US 11,999,337 B2
Pedal emulator for a vehicle
Werner Austermeier, Schloß Holte-Stukenbrock (DE); Dennis Mark Burke, Canton, MI (US); Kerim Florian Huge, Paderborn (DE); Andreas Mueller, Lippstadt (DE); Ralf Ridder, Lippstadt (DE); and Claus Viethen, Erwitte (DE)
Assigned to Hella GmbH & Co. KGaA, Lippstadt (DE)
Appl. No. 17/421,657
Filed by Hella GmbH & Co. KGaA, Lippstadt (DE)
PCT Filed Jan. 16, 2020, PCT No. PCT/EP2020/051005
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Jul. 8, 2021,
PCT Pub. No. WO2020/152022, PCT Pub. Date Jul. 30, 2020.
Claims priority of application No. 10 2019 101 646.0 (DE), filed on Jan. 23, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2022/0089135 A1, Mar. 24, 2022
Int. Cl. B60T 8/40 (2006.01); B60K 26/02 (2006.01); B60T 7/04 (2006.01); B60T 7/06 (2006.01); G05G 1/44 (2008.04); G05G 5/03 (2008.04)
CPC B60T 8/409 (2013.01) [B60K 26/021 (2013.01); B60T 7/042 (2013.01); B60T 7/06 (2013.01); G05G 1/44 (2013.01); G05G 5/03 (2013.01)] 17 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A pedal emulator for a vehicle, the pedal emulator comprising:
a base part for mounting the pedal emulator to a structure of the vehicle;
a pedal lever pivotable around a rotary axis of the base part;
a force generation unit for exerting a counterforce on the pedal lever via at least one coupling element for mechanically coupling the force generation unit with the pedal lever;
wherein the counterforce acts counter to an actuating force exerted on the pedal lever;
wherein the force generation unit and the at least one coupling element are designed and arranged in such a way that a progression of the counterforce along a pedal travel of the pedal lever takes the form of a non-linear progression in a pedal travel-counterforce diagram;
wherein the force generation unit and the at least one coupling element for generating the non-linear progression of the counterforce along the pedal travel feature a plurality of solely mechanical mechanisms;
wherein the plurality of solely mechanical mechanisms includes a plurality of springs, wherein a first spring and a second spring of the plurality of springs are connected together in parallel or connected together in series;
wherein at least one spring of the plurality of springs acts together with a plurality of levers to transmit force, wherein the plurality of levers are designed for achieving a direct, or in the case of a coupling element designed as a lever, indirect force transmission connection with the pedal lever; and
wherein the plurality of levers is designed and arranged in such a way that the plurality of levers are not linked to each other in a force transmission connection in a first section of movement of the pedal lever and are linked to each other in a force transmission connection in a second section of movement of the pedal lever.