Pedal assembly having a hysteresis mechanism

1. A pedal assembly for use in association with a vehicle, comprising:

a pedal support adapted for mounting to the vehicle, said pedal support including a pivot shaft extending along a pivot axis, said pivot shaft having an outer circumference and an outer bearing surface formed directly on said outer circumference of said pivot shaft;

a pedal arm including a lever portion and a mounting portion, said mounting portion rotatably engaged to said pivot shaft to allow pivotal movement of said pedal arm about said pivot axis;

a clamp arm pivotally coupled to said pedal arm, said clamp arm having a compression surface facing said bearing surface of said pivot shaft;

a biasing member engaged between said pedal support and said clamp arm and arranged to apply a biasing force to said clamp arm to pivot said clamp arm relative to said pedal arm and toward said pivot shaft to provide direct frictional engagement between said compression surface of said clamp arm and said bearing surface of said pivot shaft;

wherein said mounting portion of said pedal arm defines a space and wherein said mounting portion includes a pair of oppositely disposed flanges defining said space therebetween with said clamp arm positioned within said space, said biasing member arranged to apply said biasing force to said clamp arm to pivotally displace said clamp arm within said space of said mounting portion toward said pivot shaft to provide said direct frictional engagement between said compression surface of said clamp arm and said bearing surface of said pivot shaft; and

wherein application of an activation force onto said lever portion of said pedal arm provides said pivotal movement of said pedal arm about said pivot axis, said pivotal movement of said pedal arm increasing said biasing force applied to said clamp arm by said biasing member to correspondingly increase said frictional engagement between said compression surface of said clamp arm and said bearing surface of said pivot shaft to provide increased resistance to further pivotal movement of said pedal arm about said pivot axis.

2. The pedal assembly of claim 1 , wherein said biasing force applied to said clamp arm by said biasing member correspondingly increases frictional engagement between a second compression surface defined by said mounting portion of said pedal arm and said bearing surface of said pivot shaft to provide additional resistance to further pivotal movement of said pedal arm about said pivot axis.

3. The pedal assembly of claim 2 , wherein said mounting portion of said pedal arm defines a pivot shaft opening arranged along said pivot axis and sized to rotatably receive said pivot shaft therein to pivotally engage said pedal arm to said pedal support, said second compression surface defined by said mounting portion extending at least partially about said pivot shaft opening.

4. The pedal assembly of claim 1 , wherein said pivotal movement of said pedal arm about said pivot axis results in corresponding displacement of said clamp arm, said displacement of said clamp arm acting on said biasing member to increase said biasing force applied to said clamp arm by said biasing member.

5. The pedal assembly of claim 4 , wherein said displacement of said clamp arm results in compression of said biasing member between said clamp arm and said pedal support, said compression of said biasing member correspondingly increasing said frictional engagement between said compression surface and said bearing surface.

6. The pedal assembly of claim 1 , wherein at least one of said compression surface of said clamp arm and said bearing surface of said pivot shaft is roughened to facilitate said frictional engagement therebetween.

7. The pedal assembly of claim 1 , wherein said compression surface and said bearing surface are each uniform and uninterrupted.

8. The pedal assembly of claim 1 , wherein a reduction in said activation force onto said lever portion of said pedal arm allows said biasing member to pivot said pedal arm about said pivot axis toward an at rest position, said pivotal movement of said pedal arm toward said at rest position decreasing said biasing force exerted onto said clamp arm by said biasing member to correspondingly decrease said frictional engagement between said compression surface and said bearing surface to provide decreased resistance to further pivotal movement of said pedal arm toward said at rest position.

9. The pedal assembly of claim 1 , wherein said pivot shaft is formed integral with said pedal support to provide a unitary single-piece structure.

10. The pedal assembly of claim 1 , wherein said mounting portion of said pedal arm defines an opening arranged along said pivot axis and sized to rotatably receive said pivot shaft therein to pivotally engage said pedal arm to said pedal support.

11. The pedal assembly of claim 1 , wherein said clamp arm defines an opening extending therethrough and generally aligned with said pivot axis, said opening sized and shaped to receive said pivot shaft therein, said opening at least partially bound by said compression surface.

12. The pedal assembly of claim 1 , wherein said biasing member comprises at least one compression coil spring.

13. The pedal assembly of claim 1 , further comprising: a magnetic field generator providing a magnetic field, said magnetic field generator coupled to said pedal arm and arranged generally along said pivot axis such that said pivotal movement of said pedal arm results in rotational displacement of said magnetic field about said pivot axis; and

a magnetic sensor device comprising at least one magnetic flux sensor positioned within said magnetic field to sense variations in said magnetic field during said rotational displacement and to generate an output signal representative of a rotational position of said magnetic field relative to said at least one magnetic flux sensor.

14. The pedal assembly of claim 13 , wherein said magnetic field generator is integrated into said mounting portion of said pedal arm.

15. The pedal assembly of claim 13 , wherein said magnetic field generator is integrated into said mounting portion of said pedal arm and is recessed below an axially facing outer surface of said mounting portion of said pedal arm.

16. The pedal assembly of claim 13 , wherein said magnetic field transversely intersects said pivot axis and said at least one magnetic flux sensor is positioned generally along said pivot axis.

17. The pedal assembly of claim 1 , wherein said clamp arm is pivotally connected to said pedal arm by a pivot pin.

18. The pedal assembly of claim 1 , wherein at least one of said flanges defines a pivot shaft opening arranged along said pivot axis and sized to rotatably receive said pivot shaft therein to allow said pivotal movement of said pedal arm about said pivot axis.

19. A pedal assembly for use in association with a vehicle, comprising:

a pedal support adapted for mounting to the vehicle, said pedal support including a pivot shaft extending along a pivot axis, said pivot shaft having an outer bearing surface;

a pedal arm including a lever portion and a mounting portion, said mounting portion rotatably engaged to said pivot shaft to allow pivotal movement of said pedal arm about said pivot axis, wherein said mounting portion of said pedal arm includes a pair of oppositely disposed flanges defining a space therebetween;

a clamp arm pivotally coupled to said pedal arm, said clamp arm positioned within said space between said pair of oppositely disposed flanges and pivotally coupled to said pair of oppositely disposed flanges by a pivot pin, said clamp arm having a compression surface facing said bearing surface of said pivot shaft; and

a biasing member engaged between said pedal support and said clamp arm and arranged to apply a biasing force to said clamp arm to pivot said clamp arm relative to said pedal arm and toward said pivot shaft to provide frictional engagement between said compression surface and said bearing surface; and

wherein application of an activation force onto said lever portion of said pedal arm provides said pivotal movement of said pedal arm about said pivot axis, said pivotal movement of said pedal arm increasing said biasing force applied to said clamp arm by said biasing member to. correspondingly increase said frictional engagement between said compression surface of said clamp arm and said bearing surface of said pivot shaft to provide increased resistance to further pivotal movement of said pedal arm about said pivot axis.

20. A pedal assembly for use in association with a vehicle, comprising:

a pedal support adapted for mounting to the vehicle, said pedal support including a pivot shaft extending along a pivot axis, said pivot shaft having an outer bearing surface;

a pedal arm including a lever portion and a mounting portion, said mounting portion including a pair of oppositely disposed flanges defining a space therebetween, at least one of said flanges defining a pivot shaft opening arranged along said pivot axis and sized to rotatably receive said pivot shaft therein to allow pivotal movement of said pedal arm about said pivot axis;

a clamp arm positioned within said space between said pair of oppositely disposed flanges and pivotally coupled to said pedal arm, said clamp arm having a compression surface facing said bearing surface of said pivot shaft;

a position sensing device located adjacent one of said oppositely disposed flanges, said position sensing device operable to sense a pivotal position of said pedal arm relative to said pedal support and to generate an output signal representative of said pivotal position; and

a biasing member engaged between said pedal support and said clamp arm and arranged to apply a biasing force to said clamp arm to pivot said clamp arm relative to said pedal arm and toward said pivot shaft to provide frictional engagement between said compression surface and said bearing surface; and

wherein application of an activation force onto said lever portion of said pedal arm provides said pivotal movement of said pedal arm about said pivot axis, said pivotal movement of said pedal arm increasing said biasing force applied to said clamp arm by said biasing member to correspondingly increase said frictional engagement between said compression surface of said clamp arm and said bearing surface of said pivot shaft to provide increased resistance to further pivotal movement of said pedal arm about said pivot axis.

21. The pedal assembly of claim 20 , wherein said pivot shaft is formed integral with said pedal support and said clamp arm is pivotally coupled to said pair of oppositely disposed flanges by a pivot pin.

22. The pedal assembly of claim 20 , wherein said clamp arm defines an opening extending therethrough and generally aligned with said pivot axis, said opening sized and shaped to receive said pivot shaft therein, said opening at least partially bound by said compression surface.

23. The pedal assembly of claim 20 , wherein said position sensing device comprises:

a magnetic field generator providing a magnetic field, said magnetic field generator coupled to said one of said oppositely disposed flanges of said pedal arm and arranged generally along said pivot axis such that said pivotal movement of said pedal arm results in rotational displacement of said magnetic field about said pivot axis; and

a magnetic sensor device comprising at least one magnetic flux sensor positioned within said magnetic field to sense variations in said magnetic field during said rotational displacement and to generate an output signal representative of a rotational position of said magnetic field relative to said at least one magnetic flux sensor; and

wherein said magnetic field generator is integrated into said one of said oppositely disposed flanges of said pedal arm and said at least one magnetic flux sensor is positioned generally along said pivot axis.