1999 SPE Award Winners:
Chassis/Hardware/Assembly Category

Windstar Plastic Brake and Accelerator Pedal Bracket

This innovation is a thermoplastic bracket molded from 44% glass reinforced nylon 6, which replaced a component made of magnesium.  This thermoplastic bracket had to fit in a current production vehicle with no modification of any parts except those in pedal and bracket assembly.  Metal inserts are used in design, eliminating creep of thermoplastics, which was found to be a potential problem during the design & evaluation of this part.  The front and back views shown below display the ribbing used for structural strength and rigidity, and the metal inserts at the vehicle attachment points.

The illustrations below are close ups of these features.  The left picture shows the attachment of the thermoplastic pedal using a plastic pin.  The right illustration shows the metal inserts and structural ribbing

The savings achieved from this design change are $1 per part, resulting in a total of $300,000 per year.  In addition, tooling for thermoplastics is less costly than for magnesium, presenting an additional opportunity for cost savings.