonatuatig ~gi, ~d elecca cur-and englgeale with sad outer shaf, . sa outer rent flo~ be¡ intepte when aa oute .l. is insha ser beg adpted to produce an elecca Ild ac potion wheei Ild oute .l ÍI di-nonatuatig sip.1 when sad outcr shaf is in sad pied fr sa fi and ICd CQta thery causDOnatuatig potion and an elecca acttig in¡ sàd IWtch lo prouc Ild ~tillÏpasign when sad outer sha is forwardly rotate U t. A remte coDttllcve modul as ict for in claaway from sad "nonatuti¡ potion. ' . wherei sa fi cota ÍI rcsent and exte fur-

2. A remote contrl Icver module as se fort in cla ther away fr Ild re st th aa IC COta1 wherei sad return mea compri a return sprig 10 tht whe sad oute ab bawadly rotate towadhavi¡ one en anchore to sad iner sha and anther sad re stp, sa outr sh intiy apges uid 6it

tDd anchored to sad outer sha sad retu sprig 20 CODtat causg it to deflec therby enlig Ild oute'~~~g adpte to urge forward rotation of sad outer .ha to bakwarly rotate fuer into engagement'-lñaft when Ild iner shaft is forwardly rotate,. sad wi sa send cotat thery. enlig sad oute'~èturn meas furter compriing a retur stop con- sh to en¡age.sad send'conta ao tht sad oute, :1lec to sad outer shft and engageable with sad sh engages sad fit and seDd contat ads when in'support mea to limt forward rotation of sad outer 25 sad nonactutig potion.shat beyond an actutig poition, sad return sprig 10. A remote control lever modwe comprig:being suffciently yielding so that, when sad outer shft a lever including an iner sha and an actuti aris in sad actuati¡ position, sad retur sprig ailowsextedi¡ from sad incr ab at an .ue thto;forward rotation. of sad iner shaft . away from sa a suport me including an Inerah begreaost position, sad .-eturn sprig actig on sad iner 30 which pivotaly support uid in ab ao tht,shaft when it has forWardly, rotated away from sad diplacement of ,uid acuati¡ ar call sadrcaost poition to urge sad inner shat toward sad iner sh to rotate in . forward or bakwardreaost position. dinon abut it axs;

3. A remote control lever module as set forth in clai a reur mea includig . rea atop formed on sad

i, and funher compriing a friction coJlar grpping sad 35 support, mea ùid iner shaf beg cnpgeableinner ud outer shaft to frictionally resist relative rota- with sad rea stop to lit bakward rotation oftion between sad iner and outer shft Ild iner sh .beyond . reost potion, sad

4. A remote control lever module as set fort in cla retUr me being adte to urge sad iner shI in combination with an electronic control system. for towar sad reaos potin when $ld iner aba vehicle wherein sad support mea is attahed to the 40 ha forwardly rotate away .fròmsad reaostvehicle so tht it is stationary with ret to the sct of potionthe driver, sad acuatig ar having a pe connec an iner al ser conneced to sad supprt meathereto enablig sad actuatig ar to be acted by a and engaeale with sad inersb sad inerdriver stepping on the pe. shft ser beg adapte to prouce an electr

5. A reote control lever module as set forth in clai 45 potion sign proportona to th angu dii wherei sad outer shaft ser is rotatably connected placent of sad iner sh with respe to sad

to sad outer sh.. support mea; and",~;~ 6. A remote control lever module as se fort in clai . switch, moute on sad rea st :a tbt, when sa

, ~i~)..herein sad oute sha sesor is fuher adapte to in ab is in uid reoct potion, sad IWtch

, :1fodueeanelectri:lÏp8proportona to the angu $0 is sad~hed ,beeen Ildrea at an in, .alSplacent of sid outer sht with ret to sad ab sa forc swtch being adte ao tht sadsupport mea. sawihig caus sad forc swtc to prouce an7. A remote control lever module as set fort in clai electrca Dontutii sisn, sad, swtc beg

i wheie Ilretur mea compri .. rea stop si 10 tht, whe sa in sh is foryformed on sad support meas 10 tht sad oute shft 55 rotate away from ,sa rcOl poti. sadengages sadreastop when sa Qute sh is ÌD sad in shift is digaged,. frm sad swtc sadiioiituatig potion. and wher sad oute sht switch beg adp~ 10 tht uid dis¡etsensr compri a switch mounted on sad re stop 10 caus sad switch to pruce an elecca actuat-tht, when sad outer sh is in sad nontutig poi- ing sign. ,tion, sad switch is sadwiched, betwee sad re stop 60 11. A reote control lever. module asict for in

and sad outèrab, sad switch bëg adpted 10 tht cla 10 wber sad switc CQmpri fit and sedsa~ IIdWig caus Ild switch to produce sad 'elec contatS cxtec1 from sa re stp,sadnonactutig sipal, sad switch being sid so tht. iner sh en¡a¡ig sad rirtand sed conta whenwhen sad outer shaft is forwardly rotated away from sad iner sh Í$ in sad reaos potion, the portonsad nonactuatigpoition sa outer shaft is dis- 6S of sa iner sh which engage sadrirt analCnd. gaged from sa switch,sad switch being adapte so contats beg electrcaly conductve 10 that contact

that sa disgagement caus sad switch to proucbetweetbem enbles an elecca curent to tlowbe-sad actuating signal. twee sad firtand send contacts vi sad iner shft

, .

..:..-.,....:.:...

5,233,88217 18to produce sad nonatuting signal, sad electrical cur- rust material, the porton of sad support membe which

rent now beg interrpted when sad iner shaft is engages sad send friction imac is fonn or a ac-forwarly rotated away from sad rcast poition ond materi, sad fi mate dierg from sad ac-where sad iner shaf is disngaged rrom sad rirt ond mateal.and send contacU thereby causing sad switch to' 17. A remote control lever modulc as act fort inproduce sad acuatig signal. clai 14 whcrcin sad support member ba an anul

U. A remote control lever module as act fort in shape" sad support membe be¡ co with sadclai 11 wherei sad fi~ conta is resilen.t and ex. iner shat,. and sad rricton pa copri a friction

, tends furter away rro Sld re stop th sad send colla coy lurUIdin sa iier sh and IUp-conta 10 tht .when sad iiei ~ bakwad~~ ro 10 port member, thç portUl of ai frion coll in en-tatc toward sad rea stop, sad mner shaf wtiy pgcmt with. sad iDer ab an IUpport membereoga~cs Sâ~ ~t:~ntat causing it to deßect thereby cotutig sad fi and Ie frion suac re-~bJig AId mner.sh. to bakwardly rotate furer apveJy, sa lion coDar beg ad to rc-mto eogaemt WIth AId send cotat thereby en- IetJy . grp sa iier sh an IUpprt mebe toablig sad iner sb to engage sad send conta so I' caua uid frtioa i'tht sad in ~ eøgagcs sad ~t. and send . 18. A remote cotrl leer moule as le fort incontact eods wbeo m AId reaOl pouon. cl 14 where sa ii abiøçJudcs a sh rc~3. A !emote ~!J1 I~er module ~ set fort in taer keyed thereto 10 tht sa sh reer rote

cla 10 m co~buition "?tb I? electrDJC control sy- concomitatly with sa ii sh sa sh reerte ror a vehcl~ wherci ."!d IUpport m~ is at- 20 havig a fit retar suac in a pJae pedicultahed to th veJi~le .so tht !t IS stti~nar with r~t to the ui of uid in shto the sct of the ~nver, lad. ac~tig ~ havig a sad support membe bavi a sen:taer sMacpeal connected th~eto enb~g Sld acuaUDg ar to which fac uid fit retaer su . Iabe actuted by a dnver steping on the pe. '. ac 1! ape

14. A remote contrl levcr module comprig: ß ~cl thereto, lad support mebe ~g keyeda lever includin¡-o-an incr sli and an actuatig ar to sad sUPJ?rt mea to ob~t .rotation or ~dextendmg from sad iner sha at an anglc thereto; send re~er SMac about lad aner sh with

a support mca inçluding an iner shat beg .rCS to lad suppo.~m~. .wmc:b pivotably support sad iner sha.so that, sad fn~on pa comp~g a .d~ ba~g a pa uidisplaceiient of sad actutig ar caus sad 30 o~g ~usJ ~hih ~daner àb cx~,iner shaft to rotate in a forward or bakward sad pa ax opcg havig a cros sen wmc:hdirection about iu ax sad support mea includ- !'Iargerth thecrOlsetionofthe.po~~f~ing a support mcmber which is fixed to sad support aner ~ !"hich uteds ~usJ it. sad. frctonmea durg at leat a porton of sad rotation or pa bemg dlSpQbetwee lad sh retaer andsad inct sha. 35 support

member 10 tht sad fi frcton suñac

a return mea e~gageable with sad incr sbaft to eøg~gessad fit retaer i~ñac and sa~ send

lit bakward rotation or sad iner sha beyond fnctn suñac engages lad send rCWer iur-a reost potion, sad rctu mea being .face . .adapted to urge sad iner sht toward sad rea- sad ~ .reter and suPpoi: mc.t;r bemg adptemost poition when sad iner shaf ba forwcly 40 to. res~lC?tly co~prc lad frtion pa to causrotated away from sad reaost position; lad frctional restace .

a fricton pa dis betwee sad iner sht and ~. A remo~ ~~i lever m~ule as le fort msad support member, sad friction pa beg c~ai 17 wher r:d inr ~ IS adpte to ~lnctadpted to rotate about the axs or sad iner shft ~p~ent ~fla~ ~ rcer .away from sad fl'c-with respctto sad iner shaf. and support mem- .s tion .padm sadui d~ sallpport me m-be, sad frition pa having a firt frictonSUace clu~g an en smac ~hich rac ia~ supprt mem-. in eogagementwith sad in sh to frictinay ber 10 a pJae pcuJ tQ thui of sad inerresst relative ,4iplacent betweewd frcton sht, sad ~pport~embe comp~g a .di~ havig apa and sad inr shaft sad friction pa havig. a IUppo ui op¡thu¡h whichui in shsend frcton' iuñac in enpgemeot with sad ~ cxteds, sa supportui opcg havig a .ct se-supprt membe, sa send frtionl1ac fri- " tion which is lager th the cr seon of th porttionaly. rc relaive dislaent between ' or sad iner sha which exteds thug It sa sup-sad fricton pa and sa support membe and port membe fur copr¡ a sprig imac whih

an iner sh ser connected to sad support mea fac sa end suñac in a plae paeI th, saand en¡ageale with. sad iner sh sadÌDer " iupportmembe furhe comprig a Bevic sp¡sh ser beg adte to produce anelccca dipQ bewCC u.Cn ansp au tQ urepotionsignal ,pro . to the an¡uar di sa .support membe

into enga¡cment wi sad frctplaccntof $ad iner shft with repctosad pa 10 tht sad fricton pa isrcstJy compre.supprt me:" 20. Arcmte cotrl lever module asset fort in

15. A remote cOntrol. lever module asset fort in 60 clai 14 in cobintion with an cJic contrl sys-clai 14 wheein the porton of sad friction pad which tc for a vehie whersa suport mea is at-cotitutes sad rus frition smac is (ormed .or a fit tahed to the vehcle 10 tht it is sttina with repetmater, the porton or sad inersbaft which engages to thc set or thc drver, sa ac ar havig a

sad firt fricton smac is formed ofa sendmaterl, pe conneced therctenabJig sa acuati¡ ar tosåd fust materi diffcrig from sad send materi. 6' be acuated by a drver stpping on the pc.

16. A reote control lever moule as set fortb in 21. A reotccotroJ lever module comprig:clm 14 wherei the porton or sad friction pad which . lever iiudian iner sh, and an acg arconstitutes sad seond friction suñace is formed or a extening fromwd iner sbaat an angle ~cro;

'j~

5,233,88219 20a support meas including an iner shaft beg a Bellevile sprig dispo betwee sad supprt

which pivotably support sad iner shaft so that, mea and fricûon pa to urge sad friction pa intodilacement of sad actuatig. ar caus sad engagement with aad iner shat to caus sadfrictonal retace; andiner shat to rotate in a forward or backward 5 an iner sJ sensr COeite to sad support meadirection about its ax; an engageale with Ai iner shft I&d iner

a retur mea engageable witi sad iner shaft to sh ser bei adpte to. pruc an eleclit backward rotation of sad iner sh beyond potion sipa proportona 10 the anguar dia reO$t potion. sad retur mea being pJaent of aad iner sh with repet to sadadpte to urge aad iner sha toward sa re- 10 supprt meamost poition when sad iner sI ha forwardly 22. A reote cotrl lever module as se fort in. . . cl 21 in cobintion with an e1oJU control syr~ta~ away.frolD sad reost. ~uoni te for a vche wherei Ai support mea is at.

a fn~tlon pa di ~tw~ Sld iner .sha and taed to the vehile 10 tht it is station with resSld support mea Ai fnc1on pa havig a fit IS to the set of the driver. aad actutÎg ar havi africton surac in engasement with sad iner sh pe connec theret enli¡ aad acua¡ ar toto fiiy resst relative displacment betwee be actuate by a driver l1epin¡ aD the pe.sad fricton pa and sad inr shft; · · · · · '

. ..;.,~

"

20

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35

40

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60

65

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03-30-1999 5,887,488XR

c United States Patent (J9)Riggle

1m _ w um 1I~ililI~11I~I~.111111USOO5887488A

Patent Number:

Date or Patent:(11)

(45)

5,887,488Mar. 30, 1999

(54) VEHICULAR ACCELERATOR PEDALAPPARATUS

(75) Inventor Rusll K. Rigle. Newcomestown.Ohio

(73J Assignee: IMO Industres, Inc.. Hudson. Oho

. e....~.;.\ .' '.

(21) Appl. No.: 842,804

(22) F'iled: Apr. 16, 199

(51) InL CL6 ~'....____~~~____~..~~~~.~ GOG tn4(52) U.S. Ct. ___.._._.~....____.__ 74/514; 1231399

(58J Field ofSeard ......__...___._ 74/514.513.560;123/399; 180/35; 338/153. 47. 108. 113

(56) References Cited

U.S. PAT DOS4,087,776 5/1978 Doalo _'___'_"~_'~""_" 3381984,123,740 1011978 Pal et ai. ..._~.._............._. 338674,528,590 7/1985 Bisano ct ai. __......__. 33811534,735.183 4/1988 Inoue ct ai. ~~.~~_~~~___. 123994,915,075 4/199 Brow ..._.~......_____.... 123994,958,609/199 Limdbc __._~..___~..~~ 741513 X4,976.166 121199 Davis ct ai, .__.._....__._._ 7415125,063,811 111991 Smilh ct al .__----........... 7415135,133,2 7/199 Limdb ct ai. ~.~_..._~......_ .. I'....'"5,133,321 7/199 Hag ct ai. ..__.._.._.5,237,891 8/1993 Neubauer ct al. ....__._...._..,5,241,936 9/199 Byler ct ai. ~~..~_~.____._ 7",

: . .~.:: ",' .

ì/

5,321,980 61199 Hag et al. ...._..~___...._ 73/118.15.5 ,201 41199 Faiib ct ai. ~..~__.._...~ 74114 X

FOREGN PAT DOUM361290 Al IOf1987 Gey.

99729 611985 Japan __.__.__.___.__.. 741513

Primary Exl'arles A MarorAssistat Exner-Mar Ann BattstAno~ Agenr or FinnJansson. Shupe Brige &. 'Munger. Lt.

(57) ABTlCTA veIcula accelerator peda apptus for elecnic cOl-trl of vehde engine spe The aptus ha a peposition sensor with a rottable st an acelerator peand an acator bar extendig frm the pe towar thesensor mountig brac. In the imrovement. the actto

bar is connec to a drve sha which is pivot-mounted on

the bracket. An actuatol' linkge is couled to and pivot bythe dnve sh and Cltends beeen such the drve shaf andthe sensor ste The lige indudes fit and secnd lùimarg rota moton to the stem when the lige ispivot by movement of the pe The second'li isavaible in several different lengts and the aptusthereby accommes ea of several diernt senso byusing a second li baving the lengt appropate for a

pacular sensor.

12 Cls, 10 Drawi Sheet

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5~887,4881

VEHICULAR ACCELERATOR PEDALAPPARATUS

2

)

sever di1erent engines and engie control systems. Butengie and vehicl buide may wish to use thei own

sensor or one spcied by them ratJer th one suplied bytJe maufactur of th peda hadwar.

S It is most preferable th an elcctooic acerto peassembly be monted on th front wa. oftn refci to as

the fie wal of tlc pasenge compent. The aige-ments shown in the aboe-noted Byler et al. and Ludbgpatents mont in tJt fasluon. But tJos shOWD in the

10 above-noted Davi et al and Ludb etal. patents mountadjacent to the ftoo where tley are mo susceptible to

~ost frm the advent of the fist motrveJcle poered dage by wate. di foot-be ro sat an thé liby an IDtena cobuston engie. engine spe cotrl ha .'. .been efecd by,an icclertor pe. mechca coled . Yet anoter divantage Of. s~ pn~ ar aian~emts

y is that the accerator pe IS bia to tJe engine idlethougl the vdicle fi wal to an engine "speed reguto IS position by a sie sp. The ap. tus shown in thesuch as a caretor. When no prssu was aped to thepeda. the engie ran at some prse idle sp. AD whn above-notd Herg et aI. patnt is a exle. But if thehi l i. single spg fais, the pe may move to a poitnve c e-acc ertig prssure was aplid to tle pe the repesentig some eiie sp abe idle. not a desile

pedacabuetor lie opened passages iii the caetor condition.to admt moe fuel to the eiie. The lige was "custm- 20confurd" for the pacu vehicle. engie and caeto. Th aiangemnt shown in the above-not Byle et aL

Much more recently. engie and vdicle maufact patnt has pe-biasing sprgs wb arc coed ftat nD-bons and whiåi ar. conf in a dr-li enclosur. Hhave tuned to electcal and eleconic engie spd conlrolsysts w1di sens engie teitue. engie load and ther becom wet suåi .sprgs dr les eay ~ exsedthe like and automacay control pufed fuel iijec to 2S spn~s an ar Dot eay

replace And. seemgly. mau-

cause the pro amount of fuel to be admtted to the eogie. fa~g tolig ~or ~åi argc:n,t ~y be moe costySuch systems are vasty moe flexle in the way th ca be. than i~ necesa m. view of the invention. . .insted in the vehicle an aplied to the engie. An ~ed veJcuar aclcr pe appars whch

As but one exale of imroved fiexbity in applicaon. . a~esses divantages of pnor ar aagement woud beit is 00 longer required to extend a mecca lie 30 an imrt teca advance.thgh the vehicle fiewal and provid appro¡xte sealg OBJæ OF TH lNONdevices to prvent ai leage into the pasenger co-ment Rather. electca wies ca be extend. from th It Is an objec of the invention' to prode an imvedacceerator peda med to the elecni sp control vehcu

accerator peda aptus whiåi overcoson the engie. ' 35 some of thep-blem and shormigs of the pror ar

A tyica elecca engie thote contrl system uses an Anoter objec of th invenon is to ¡rde such an .

elecca sensor. the outpt sigal of wluch. is a functon of acerto peda apptus wlåi may. be eay confgur

the positioo of the aclerto pe Th is. the sensor to ac. a vanet of elecca SClS withou

"seoses" pe poition beeen idle sp and maum modg su seoso.engie spe and the resutig siguå is use by thè elec- 40 Anot objec of, th invention is to ¡rovide such antronic engie sped control system for engie spe regu- accerto peda ap which mounts 00 a velucle filation. A common seosor is embed as a potentmete or wal.''pt" bavinga rottig stem As the accertor pedal is Anoter obje of the Invention is to ¡rvide such aDdepressed and releaed the stem roes and an apiopr accerto pe apptus whch iedi accmmteoutput signal results. 4S aiiy one of sever sesors prefered by engi and veJcle

Exles of aremets havig an ac pe bude. .and a sensor coled tbto ar diclose in U.s. Pat. Nos. Yet another obje of the invention is to prvide suåi in4.958.607 (Lndbg); 4.96.166 (Davi et aL); 5.133.2 acclerto pe apat which is of ('n coiicton

(Lndbe et al); 5:J7.891 (Neubaer et al); 5.241.96 . so .and. thCIC. ea to insp and ie.(Byler et al.) and 5321.980 (Herget al). U.S. Pa No. AnQterobjec of th inventon is to ¡rovi such an5.133321 (Herng et aL) discloses a reve-ty thotte' acclcrorpeapps wluåi involves reuc togcontrol and idle-valdation seosor combined ioto i single expeodi for mauface.compnenL St anoter obje of the invention is to pride such anWhe eaer aiangemets bave beeogeneraly satfac- S5 accertor pe appatuswhi ha rendat sprigs

tor for the intended use. they are not without disadvantaes. biasing th pe to an ene-idle position. How these andA notable didvantage is that the pe assbly haare ot objec areacmpUsed wi beome apent frommust be .confgued to accmmode a paraisensor the followi deons and from th drings.. made by .a pacula manufactu. For exame. the com-bined cootrol aod valdaioo sesor discosed in the. abve- 60 SUMY OF TH INONnoted Herng et al. pateot is to be use wi Cus. The inenon involves avehcu acclerto peCEcr eleconic fuel coolrol system. The patent goe apps of diety whcl provides an elec signaon to expln tht the senso may be "ada" to opte whåin:esent thepoiti~n of th peda beeen idewit a varet of cooli1 systems and control dece. sp and so maum sp Th aps is used wi

Yet another appt disadvatage is based upn the6s elecODcengiecoir for controlg engie sp.undci-t~dig that theaagemeot of the Byler et ai. pant Th ap has (i) a pe positioDSC.e.g.. auses a slDgle sensor whiåi may be. adapted to any one of pontiome or "'". moute wi respecuo a-b

FID OF TI INON11 ÍDvention relates generaly to internal combustion

engines and. more parcuarly. to suc, velai~mountedengines having an elei:ca dece beeeo the accerator

peda and tJe eogine sped regultor.

BACKGROUN OFTI INON

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5.887.4883 4The pot has a stem rotatable about an axis of rottion. An bar and the drve shaf move from the idle position to theactuator bar extends from the pe toward the bracket ma sped position. the drve shaf rotates in a fi

In the imrovement. the actuator bar is connected to a diection and the stem rotates in a second diecon opsite

drve sha which is pivot-mounted with respct to the that of the fit diecton.bracket. A novel actuator l.ge is coupled to and pivotd 5 Th foregoing desaipton mentions a drve sha con-by the drve shaf and extends between the drve shaf and nect to the pe ac ba and also mentions a pinthe sensor stem.. In a spcic emboent. the lige which pivot-cples th connecor an the fit li to oneincluds a connector drven by the drve shaf and a fist li anota. The pin has a . long axs and when the acler

pin-coupled to the connector for pivotg about a fit li pe is de¡resse an the acato bar moved from 1he idIe

ax. A second li is pivot-coupled to the fist lik and such 10 position to the ma sped position. the drve shafsecond link drves a torque pin which ims rota moton rotte thgh a sh arc of X deees. And when theto the po stem when the peda is moved and th lie is actator bar moves frm th idle position to the ma

pivoted by peda movement. In a speifc emboent. 1he sped position. the pin long ax moes and de a pin ar

second link rottes With respect to the stem ax and in of X degree. (Ie value of X dend upn the confguunison with the stem. 15 ration of a paai apatus and is lily to be in th rage. The fit and send li eadi have sped-apar dist of from'So to 3S°-4 or so. In a spåñc apparhls. X is;~d proxi ends and thefollowingaspect of the invention prc:ly in 1he range of frm iso to 25° and. most

:~ desaibe in 1he orda in which fore "tows." i.e.. is prelaably. is 20°.)

,,'tIsmitted frm1he drve shaf to the pot ste The actator Ota det of the new vehai accletor peda:!J is rigidly attched to the drvesba which in tun. is 20 appats ar se for in the followig deted desaionscoupled in drving engagement wi a lie coecor. and in the drings.The proxi end of the fit li is pivot-coiiled to the

connector and tÎe di end of such link is pivot-cupled to BRl DESCR0N OF TI DRAWIGS1he dist end of the second li The proxi end of the FIG 1 'is apespve view of 1he new vehcu accel-second link is copled to ~e ~ for stem rotaon. . 25 eror ~ aps. .

In another as of the mventton. the new appartus 15 FIG. 2 is anoter pespve view of 1he apptus ofco~gurd to drve a sen~ of a parcu ty. Le. one in FIG. 1:which the sensor stem mc1udes a slot. The apats ....includes a sensor mounting device which is fied to 1he FIG. 3 is a ~ el~VatO~ view of 1he apparatus of FIG. I

bracke and has a face on which the sensor is monted The 30 tan along th VICWg a:s VA31hei. SUIaces of pardevice has. a h1be extendi towar the secnd link are slow~ ~ ~ed ~e. .

In addtion to the connect and fist and seCnd li FIG. 415 a S1~ el~atO~.Vlew of the apparats of FIG. 1

mentioned abvc. th act lige inclde a torquc pi tan alon~ the viewmg -:s VA4 1herof: Swfacs of pain the tube and exendig between 1he stem and the seeondare shown m daed outle.li Th tttque pin h¥ a drven endtoque-coupled to the 35 FIG.

5 is.a t", plan. view of the apphls of FIG. 1 tan

second link and has a sellor drvig end couled to 1he along 1he viewig ax VAS of FIG. 4.sensor st' In a spc embent. the sensor drving FIG. 6A isllll exlod pepetive

view of most of the

end has a tonguc whichengàges a Slot in the st (Ie par of the aps of FlG. 1.torque pin is so nam because toque isappUed to suc pin 40 FIG.6B is a pepcve view of th aparus Connecrby 1he second li and. in tu. the pin applies torque to the shown in FIG. 6A.po stem) FIG. 7 is a pespáive view of the acator bar and",,,Uis desirable tohavesoi sor of meanca "stop" or integral drve sh of the apats.~tops" which li travel of the accertor pe and,of . FIG. lis a side elevon view ofthc.pe biaingspgllaratus .compnts li!Weenan i~e poition and a ma- 45 of the appas..~wn c;ngie sp positon. Acorgly. in a highy pre- FIG.' is an end elevaton view of the spg of FIG. 8feiedembnt.theapatusmountibracinc1ude lan along the viewg ax VA! thof. .an apurehavig fit an secod bound edges. Apin .... f thexte ds th gh th ._ th gh.1h:..... "-"'an' ,FIG. 10 is a side devaöon view of, the connec 0 en ou econ..or. . ou .......... in.o appashow in sold outlne it posion wh thethe ~ean~ conta~. the fi boda ede when 1he 50 accelerto pe is at the idle .poition and shwig inpedal.i in the idle positon. Su~ ~in co~ the seond daed outle its positiónWhen the aceror pe is atbound ede when 1he pe 15 lD .the masp high . ed 'ö'position. a -egie-sp poSl on.As. . ehclh. _.. .'ca li-"'- t FIG. 11 is a peve view of the connec pi of them a v e aVlg a m..an ..ge 0 a

caurto. it is also desirble in the new aps to have 55 appus. . ' ., .the aclerator pe binsed to the idle poition when. suc FIG. 12 is a pepeve View of the fit li of thepeda is not in use. For tht puse. a ¡reletdcmnt appatus. ., 'includes a biasig springexnding between the afore- FIG. 13 is apepeve view of th br of thedesaibe pin and a sprg anchor point. Most prefaably. the appatus.apatus include plur Le.. redundat. biasing spgs 60 FI. 14 is a.side elevaton view tan

along the viewing

extending between the pin an the anch point. ax VAl" of FIG. 13 and showing a poon of th brckt.

U wi be recd frm the foregoing tht tb actator ba alo showig in soUd oue the position of th pin ofFJG.

is connected to a drve sha whidi is pivot-monte with 11 wlienacctor peda is at thc idle position and alorespct to the brck In anot inventive as of the new showg in daed outle position of su pin when thevehcuar acclerto pe aps. the diveshaf roes ..65 . accer pe is at a high-engic-sp position.wit respe to a sh ax and such axs is spce fr and FIG. 15 is a peve view of the senor mogpael to the stem ax of rotation. And when the actor. device of tlaptus.

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and when the peda 11 is in the idle poition. the pin 33contact the fit bonda edge 55 as shown in soli line in

FIG. 14. And when the pe U is in a maum-spedposition. the pin 33 conta th second bonda edge f! as

5 shown in dashed oute in FIG. 14. From the forgoing. itis aparent that the pin 33 and th eds 55.57 coct to li

. .. trvel of the pe U betwee th idle positon and theFIG. 19 is a represe~tation of dnve sh and pm ax ma sped position.

movement.and. theresultngangularmovementofthesensor BJ de ai'" h th ec"' 1l_l. i dtoh d link. f '.fa i ..nth' se' th .-ior S 1Ig ow conn OJ 15 wi:.oup estem ~ en a secon" 0 a pacu e..~. IS u 10 e 10 thc elecca senso 59. it wil be heJM to have an

appara us. ". underdig of how thc sensor 51J is mounted and how itsFIG. 20 is a rcpresntaoo of dnvc shaf and pin. ax rota st 61 is cogured Refcag next to FIGS. 2. 5.

movemcnt and thc"reulting grcatc: anguar movcment of 6A. e 15 16 and 17 the aps 10 mclude a sesothc scnsor stem whcn a longc: sccood ii is used in thc moun~g ckce Ð. Thc devi. 63 ha a rig-li face 65

ap. IS agait whch th senso 59 is moted and bo dtc dece63 an the sensor 59 ar sec to the brck 17 by bolts

or dte li The device 63 Jlas a holow. cydrca tube 67wluch extend away" frm; the seoso 59 and suc tube

Refeng to FIGS. 1 though 7. the new vehaiar accd- recives a toue pin '9. ~e fucton of wludi is exlaederor peda apptUs i. wil be dcsai stDg wit the 20 beow. ,spd-cotrollg "iii devi. i.e.. the acclerto pe Th scnsor stem 61 has á'slot 71 fond in it and loc11. and ending with å~esaiptioo of how any onc of diernt to be coinådent widt the ste ax of roton 73. One eid

sensors. a signa output device. are readiy used as par of of dte toue p~ 69 includes a fiat tongue 75 codent withsuch apptus 10. Thc appat 10 mcludes a foo peda the pin loog axs 71 and whcD the apps 1. is fuy11. the mountg brck of whi is pin-atted to a ngid 2S assembled the tonguc 7S is in dte slot 71. Thus. rotation ofacator bar 13. For eay contact by a drver's foo the peda thc pin 69 1'Jtates the stem 61. The otc: cndof th toruc11 is biased by a wiI spg 15 (shown m FIGS. 4. 8 and pin 69 ha a llat surace 79 foi 00 it and the reWn9) to a clocise position (as viewed in FIG. 4) widt I'ct .D-shape cnd canfoi in siz and shap to a D-sIapeto th bar 13. " drve opning 81 in the proxi end 83 of the send Wi"A fre or brackt 17 is prvided for montig the 30 85 shown in FIGS. 1. 3. 6A. 6B and is.

compents debe bélow aød such brckt 17 is atted The end an the opnig arrctcd in cigagemeit withto the velucle fie wal using bolts or dtcli exendig one aøodtc: by a scw 87 th mto a ta hole m Ihethough thc holes 19. The actator ba 13 is beDt at about a pin 69. When th 1i.lS is pivo ab thc stem ax 73.

90° angle at th loction 21 to fon a drve shaf 23 which the stem 61 pivot in the sae dion ~ th sam axis pivot-mOunted wit rect to the bracke 17. That is. thc 35 73 and thugh th same arc. AsshowD in FIGS. 1. 3 and 12.shaf 23 is joaled m bcgsrctd in the br 17. the dist end 91 of the fit li 41 is pivot-cpled by a

As shown in FIGS. 2.6A. 6B and 7. the shaf 23 (whch pivot pm 93 to dte dist end 95 of th sccnd1i IS.is odteiecylidrca) has a llat suace 25 f(Xed theoo Coideg thc forcgoing. in opetion. the ap 10aød the resultig D-shpe end 26 coor in si and .c is assu to beat th cop idle position shown in FIGS.sha to a D-shaped drve hole 1.7 in th U.shap conncctor 1. 3 and 4. In suc position. the big spngs 47.ure dte

29 shownm FIGS. 'A. 6B and 10. Thc end 26. 23 is in the connecor 29 and li 41. 85. to thei resve poons.

holc r1 an when thc peda 11 is dese to rote the sha Abset spri-oveicr . force aplied to th pell.26. 23 counteclockwse (as seo in FIG. 3- clocise as sudcooecor 29. and.li . 41. 85 are reed in sucsccn in FIG. 4)aboùtthe shaf ax 31. the COecor29 45 positions by the pin 33~. agaist the fist bodapivots in the sàme diectoo abut dtc sa axs 31. edge 55. \ '.

Rcfengnexto FIGS. 5. 6A. e. 11 and 12. a connecor ConsdcgFIGS. 3aÍd, 10. y.hcn, thc pe 11 ispin 33 exends though bo Jugs 3S of the conncctor 29 and deessed toaccec:ate thc vehcle eogic.the ac batlugh an ap 37 m dtc ¡rox end 39 of a fi li 13 moves in the dion of the aiw97. The drvc sh 2341 poitioned beeen thc lugs 35. The pin 33 is held m soind connector 29 rotatc, in a fist dircton. e.g..

positon in the.connecor 29 by thcpm shoude 43 .OD one cotercloce. and dte fit li 41. beg pivotblyside of a lug 35 àid by a retaining rùg (not show) 00 dte atted to the conn 29 by dte pi 33. moes geneyot. upwardly in the diecoo of th mow 99. Movemnt of dtc

As ShOWD inHGS. 6A. e and 11. the pin 33 ha thc li4l cause dte secdlilS (an the toque pi 69 and

spaced-apan årcuerntigrves45. ea recivig one S5 scnsorstem 61 copled to suc li 85 torot iDa secondhook cod of a respctvcbig spg 47 in tesion. The dictoo.e.g..clockwis in th viw of FIG. 3.-Thus. dtc

oter hoo end ofcachspng 47. is atched to a s¡rg electca outut of the senso 5' changes.anchor point emèd as an anchor bar 4' exeidig Thc pi 33 has a longitudial ax 181 and from FIGS. 3.thugh the spa lcgsSl of thc brckt 17. Thc pe ii. 10. 19 and 20. it wil be appcid tht when theaccel-.acatorbar 13 and. dnvc sha 23 (as weD as other comp 60 erOI pe.U is desse and the acto ba 13 movencnts couplcd diy or indiy to the sha 23) ar from dte idle positiontothc ma spcpoon. thebiased to an CDgie ide potion (seeFIOS. 2 and 3) by the drc sha 23 roes though a sha ar of X dc~ In asprings 47 wlu arc redunda as toonc anoter. ver spc apartus. Xis 20° . As th drvc. shaf 23

Refengpacu1y to FIGS. 2. 6A.6B. 13 and 14. thc rotes.dte pm long axs 101 movesttlatiooy . andbracct 17 mdudsa geDc:aly-elltîca aPeS3 havg 6.5 defa pin are of Xdegres. .fist andseondbounda edes 5S àidf!. resvely. Thc It ha loog ben knwn that whe movent of an.pin 33 is of suffcient lengt to exten ino such apc 53 accerto pe 11 and ba 13 is li to. say. 20° or so

FIG. 16 is a pespectvc view of the torque pin of dteapparatus.

FIG. 17. is a sidc clevaton view of the torquc pin of Iheappaatus. Suraces arc shown in dahed outlne.

FIG. is is an elevation view of the secood ii of thc

apparatus......

'4 ~.¡~~....~~~...~:..~

DETAl DESCRONS OF PRBD,.EMODIM

\!

.~~":~5~

5.887.4887 8cominIy-use sensors 59 have a stem 61 wlucJ must be 2. The apptts of clai 1 wheein:rotated though a signicantly greater angle in orde to iJe accelerator pe moves beteen an idle position and

provide a ful rage of engine-sped-controllng output a maum spd position;signals. And the ma stem rotation angle dier fromsensor to sensor. For exame. the sensor stem rottion angle 5 iJe brcket inude an ape therthough an havigmay var from abot SSo to abot 100 or so. depdig fist an second bonda edges;upon the parcu ma and mol of sensor in question. a pin exends though th fit li and thugh iJeAn advantage of the new appaats 10 is th it is ver apm; and .

easiy confgued to accommod anyone of the dierent when the pe is in the idle position. the pin contacts thesensor now in common use. Consdenn FIG. 10 and the 10 fist boda edge and is spce from

th sendrep-esentaon of FIG. 19 an using a secnd li 85 of a boda ede.pacuar lengt rottion of the drve shaf 23 and CODDector 3.

The aptus of cl 2 wber. when the pe is in

29 digh an arc of 200 (which causes movement of the pin the ma-sp position. the pi conta the sendax I-I thgh a. pin ar of 20°) cases an exempla bo ede aid is spce fr the

fit bocl edge.

roon of 26° of the toue pi 6' an the stem 61 abt. 15 4. The a~s of cla 2 wherei the brckt includesax 73. If a longer second Ii 85 is used FIS. 10 an 20 spad legs havig an anch bar exendig thetghreesent tht rotaon of the drve sh 23 and CODDecor 29 ' . and the apptts include a biaing spg extendig

~tiugh an arc of 20° causes an exempla rotation of 54° ot between the pin and the anchor ba. therby biasing th pe

i4te torque pin 69 and the stem 61 abut ax 73. The point to the icUe poitn.

;!.is that the new appats 10 may be confgured to acm- 20 5. In a v~cuar aoccrtor pe apartus includig (a),'mò a varety of sensor (ie.. senso having stems 61 a pe potion sel1 mote with i-pe to a bracetrequirg dierg ar of rotatioi) by appropraty chng- and !ivig a stem monted for .rotion abt an ax of

. ing the lengt of the li 85. rottion. (b) an aceleror pe. and (c) an aCator bar

The ter "munted. for roton." ''r movement." ~tted to the peda and exndig toward th brackt. the"ax of rotation" and the li should Dot be constred to 2S imvemnt wherem:imly that. "rotaon" and "rota" mea moving though an the acat9l ba is coDDccd to a drve shaf

angulay

arc of at leat 360°. Raer. such te mean that the attcd to the acttor ba an pivot-mounte with

stcte is cale of some rota movemnt. ~ used res to the brck;herin. the phr ''tque-cpled''mes that the comp the drve shaf rotate with rect to a sh axs;nents which are so coupled e.g.. the torque pin 69 and the 30 an acato linkge is copled betyee the chve sh andsecond li 85. ar capale of trmittg force or torque the stem and includes å COlUecor drven by the drve

from oie to the othc%. sha for pivoting movement abot die sh axs;

Wbe the piciles of the invention have been shown the sh ax is spced from and parel to the st ax

and descrbed iii coniiecton with .a few prefeired ofroOD andemboents. it is to be undestoo .c1eaiIy that such 35 when the CODDecOl pivots in a Ji diecon abOt the. ements are by way ot exale and. are not litig. sha axs. the stm rOt in aseCOd dion aboWht is cl: th stem ax.L In a veicuar aoccrtopedal appartus inciudng (a) .6. The a¡s of cl 5 whe t1c acator lie

a pe poiton sensor mounte with respe toa lxac includs: .and baving a stroi:tableabot an axs of roton. (b) an.c a fit Ii wbichpivots abot a fi li ax;

accelcrorpe and (c) an acato bar extnding from the and.pedal towar the ~ke. theimvemn~ wheei: . a second li which is pivot-ccd to the fist li and

the actor. ~ ~ CODDected to a dre sha pivot- . rottes tn unin with the slemounted ~th re to the brck!: . ?The apN.of cl 5 wh:

an actator lige is copled to and pivoted by the dnve 45 the acato bar is mOunte for movemnt beeen an idle

Sh,af . . . position and a mai¡nlt spe posion;the linbge extends beeen the drve shaf and the sensor the actua Iige inciudes. a . pi plvot-clig the

stm; . CODDecOl and a fit li to on anthe linkge inude a CODDecor coupled to th drve sha the pin has a longdi W'

for ooincidentmovcmDt thwi; and so and wher when die acto'bar is moved from the idl

theligealo iacude rigid fist and second link position. to die ma sp poitn: .coupled between the conecr and the stem and th drve shaf rot diough a sh ar of X de'imar ro motion to the stem when the lige is and . 'p~vote by movemnt of the pe; th pi moves trlationaUy and the pin longitudial

the secnd Ji ha a proxi end copled ~ the stem 55 ax de a pi ar of X degree.aDd ha a di~t. end spce frm the proitimal end of 8. The apps of cl 7 inciudeabig s¡gthe send link; . extendiibeccnthe pin an. a sprg anor bar spce

the. fi link is pivot-cpled to the dita end of the fr the pin and from th sensor stm. dicrby bia the

second li 60 actator bato th icUe pon.the cODnecorextends beeen the drve sha andthefi9.1b appatus of clai 7 wberein:

li theaps inudes a se motig dece fied tothe fit li ba a prxi end and a dist end;tb brac

and havig the sens mountedthcreon;

the pro end of the fit link ispivot-coupled to iJe the actuatodiiige includs a sed li pivot-cplecoDDectoraad , 6Stothefili;the dist end of the fit Ii is pivot-cpled to the dist the actat. .Jielncludcs II tOlquepin.. exCldig

end of the second liokbetwee the. sensor st and thsCOd li and

'-..

t.

..._............_",w-'.......".",..,..~,......,'"...'"".............,\l\...U..\..\l\,~.;...\u:\o~c.,U""'".n:~.:...h\"o.......~"..V.~.\l."~,".\,:\i..:.~.:;..U;;....:.\..:i,:\.,!\;..'-'..I...~..i.........--\...-','-.,\..'......."..,.....:O.:..',...".'...\:....~'i."...,~,~..."..;.._,';,...\,'\....,',......\..\;.:,.~...\.\,."..,~..:.:';\t.-l.."...\:.\~.~\",....:;...,..l,;:.;:~..\.\;-.__'..:'.'.'i\:i\,'.~'E.:-.'.,'l."'~'.'.\.~l.\~;:-~'J.Y.'u.,\i...

.5~887 .488

.' l

9the torque pin has a drven end torque-couled to the

second li and has a sensor drving end ~oupled to the

stem.10. In a veJcula accelerator pe appatus iiCiudig

(a) a pe position sensor mounted with respct to a liacke s

and having a stem mounted for rotation ab an ax of

rottion. (b) an accelerator peda. and (c) an actto baattached to the pe and extendng toward the brckt. theimrovement wherQ¡:

the actatoc bar is coooec to a drve sh pivot- 10mounted wit resp to the brackt;

the drve sh rottes with respct to a sh axs;an actor lie' is cole beee the drve shaf and

the stemthe shaf ax is spce from and pael to the st ax

of rottion;the acato bar is mounte for movemnt beee an idle

position and a maum speed potion;and wberei. when, the acator bar is moved frm the idle 20

position to the ma spe poiton:the drve sh ,roes in a fit dion; andthe stem rotates in a second dicton.

11. The apus of cla 10 wherei the actata'lie include: 2Sa fi li which pivots abot a fit li ax; and

a second link which is pivot-cpled to the fit 1i and

rotes inuDIson with th stem12. In a veJcu accertor pe aptus includig 30

(a) a pe poition senSO mounte with respe to a brandhavig a stm rotatable abot an ax of roton. (b) an

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",., ~ ;

"'-~ "4.:~.=-::.~';. ~

.. .,

is

10aclerator peda mounted for movemnt between an idleposition and a maspd position. and (c) an actuatorbar extending frm the peda toward the brcke theimrovemnt wberein: .

the actuaor bar is coooected to a drve shaf pivot-

mouøted with resp to the licket;

an acator liiige is couled to aød pivoted by the dre

sh;the Iige extends between the drve shaf and the sensor

stethe li iicludes a couec coupled to the drve sh

far coinådet movement therwith;the lie al iiclude rigid fist and send li

CQed beeen th coooecor and the ste andimg rot motion to the stem when the lige ispivot by movemnt of the pe

the brckt includes an apethertbgb and bavigfi an send bonda edes;

a pii exends though th fit link and thgh. theapee;

the pin contact the fit bonda ede when the pe isin the ide positon;

the b:ckt includes spce legs bavIDg an anchor ba

extendig ththough; andthe apus include a biasg spDgextendig betwccn

th pi and the anchor ba. therby biing the pe tothe idle poitOD.

**.**

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I

Application No.

I Applicant(s)09/643,422 Steven J. Engelgau

Notice of References Cited Examiner

I Group Art UnitKwon, John 3747 Page 1 of 1

U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS

* DOCUMEN NO. DATE NAME CLA SUBCLASS

K A 4,915,075 4/1990 Brown 123 399

x B 4,938,304 7/1990 Yamaguchi at al. 123 399

x C 4,958,607 9/1990 Lundberg 123 399

x D 4,986,238 1/1 991 T arazawa 123 i 399

x E 5.215,057 6/1993 Sato at al. 123 399

x F 5,233,882 6/1993 Byram at al. / 123 399

x G 5,460,061 10/1995 Redding et al. 74 560

x H 5,632,183 5/1997 Rixon et al. 74 560

x i 5,887,488 3/1999 Riggle 123 399

x J 4,969,437 4/1990 Kolb 123 399

K

I L

M

'.FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS

-r

;,~t.,DOCUMEN NO. DATE COUNTY NAME CLASS SUBCLASS

N'-' -- .:

0

P

Q ----_.-R

S

T.

NON-PATENT DOCUMENTS.

* DOCUMEN (Incng Autl. llde. So. and Penent PaglDATE

IU i

t;

.

.

V

--

W

XI

i .

U, s. p.tentond Trod.merl Otr¡ç.

PTO-892 (Rev. 9-95)

* A.co of this referei- is not bein furhe with thOfic acISe Ma of PientExem Pi. Sen 707.051.1.1

Notice of References Cited Part of Paper No.4

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURTEASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN

SOUTHERN DIVISION

o TELEFLEX INCORPORATED,C'toOJMInn)

00~~

Plaintiff,Case No. 02 74586

v.~C'aco

~ KSR INTERNATIONAL CO.,.cl!:iU Defendant.::

Hon. Lawrence P. Zatkoff

Magistrate Judge Pepe

)

o.J¡¡ RODGER D. YOUNG (P22652)~ STEVEN SUSSER (P52940)~ Young & Susser, P.C.w Counsel for Plaintiff~ 26200 American Drive

~ Suite 305

~ Southfield, MI 48034w~ 248.353.8620oaNto(\

JAMES W. DABNEYPenne & Edmonds, LLPCounsel for Defendant1155 Avenue of the AmericasNew York, NY 10036

212.790.9090

~WI-ZWUwU¡;lio

KENNETH J. MCINTYR (P17450)Dickion Wright, PLLC

Counsel for Defendant500 Woodward AvenueSuite 4000Detroit, MI 48226313.223.3500

::Íi;;I-uiw$:Inan)w!:::ui

DECLARTION OFCLARJ. RACLIFFE, PH.D.

I, Clark J. Radcliffe, being duly sworn, depose and state as follows:

1. I have persona knowledge of the facts stated in ths Declaration, I am competent

~_ to testify to those facts, and I would testify to them if called upon to do so.~wuiui::uicl

~ served on that faculty since 1980.o .;,

2. I am a Professor of Mechancal Engineering at Michigan State University and have

II 3. I recived my Bachelor of Science Degree in Meclcal Engining from the

I University of Californa at Davis in 1969.

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4. I received my Masters of Science Degree in Mechancal Engineering from the

University of California at Davis in 1971.

5. I received my Doctor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the

University of California at Berkeley in 1980.

6. I have reviewed the KSR Motion For Sumary Judgment ofInvalidity file July 7,

2003.

7. In my opinon, a person of ordinary skil in the art would be one with an

undergraduate degree in mechancal engineering (or an equivalent amount of industry experience)

who.has famiarity with pedal control systems for vehicles.

8. I conducted my analysis by placing myself in the position of one of ordinar skill

in the art.

9. I believe that the Engelgau '565 patent is valid and disagree with the KSR position

that the Engelgau '565 patent is invalid. The arguments put fort in the motion are not suffcient

to fid the '565 patent invalid. I agree with the patent examiner's opinon and do not believe the

claims to be obvious.

10. Contrar to KSR's position, the problem confonting the inventor of the '565

patent was not "... to provide an adjustable pedal assembly that could be intaled in a vehicle

whose engine utilized an electronic, rather than a cable";actuated, thottle control system." (pg.Ùn:~ 21 ofKSR Brief). The problem addressed by Engelgau '565 is to provide a less expensive, morewui(l::ui quickly assembled, and smaller package adjustable pedal assembly with electronic control. ('565,cll!z8 col. 1, 11. 48-53)

I."

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11. The prior art disclosed to the patent offce in the '565 patent application included

all of the technology disclosed in the Asano '782 patent. The Asano '782 patent provides no new

information pertinent to the arguments put forth by KSR.

12. Both the prior art cited in '565 as well as the Asano '782 patentshow adjustable

pedal assemblies that" .. . can be expensive, time consuming to assemble, and require a significant

amount of pa,ckaging space. "

13. In contrast, the '565 patent claims a structure that addresses the problem faced by

Engelgau and provides an " ADJUSTABLE PEDAL ASSEMBLY WITH ELECTRONIC

THROTTLE CONTROL" that is less expensive, requires less time to assemble, and utilizes a

smaller packaging space than the prior art.

14. It would not have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to address the

problem stated in the '565 patent through the combintion of features claimed in the patent.

15. The electronic control in the '565 patent that responded to pivota motion of the

adjustable pedal at the support provided a simpler mounting position, that was both less expensive

and easier to package than devices in the prior art. The location of the electronic control

faciltating these advantages would not have been obvious to one of ordinar skil in the ar.

16. Both the Asano '782 and the Rixon '593 prior ar devices are complex mechancal

linage-based devices that are expensive to produce and assemble and diffcultto package. It isu 'n:~ exactly these diffculties with prior art designs that the Engelgau '565 patent resolves. The usewuiui

~ of an adjustable pedal with a single pivot reflecting peda position combined with an electroniccl .l!zis control mounted between the support and the adjustment assembly

at that pivot was a simple,r

II elegant, and novel combination of features in the Engelgau '565 patent.

I

3

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17. The Rixon '593 prior art device was before the patent examiner. This device was

an adjustable pedal assembly with an electronic thottle control, so the novelty of the Engelgau

patent must lie elsewhere. The use of an electronic control in the '593 patent's adjustable pedal

assembly is located away from the pedal assembly's support requiring more complex mounting

- both mechancally and electrically. As discussed in the '565 patent's background, the

complexity, ~ost, and packaging diffculty of ths electronics mounting motivated the problem

addressed by the '565 patent.

18. KSR's GMT-360 and GMT-800 adjustable pedal assemblies include the

combination of features in Claim 4 of the Engelgau '565 patent. The apparent commercial

success of pedals with this combination of features that validates the novelty of this simple,

elegant, solution to the inventor's problem.

19. I reserve the right to amend or supplement my opinions as I review new or

~ additional information and documents produced. I also reserve the right to respond to opinonswI-Zt: expressed by techncal and/or other experts. Finally, I reserve the right to amend or supplementwuii~ my opinons if any of the term of the claim of the patent are constred in a inaner inconsistent~w~l: with my constrction of them.w$:Ina

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II

i

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURTEASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN

SOUTHERN DIVISION

TELEFLEX INCORPORATED,

Plaintiff,

v.

Case No. 02 74586

Hon. ,Lawrence P. ZatkoffKSR INTERNATIONAL CO.,

Defendant.Magistrate Judge Pepe

JAMES W. DABNEYPenne & Edonds, LLPCounel for Defendant1155 Avenue of the AmericasNew York, NY 10036212.790.9090

RODGER D, YOUNG (P22652)STEVEN SUSSER (P52940)Young & Susser, P.C.Counsel for Plaintiff26200 American DriveSuite 305Southfield, MI 48034248.353.8620 KENNETH J. MCINTYR (PI7450)

Dickinon Wright, PLLCCounsel for Defendant500 Woodward AvenueSuite 4000Detroit, MI 48226313.223.3500

DECLARTION OF TIMOTH L. ANRESEN

I, Timothy L. Andresen, being duly sworn, depose and state as follows:

1. I have personal knowledge of the facts stated in ths Affdavit, I am competent to

~ testify to those facts, and I would testify to them if called upon to do so.ui::uicl 2. I received a B.S. Aeronautical Engineering degree from the University ofl!z::~ Michigan in 1964 and a M.S. Mechancal Engineering degree from the University of Missouri

II .

II in 1968.I

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3. I retired from Ford Motor Company in January 1999. During my employment at

Ford from 1973 to 1999 I worked primarily with passenger car brake systems and the included

components.

4. From 1964 to 1973 I worked as an engineer at McDonnel-Douglas Corp., St.

Louis, Missouri (now part of Boeing Corp.) I specialized in aerodynamc heating and structural

temperature analysis of various spacecraft.

5. Two patents for Adjustable Peda Assemblies are Rion, U.S. Patent No.

5,722,302 dated March 3, 1998 and Rion, U.S. Patent No. 5,632,183 dated May 27, 1997.

Neither of these patents includes an ETC. When Rion patented an Electronic Adjustable Pedal

Assembly with ETC, Rixon, U.S. Patent No. 5,819,593, dated October 13, 1998, he modified

the housing (24) to accommodate the ETC as opposed to placing the ETC on the pedal mounting

bracket. This supports my conclusion that placing the ETC on the mounting bracket would not

have been obvious to someone famliar with adjustable pedals. I believe that consideration of

patents for stationary foot pedals used with ETC - Byram, U.S. Patent No. 5,233,882; Riggle,

U.S. Patent No. 5,887,488; Lundberg, U.S. Patent No. 4,958,607; Brown, U.S. Patent No.

4,915,075; Stewart, U.S. Patent No. 5,408,899; Byler, U.S. Patent No. 5,241,935; and White,

U.S. Patent No. 5,385,068 - reinorces ths conclusion.

6. Placing the ETC where it moves during peda adjustment ca be undesirable due

u~. to the potential" for electrical connector wire fatigue failure and/or insulation abrasion.wuiUl

¡¡ 7. I have review the Engelgau patent, U .S.Patent No. 6,237,565, and conclude thatcll!zg it solves the undesirable feature cited in No. 6 above by separating the pedal adjustment,.

II movement from the ETC. This is a critical feature and in my opinon this design would not have

Ii! been obvious to someone famiar with the state of thtar.

2

8. i have red. the KSR. Motion for Summ Judgmen of Invalidity. None of th

references KSR uss to estalih pnor ar show an ETe whicb does not mo\le with the peda

dung adjusbnent.

9. It is my opnion tht the Engelgau paent, U.S. Patet No. 6.237.565 incorprates

the ETC in a fasion th optiizs packe. spce reuiemetS. minimi7.e weight, and

simplifies th ovell design 1 do not believe ths design would have be obvious to som

faliar with th prior ar.

10. i have consdere the Aso patent and th eleconic contl referen cite by

KSR in its brief. I do not believe tht the combination of MaO with an electronic control would.

have solved the problem addrsse by the Engelgau patat.

1 i. I have reiewed th patets that were cite to th exainer dung consideration

) of the Engelgau patent aplicaon and agr with the examiner tht th EngeIgaudesgn ha

feare tht were not obvious ba on the prior ar.

~.e ~... 8/6/elTimoty L. . drn .

3

., j nl.n..IHin in.. .'/HIII l.' 0 .1 t'lt'l.'o tlnn7 11.0 HII\i.I\ nN'OjfOOIO snlA ilOIAJíl~ II1!LIL10H4

mx:Jcr;:'-

(12) United States PatentEngelgau

11111111111111~I11111111111111111~I111111111111111111111111111111I11II111USOO6237565D1

(10) Patent No.:(45) Date of Patent:

US 6,237,565 Bl*May 29, 2001

(54) ADJUSTABLE PEDAL ASSEMßLY WITH

ELECTRONIC THROTfLE CONTROL

(75) Inventor: Steven J. Engelgau, Royal Oak, MI

(US)

(73) Asignee: Teleftex Incorporated, PlymouthMeeting, l'A (US)

( *) Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term of thispatent is extended or adjusted under 35U.S.C. 154() by 0 days,

This patent is subject to a teriinal dis-

claimer.

(21) AppL. No.: 09/643,422

(22) Filed: Aug. 22, 2000

Relate U.S. Application Data

)

(63)

(51)(52)(58)

(56)

Continuation of application No. 091Z6,975, filed on Jan. 26,1999, now Pat. No. 6,109,241.

Int. CI? ..._......;..........................._........... F02D 1/00US. Ci. ......................................... 123/399; 74/560Field of Search .............................. 123/399; 74/560

References Cited

U.s. PPJNT DOCUME4,470,570 9/1984 Sakuai et aI. ..........._......... 2441Z5

20

/2'(

28

5,056,742 10/1991 Sakurai .,......,.........'........... 244/235

Primary Exainer-John Kwon(74) Attorne, Agent, or Firm-Howard & Howard

(57) ABSTRACT

A vehicle control pedal apparatus (12) includes a support

(18) adapted to be mounte to a vehicle structure (20) andan adjustable peal assmbly (22) having a pedal arm (14)that is moveable in fore and aft directions with respect to thesupport (18). A pivot (24) pivotally support the adjustablepedal asmbly (22) with respect to the support (18) anddefines a pivot axis (26). The contrl pedal apparatus (12)

furter includes an electronic thttle control (28) attached

to the supprt (18) for controllng an engine throtte (30).

The apparatu (12) is characteri by the electronic thottlecontrol (28) bein responsive to the pivot (24) for providiga signal (32) that corresponds to pedal arm position as thepedal ar (14) pivots about the pivot axi (26) between rest

and applied poitions Thus, the contrl pedal apparatu (12)

can adjus pedal ar position in fore and aft directionswithout havig to move the electronic throttle control unit

(28) along with the pedal ar (14). Additionally, the elec-tronic throttle control (28) is reponsive to the pivot (24)about which the adjustable pedal assmbly (22) rotates.

4 Claims 4 Drawing Sheets

6264,/'..

i;

.,.....,,'

U.S. Patent May 29, 2001 Sheet 1 of 4 US 6,237,565 Bl

/0 \.

28 FIG - /

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FIG - 3

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u.s. Patent May 29, 2001 Shcct 2 of 4 US 6,237,565 Bl

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u.s. Patent May 29, 2001 Sheet 3 of 4

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US 6,237,565 Bl

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May 29, 2001 Sheet 4 of 4 US 6,237,565 Bl

74

FIG-5

US 6,237,565 Bl1

ADJUSlì\BLE I'EDALASSEMBLY WITHELECTRONIC THROTTLE CONTROL

RELATED APPLICATION

'Ibis application is a continuation of application Ser. No,09/236,975, filed Jan, 26, 1999, U,S, Pal. No. 6,109,241.

TECHNICALLY FIELD

The subject invention relates to vehicle control pedalassembly having an adjustment mechanism for moving apedal arm in fore and aft direction.'i and an electronic throttlecontrol for controllng an engine throttle, Specifcally, thepedal asmbly includes a pivot about which the adjustmentmechanism rotates when the pedal arm is actuated andwhich provides input to the electronic throttle control forproviding a signal that corresponds to pedal arm position.

BACKGROUND OF THE INNTON

Pedal asmblies are used in vehicles to control the 20movement of the vehicle. For example, a vehicle driverapplies a force to an acclerator pedal to move the pedalfrom a rest position to an applied position. In the appliedposition, the accelerator pedal typically actuates an enginethrottle, which controls the accleration and spee of the 25vehicle. Often thes pedal asmblies include an adjustment

apparatus that allows the position of a peal an and/or apeal pad to be moved with reect to the driver. Th allowsthe pedal asmbly to accommodate drvers of various

heights. Thus, the adjustment apparatu allows the pedalassembly to be moved closer to the driver when the driveris short and allows the pedal asmbly to be moved furtheraway from the driver when the driver is tall. Examples, ofadjustable pedal assmblies are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos.5,460,061 and 5,632,183 all assigned to the assignee of thesubject invention.

Additionally, adjustable pedal assemblies can include anelectronic throttle control asmbly for a drve-by-wiresystem. The electronic throttle control asmbly is used togenerate an electrical signal that corresponds to the positionof the accelerator pedaL. The electronic throttle controlassembly replaces traditional mechanical linages betweenthe pc¡al arm and the engine throiiie. One such adjustmentapparatus used with an electronÍè throttle control is shown inU.S. Pat. No. 5,819,593 assigned to the assignee of thepresent invention. ,.-.

When a vehicle control pedal assmbly includes both anadjustment apparatus and an electronic throttle control. thepedal assembly can be complex with a great number of part.

These control pedal asmblies can be expensive, time

consuming to asmble, and require a signifcant amount ofpackaging space.

SUMMAY OF TIE INVNTON ANADVANAGES

A vehicle control peal apparatus includes a support

adapted to be mounted to a vehicle.stnctre and an adjus-able pedal asmbly with a peal arm that is moveable infore and aft directions with repet to the support. A pivotpivotally support the adjUstable pedal asmbly withrespet to the supprt and defines a pivot axis. The control

peal apparatu futher includes an eleconic throtllecon-

trol attached to the support for controlli an engine thottle.

The apparatus is charctrid by the eleCtronic ihrottecontrl being respnsve to the .pivot for providing a signalcorrponding to peal an potion as tbpeahrm pivots

2ahout the pivot axis between rest and applied positions.Accordingly, the subject invention provides a simplifiedvehicle control pedal assembly that is less expensive, andwhich uses fewer parts and is easier to package within the

5 vehicle,

BRIEF DESCRIPTON OF THE DRAWINGS

Other advantages of the presnt invention wil be readily

appreciated as the same becomes better understood by10 reference to the following detailed desription when con-

sidered in connection with the accompanying drawings

wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side view of a vehicle, partially in cross-

15 setion, including the subject pedal asmbly,FIG. 2 is a side view of the subject pedal assembly

showing a pedal an in fore and aft positions;FIG. 3 is a side view of the subject pedal asembly in a

pivoted position;

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of the pedal asmbly shownin FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a front view, partially in crossection, of thepedal asmbly shown in FIG. 3.

DETAID DESCRON OF TIEPREFRRED EMBODIMENT

Referrg to the Figues, wherein lie numeral indicatelie or correspndig par throughout the several views, a

30 vehicle 10 with a control pedal apparatus 12 is shown inFIG. 1. The contrl pedal apparatus 12 includes a pedal arm

14 that can be adjusted in fore and aft directions with respectto the vehicle 10 by a driver 16. Ths adjustment capabiltyallows the pedal ar 14 'to be positioned to accommodate

35 drivers 16 of various heights.The vehicle control pedal apparatu 12 includes a support

18 adapted to be mounted to a vehicle stncture 20 such asa firewaUor dash member, for example. The support 18 canbe a bracket, housing, or other strctural support member

40 known in the art. The support 18 can be a unitary memberthat is attached directly to the vehic1estructure 20 or thesupport 18 can be compris of a plurality of supportmembers. one of which is attached to the vehicle structure20.

45 As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the control pedal apparatus 12further includes an adjustable pedal assmbly 22 with apedal arm 14ihat is moveable in fore and aft directions withrespect to the support 18. In FIG. 2, the pedal arm 14 isshown in the fuhest adjustment position in the fore direc-

50 tion in solid lines and in the furthest adjustment position inthe aft direction in dashed lies. The adjustable pedalassmbly 22 preferably includes an electnc motor (notshown) for contrlling the movement of the pedal arm 14 inthe fore and aft directions, as is well known in the art. The

55 adjustable peal asmbly 22 can be any of various adjust-

able peal asmblies known in the art For example, theadjustable pedal asmbly 22 could be similar to the adjust-able pedal astnbly in U.S. Pat. No~ 5,632,183 as,s-Îgned to

the asignee of the presnt invention and incOrprated herein60 by reference.

A pivot 24 pivotally supprt the adjustable pedal asm- .bly 22 with respet to the vehicle strcture 20 and defies ,apivot axis 26 (shown in FIG. 5). The pivot 24 is preferably

comprlofa 1lt pivot member 34 definng 'a' fit pivot65 member axi 36 and a send pivot member 3S defiing a

sendpivol member axi 40. The fi 36 anselld ~pivoimemberaxes are collear to define the pivot

ax 26.

,..

3

US 6,237,565 Bl4

While two pivot memhers 34,38 are preferred a single pivotcould be us or additional pivot members could be used to

provide additional pivotal support.The first 34 and second 38 pivot memhers are longitudi-

nally spaced apart from one another to define a clearance 5space 42 for the pedal arm 14 as the pedal arm 14 pivotsabout the pivot axis 26, Thus, when the pedal ann 14 ismoved from a rest position to an applied position, as shownin FIG. 3, the pedal ann 14 can move between the first 34and second 38 pivot members without coming into contact 10with the pivot members 34, 38. If only a single pivotmember is used, the clearance space 42 between pivotmembers is not needed.

'lbe control pedal apparatus 12 als includes an electronicthrottle control mechanim 28 attached to the vehicle struc- 15ture 20 for controlling an engine throttle 30 shown sche-matically in FIG. 1. The electronic throttle control 28 isresponsive to the pivot 24 and provides a signal 32 thatcorresponds to peal ann position as the pedal arm 14 pivotsabout the pivot axis 26 between rest and applied positions. 20Thus, the signal 32 wil vary as the pel ann 14 moves fromthe rest position to the applied poition. The electronic

throttle control mechanism 28 can be any of various elec-tronic thttle control mechanims known in the art as theone descnbed in U.S. Pat No. 5,819,593 asgned to the 25

asignee of the presnt invention and incorporate herein byreference.

The eleconic thttle contrl 28 is preferably responsiveto the first pivot member 34 to provide the signal 32 that 30corresponds to pedal arm poition. Th second pivot mem-ber 38 preferably provides pivotal balance for the pedal arm14 as the pedal arm 14 pivols about the pivot axis 26. Itshould be understood however that the electronic throttlecontrol 28 could als be mounted on the opposite side of the 35control peal:¡ssmbly 12 such that the Second pivot mem-ber 38 provides input to. product the signal 32 while the firstpivot member 34.provides additional balance for the pedalann 14 as it pivots.

The electronic throttle control mechanism 28 preferably 40includes a firSt housing portion 42 and a send housing

portion 44, shown in FIG. 4. In the preferred embodimentthe housing portions 42, 44 partially serve as the support 18for the control pedal apparatus 12 and are fixed relative tothe vehicle strcture 20. The adjustable pedal assmbly 22 is 45

supported ona bracket 46 that is mounted to the housingportions 42, 44. The send housing portion 44. includes afirst pivotal support 54 and a second pivotal support 56. Thefirst pivotal support 54 reives the first pivot member 34and the seond pivotal support 56 receives the send pivot 50member 38. As disd above, the first 34 and seond 38pivot members formthepivot24 about which the peal arm14 pivots.

The bracket 46 includes a firs leg 48 and a send leg 50that extend doww:¡rdly frm a central bas member 52. ssWhile the bracket 46 is shown with two legs 48, 50, the

bracket 46 could als be confgued to have only a single legor could have additional leg members; The bracket 46 nedonly provide paral suppOrt :for the adjustable pedalasm-bly 22.

The bracket 46 is parlly intalled withi the sendhousing member 44 such that the fi pivotal support 54 is

adjacnt to the first leg 48 and the second pivotal support 56. is adjacent to the send leg SO. The fi hous porton 42is attached to theseod .hous portion near the fit 65pivotal slqrt 54 to enclo . the eleconic throttle contrl28. The firs housing. poon 42 preferably includes tab

receivers 58 for snap fit attachment to tabs 60 located on thesecond housing portion 44.

The bracket 46 pivots about the pivot axis 26 when a forceis applied to the pedal ann 14 to move the pedal arm 14 fromthe rest to the applied position, The electronic throttlecontrol 28 is fied with respect to the vehicle structure 20

such that the pedal arm 14 moves in fore and aft directionswith respect to the electronic throttle control 28 and withrespect to the vehicle structure 20. Thus the adjustable pealassembly 22 pivots with respect to the vehicle strcture 20

and moves the pedal arm 14 in fore and aft directions withrespect to the vehicle structure 20, while the electronic

throttle control 28 remain. fied with respect to the vehiclestructure 20. In other words the pedal ann 14 movesindependently from the electronic throttle control 28.Additionally, the pedal ann 14 moves in fore and aftdirections with respect to the pivot 24.

The adjustable pedl asmbly 22 includes a guide rod 62for supportiig the pedal arm 14 and which defines a longi-tudinal axis 64. The pedal arm 14 moves in the fore and aftdirections along the longitudinal axis 64. The longitudinalaxis 64 is perpendicular to the pivot axis 26. Thus, the guderod 62 is rotatable about the pivot ax 26 along with thebracket 46 when the pedal arm 14 pivots about the pivot axis26.

The adjustable pedal asmbly 22 fuer inludes abeanng member 66 forslidably supporting the pedal ar 14on the gude rod 62, The beang member 66 is preferably abushig, however, other beang members well knwn in theart ca be us. In the preferr embodiment, an electnc

motor is usd to drve a screw drve mechanism housed

within the guide rod 62, whiêh caus thebèang member66 and the pedal ann 14 to move along the guide rod 62.

The control pedal apparatus 12 al includes a resilent

member 68, shown in FIG. 5, which reacts between thepedal arm 14 and the bracket 46 for providing resistance asthe peal ar 14 is moved from the rest position to theapplied position. This resistance provides a "feel" 16 as thepedal arm 14 pivots that corrspond to the feel that a dnverexpenences in pedal asmbly having a cable asmbly aspart of a mechanical link to the engine throltle30. Theresilent member 68 is preferably a coil spring with a spnngcenter 70 that is concentric with the pivot 24. The spnng 68has a first spring end 72 engagig the peal arm 14 and aseond spnng end 74 engaging the bracket 46. In addition toproviding resistance as tbepedal arm 14 is moved to theapplied position, the spnng 68 returns the pedal ann 14 tothe rest position after. a force applied to the pedal arm 14 hasbeen removed. .

The spring 68 is supported by a cyliodncal portion 76 thatextends inwardly from the second housing porton

44 of theelectronic throttle control 28, toward the pedal arm 14. Thus,the cylidnca porton 76 is locted between the peda arm

14 and the first leg 48 of the bracket 46.

Whle the spnng 68 is shown as a coil spnng that issupported about pivot 24, other spnng confguatiooslaownin the ar could al.be us. Al,thespnng'6.could 'belocte at a position other than about pivot 24. The main

60 fuction of the spnng 68 is to act upon the pedal ar 14 to

provide a fel to the dnver as the pealar 14. pivols.A cable attacbmentmember 78 canptio.aIY be sup-

port on one of th pivot members 34, 38 to lipport a caleasmbly. for attachent to the engi 'thtte 30. This .

confguration would be us in plac of lhe electronithottl control 28; i.e.. tbconfonisuscwith a pealasmbly bavi a mecanca1i to th thuic:

US 6,237,565 Bl

)

5lbe control pedal apparatus 12 of the subject invention

provides both an adjtL'itment apparatus 22 and an electronicthrottle control 28 in an assembly that requires less pack-aging space and which requires fewer components than priorart control pedals. This reduces overall asmbly time and 5reduces material costs. 'Joe control pedal apparatus 12provides the additional benefits of having a single pivot (24)to pivotally support the pedal arm 14 in addition to providinginput to the electronic throttle control 28. Thus, the controlpedal apparatus 12 allows adjustment of the pedal arm 14 in 10fore and aft directions without having to move the electronicthrottle control unit 28 along with the pedal arm 14, and theelectronic throttle control 28 is responsive to the pivot 24about which the adjustable pedal asmbly 22 rotates.

'Joe invention has been desribed in an ilustrativemanner, and it is to be understood that the terminology 15

which has been used is intended to be in the nature of wordsof description rather than of liitation.

Obviously, many modifications and variations of theprent invention are poible in liht of the above teach-

ings. It is, therefore, to be understoo that with the scpe 20of the appènded claims, wherein reference numeral aremerely for convenience and are not to be in any way

limiting, the invention may be practiced otherw than asspecifcally desbed.What is claimed is: 251. An adjustable pedal asmbly for a vehicle compriing;a support (18) for mounting to a vehicle strcture;

an adjusable pedal asmbly (22) having a guide member(62) rotatably supported by sad support (18) for pivotalmovement about a pivot axi (26); and 30

a pedal arm (14) supported on said gude member (62) forrectilnear movement in fore and aft directions relativeto said support (18), said guide member (62) and saidpivot axis (26) between varous adjusted positions;

an electronic control (28) supported on sad support (18) 35and responsive to pivotal movement of said pedal arm(14) and said guide member (62) about said pivot axis(26),

6said electronic control (28) being fixed relative to said

support (18) such that said pedal arm (14) moves in foreand aft directions with respect to said electronic control

(28), said electronic control (28) being responsive topivotal movement of said guide member (62) aboutsaid pivot axis (26) for providing a signal (32) thatcorresponds to pedal arm (14) position as said pedalarm (14) pivots said guide member (62) about saidpivot axis (26).

2, An assmbly as set forth in claim 1 wherein said pedalarm (14) is in sliding engagement with said guide member(62) and extends from said guide member (62) to lower padend.

3. An assembly as set forth in claim 2 including a drve formoving said pedal arm (14) along said guide member (62).

4. A vehicle control pedal apparatus (12) compriing:a support (18) adapte to be mounted to a vehicle struc-

ture (20);an adjustable pedal asmbly (22) having a pedal arm (14)

moveable in forc and aft directions with respect to saidsupport (18);

a pivot (24) for pivotay supporti said adjustable pedalasmbly (22) with respect to said support (18) anddefinig a pivot ax (26); and

an electrnic contrl (28) attached to sad support (18) forcontrollng a vehicle system;

said apparatus (12) characterid by said electrnic con-

trol (28) being reponsive to said pivot (24) for pro-viding a sigal (32) that corrponds to peal armposition as sad pedal arm (14) pivots about said pivotax (26) between rest and applied poitions wherein

the position of said pivot (24) remain constant whiesaid peal ar (14) mOves in fore and aft directions

with respect to said pivot (24)......

mx::a-;:A

United States Patent (19)Asano et ali

(S4) posmON ADJUSlABLE PEDALASSELY

, (75) Inventors: Y_hi As¡ Yoiii Kataiiboth or Shioka Japan

(73) Asgn . Fui Klo Compay, Lt, Tokyo,Japan

(21) AppL No. 386,401

(2) Fi1 Jii 28, 1989

(3) Forci¡ Appcatin Prority Data

JuI 28, 1988 (JP Japa ".__..__..... 63188774

Jul. 28, 1988 (IP) Japa "__._.._.._ 63188751uI 28. 1988 lIP) Japa ..._........._..... 63.18876

JuI 28 1988 (IP) Japa ...._....m..._...... 631887

hI. a.s ...._......................._.............. ~5G 1/14U.s. a. ...._._...........;................ 74/512; 74/513¡

74/560FIeld of Sech ......._..... 74/512, 513, 560, '522,. 74/561, 562

jS6) . Rcfer CiteU.S. PATE DOCENT

2.936,867 5/1960 Per _.........._....._.... 74/S13 X3,151,499 10/1964 Ro _.._......._..........._. 74/5123,S63,11 2/1971 Zegler ._.._........___ 74/5123,643.524 2/1972 Hcr __.._ 741512

. 3.691,868 9/19n Smi .:_..__.......... 74/512.3,757.60 9/1973 Scr .""....""."_....... 74/5123,861,27 1/I97S MoWl18 ..._..._..._.._..... 74/5124.037,487 7/1977 Ahwcdc ct 11. "_.......... 74/5124,386,537 6/1983 Le ..."........................... 74/513 X4,497,217 2/198S Ha ......._................... 74/5124,875.38' 1011989 Sitr ...._...._...._.._.. 74/513 X

(51)(521

(58)

(11) Patent Number:(45) Date of Patent:

5,01 ,782

Apr. 30, 1991

FOREGN PATE DOCUMNTS026%6 2/1988 Eur Pat. Off. .............. 74/512~94 S/I973 Japa _"__"_"'''''''''_ 74/S12

$034814 7/1973 Jap ............_...._......._.... 74/S12

Primary Examiner-Vin T. LuongAttorn. Agent. or rï-Ronad P. Kaen

(S7ABSlClIn a potion adjusle pe asbly for a ve 'cle, ape pa position is adjustale in a longitudin direction of the vehcle. A lever is c: to a . onabrat for a pivota movemt abut a pivot . an isformed with a liea trk exendi¡ inth v 'cullàn¡tu direcon A. peal ar is provide with ape pa at its lower end an with a gude be atit upp end and ÏI coni to th lev for piv-ota mòvement wi the lever in rens to a epression for appli to th peal pa An adjus er isprovied ón the lever for a reve movenen to thlever an is formed with an ar-shpe trk. rel.tive movemt of the adjus leer is ca w theguidemcmbe moes with the li trk an siul-tausy with th arsh tr wbi pcpa potion is adjuci The acus lever is p viedwith a connccgmcbe which is movable wianoter ~ tr in re to the lativemovement or the acus lever. Accrdigly, w en the

peda.pa position is adjuste to move the ¡u mem-ber, the relatie moement ör the adjus lever is usto va a potion of th cog mebe corre.spndito a mae of the movement. of th gumembe, i.e., corrpoing to the vartion' a ditace frm the pivot ax to the pc pa The epresian force is applied to a vehicle c¡raton ystcthugh the conntig member.

12 Cl, 7 Drawi Shcetl

/28l

4d

-iII

U.s. Patent Apr. 30, 191 Sheet i of 7 5,010 ,82

FIG.!

a-iII

u.s. Patent Apr. 30, 1991 Sheet 2 of 7 5,010 82

FIG.244 42 30 ' 4b

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U .8. Patent Apr. 30, 191 Sheet 3 of 7 5,010, 82

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U .8. Patent Apr. 30, 1991 Sheet 4 of 7 5,010 82

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U .8. Patent Apr. 30, 191 Sheet 5 of 7 5,010 82

FIG. IS

U .8. Patent Apr. 30, 1991 Sheet 6 of 7 5,010 782

FIG.7,i

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52

u.s. Patent Apr. 30, 1991 Sheet 7 of 7 5,010r82

I

FIG.8

6/

2circuerential direcon Is held substatiy nstatby using adjutable stoppe mea irtive of theadjuste peal potion.

BACKGROUN OF nm INON A sti furer objec of the prent inventio is toI. Field of the Invention S provi a potion adjusble pe asbly, wh rei a1i prest inventin re to a position adjule ren force appli to components of th as

pe ,asbly for a vehicle. More spy, the seblyin the dion along a lengt of

the ve . Ie, ie.

prct inveition relate to an automotive positin ad- in th longitu diectin of th vehcle to be ener-

jiile pe as,;ly to be us suh as for bra ate in repo to th depreon forc applied to theacerr and clutch pe whcr ~ poti of the 10 pe pad by th drver is cosiderly reuc as topc'is adjusle in the forwd and red dieo att th stgt of the pe asly as el asti of th vehe. smth peal optin fee.2. Destioi of th Baground Ar To acmpli th abve-mentione and 0The bas beii pro a pe asbly whih jec acrdg to one as of

the prt inv.. eurCI a drver to idust a poti of th pe úi th is a potion adjustale pe asbly for a vebclfor ll read airecOa or the vecl ac- pns a ita bnet. ficd to a veheii~ to hi or her ~elt. Th fa re si lC th lev pivotbly coeced. to th itdrer. se is aduste fory or rey to abut a piv ax a pe ar with a pealmatc hi or her hegh tht vi fid Is vaed co-, lowe en th pe ar be connec to~I to the se potion w!u~li Is iiot prefcr úi 20 10 as to piot abut th pivot ax a1 wiw: of saet as wel. as th drvug coorble Fu- in re to a de rorc apped toth. lC th drver. se is moved re, the leg pa fi me pred be the leverip for a paier Ii OI th rea se bees pe ar for adus a poti of th pe~blY naw. Acrdgl~, th have be re lotu di of the vehcl IC m rorq~ su a ~ asbly which mu k poe to 2S trtt¡ th dere forc fr the le to aadju. th poit of the ~ fordly an re- vehcl ope sy th mei provi, beway. . tw th leer en sa se mèfor aii the covential pe asbly. hoever. th . t f li f th d re f1 .

ar a problem or a vartion in forc app to an pom 0 app 0 e. ep on Ie toopetig membe whi is c: to a vehi op_ 30 .ui send me.~ 1l le acing an ad-..-- sytem, IUch as a bra ay, an en¡i th- jute p~ pa poti ."tIe ~a1ve or a Ciutch .y¡ acrc¡ to a poon of . Aa~ to a se~ as of the pres I;ven-,. a pe pa bety its adjualerage. Spey,lC tion. the th me ~esth polit of appli on ofin amou or a dista or pivota dila of the . the de~ forrctive to the ~ii m frmpe pa ie. of diplaent or tht pe pa in th 3S th lever ID ~ii to vartion in a clce tweec:er di ca by th depreson of the fi

pivot &X an a cete of thpethpe pa by the dnveria th sae, th for apli ' Acc toa th aspe of th pr iito th opti membe vaes acg an adjus the po~n adjue pe asbly may in-po of th pe pa due to cbe ii a leigt or a -c~eupngmei coec to th sttina r&etle beeen its pivot uiat its uppe en and' a pe .wat its one en ~ to th leverat.iU o~ eid, th sprmpad at it lower en wher the depreson force is apo mca strg or comprcg m rens to theple by th dnver. . vation of the di 10 as to chage itasp' ror

Th VarOl forc th dnver to opte th peal applid to th leer and th pe ar the chan ofthpa diertly acrd to the adjus pe pa &prig forc abrbln vantiii in a re eprespoon. 4S sinfor to be appli to the pe pa th v . tion of

SUMY OF TH INVON :: ~ ~on forc be caus by var-Thore it ia an obje of the prest úiven to Acrd toa rouras of

th ~ in entiprovi a pelSly for.. vehcle wh enble a th potb adjule pedal asbly may úi-po of. pe pad .uch ua brapcpa an SO elud stpe me& prvied OI th le, th toacr pe pa au . clutc pe patò be ad- me haYÍ¡ anei po

ora sh w hajii forwy an rey of th veh I.e.ln a a predcuai ei¡i pom .beloitu diec of th ve whe. forc plvotaleactoanadjutepepapo °ÛOIlOap to an op¡ me whh trta th ai to cota wi

the atoii braet to p ·ap fo toa vehe opti ay 'au as a :S:S pivot move of th leer ab th pi at axbr¡.~ an ài thtt vave an a cluth ~içeiii a pred vaue II rc a CO-Iyi fa bcd IUbltby cotat uner th um .ta pivo dl1~t di or th papi~ 'diIa ..di of the pé pa ca fr it IIpoti irve ó th' ad-by a drcr depres IC of th pe lrve jupe pa po th preof th ad pe pa po . 60 of th ci¡a po be ii

~~~je of th pi:t inveis to prvi BR DES0N OF Ti DUa poslliOl adjUtae pe UIy, wI. redeci forc. or Ie po to dep th pe Th pr inve wibe uipa by th um di is matled nbstiy fr th deed dedo ¡lcot, ir~ of th adus pe pa potl 6S fr th ~ drwi of th P

A fa obje of th pre invenn is to provie boimei of ,th Inven whi ar ¡iven b way Ofa poti' adtale. pe, aaly, wher a fu ei ony, an araot in to

be li

de di1a di of th pe ¡M úi th th prt lnve :

5.010,782i

rosmoN ADJUSTABLE PEDAL ASSELY

'-

5,010,7823 4In the drwigs: A tenon sprig 28 15 connec at its lowerFIG. i is a side elevation showing a position adjust- the fir slide pin 16 and at its upper

end to the s

able peda asbly accrdin to a fi.t prefer em- ar braket 2. In FIG. 1, the tenson sprig 28boent of the pret invention balce potin

support a weight applied theFIG. 2 is a seona view taen along the line II-ß s rust slde pin 16. Accrdigly, the ret sprig 8' not

of FIG. i, cner¡ whe no depresion forc is appli thFIG. 3 is aside elevaon for showig the opetion or lever 4. The adjust lever 12 15 ¡cicry or a hape

the position adjule peal asbly of FIG. 1, an is for with a sed arpe hole or s1 tUbwherein th pe pad potion is adjus to its fore- (i.e., & &cnd arc-spe trk) at its ar-spe don-inost poition, 10 gate seon l2. A raus of curtu of arc-FIG. 4 isa aide devaon for showig th opetion of shpe hole Ub is not consta thc:ong, whi wi

the position adjule pe asmbly of FIG. 1, be describe lar.wheei th pe pa potion is adjus to its reu. The ri si wa4a or th le 4 is formedmos poon .' pai offi an IC done bole or slots 30

FIG. 5 is a side elev,:tion slowig & potin adjus- IS (i.e., the fUt an sed liea tr) which ex Inable Pe asbly acrdg to . &cnd prefer pael to ea othet in th loii diec rthemimt of the prest Invetion, vehicle. Fo en II wel II re en the

FIG. , is _ seona vi ta along th li elonte bo 30 ui 32 ar no vercay cdVI-VI or FIG. 5, rcy, which wi be de late. AA beFIG. 71s & side eleation ror showig th option or 20 sefr FIG. 2, the 1c si wa4b of th 1c 4 is

the posion adjuale pe &$bly or FIG. 5, al for with & pai of holes whch ju co poiiwhere the pe pa potion is. adjuste to it fore to the elon¡a ho30 au 3i formed in th ri t sieinost potion, and wal4a. Seii an th sl pin Shnd 36 (i , the

FIG. 8 is a side elevation ror shwi the opetin or fit an icii gue membe) arc iUdlythe poition adjusble peal asbly or FIG. 5, 25 into thcloi holes 30 an 32 of the ritwherei the pe pa positin is adjus to its re- side wa4a' an 4b, resely. A peinost potion. inli th ie 4 beCC th ng and

4a an 4b an is suppo by th sl pi 34dicrct loons Th Ilde pin 34 fuer i

., EMBODIM 30 thugh th arpe hole Ub of th adjlJ le er U.

" A fit preferred emboCD or. potion adjustable 11epeai 38 is prode wi a pe pa 3 at itspe asbly wi be dC$n'b with rcfcrci to lowe enFIGS. 1 to 4, wher th pe asbly is applied to A sc nut 40 (i.e. & dren membe) is lh tha brake pe.pcdai 38 and _ condg scew ro 42 i.e.,a

In FIGS. 1 and i, a statioi bracket i is fi to. i5 drve inembc) is roly mounted. to th fr t andda pa of. vehcle boy. A lever 4 generaly of a ba wa 4c an 4å. Th sc nut 40 is or a c dr-tnangu shape is pivotaly coec at its uppe en calsha an fann wi a thed hole

ugh

to the sttiona brake 2 wi a pivot pin 6 (i. & fi whi th sc ro 42cxds 10 II to be e Sedpivot ax). As ca be se froin FIG. 2, the lever .. is with ea oth. A1 dcc intor 44 is fi thegeneraly of a hoUowcuic shape havig a riht side 40 frOt wal4c an Iscocc to the,sc ro i ror

wal 4a, a left side wal 4b, a front wa 4c an a bak acua sae. Specay, th inotor 44 is en .wal 44. A retu sprig 8 is woun onto th pivot pin to rotate in th norm or rever dion in r pons6 for urgig the lcv 4 counteoc in FIG. t' to th drVer1 switcg opeon. Th rota of

thwhen a depreon forc is applied by a drver to pus intQ C& th scew ro 42 to rote In thsaethe lever 4 clockw in FIG. i. A pi 10 llfiy 45 dIonwithmot.42 Th

scw Dut40 is 'ded

provided on the right sie wa 4a or th leer 4.ror by th ro of th sc.ro 42 to moe al thpivotaly support an adjut lever 12. Th adus scw ro 42. TlmoemoftbelCnut40 UIlever 12 inudes & fi po 12 cxdi¡ ¡ecry the peai 38 a1 wi th pe pa ø moein a for dioi of the ~c, & se portn alan th SC ro 42, wi th Ile pin 34 d 36

UB exndig Scøy in _ re dicc or th so ea mo wi th. cdii hole Or 32vehcle an a thd . porton UC exg Seiy beee it for an re en, .u sh in

, vercay to coect th fi an ICd po l2 FIG. 1 by th ioli an dotted lian UB. Th lever 4 is formed wi a pa or fi ar Now the opti of thfi prefer emsh hole or sl 14 (i.e.alit ii tn) at wi bedc'b herbeow.th ri¡ht and le si wa 4a an 4b. A fit al pi 5S FIG. S-l th op of

th poitin ad' le16 (i., a comcm) is ined into the ar pe asly, whe thpcal pa 39 is te toshlpe hoes 14. for piotay supo th adt its forOl po 'SpeifClUy, th sl pin -d

. lever 12 and on en of -li inbed8 OI the rit U ai pooi at th for en of th . teaide wa 4a. Th ot en or th liin 18 l. hole 30 -i32 icel)', an th Ile pi is alpivoly co to an au leer 20 t1 & fí pQtl at th fordcnof th. .. Ji. -pivo pÍln (i., a sepivot ui). Th al Ub. Wh th pe pA U l. dc by th Ve."leve 20 it in tu pivoyco tothst u shWI by the IOJJin FIG. 3, th pc' 38'bra .3 thug & pivo pi 24, A bra ~ ro an th le. pivot ab the pivot pl 'II into26 is pivotaly co at it on en to th pi 22 to ar unt in lhcldi Th caui li. .~ ope in. sycJi with di1a of th " mcm ii to II f'oiy 10 II to rota ti au- i"limebcl8. Tboprt26I,,:oimecatit ia le ioabout the pivot pi 24 iuth ci.oter end to a veh opon sy lU II a ti-di Acgly, th pm. 22 .Isc!lain Sys (no showa). way to pu the opgro 26 al fi ~

DESCRPTON OF nm PRE

=.2' '-'..

\)

"

5,010,7825 6as to trt th dere forc appli to the bre Though the chge in the dita DL ca es ape pa 39 to the vehcle opeation system (not chae in its cente of grvity, wluch vaes ere-shown) though the opeti ro 26. ' quied depreon forc or leg power, th va on is

It is to be note tht sice a li L1 is inclied at a abrbed by mea of the tenon spri¡ 28 hichpredetemcd angle to'the vercalle VI forc F1 , stethes ou;ompreised acrdig to the potion fthean Fi is aPlied to the slde pin 34 and 36 as shown in fi slde pin 16. .

Fiq. 1 in respo to th deprc: force appli to the As se frm FIG. 4, when the pe pa 39 is de-, bra pe pa 39. Accrdgly, th forc whi is to prc: by thednver, the pe ar 38 an th ver 4be appli to the slde pin 34 and 36 in a longtu pivot 8but th pivot pin 6 as one integr undjecn of the elongat aolCi 30 an 32 is coiWly 10. doc diecn to move the Un mebereduc On th other Iwd, ü th Ile pi 34 ~ 36 war Simuliausy, the pi 22 moves for, are vcy ~ th forc PI an F2 is applied to th au lever 20 pivots abut the pivot pinthe sl pin ~ an 36 in th dion al the len th th appHe derc for II tr.or th elngate holes 30 and 32 Accrdgly, ~ ope ro 26.,strengt of the asbly beme les and th opeti 15 As iè frm FIG. 4, a tie 1.11 inli at~f the pe pa 3. be jc~ si ~e ~ pin 34 . deted G&le to the verlie VL an foIS not eaed Wi any meber m th dion alon and F4-ls appli to the slid pin 34 an 36.the for FL tively. Th' arement pro th umWh th br pe pa 39 II relea fr the des'b beor wi tder to FIGS. 1 an

de~ fore, ~e peal ar 38 an ~ le 4 ret 20 Whei th pe pa 39 is reea fr th re, to the.uuti potIn as one in~ umt by mea of the lion forc the pe ar 38 and the lever 4 to the

cneriW f~ of the retur spnn 8 as shwn by the inti or th oon-d po II shwn y thdott li in FIG. 3. ""li b (."_...""" of th

In ord to ad'us th ....1 ""iti 'aw fro th IO~ Y me 0 we en.. .0tr-~ ~ e ç~8forem~t potion as di in FIG. 3 to, for exple 25 In or to tu th ....1 38 to th . .the reaost'¡iii th elec moto 44 is ei¡i re '. ,.. ar . Jl asto rota in the nor di by op th swtch ~own ~Y the ioli ~ in FIG. 1. th ~=: m 44(not ~wn), which caus the scw rO 41 to rota in 11 energi to rota m the reer dith Sl diecoi ~rdy. the scw nut 40 ~ow a

send preer ~bot of th.moves al th ICCW rO 42 redÌy to sl th 30 ~tae peasbl)' wi. be cSilide piD 34 an 36 with th coding elorence. to FIGS. 5 to .. whe th peholes 30 and 32 al reary. as mow by th soid apUe to an acertor pelie in FIG; 4 whe the pe potiOl is adjus to In FIGS. 5 an 6, a. iton brket 50 is fi to aits reos poon SÜtult.us)', the IÜ pin 34 da pael of the v~cleboY, A lever ~ ~ pi taly. sldes with thearpe hole 12 frm ita forw 3S coec ~ th ~onabrct 50 b)' . pivo in 54end to it re end, whi ca the adus lever (Le.. a ~ pivot ax). M.~ be ac. fr FIG ~,theU to pivot abut th pin 10 in the cloc ditin. l-;er ~2 IS ¡c:cr)' ofa hoow cubiC tb . a, Th pivota movement of the adjust lever U caus th rit sie: wal52a. a lef sie wal52b. a frnt S2csuppo pin 16 to. move doWlwa. with th ar .an a bak Wi52. A ret ipri $6 is wo ontoshpe hoe 14. SimultausY. th ii mebe 18 04 th~ piot pIa 54 for 1IgÏ ~e lever 52 co~t ock.pivots abut the pi 2i in th doc direcoii ~ in FI~. 5 whe. deon forc is ~pp~ . thwhich however, doe not caWI th aux lever io to dnvcr to pub th leer 52 in th cloc oipivot about the pivot pin 24, i.e. th pi 22 cl not A; optig leer 58 ispivotaly ~~ to themove 10 tht li for iupp1i to th opg rod 26 stona brake 50 by me of a plvo .pm at itssince a raius of cuat of th ar hole .14 is 4S lower ci an is coiice to an opq wi at itsthe sa IS a di beee the cete of the pi 22 appcencL Th opq wi is in tu to ·and th ce of th iupport pin 16. the vave of . . vee opetin ay (notAs deS before the ndus of cue or the mown). The lcer5211 for with a pa of ii

ar-shpe hole 12 ÍI notCO therg. Spe bole 62 an 64 (i. a fit ln ae li ) jua1Y. the ra of c: of th arpe hol l2 50 II in th fi preer embot. AD .dju cr66ar seecsuch th whe the fit s1 pin IhioV ÍI piotlymo to th lever 52 b)me a pidownwad or upwad with th arc: hole 14 in A whi is fi to th riside waS2a ofth leVer

resii to th aldimove of th sl pi 34 52. Th adjus leer f6 islcny of a -z,.with th arc- hole 12 towa it rea en sh an ÍI formed

with u.ar hole or ot Øh

or its foiaren repevey.. rao of a dice OS S5 ('LCo a icii arc- tr) at it ar .to a di DL II mataed cot,. whe th 66 A ndua of cuat of th aipe bo Øh fadisCe PS. is . ~. .bc th cete of th II COt, whi Wi be c!'b late. aduspivo pin, an thcete oftb fi slde pi 16 an th lev " h.ul1othcr ar aeoa 66 w ex-dÍl OLII a di li. the cete of th te intheforW di an II prvl at ital'Ivot pi ~ an th ceofth pe pa 3'. Thiuatlo ~ forweo with . ~ pin '70 (L a . aa .".., .II ~"lntll co imveofth po of be) whi eaes wi aiarJieOC '7. ! ,.,~ Sl pi 34 wl dN ar hole 12. :A~ (Le. a fi ucpe tr A raus at cu . ofiiy.th for appl to. th op ro 26 an the th ar boe '1 is th um.. a di .re dep for or th lei pawa ar ket thceteofthplA;iithceteofth'coii irpcve oCth ai.pc po " 10.11 to pren.th opc 1cS8 fr . :uneÍ. coii tht II dita ortb pivot di ab ti pivot pi 60 whe th acust leer " is pi- :.~. oCtl~. pa 3SUromth 1l-d po ot ab th pi 68 for adju th pe . .tin lsth la whi wm be dac la. .

)

,

5,010,7827 8A pe ar 74 is inseed into the lever 52 betwee postion supportg a weight applied to the t mion

the right and left side wal 52a and 52b and is provide sprig 104.with a bracet 76 at its uppe porton. The pe ar 74 Now the operation of the send preferredis provi with an aclertor pe pad 77. The ment wi be desòe heieinbeow. . . .bracket 76 is rixed to the peda ar 74 and is provided S FIG. 7 shows the opetion of the position adJ tablewith a pa of slde pin 78 an 80 (Le., the fi an pe ~bly, .,,herei ~e pe pa TJ Is ~ tosend gue mem) ai its uppe an lower en its foreost potion. Specay, the l1e pu 8 anrevel. Call 82 and 84 ar plac beee th 80 år poitione at th forar en .of the el ngabra 76 an the corrpoding slde pi 78 an 80 as holes 62 an 64, mpvely, and the slie pin 78 s alsoshwn in FIG. 6. The slde pin 78 is in thug 10 potione at the forwar ei or th ~olethe e1 holes 62 of th lever 52 and fuer 66. Wh the pe ~ 77.11 depres by th ver,thugh th ar hole 66 of the adjus lever 66. as shown by th do~ lie in FIG. ?, th ~ 74Th slde . 80' in thrug the elongate holes an the leer 52 pivot abot the pivot pm 54 onepm ,is integr wit in th clkw dl Slmulta uay,64 or the ~er 52 and f'er th~gh ~ ~on hole 15 th adjus leèr 66 u1 the opetig lever 51 . th86 fonn in a stoppe lever 88 w~ch ~ pivotaly COn- the opeg leer ~8 pivots abut th piv . fi innectc to ~ lev~ 52 thou a pivot pm 90. :n ?on- the cloc diecon to pul the opg 61 in

ga hole ~ is.long enough to alow the th slde. pi80 th red c1n, which In tu op theto move with the elonat hole 64 betwee ita ror- thtt vave or the vehicle opti s (notw~d ,an ~d en~ The stopp lever 88 ~ Coned 20 shwn).with an engagig ~rton 92 at a ai. op~tc to th Wh the cloc pivot movet orelon~ ho ~6 wi~ repet to the Vivot pm 90. Th 52 an th pe am 14 ex th pren¡agg poon t2 IS engagcale wih an ar~ value th eng port 92 or th stppe er 88

llro~ecti ~ of the sttiona bra 50 whi pro . cn wi th aic-pe projeti 94 of e it-, jcon 11 IS formed at a. low reaar end or th 2S tion bret 50 to preent tht fuer pivot c-sttiona brket SO. The cn¡cent or th cn nit oCth lever 52 an th pe ar 14. On oterportn.92 '!th th arc-ape projec 94 pr~ a ba wb th deon for is reea th I . .52clockw pIota movem orthe lever 52 exce a an th pe ar 14 pivo abut the pivot pi coun-predeteed value ~ch Is caus by th dcprCS0n tc by mea or th cn Cor. f thforc appl by the dover. CUature of the eia¡ 30 re sp 56 to re to the in potion asPorton 92 Is not constat thereaong. Specay, th by the so li In FIG. 1.

curatu of th; engagig porton 92 is siec suc In ord to adjuath pe potin awaytht th engig porton 92 enes with the ar~ rorcø potiOn as shwn in FIG. 1 to, forshaped piojcòn 94 to stop the. cloc pivota the reos potin, th elecc mor 102' cn-movement of the lever 5~ cxedg th preeted 35 gi to rotae in th l10n diecon by 0 . g thvalue in. rens to . çonlt ditace of th Plvtaswtd (DOt shwn). whi caus the sc ro 00 todiplac of th pe pa 77 ,irve or th ro in th aae dion Acrdy, the . nutadjusted poon of th peal pad 17. Th stona 98 move alon¡ the sc ro 100 rey sldebret 50 is fu formed with a stpp projecon -the sl pm ,. an 10 thugh the bra 16 .th96 at ita upp reaard end. The stoppe projecon 96 40 the condi elonte hoiès 62 an 64 re-is cnglgee with a çorr¡ forwd en of th wadly, as shown by the lOUd li In FIG. 8 w in th

lever 52 so as to prvent a counterclockwse pivota pe poon is adjused to it reat po ii Si-movement or the lever 52 exceg a predeter multay, th slide pin 18 sldes wi th arc-vaue. sha hoe 66 frm its rorward end to ita arA screw nut 98 (Lc. a drven membe) Is fi to th 45 en whi caus the adjus leer "to pivot the

biaet76 and a coesndig screw ro 100 (I.e. a pin ø ÎI th çoW1~ocwi dion TJ 'votdrivemem) is rotataly moun to th frout and movci orihai lever 66 cathe th . pinbak wa52and 5U. Th sc nut 98 is oracyli 70 to moe downwar.wi th UCPe h Ie 12-drca shap an formed with a th boe thugh Th sl moem of th lle pin 10 thwhi th scw rod 100 exds 50 as to be engaged SO arpe bo 72 doc no caus th optig I er 58with ea other. An. ~ectnc motor 102 is fi to th to pivot abut th pivot pi fO 50 tht DO Coree is pli

rront wal52 an is çonnec to th scew ro 100 for to.. th opti wi 61 si a nd of.cu oracuag SIe. Spcy, th mo 102 is engi th.~ hole 12 is th sa as a di eeto ro in th norm or rever di ii re the cete of th a1pi 10 aD th CC or pivotto th drvers awtc opn. Th lOtati of th 55 ~ 61motor ca th scw ro 100 to rota in ~um Asdea beore th raUl or cu r thediecn wi the motor lOi.Theac nut n isar ho 66inot COt thcr S -gu by th rot of the scw ro 100 to move 'cay, th ra of cu of th ar e 66aloal th sc rod lOl. ThmocmoCthac al ie au th whcu th a1 pin '7- _-";" '.~'- -- -'- ;:nut 98 ca th br 16, l. th pe ar 14 al 60 downwa or ii with th arpcbo 72lnwith th pe pad 77 to mov alg th se ro re to thlldi movet of th sl Iii 18100, witb slpin 18 an 80 Clmo wi wi th&r ho66towait . death coin ho 62 or 64 beee it for or it for cirevey, a dl bc . thean rc en as shwn ii FIG. 5by the ioli an" ceoCthe piv pifO an tlccteofthc ; .. lIdott li 65 10 bein rc pr to a di , , ec-

A tcnsiOluprig 104 is cocc to th pivot pi Q) thce ofthpivo pi Mud th cetuof , ~."..atits for en an to th 1t1c88 at it pa77. Acy, th CorappU to th . ~tca eø Th teon sp 11M isii a ba wi fl an th re dc Cor or e leg

. ,.,.-",.: .....,.,,"_._.

.:",:1 '....::

5,010,7829 ropower are kept co!1tat irtive or the ajuste along with sa pe ai reltive to said Ie er sope position unde .. condition tht a dita of the as to adjU$ .. position of the pe pa In the ongi-pivota dilacen of th pe pad 17 from th non- tudi dirtion or th vehe;depreu poition is the sae. an adjU$ lever provide on sa leer, sa JusAs the Slde pin 80 moves reard with the elon- 5 lever beg alowed a reltive movement sad

¡ate hole 64. th stpe leve 88 sta to piot about lever and havig a connecg mebe w .ch isthe pivot pin 90 in th clockw dion which adapte to move with .. fi arpe inca th engagi portoii 9i al to pivot abt the respoii to the reltive movemen of sad !j

pivot pin,o. ~ debe beore, the cuatu of the levcrengagi pørton!l is not coiit thereaong. Spc- 10 a send ar-s trk for OD uid adjc:y, the cu of the engig pon 92 is se vcrlcc to alow th eog porton 92 to contat wi a fi liea trac ronned OD sad lever an'the ai projecn 94 whe th pe pa 17 in the loigitu dlOD. or th vehpeom a .pivot diplaent of a pred a rirt gue mebe provided on sa pe.cons dita frm the l1ii-dre poon of 15 fi ¡u me adpt to mo with pe pa 17,-ïrpëve of an adjuste pe po fi liea tr ai sitaiWyti IC . arpe ir ronn on ul liAs. se fr FIG. " whe the pe pad 17 is de lever when sad pe ar fa dnve to mo DI th

pt by th drer, th pe ar 74 ai th leer 52 loagtu diOD. of th ve vi sa pepivot about th piot pin 54 as ODe integr uit in th 20. ..iti adH":Ag ..._... uU mou_-t r ...-cloc di to ac ti opeg le 5& r- .... -- -- ... Wlthough the adjll lev~ .66. Acgly, th opti ,- fi gude membe chg a dita sa, leer 58 pivots abut th pivot pin 60 clocis to pul fir plvot ul to aà pe pa corrpo . g to ath opti wie.61 reaary, 10 th th thtt magi of the movement or aJ fi ¡uva ofth eble . . . membe and sitay alwi sa 'veve e v option sys IS IJ tu ac. 25 movement of the adjus lever to.ch a tiTh piot movement of th le 12 and th pe an of sa COec mebe wi sa ar'14 ex th preed Vaue is preente by a1 trk corrnd to sa ormea of the eit beee the enpgirig paon th movem of sa fir ..IAe. me,.92 an th ar projecti M. Wh the peal ...Jl 17 is reea fro the deon forc

th pe 30 opti mebe mea coim to ùl

'ãn 74 an th lever 52 pivot abut th pivot pin 54 inmem for revi th thcounteoc to retu to the åiti or non- forc appli to lapc pa Wi_dqre posioii asshWiby the lOUd li in FIG. I ansa lever and

for trtt ai deby me orthc energi forc or the retunuprg 56 forc

to a vehcle opon Iys toA fur couite moem fa prevente by 35 wi. .mea of th engement bewee th atppe prje 2.

Th potioi adjusle pe assely astiii " and th rorw en of th lever 52. in cli. wh la reative movemt of adju

In ord to re th pe an 74 to.th potion as levercJes the potion of sa Co be toshwi by,thC soli li in FIG. 5, th elc: motor 102 'p~vide.. pre~ed rati re beis enii,to ro in the reer diec 40 ditace an . dice from sa fit pivot ai

As in the fit prefea embot, th c:te of connecg membe.th a1 pin 71 an th c:te of th al pi 80 ar not ~. The potion adjule pe uably as. veryii whi ca prvie th aa efec as in cla 2, wbeel sad dnve me inludderi in th fi preea emboL rod rotaly IUpport oii sad lever and

It is to be wi th th invetin Is not to be 45 par to sa fit liea trai aa drve belite to th emboen des abve, and tht incliia nut rixto sa pe an &a ha' avaUl c1es an moiftil1 may be mae with- thed bolethugb WhJreWlsalCout deg fr th spirt an icpc ofthinveition. ro thtJ for muten¡aèm thas dCed in thappeed ci sa nut be alow to move in th IWh is cled is 50 re of th ve al with sa pe

1. A potion adjusle pe asbly for a vecle saac ro fa ac to rotatecoprig: 4. Th poti adjutable pe asbly ua staoc br fi to a station po of ii cl2,wI saCO me .th ve1e; fiaU. pi CO to saad leer,a levercoii to sa itaon br for 'a 55 fi ar tr iiud a fi

pivota move retie to sad stona for in sa leve, sa fi al pi be

bøct ab a fi plvo ul aU wi sa fit ~pe alot iil'a pe an wi a pe pa at its lower en sad relve moement of th adjl1t leer.pe IJCQecte to sad le for pivo $. Th poti adlo pe asbly umovement with sa leer u onli1l in 60 hi cl 4. wb aa fi plvotai fa ....respo to . de for ap to dipe upp en of sa lever. an aJ f& sl Ispa' .. or nbstiy in a ve di to .pe poadju. mc Iiiia drve aJ pr ra .rC hi wI øtmebe aiadrvei.mcbe, sa drve me. .be sa dlfrth fi pit.w.toth

, ~te to ~ acvaby ave drver. op- 6S pepa ai aJ dl frm the fi pivot . tO

tíoa sa drven me -oii on aJ pe th &a II ph Is mMftt",ed COt Ve ofar to be advey drea by ui drve me an adjii po Of th pe.J1 wbi is .to move hi a lot:¡ft.ldi of th veb by ui pe poti adju mc ..

.' . -~.~ ~ -'.....,- ---'--.0.,"'

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5,010,782II U6. The position adjustable peda asbly as set fort repons to a depreson force applied to the edal

in claim 5, furer compriing sprig mea Connec pad;to sad station bracke at its up end and to sa pe potion adjustig mea includg afir slde pin at its lower end. sad sprig mea stretch- member an a drven membe, sad dnve ming or compresg in resns to sad movement of sa S adate to be acvated by . vehicle drver'sfi slide pin with sa fit ar-sape ilot 10 as to tion, sad dnven membe mounted on sadchange its sprig force applied to sad peda pa vi sa ar to be seccvely dnven by sad drveslde pi sad,lever and sad pe ar sad chage of ' to move in . longitu diron or the vth spnng force absing vartion in a req de- along with sad pe ar retive to sad Iepreson rorc to be appli to sad pe Pad sa var- 10 as to adjust. potion of the peal pa in thetion ii th reqed dereon forc beg caus by tu diectin of the vehcle;varûo in sad dis frm th fit pivot ax to th an adjus lever beg genery or. z.pe ba' ·

pe pa due to the adjut or the pe pa po- fi poOD ex genery in . fa di-tiOD vi sad pe poti adjusg mea reon oftle vehcle, a.icnd porton . g7. Th po adjutale pe asbly IS se fort I' genery In a re dill ofih vch an

in cla 5, wher sa op¡ membe meI in- a th pon exg genery . Y tocludes a ii me an an opti ro sa li co sa fi an send po, . fimem be cocc to sad rint iUde pi at its poon be co to sad le at it foreaar en and coecte to sad opetÎi ro at its en for a pivtal moement reve to sa everfórw en for a pIvota mOVent reve to sa 20 an beg co to a fi l1e pi at it re-ope ro about a send pivot ui and wherei wad en sad fi sle pi engagi into. fisa fiarc- slot ba a raus of cuat whi -_.I in sa le 11 'Ai.wis th sae as a di from the fi sle pi to sa ar slt fo... er or s -send pivot ax for preventi dilacent of th movcaent ther in ree to thp otaopeg ro whie the fit sle pin move with sad 25 movem of sad fi

porton. sasccnd rtn

fi ar slot due to th adjutment of sad pe be formed wi a ICd arpe slot vIpa b f . _Adl . . I prcd curtuy mea 0 sa ~ poon adju mea 0..,;.... memb me inud i li m beI. The po adjule pelSly IS se fort i---

in cla 7, whe ra of curatu of sa ICd ardai op rod sa li mem . piv-arpe tr form on sa adjus lever ar pre 30 otay coii to lld. fi slde pin at its re-leè to mata sad ditace ratio to be cot wa en aD plvotalycote to sadirespetive of a position of sa fint gude membe ing ro atlts forwd end for rc the d prewith sa send arpe trck iion forc frm sad rir sle pi aD for t-

,. The P!tin adjutale pe asly as se fort tig the dereoi for to aid òp toin c1 8, wherei sa rint gude membe is a send 35 operae a vel open sys anslde pin whih is fi to sad pe an at its porton sad pe

ar provi with i send slde p'

oppotc to s:pe pad, an sad fit li trac is a uppe port whi is in into a fifint lin~ 510t which is formed in sad lever, and slot formed ii sa lever an exteg in thewhensad send sUde pin is engaged into sa fit tudi direcon of the vehcle, and

into sa

linea slt an fuer into sad send uc-shapc slot 40 ond ~pc slot suh tht when saformed ii sa adjus lever. sUde pin sli with sad fi elongate sl10. The poon adU$le pe asbly IS set fort sad se arpe slot in th longi .

in c1ll, fuer compriin. send guide mem in rectin of th veh 10 IS to adjus the. form or. th slie pin fied to sad pe ar below postion. the con of the .send .sad send slde pin sad. Send and thd sl pi 45 aD th Ie arpe slot fore sabein vercay dis¡n from ea oth, an a se pin to aUewl sa fi ar.. slot as tòoDd linea tr in . for of.. se li slot for var . pot .of applca at thdcp orin sa lever beow sa fi liea slot, sad fi an reve to sa li øì vi Ai fit sl pinse lieinlota exdig in pael to ea oter sa fi ar sl bavi¡ i P . edvercay dign fr ea oth, aiel th sle SO cutu suchtb th sl moem sadpin beg engaed into sa se li slot for a fi sl. pi wi Ui fi arpe otisslidi movemt therewith whe sa pe ar is preven fr di Ui ope .dnvcn to mOve in the lontudi diec of th veh- ii.The potion adjus1e pe asly isse fortclc. inc1 U, whe sa leer is fu form th a11. A po adjusle pe asbly ror a vehicle 5S se e1pteslot be aa fi c1 a1 sacompn ~d elonat a1 exg in par to fi. stona bra fi to a ston pooa of elonga slot for

an re ends or . fitth vee; and seeIngateslot ar very .. re-

a levercotc to sa Itii bnikc for i spcy, IIdsa pe ar is fber prvid withpivota movem retive to aad at 60 .ltI slde pibesa se sl pin . thbracke abut a fit pivot ax; . sle pin be ii into sa seeloø for

. pe ar with . pe pa at ita low en sa il movcmt 'tb sa. se ~ di

pe ar, eo to sa lever for piv sle pi bcg vc:y di¡n fteamovemt wi sad leer as one inte un in · · · · ·

6S

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United States Patent (19)Rixon et al.

111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111~I111111111111111111111111USOO5819593A

Patent Number:

Date of Patent:(11)

(451

5,819,593*Oct. 13, 1998

(54) ELECTRONIC ADJUSTAULE PEDALASSEMBLY

(751 Inventors: Christopher J. Rixon, Tecumseh,Canada; Christopher Bortolon,

Clawson, Mich.

(731 Asignee: Comcorp Technologies, Inc., Warrn,Mich.

( * 1 Notice: The term of this patent shall not extendbeyond the expiration date of Pat. No.5,632~183.

(21) Appl. No,: 516,050

(22) Filed: Aug. 17, 1995

Related U.S. Appllcation Data

(63) Continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 513,017, Aug. 9, 1995, Pat.No, 5,632,183.

(51) Int. CI.6 .................................................... Gt5G 1/14(52) US. Cl. .............................................. 74/514; 74/513(58) Field of Search ............................. 74/514, 513,512,

74/560

(561 References CitedU.S. PAT DOCUMENT

3,643,524 2/1972 Herrg ............................... 74/513 X3,643,525 2/1972 Gibas ................................. 74/513 X4,582,653 4/1986 Blanchard et aI. ...................... 261/654,(j,248 2/1987 Stoltman ................................ 423/3994,869,220 9/1989 Imoehl ................................. 123/399

4,875,385 10/1989 Sitrin ........................,.............. 74/5124,905,544 3/1990 Ganoung .....,........................... 74/8584,912,997 4/1990 Malcolm et aL. ..,...................... 74/3354,915,075 4/1990 Brown ...................,................. 123/3994,944,269 7/1990 Imoehl ................................... 123/3994,958,607 9/1990 Lundberg ............................... 123/3994,976,166 12/1990 Davis et aL. ............................ 74/5124,989,474 2/1991 Cicotte et aL. ........................... 74/5125,045,005 9/1991 Ganoung ................................. 475/425,078,024 1/1992 Cicotte etal. ......................... 74/5125,23,882 8/1993 Byram et al. ........................... 74/5145,241,936 9/1993 Byler et aI. ......................... 74/513 X5,335,563 8/1994 Yamamoto et al. ..................... 74/5125,40,899 4/1995 Stewart ..,........................,...... 74/5135,460,061 10/1995 Redding et aL. .................... 74/513 X

FOREIGN PATNT DOæMENT

67315 3/1991 Japan .................................... 74/5124128519 4/1992 Japan.

Pnmary Exaner-Carles A MarorAssistan Ex-MarAnn BatttaAttorne, Agent, or Firm-Howard & Howard

(57) ABSTRACT

An electronic adjustable control pedal asmbly for a motorvehicle including a caer, a gude rod adapted to be secuedto the dah panel of the vehicle and mountig the carrer forfore and aft movement along the guide roci a power driveoperative to move the carrer along the guide roci and apedal structure including a peal arm pivotally mounted onthe carer and a potentiometer mounte on the carrer andoperative to generate an output electrcal signal proportionedto the extent of pivotal movemeiit of the peal arm.

4 Claims 4 Drawing Sheets

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1

ELECTRONIC ADJUSTABLE PEDALASSEMBLY

RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S, patent

application Ser, No, 08/513,017 filed on Aug, 9, 1995, nowU,S, PaL. No, 5,632,183, and ~niiiled Adjustable P~dalAssembly,

BACKGROUND or TIlE INVENTON

This invention relates to control pedal apparatuses andmor~ particularly to adjusllI~nt m~ans for selectively adjust-ing the position of one or more of the control pedals of amotor vehicle,

In a conventional automotive vehicle pedals are providedfor controllng brakes and engine throttle. If the vehicle hasa manual transmision a clutch pedal is also provided. Thespedals are foot operated by the driver, In order for the driverto maintain the most advantageous position for working

these control pedals the vehicle front seat is usually slidablymounted on a seat track with means for securing the seatalong the track in a plurality of adjustment positions,

The adjustment provided by moving the seat along theseat track does not accommodate all vehicle operators due todiferences in anatomical dimensions, Furter, there is grow-ing concern that the us of seat tracks, and especially long

seat tracks, constitutes a safety hazard in that the seat maypull loose from the track during an accident with resultantinjures to the driver and/or pasngers. Further, the use ofseat tracks to adjust the seat position has the effect ofpositionig shorter operators extremely close to the steering

wheel where they are suscptible in an accident to injuryfrom the steering wheel or from an exploding air bag. It istherefore desirable to either eliminate the seat track entirelyor shorten the seat track to an extent that it wil be strongenough to retain the seat during an impact. Shortening oreliminating the seat track requires that means be provided tos~l~ctively mov~ the various control pedals to accommodat~various size drivers.

Various proposals were made over a period of many yearsto provide selective adjustment of the pedal positions toaccommodate various sizc drivers but none of these propos-als met with any significant commercial acceptance since theproposed mechanisms were unduly complex and expensiveand/or were extremely diffcult to operate and/or accom-plished th~ r~quired pedal adjustm~nt only at the expeus ofaltering other critical dimensional relationships as betweenthe driver and the various pedals; Recently a control pedalmechanism has been developed which is simple and inex-pensive and easy to operate and that accmplishes therequired pedal adjustment withöut altering furth~r criticaldimensional relatiolL'ihips as between the driver and thevarous pedals. This control pedal mechanism is disclose in.U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,875,385; 4,989,474 and 5,078,024 allassigned to the assignee öf the presnt application. The 55

present invention represents furter improvements in adjust-able control peal design and speifcally relates to anadjustable control pedal apparatus which is compatible with,and incorprates, adrive-by-wire arrangement in which the

link between the pedal and the asciated controlled device

-of the motor vehicle compris an electronic signal ratherthan a mechanical linkage.

SUMMY OF TIE INVNTONThis invention is directe to the provision of a simple, 65

inexpensive and effective apparatus for adjusting the controlpeals of a motor vehicle.

5,H19,5932

More specifically, this invention is directed to the provi-sion of an adjustable control pedal apparatus that is espe-cially suitable for us~ in conjunction with a driv~-by-wirethrottle control.

The invention apparatus is adapted to be mounted on thebody structure of the motor vehicle and includes a carrier,guide means mounting the carrier for fore and aft movementrelative to the body strcture, and drive means operative tomove the carrier along the guide means. According to the

10 invention, the pedal assmbly further includes a real strc-ture mounted on the carrier for movement relative to thecarrier and means operative in response to movement of thepedal structure on the carrier to generate an electrical signalproportioned to the extent of movement of the pedal struc-ture on th~ carrier. This arrangement provides a simple and

15 effective means of generating an electronic control signal on

an adjustable pedal assmbly and ensures that the ergonom-ics of the control pedal wil not vary irrespective of theposition of adjustment of the pedal structure.

According to a further feature of the invention, the pedal20 strcture is pivotally mounted on the carrier and the electric

signal is generated in response to pivotal movement of thepedal structure on the carrier. Th specifc arangementretains the customary pivotal movement of the control pedaland al maintains the constant ergometric operation of the

25 control pedal asmbly.Accrding to a further feature of the invention, the

generator means includes a potentiometer mounted on thecarer whose settig is vared in response to pivota move-

ment of the pedal structure on the carer. Ths specic30 arrangement provides a. simple and effective mean of

generatig the required electronic signal to provide drve-by-wire operation.

Accrding to a further feature of the invention, the pedalstrcture incliides a pedal arm and a pedal mounted on a

35 lower end of the pedal arm; the pedal asembly furtherincludes a feedback apparatus; and the feedback apparatus

includes a sprig mounted on the carrier and arnged toexert a spring force against the pedal arm that varies inrespons to pivotal movement of the pedal arm, a firstfriction sudace defined on the pedal arm, and a seond

40 friction sudace defined on the spring and arranged forwiping coaction with the first frÌction surace in response topivotal movement of the pedal arm. This specific arnge-ment provides a simple and effective means of providing thedesired feel or feedback to the operator upon movement of

45 the pedal and further provides the desired hysteresis effect.

According to a fuer feature of the invention the firstfriction surface is defined by a cam sudace on the pedal arm;the spring comprises a leaf spring fixedly secured at one endthereof to the carrier and defining a free end; and the send

50 friction sudace is defined on the free end of the leaf spring.With this arrangement, pivotal movement of the pedal armgenerates wiping action between the cam surace and thefree end of the spring and varies the extent of flexing of thespring about its fixed end.

Acrding to a further feature of the invention, thefeedback apparatus mean further includes a fit resistanceplate mounted on the upper region of the pedal arm and asend rèsistancxq,late mounted on the free end' of th~ léafspring. and biased against the firs resistanee plate. This

60 arrangement allows. the resisance offered to the pivotig

pedal to be vaned either by varying the sprig characteritics

of the spring or by varing the resisance characteritics ofthe resistance plates.

BRIF DESCRIPTON OF TIE DRAWIGFIG. 1 is apeispetive view of an electrnic adjusable

peal asmbly accrding to the invention;

,"-- .

3RG. 2 is a fragmentary side view of the pedal a"sembly;FlU. 3 is a detail view taken within the closed line 3 or

FIG. 2;RG, 4 is an end view of the pedal a'imbly;RG.5 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 5-5 of RG.

1; andRG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 6-6 of RG,

5,

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF TIEPREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The invention control pedal assembly, broadly

considered, is intended to allow effcient fore and aft move-ment of the pedal asmbly to accmmodate operators ofvarying anatomical dimension and is operative to generatean electronic or drive-by-wire signal in response to pivotalmovement of the pedal asmbly while retaining the same. ergometrc operation of the pedal iresective of the poition

of adjustment of the pedaL.

The pedal assmbly includes a support strcture 10, a 20carrier asmbly U, a drive asmbly 14, a pedal asmbly16, a resistance or feedback asmbly 18, and a generatormeans 20.

Support structure 10 may be formed as two or more parts 25which are suitably joined together or may, as shown, beformed as a single integral unitary member in a casg orforgig operation. Strcture 10 includes a bracket portion

lOa, a transmision housing porton lOb, and a guide rod

portion lOe.

Bracket portion lOa is adapted to be suitably secured tothe dash. panel 22 of the asiated motor vehicle utilngsuitable fastener means in known manner.

Transision housing porton lOb extends rearwardly

from bracket portion lOa and has a generally cubicle con- 35

figuation defining a hollow 10c opening at the front face10d of bracket lOa and futher defining a central bore 10e ina rear wall 10! of the housing portion.

Guide rod portion 10c extends rigidly rearwardly from therear wall 10! of the trnsmision housing portion, is hollow 40so as to provide a tubular confguration defining a centralcircular bore 109 concentrc with bore 10e, is open at its rearend 10k, and includes an upper axial slot 10i extending froma location proximate the transmision housing wall 10! to alocation proximate guide rod rear end 10k,

Carrer asmbly 12 includes a housing 24. a nut 26, anda key 28.

Housing 24 may be formed as a casting, forging orstamping, and is designed to move slidably along the guiderod portion 10e of support structure 10. Housing 24 includes 50a rear wall 240, side wall 24b and 24, a bottom wall 24,a top wall 24e, and a front wall including an upper porton24f, a lower portion 24g, and an angled intermediate con-nector portion 24k. Acircular opening 24i is provided in rearwall 240 proXimate top wall24 and a circular opening 24j SSis provided in front wall upper portion 24! proxiate topwall 24e in axial alignment with opening 24i. Housing 24 ismounted on the gude rod porton 10e of support strcture 10

with guide rod portion 10e pasng through aperture 24i and24j and bushings 30 positioned in apertres 24and 24jin 60sliding engagement with the outer periphery of guide rodporton10e so as to mount the housing for sliding movementalong the gude ro. Angled front wa1l24k is complementaryto the angled lower sud 10j of the tranison housng

porton lOb of support strctre 10 so that th housing 24 6Smay move intooestig relation with resec to the supportstrcture with the housng in its extme forward position.

5,819,5934

Nut 26 is circular, is mounted for sliding movement incircular bore 109 of support structure 10, and defines acentral threaded bore 26a.

Key 28 is seated at it" lower end 28a in a notch 26b in the5 upper periphery of nut 26 and pases upwardly through slot

10i and through an opening 24k in top housing wall 24e forsecurement at its upper end 28b, by fasteners 32, to a flange241 upstanding from housing top wall 24e. Key 28 thuslockingly interconnect" nut 26 and housing 24 so that

10 movement of nut 26 in bore 109 is imparted to housing 24so as to move housing 24 axially along guide iad portion10e.

Drive asmbly 14 includes a motor 34, a cable 36, abracket 38, a worm 40, a worm gear 42, and a scew shaft

15 44.

Motor 34 compris a suitable electrc motor, with posi-tion memory if required, and is suitably secured to dashpanel 22 proximate the bracket portion lOa of the supportstrcture.

Cable 36 compri a well-known bowden cable and is

drivingly sered at one end 36a to the output shaft of motor

34. Bracket 38 is seed to an outer face of transmisionhousing lOb and mounts the other end 36b of cable 36.

Worm 40 is sutably jouralled in transmision housinglOb in overlying relation to cavity 10e and is drvinglyconnected to cable end 36b.

Worm gear 42 is jouralled in cavity 10e in meshiengagement with worm 40 and includes a front truion42a

30 journalled in a bearng 45 positioned in the open front endof cavity 10e and a rear trnion 42b joumalled in a coun-temore 10k in transmision rear wall 10f.

Screw shaft 44 extends rearwardly from worm gear 42centrally withi support structure bore 109 and passthreadably through the threaded central bore 26a of nut 26.

It wi be sen that actuation of motor 34 has the effect ofrotating screw shaft 44 to thereby move nut 26 and housing24 fore and aft along guide rod 10e with the extent offorward and rearard movement defined and limted byengagement of key 28 with the front and rear ends of slot10i.

Pedal asmbly 16 includes a peal arm 46 and a pedal 48seured to the lower end 460 of the pedal ar. Pedal arm 46

4S pass upwardly through a slot 24 in the lower housingwall 24d for pivotal mounting at its upper end 46b tohousing side walls 24b and 24c via a pivot shaft 50.

Resiance asmbly 18 includes a pedal arm friction earnplate 52, a leaf spring 54, and a sprig friction car plate 56.

Resistance asmbly 18 is intended to provide feeback or"feel" to the operator to replace the feedback normally

provided by the mechanical liage interconnectig the

pedal and the controlled device such as the fuel throttle.With a mechanica linge, the pedal presure reuired whenadvancing the acclerator pedal is greater than that reuiredto maintain a fixed poition. This difference is oftn referredto as due to the hysteresis effect. This effect is importntm,.,maintaming the acClerator pedal in position wlre .drYig 4.1 , .,uelatively constat sped and it must al be coiiiderë in

achevig a desi decleration tie. The presre which

must be applied in acclerating iseasüy born but if the backpressur of an acclerator spring prodiice the sae effectduring the time it was required to retain or maiiitain speedit wold son beme uncmfortble for the ópèrator tomaintain a relatively constat spe. The hyseresis effectprovides relief. It lens the load re to maintain a

settig of the acclerator yet there is stil forc to caus

- --. : ;:~c .~: r:. .:

5,819,5935

reverse pedal action when the foot applied pressure isremoved, Resistance asembly 18 provides the "feel" of amechanical linkage including the desired hysteresis effect torelieve operator fatigue.

Pedal arm friction cam plate 52 may be formed, for 5example, of a plastic material such as Delrinil and is securedto an upper cam edge 46e of the peal arm via a dovetailconnection 52a.

Spring 54 comprises a laminated leaf spring and includesa c~rl .54a. at its upper end wrapped around a pin 24m 10proJeeting 10wardly from housing side wall 24b. A nub 24nprojects inwardly from housing side wall24b below pin 24mand coacts with pin 24m to trap the end tip 54b of curl 54ato fixedly secure the upper end of the spring to housing sidewall 24b. - 15

Sprig friction cam plate 56 may be formed, for example,

of a glass filled nylon material and includes a workingportion 56a suitably seed to the lower end 54b of leafspring 54 and a tail portion 56b pasing upwardly betweenthe leaves 54a, 54b of leaf spring 54. The part arc confg- 20ured such that with the pedal 48 in its upper or rest position,as ~en in.FI.G. 1, frction plate ~orkng portion 56a is urgedagamst frction plate 52 by spnng 54 so as to resist pivotalmovement of the pedal asmbly to an operative positionwit? the resistance being constituted both by the increasing 25

resistance force of the spring 54 and by the frictionalr~~tance force ~twee~ plates 52 and 56a generated by thewip10g or cammmg action of plate 52 against plate 56a asthe pedal arm pivots about the axis of pivot shaft 50. Uponreleas of presure on the pedal, the frictional resistance 30force between plates 52 and56a beome subtractive ratherthan ~dditive wi~h respect to the forc of spring 54, thereby

creat10g the desired hysteresis effec. The materials of camplates 52 ~n~ 56a may be selectively varied to selectively 35var the frction levels and hence the damping or hysteresis

effect provided by the rubbing plates,. Gener~to: means 20 comprises .a potentiometer 60 posi-

tioned within the hollow of housing 24 and suitably securedto housing side wall24c. Potentiometer 60 includes a central 40shaft, c~nsti~ted by the pivot shaft 50, a housing 60aconcentnc with shaft 50, a plurality of resistance elements60b ~ounted c~cu~ferenti~lly around the inner periphery ofhousmg 60a 10 side-by-side relation, a wiper arm 60emounted on shaft 50 and operative to electrically slidably 4Sengage the resistance elements 60b in response to pivotalmovement of shaft SO,and an outlet 60d projecting rear-wardly through openig 24p in housing rear wall 24 andelectrically connected to wiper 60c and resistance elements60b in a manner such that the electrcal signal appearing at 50the outlet 60d varies in proporton to the extent of pivotalmovement of the pivot shaft 50. It wil be sen that pivotalmovement of pedal 48 has the effect of rotating pivot shaft50 an~ thereby varying the electrical signal appearing at thepotentiom~ter outlJt 60d so that the signal appearg at SSoutlet 60d is at all times proportioned to and indicative of thepivotal position of the pedaL. It will be understood thatelectric power is suitably supplied to potentiometer 60 andan electrcal conduit 62 is suitably conneced to potentiom-eter outlet 60d and extends to the vehicle function or 60accessry, sueh as the vehicle throttle, that is being electr-caly controlled by the pedal asmbly.

In operation, the position of the peal 48 relative to theoperator is selectively adjused by Selectively energizing

motor 34 to selectively move nut 26 forwardly and rear- 65wardly within guide ro bore 109 and thereby, via key 28,move the peal asmbly selecively forwardly and rear-

6wardly along guide rod tOe with the limit,; of forward andrearward movement determined by engagement of the keywith the respective forward and rearward ends of the slot10i. In any position of adjustment of the pedal, actuation ofthe pedal or release of the pedal results, in the mannerpreviously described, in the generation of an output signal atthe cutlet 60d proportioned to the extent of pivotal move-men!_ Since the pivotal movement of the pedal arm isprecisely the same in any position of adjustment of the pedalstructure, the ergometrics of the assembly do not varyirrespective of the position of adjustment of the pedalassembly and irrespective of the anatomical stature of theoperator.

As the peal is moved downwardly, a "feel" is impartedto the pedal, simulating the feel of a mechanical linkage

betw~n the pedal and the controlled vehicle system, by thecombmed effect of flexing of the leaf spring 54 and frctionalsliding or wiping engagement between tbe friction plates 52and 56a. Further, as the pedal is releasd or allowed to

return, the frictional force becomes subtractive rather thanadd!tive with respect to the spring force, thereby creating thedesired hysteresis effect. The amount of feel impared to thepedal can thus be precisely adjusted by adjusting the spring~ate or other !'arameters of leaf spring 54, and/or by adjust-ing the matenals or other parameters of friction plates 52 and56a, and/or by adjusing the rise of cam edge 46c, thereby

renderig it relatively easy to fie tune the system to achieveany desired feel and any desired hysteresis effect.

The invention wi be seen to provide an electronicadjustable pedal asmbly for a motor vehicle in which theassembly may be readily adjuste to accommodate operatorsof v~ing anatomical dimensions and in which the ergo-

metrics of the system remain constant irrespective of theposition of adjustment of the pedal structure.

Whereas a preferred emboiment of the invention hasbeen ilustrated and described in detaiL, it wil be apparentthat various changes may be made in the disclosed embodi-ment without departng from the scpe or spirit of theinvention. For example, although the invention pedal assem-bly has been indicated for us in controllig the throttle ofthe assiated vehicle, the invention pedal asmbly may beused to electrcally control a wide variety of vehicle func-tions or accesries. Further, although the resistance assm-bly 18 has been ilusrated as providing the damping for an

adjustable peal assmbly, it wil be apparent that thisresistance assmbly can al be utilized toprovide dampingfor a non-adjustable pedal assmbly.

What is claimed is:1. An adjustable pedal asmbly for a motor vehicle

adapted to be mounted on a body structure of the vehicle andoperative to generate a control signal for. controlling anassiated device of the motor vehicle, said asmbly com-

prising:a carrer;guide mean mounting the carrier for fore and aft move-

ment relative to the vehicle boy strcture;dnve mean for movig the caner along the guide means; ,a peal structre mounted on the carer for movement

relative to the caer; andgeneratór means operative in repons to movement of the

peal stcture relative to the carrer to generate anelectrc control signal proportoned . to the extent ofmovement of the pedl strcture relative to the carier;

the caerdefining a smooth bore and a threaded bore;

the gude mean including a guide rod slidably recived inthe smooth bore; and

7

)

the drive means including a screw shaft threadahly

received in the threaded bore.2. An adjustable pedal assembly for a motor vehicle

adapted to be mounted on a body structure of the vehicle andoperative to generate a control signal for controlling an

assciated device of the motor vehicle, said assmbly com-prising:

a carrier;

guide means mounting the carrier for fore and aft move-ment relative to the vehicle body strcture;

drive means for moving the carrier along the guide means;a . pedal structure including an upper end pivotally

mounted on the carrier; andgenerator means operative in response to pivotal move- lS

ment of the pedal structure on the carer to generate anelectric control signal proportioned to the extent ofpivotal movement of the pedal strcrurc;

the carrier defining a smooth bore and a threaded bore;the guide means including a guide rod slidably received in 20

the smooth bore; andthe drive means including a screw shaft threadably

received in the threaded bore.3. An adjustable pedal asmbly for a motor vehicle 2S

adapted to be mounted on a body strcture of the vehicle and

operative to generate a control signal for controlling an

assciated device of the motor vehicle, said assmbly com-prising:

a carrier;

guide means mounting the carrier for fore and aft move-ment relative to the vehicle body strcture;

drive means for moving the carrier along the guide means;a pedal structure including an upper end pivotallymounted on the carrier; 35

generator means operative in response to pivotal move-ment of the pedal structure on the carrier to generate anelectric control signal proportioned to the extent ofpivotal movement of the pedal strcrure;

resistance means operative to rcsist pivotal movement ofthe pedal structure;

the pedal strcture including a pedal arm and a pedalmounted on a lower cnd of the pedal ann;

5,819,5938

the resistance means including a leaf spring fixedlymounted at one end thereof on the carrier and having afree end biased against an upper region of the pedalarm;

the resistance means further including a first resistanceplate mounted on the upper region of the pedal ann anda send resistance plate mounted on the free end of theleaf spring and biased against the first resistance plate.

4, An adjustable pedal assembly for a motor vehicle

10 adapted to be mounted on a body strcrure of the vehicle andincluding a carrer, guide means mounting the carer forfore and aft movement relative to the boy strcture, anddrive means operative to move the carrier along the guidemeans, characterized in that:

the pedal assmbly futher includes a pedal strcturemounted on the carrier for movement relative to thecarrier and generator means operative in respons tomovement of the pedal strcrure on the carrer togenerate an electrcal signal proportioned to the extentof movement of the pedal strcrure on the carrer;

the guide means compris a guide rod;the carrer includes an upper portion mounted on the

guide rod for sliding fore and aft movement along theguide rod;

the pedal strcture includes a pedal ann having an upperend mounted on a lower porton of the carrer;

the pedal ann is pivotally mounte on the lower carrierportion;

the generator means includes a potentiometer mounted onthe lower porton of the carrer and means operative in

response to pivotal movement of the pedal arm to varythe setting of the potentiometer;

the guide rod compries a hollow rod;the carrier furter includes a nut slidably positioned

within the hollow of the guide rod and means connect-ing the nút to the upper porton of the carrier so thatsliding movement of the nut within the guide rodmoves the carrier fore and aft along the gude rod;

the drive means includes a screw shaft threadablyreceived in the nut and means operative to rotate thescrew shaft.

30

40

. . . ..

mx::0-;:s:

UNITED STATES DISTRCT COURTEASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN

SOUTHERN DIVISION

TELEFLEX INCORPORATED,

Plaintiff,Case No. 02 74586

v.Hon. LaWTence P. Za~off

KSR INTERNATIONAL CO.,Magistrate Judge Pepe

Defendat.

RODGER D. YOUNG (P22652)STEVEN SUSSER (P52940)Young & Susser, P.C.Counel for Plaintiff26200 American DriveSuite 305Southeld, MI 48034

248.353.8620

JAMES W. DABNEYPennie & Edmonds, LLPCounsel for Defendat1155 Avenue of the AmericasNew York, NY 10036

212.790.9090

KENNETH J. MCINTYR (P17450)Dickison Wright, PLLCCounsel for Defendat500 Woodward AvenueSuite 4000Detroit, . MI 48226313.223.3500

AFIDAVIT OF CHARLES MEIER

I, Charles Meier, being duly sworn, depose and state as follows:

1. I have personal knowledge of the facts stated in this Affdavit, I am competent to

testify to those facts, and I would testify to them if called upon to do so.

2. I am Director of Pedal Engineering for Teleflex Incorporated.

3. The adjustable peda assembly design referenced in the Engelgau patent (U.S.

Patent No. 6,237,565) has been placed in Ford's U-137/P-131 program.

4. The U-1371P131 program vehicles are the Ford Excursion, F-250, and F-350.

5. To date, Teleflex has shipped approximately 150,000 adjustable pedal units to Ford

for the U-137/P-131 program.

Subscribed and sworn to before me

~~(S~~ ,2003.Notary PublicfYJI\t:" hr, t, Itldir~h M/tAtJCounty,My Commission xpires: /I-iQ.a:3

MIE A. CHNo Public. Macb Coty, Ml

My Commison E'rires Nov. 29,20Act i,. Oa ColV, Ml

2