Patent ID: 6018294
Filing Date: 2000-01-25
Classification: F16H

Abstract:
A shift indicator system for electrically indicating the selected gear of an automatic transmission in a motor vehicle, comprising:a gear selector connects to a plate member in the transmission, said gear selector manually operative to rotate said plate member within a range of selectable transmission gears;a switch movably engages a stepped cam surface of said plate member, such that each step of said cam surface correlates to one of said selectable transmission gears, and transmits an electrical signal being indicative of one of said selectable transmission gears, where said switch encodes said electrical signal using resistive multiplexing to indicate one of said selectable transmission gears;a shift indicator electrically connects to said switch for displaying the selected transmission gear based on said electrical signal; anda vehicle safety device electrically connects to said switch, said switch being operative to activate said vehicle safety device for a first selected transmission gear.