Control lever system, particularly for vehicle brakes

Claim 1

In a control lever mechanism of the type comprising: a control lever having a fixed end carried on a fixed fulcrum and a free end, said lever being turnable about said fixed fulcrum upon the application of a force to said free end thereof, a force transmission member linking said control lever with an element to be controlled, and pivotal connection means connecting said force transmission member to said control lever, said pivotal connection means forming a second fulcrum on said control lever, the improvement wherein, said second fulcrum is displaceable with respect to said control lever, there are provided: guide means for guiding the displacement of said second fulcrum along an arcuate path which brings it closer to or further away from said first fulcrum, resilient biasing means urging said second fulcrum along said arcuate path away from said first fulcrum, and limit stop means for limiting the movement of said second fulcrum along said arcuate path, and said guide means are positioned such that the centre of curvature of said arcuate path defined thereby lies on one side of the line of action of said force transmission member when said control lever is at one end of its range of pivotal movement about said first fulcrum, and on the other side of said line of action when said control lever is at the other end of its said range of movement, whereby the force exerted on said second fulcrum by said force transmission member in reaction to a force applied in one direction to said free end of said control lever urges said second fulcrum towards one end of said arcuate path when said control lever is at said one end of said range of movement and towards the other end of said arcuate path when said control lever is at said other end of said range of movement.