Various types of throttle rods have been advanced in the prior art, and generally will fall into two types. One is where a wire or cable is slidably mounted in an outer flexible sleeve. The sleeve will guide the wire and prevent it from buckling under loads.

This involves a two-part system that has to have mountings for the sleeve as well as the control rod ends. Also, in many throttle arrangements, the connecting ends of the throttle control rod have to be relatively small diameter in order to connect to control linkages that are used from accelerators to fuel control modules the ends are welded into tubes or a larger shaft. Those problems are compounded by the need for having a relatively long rod that is seldom in a straight line, and requires off-set bends. Where a larger diameter tube is used having small diameter ends welded in place, the cost of the assembly becomes rather high. Yet, reinforcement of the rod in the center portions is necessary, particularly when the lengths of such rods can be in the range of four feet or more. The rods may carry both compression and tension loads.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A composite reinforced throttle rod that uses a small diameter solid rod that can be attached to the ends of fuel control elements (accelerator and foot or hand fuel control lever) easily, and which can

accommodate adjustable ends as well, is slipped into a close-fitting tube while the rod is still straight. The close fitting tube has a close slip-fit over the rod.

The rod is then bent to its desired configuration, and in this manner, locks the tube into place on the rod so that the tube acts as a reinforcement for increasing the column strength of the composite throttle rod for carrying axial loads, in particular, compression loads.

This permits the rod to carry the needed loads without bending or buckling, and provides for connecting ends that are the appropriate size without welding the parts together or otherwise fabricating the parts to reduce manufacturing time and costs and to provide a rod that has adequate strength for operation.

It should be noted that in a compact or small size vehicle such as a skid steer loader, there is no place where there is a straight line path between the operator accelerator control and the fuel control levers, such as a control lever on a fuel injection pump of a diesel engine. In other words, the rod always to be bent in at least one or two off-set sections to clear components.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a schematic representation of a reinforced throttle rod made according to the present invention shown schematically attached to a fuel control lever of an injection pump and a manual operator lever, for example, for use on a skid steer loader; Figure 2 is a view illustrating a step in the manufacture of the reinforced throttle rod of the present invention with a straight length of tubing receiving a straight length of rod prior to bending; and

Figure 3 is a view of the composite rod after bending where the ends of the rod protruding from a central tube.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In Figure 1, the reinforced throttle rod indicated generally at 10 is provided with small diameter end portions 12 and 14 that are formed from a continuous rod 16 of the same diameter as the end portions. The end portions 12 and 14 are of small diameter so they can be used for attaching to a control lever 18 at one end, and it can either be bent or connected through a connection sleeve 20 that is adjustably mounted onto the end portion 12 of the rod 16. The rod then can be joined to the control lever 18 in a normal manner. This will provide for length adjustment.

The end 14 has a bent end (see Figure 3) 24 that can be received in an opening 26 of a fuel control lever 29 of a fuel control element such as an injection pump of a diesel engine. The bent end 24 is of size so that it can be inserted through the common size opening 26 used in fuel control levers. The ends also can be reversed with the correction sleeve on the end connected to the fuel control lever 29. The sleeve 20 can be held on the end 12 of the rod with a set screw.

The composite rod 10 includes the interior solid rod 16, and an outer close fitting tubular sleeve 28, which as shown in Figure 2, in an initial stage of assembly, can be slid onto the rod with the tubular sleeve 28 located at the appropriate location between the opposite end portions 12 and 14 of the rod. The tube is shorter than the rod 16 and leaves end portions extending out. The tube is close fitting, for example, a quarter-inch outside diameter rod is a standard rod

for use with fuel control assemblies, and will fit into the standard connection openings of a fuel control lever 28 as well as receive the connection sleeve 20 for attachment to a hand or foot control lever 18. The rod bent end 24 also will fit into standard openings of fuel control or throttle levers on fuel control elements such as any injection pump on the engine. The tubing 28 that is used for reinforcing is preferably in the range of 0.020 to 0.040 inches larger than the outside diameter of the rod 16. It would be thus close fitting and would yet provide clearance for sliding straight lengths of rod into straight lengths of tube.

Once the tube 28 has been slid into place on the rod 16, the composite assembly is formed with suitable bends indicated at 30 and 32 (Figure 3) in one plane, and bend 34 and 36 (Figure 1) in another plane perpendicular to provide clearance around components on the interior structure of a skid steer loader or other vehicle. The bends 30,32,34 and 36 as shown, provide a locking function to securely hold the tube 28 from sliding along the rod 16, and thus locking the reinforcing tube 28 in position. The tube 28 is of sufficient size so that axial loading particularly compression loading on the center portions of the rod 16 will not cause excessive bending. The composite rod greatly increase the overall strength under axial loads.

Thus, a very easy to manufacture, low cost composite throttle rod with adequate strength is provided.

The rods 16 may be in the range of four feet or more in length, and with the small diameters required for attaching the ends, a larger diameter rod is needed in center portions of the rod. The rod can be steel,

and the sleeve or tube 28 also can be steel, or aluminum, if desired.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments, workers skilled in the art will recognize that changes may be made in form and detail without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.