US-12617273-B2 - Reaction force application device

US12617273B2US 12617273 B2US12617273 B2US 12617273B2US-12617273-B2

Abstract

An actuator generates a drive force in response to energization. A lever is configured to be rotated by a drive force transmitted from the actuator to apply the reaction force to a pedal. A contact member is provided to the lever such that the contact member can be brought into contact with or separated from the pedal. The contact member is made of resin and has: a contact member main body; a contact surface portion that is formed on the contact member main body and is configured to contact the pedal; and a specific shape portion that is shaped in a form of a projection or a recess and is formed on the contact member main body at a time of molding the contact member. The specific shape portion is formed on the contact member main body at a corresponding location that is different from the contact surface portion.

Inventors

Rika IWATA
Tetsuji Yamanaka
Hideyuki Mori
Tetsuo Hariu
Soichi KINOUCHI
Yushi Tsuzuki

Assignees

DENSO CORPORATION

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20250326
Priority Date: 20220930

Claims (7)

1 . A reaction force application device configured to apply a reaction force against a pedal force of a human driver to a pedal of an accelerator device to be depressed by the human driver, the reaction force application device comprising: an actuator that is configured to generate a drive force in response to energization of the actuator; a lever that is configured to be rotated by the drive force transmitted from the actuator to apply the reaction force to one of the pedal and an arm, wherein the arm is configured to be rotated integrally with the pedal; and a contact member that is provided to the lever, wherein the contact member is configured to be brought into contact with or separated from the one of the pedal and the arm, wherein: the lever includes: a lever main body that is shaped in a rod form; a one-side lever end portion that is formed at one end of the lever main body and is configured to receive the drive force transmitted from the actuator; and an other-side lever end portion that is formed at another end of the lever main body, which is opposite to the one end of the lever main body; the contact member is made of resin and has: a contact member main body that is shaped in a tubular form; a contact surface portion that is formed in a specific range of an outer peripheral surface of the contact member main body and is configured to contact the one of the pedal and the arm; and a specific shape portion that is shaped in a form of a projection or a recess and is formed on the contact member main body at a time of molding the contact member, wherein the contact member is provided to the lever such that the other-side lever end portion is inserted through an inside of the contact member main body; the specific shape portion is formed on the contact member main body at a corresponding location that is different from the contact surface portion; the contact member has a slidable surface portion that is formed in a specific range of an end surface of the contact member main body, which faces in an axial direction of the contact member main body, wherein the slidable surface portion is configured to rotate relative to the other-side lever end portion and is slidable relative to another member; and the specific shape portion is formed on the contact member main body at the corresponding location that is different from the slidable surface portion.
2 . The reaction force application device according to claim 1 , wherein: the contact member has a member recess that is recessed from the end surface of the contact member main body, which faces in the axial direction; and the specific shape portion is one of a plurality of specific shape portions, and at least one of the plurality of specific shape portions is formed at a bottom surface of the member recess.
3 . The reaction force application device according to claim 2 , wherein a depth of the member recess is larger than a projecting height of the at least one of the plurality of specific shape portions.
4 . A reaction force application device configured to apply a reaction force against a pedal force of a human driver to a pedal of an accelerator device to be depressed by the human driver, the reaction force application device comprising: an actuator that is configured to generate a drive force in response to energization of the actuator; a lever that is configured to be rotated by the drive force transmitted from the actuator to apply the reaction force to one of the pedal and an arm, wherein the arm is configured to be rotated integrally with the pedal; and a contact member that is provided to the lever, wherein the contact member is configured to be brought into contact with or separated from the one of the pedal and the arm, wherein: the lever includes: a lever main body that is shaped in a rod form; a one-side lever end portion that is located at and formed integrally in one-piece with one end of the lever main body and is configured to receive the drive force transmitted from the actuator; and an other-side lever end portion that is located at and formed integrally in one-piece with another end of the lever main body, which is opposite to the one end of the lever main body; the contact member is made of resin and has: a contact member main body that is shaped in a tubular form; a contact surface portion that is formed in a specific range of an outer peripheral surface of the contact member main body and is configured to contact the one of the pedal and the arm; and a specific shape portion that is shaped in a form of a projection or a recess and is formed on the contact member main body at a time of molding the contact member, wherein the contact member is provided to the lever such that the other-side lever end portion is inserted through an inside of the contact member main body; the specific shape portion is formed on the contact member main body at a corresponding location that is different from the contact surface portion; the contact member has a fixing portion that is configured to fix the contact member main body to the other-side lever end portion to limit rotation of the contact member main body relative to the other-side lever end portion; and the fixing portion is formed on the contact member at a location that is different from the contact surface portion.
5 . The reaction force application device according to claim 4 , wherein the specific shape portion is formed at the corresponding location where the specific shape portion does not come in contact with the fixing portion.
6 . The reaction force application device according to claim 4 , wherein: the contact member has a member recess that is recessed from an end surface of the contact member main body, which faces in an axial direction; and the specific shape portion is one of a plurality of specific shape portions, and at least one of the plurality of specific shape portions is formed at a bottom surface of the member recess.
7 . The reaction force application device according to claim 6 , wherein a depth of the member recess is larger than a projecting height of the at least one of the plurality of specific shape portions.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation application of International Patent Application No. PCT/JP2023/033017 filed on Sep. 11, 2023, which designated the U.S. and claims the benefit of priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2022-159059 filed on Sep. 30, 2022. The entire disclosures of all of the above applications are incorporated herein by reference. TECHNICAL FIELD The present disclosure relates to a reaction force application device. BACKGROUND Previously, a reaction force application device, which is configured to apply a reaction force against a pedal force of a human driver to a pedal of an accelerator device to be depressed by the driver, has been proposed. For example, one previously proposed reaction force application device includes a lever which can apply the reaction force against the pedal force of the driver to an arm that rotates together with the pedal of the accelerator device. A distal end portion of the lever is provided with a rotatable member that can be brought into contact with or separated from the arm and can rotate relative to the lever. SUMMARY This section provides a general summary of the disclosure, and is not a comprehensive disclosure of its full scope or all of its features. According to the present disclosure, there is provided a reaction force application device configured to apply a reaction force against a pedal force of a human driver to a pedal of an accelerator device to be depressed by the human driver. The reaction force application device includes an actuator, a lever and a contact member. The actuator is configured to generate a drive force in response to energization of the actuator. The lever is configured to be rotated by the drive force transmitted from the actuator to apply the reaction force to one of the pedal and an arm, wherein the arm is configured to be rotated integrally with the pedal. The contact member is provided to the lever. The contact member is configured to be brought into contact with or separated from the one of the pedal and the arm. The contact member is made of resin and has: a contact member main body; a contact surface portion that is formed on the contact member main body and is configured to contact the one of the pedal and the arm; and a specific shape portion that is shaped in a form of a projection or a recess and is formed on the contact member main body at a time of molding the contact member. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS The drawings described herein are for illustrative purposes only of selected embodiments and not all possible implementations, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a reaction force application device and an accelerator device having the same according to a first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the reaction force application device and the accelerator device having the same according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a contact member of the reaction force application device according to the first embodiment. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line IV-IV in FIG. 3. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line V-V in FIG. 3. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a molding process of the contact member of the reaction force application device according to the first embodiment. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a reaction force application device and an accelerator device having the same according to a second embodiment. FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing the reaction force application device and the accelerator device having the same according to the second embodiment. FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view showing a contact member of a reaction force application device according to a third embodiment. FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view taken along line X-X in FIG. 9. FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view taken along line XI-XI in FIG. 9. FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view showing a contact member of a reaction force application device according to a fourth embodiment. FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view taken along line XIII-XIII n FIG. 12. FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view taken along line XIV-XIV in FIG. 12. FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view showing a contact member of a reaction force application device according to a fifth embodiment. FIG. 16 is a cross-sectional view taken along line XVI-XVI in FIG. 15. FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional view taken along line XVII-XVII n FIG. 15. FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a contact member of a reaction force application device according to a sixth embodiment. FIG. 19 is a diagram showing the contact member of the reaction force application device according to the sixth embodiment. FIG. 20 is a cross-sectional view showing a contact member of a reaction force application device according to a seventh embodiment. FIG. 21 is a view taken in a direction of an arrow XXI in FIG. 20. FIG. 22 is a view taken in a direction of an arrow XXII