Reply Brief in Support of KSR's Motion for Summary ... - Fried Frank

5The subject inventionADJUSTABLE PEDAL ASSEJ\L Y WITELECTRONIC THOTfE CONTROLTECHCAL FIED,relates to vehicle control pedal assembly havig an adjustment.mecÏùsmfor movig a peda ar in fore and af directions and an electronic throtte .controlfor controlling an en~e thotte. Specifcaly, the pedal assembly includes a pivot aboutwhich the adjustment mecham rotates when the pedal ar is actuated and which provide~" ,~:~'-,1i '-'"1 -,lQ, ! iY! .,,.¡;~.~,; ~n;~f,"., ~1'- i¡l;. n: i~-1 ;f;\ \~\10- , .¡101520¡input to the electronic thotte control for providing a signal that corresponds to peda ~position.BACKGROUN OF TH INNTONPedal assemblies are used in vehicles to control the movement ofth~ vehicle. Fotexaple, a velucle driver ~pplies a f?r~e to an accelerator pedal to move the pedal from a restposition to an applied positon. In th~ applied position, the accelerator p~dal typicaly actute_san engie thotte, which controls the acceleration and spee of the veluc1e. Often these pedålassemblies include an adjustment apparatiis that alows the position of a pedal arm and/or apedalpad to be moved with respect to the driver. This alows the pedal assembly tbaccommodate drvers ofvarous heights. Thus, the adjustment apparatus alows the pedà1assembly to be moved closer to the driver when the drver is short and allows the pedMassembly to bemóved fuer away from the driver when the drver is tall. Exaples, ofadjustable pedal assembliesare shown in Unit~ States Patent Nos. 5,460,061 and 5,632,183ai assigned to the assignee ofthe subject invention.Additionaly, adjustable pedal assenblies ca include an electonic thotte control25. assembiy for a drve-by-wire system.tii electonk: thottle controlgenerate an electcal signal that corresponds to tIe position ofassembly iS,used tothe accelerator pedal. Theelectronicthrotte èontrol assemblyreplaces trditionà mechac¡d linges between the p~da. ~a. and the engine throtte. One such adjustent apparatus used with an electronicthottt ,. .\ , '30 invention.J oentrQ! is sb\VinUned State fa No. 5,819,593 ased to ii ".Qfthe pres"'\:When a ve~c1e control peda asembly inludes both an adjustment appartus and anèlectronic thotte çontrol; the peda assembly ca be complex with a great number ofpar., These control peda assemblies ca be expensive, tie c~nsUmg to assemble, and reqe asigncant amount of packagig space. 'B& 6S,748-41 fl -1--- -- - - _.- -'.