Patent ID: 6647822
Filing Date: 2003-11-18
Classification: B60K,F16H,Y10T

Abstract:
A vehicle shifter for actuating a shift cable to cause a shifting of a vehicle transmission, the vehicle comprising a steering wheel tilt head which allows tilting of the steering wheel at least in fore and aft directions about a tilt pivot axis, the tilt head being carried at an upper portion of a steering column, the steering column being adjustable in length to raise or lower the elevation of the tilt head relative to the floor of the vehicle and thereby to respectively raise or lower the steering wheel, the vehicle shifter comprising:a shift lever support pivotally coupled to the tilt head; a shift lever carried by the shift lever support and movable relative to the shift lever support to a plurality of shift positions to cause shifting of the vehicle; an elongated shift actuator having an upper portion coupled to the shift lever and a lower portion coupled to the shift cable such that movement of the shift lever from one shift position to another shift position moves the shift actuator and cable to shift the vehicle transmission; and a shift actuator support positioned below the shift lever support and coupled to the shift actuator so as to permit the lower portion of the shift actuator to move upwardly relative to the floor of the vehicle as the steering wheel is raised and to move downwardly relative to the floor of the vehicle as the steering wheel is lowered.