Patent ID: 11971073
Assignee: KA GROUP AG
Field: Mechanical elements (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC F | IPC F

Claim 19:
20. A method of operating a rotary shifter assembly having a housing, a shaft, a shift knob mounted to one end of the shaft, a plurality of locking fingers mounted to another end of the shaft and at least partially extending axially from the shaft, an overload wheel at least partially disposed about the locking fingers with the locking fingers directly engaging the overload wheel, and a locking mechanism, said method comprising the steps of:
rotating the shaft between a plurality of radial positions to indicate a desired gear change for changing gears in a vehicle transmission;
concurrently rotating the overload wheel with the shaft as a unit during the step of rotating the shaft through the direct engagement of the locking fingers during a normal operational mode of the shifter assembly for performing the desired gear change;
selectively engaging the locking mechanism with the overload wheel to selectively prevent and allow the concurrent rotation of the overload wheel and the shaft during the normal operational mode of the shifter assembly; and
moving the locking fingers relative to the overload wheel to permit temporary rotation of the shaft relative to the overload wheel when a force applied to the shaft is beyond a maximum torque threshold, and automatically returning to the concurrent rotation once the force is below the maximum torque threshold.