Patent ID: 9476501
Filing Date: 2016-10-25
CPC Classification: F16H,Y10T

Claim Text:
1. A gear shifter for use with a transmission, comprising: a housing that defines a gate; a gear shift lever having a first end and a second end, the gear shift lever at least partially received within the housing so that the first end is guided by the gate, the gear shift lever movable to select a range for operation of the transmission, the gear shift lever including a biasing member; and a shifter block received within the housing and including a plurality of detents, with one of the plurality of detents corresponding to a null position for the gear shift lever and a remainder of the plurality of detents corresponding to a selected range for the transmission, the one of the plurality of detents including a pair of pockets defined on opposite sides of the one of the plurality of detents so as to be in communication with the one of the plurality of detents, the pair of pockets inhibit a selection of the range for the operation of the transmission, the pair of pockets and the plurality of detents each sized to receive a portion of the second end of the gear shift lever, and an opening of each of the pair of pockets leads to a flat surface having a positive slope that cooperates with the biasing member to move the gear shift lever back to the one of the plurality of detents upon removal of a lateral force, wherein each of the plurality of detents has a distinct height from a bottom surface of the shifter block and the positive slope is defined relative to the bottom surface of the shifter block, the one of the plurality of detents has a height from the bottom surface of the shifter block that is less than heights of a remainder of the plurality of detents and the remainder of the plurality of detents correspond to a reverse range, a drive range and a neutral range, with the null position defined between the drive range and the neutral range.