Patent ID: 6568294
Filing Date: 2003-05-27
Classification: F16H,G05G,Y10T

Abstract:
A shifter for shifting a vehicle transmission having a plurality of gears including a plurality of drive gears, the vehicle transmission being configured to cooperate with a vehicle control system to shift automatically between the plurality of drive gears and to shift manually between the plurality of drive gears, comprising:a base; a shift lever pivoted to the base for movement along a single planar shift path, the single planar shift path including a first portion having an automatic-shift drive position and including a second portion having a manual-shift drive position; a switch associated with the shift lever for changing between an automatic shift mode where the first portion is operable, and a manual shift mode where the second portion is operable; and a shift lever position indicator including first indicia for indicating shift lever positions when in the automatic shift mode and second indicia for indicating shift lever positions when in the manual shift mode, the shift lever position indicator further including a first polarized screen and a first polarized light source arranged to selectively illuminate the first indicia only when the shift lever is in the automatic shift mode, the shift lever position indicator further including a second polarized screen and a second polarized light source arranged to selectively illuminate the second indicia only when the shift lever is in the manual shift mode.