Abstract:
A retractable gearshift lever including a base, a free end articulated about an axle between a deployed position and a retracted position, and a device allowing the free end to be locked in its deployed position. The locking device includes a sleeve which can slide with respect to a first part of the lever—the base or the free end—and which can engage, through complementary shapes, with the end of the second part—the free end or the base—while at the same time remaining in engagement with the first part. An elastic ring, which can move axially with a certain amount of play, is fitted between the sleeve and the first part.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION AND DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART 
     The present invention relates to retractable gearshift lever. 
     It is already known practice for the position of a gearshift lever to be adjusted to suit, for example, the build of a driver. Document discloses such a lever. The latter is therefore mounted on a plate which can move by pivoting. A pin associated with a locking lever, and an element comprising a groove, allow the lever position to be selected and allow the lever to be kept in this position. 
     Document for its part, relates to a vehicle anti-theft device employing a gearshift lever which is articulated about an axis parallel to the floor of the vehicle and a lock device designed to imprison said lever once it has folded down onto the floor. 
     The technical problem underlying the present invention is one of providing a gearshift lever which is retractable so that the obstacle that this lever forms in a cabin when the vehicle is parked up can be eliminated. The use of such a lever is envisaged particularly for heavy goods vehicles because truckers often use their cab as living quarters. For this use, the gearshift lever is an obstacle which hampers their movements. 
     The technical solutions to this problem could possibly be found in the aforementioned devices of the prior art. The first device has the drawback of being very bulky and not allowing full retraction. The second device discussed allows good retraction and proposes a solution with smaller bulk. However, the articulation of the lever is a source of significant play which detracts from the precision of gearshifting and from the comfort of using it. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The object of the present invention is therefore to provide a retractable gearshift lever which, in its deployed position, introduces no play into the control o f the gearbox of the vehicle. As a preference, this device will be small in bulk and ergonomic. 
     To this end, the gearshift lever that the present invention proposes is a gearshift lever that can be retracted, between a deployed position and a retracted position, including a base, a free end articulated about an axle which is roughly transversal with respect to the lever, and a device allowing the free end to be locked in its deployed position. 
     According to the invention, the locking device includes a sleeve which can slide with respect to a first part of the lever—the base or the free end—and which can engage, through complementary shapes, with the end of the second part—the free end or the base—while at the same time remaining in engagement with the first part, and an elastic ring which can move axially with a certain amount of play is fitted between the sleeve and the first part. 
     By virtue of this method of locking which involves a sleeve and an elastic ring, it is possible to eliminate the play which may be introduced by the fact of providing an articulation. 
     Furthermore, a lever of this kind has the advantage of requiring only a small amount of space. 
     The sleeve advantageously has a conical bearing surface at the end facing the first part, collaborating with a conical surface of the elastic ring. 
     One embodiment therefore envisages for the elastic ring to be a split ring. 
     One embodiment envisages for the contacting surfaces of the second part and of the sleeve, in the locked deployed position, to have a conical bearing surface. 
     For better guidance of the sleeve and to limit its travel, the sleeve has, for example, two diametrically opposed slots, in each of which one end of an axle which articulates the free end to the base, slides. 
     In this embodiment, it may be envisaged for each slot to have a shape reminiscent of a keyhole, having an oblong part of a given width and an approximately round end of a diameter greater than the width of the oblong part, and for the ends of the articulation axle to have flats, the flats sliding in the oblong part of the slots and the diameter of the axle at its ends corresponding to the diameter of the approximately round end of the slots. 
     For the gearshift lever according to the invention, when moved from its retracted position into the deployed position, to be held securely in the latter position without user intervention, the sleeve, or possibly the split ring, is advantageously elastically prestressed in the deployed locked position. 
     To make the retractable gearshift lever according to the invention more comfortable for the user, an operating rod may be provided so as to act on the sleeve from the free end of the lever. In this case, in order to avoid inadvertent unlocking, a snap-fastening arrangement is advantageously provided, to keep the operating rod in the position corresponding to the locked deployed position of the lever. 
     In any case, the invention will be clearly understood with the aid of the description which follows, with reference to the appended diagrammatic drawing which, by way of nonlimiting example, depicts one preferred embodiment of a retractable lever according to the invention. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the lever in its locked deployed position, 
     FIG. 2 is a perspective view corresponding to the view of the previous figure, the lever being in an intermediate position between the locked deployed position and the retracted position, 
     FIG. 3 shows, in exploded perspective, the various elements of the lever of the previous figures, some of the elements being shown in part section, 
     FIG. 4 is a sectioned view on a larger scale taken on the section line IV—IV of FIG. 1, 
     FIG. 5 is a sectioned view on a larger scale taken on the section line V—V of FIG. 2, 
     FIG. 6 is a view in longitudinal section of the lever in the retracted position, and 
     FIG. 7 is a detail view on a larger scale, of the operating means for retracting the lever. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     FIG. 3 clearly shows various constituent parts of the retractable lever according to the invention depicted in the drawing. This lever includes a base  2 , an articulation axle  4 , a sleeve  6 , a split ring  8  and a lever free end  10 . 
     The base  2  is a part of the gearshift lever which is connected to a gearbox, not depicted, of a vehicle. The connection between the base  2  and the gearbox is, for example, by means of a lever  12 . The base has a first circular cylindrical part  14 , extended by a conical part  16  attached to the cylindrical part  14 , and by a tenon  18 . The latter is arranged on the axis  20  of the lever and of the base  2 . It has a bore  22  designed to take the articulation axle  4 . 
     The articulation axle  4  is made from  8  circular cylindrical rod along which two diametrically opposed flats  24  have been made. This axle  4  is mounted roughly perpendicular to the axis  20  of the lever. 
     The sleeve  6  is a circular cylindrical sleeve. 
     It has two keyhole-shaped slots  26 . Each slot  26  has an oblong part the width of which roughly corresponds to the width of the axle  4  in the region of the two flats  24 . The end of each slot  26 , located at the same side as the base  2 , has an approximately round shape, with a diameter roughly corresponding to the diameter of the articulation axle. Thus, the articulation axle  4  can take up its position in the slots  26  and the sleeve  6  can slide along this axle  4 . When the ends of the axle  4  are in the region of the oblong part of the slots  26 , the sleeve  6  is orientated with respect to the lever, as the edges of the slots have, of necessity, to be facing the flats  24 . The latter are oriented in such a way that the axis of the sleeve then coincides with the axis  20  of the lever. When the ends of the axle  4  reach the round end of the slots  26 , the sleeve  6  can pivot about the articulation axle  4 . To allow this pivoting, two cut-outs  28  are made in the sleeve  6 , at the same end as the base  2 , facing the tenon  18 . 
     At the same end as the base  2 , the interior surface of the sleeve has a shape that complements the shape of the base  2 . There is therefore a circular cylindrical part  14 ′ and a conical part  16 ′ inside the sleeve  6 . 
     At the opposite end from the base  2 , the interior surface of the sleeve also has a conical surface  30  intended to take the split ring  8 . This conical surface  30  ends inside the sleeve  6  in the form of a peripheral annular groove  32 . 
     The split ring  8  has a conical exterior surface  30 ′ which corresponds to the conical surface  30  of the sleeve  6 . At its smallest-diameter end, the split ring  8  has a snap-fastening rib  34  projecting radially outwards. This rib  34  is intended to collaborate with the groove  32  in the sleeve  6 . The slits in this split ring  8  extend longitudinally and open at the opposite end to the rib  34 . 
     The free end  10  of the lever is of circular cylindrical overall shape and is surmounted by a knob  36 . At the same end as the base  2 , the free end has a forked part  38  which fits the tenon  18 . As can be clearly seen in FIGS. 4 and 5, stops are provided, one on the base  2  in the region of the tenon  18 , and the other on the free end  10  in the region of the forked part  38 , to prevent the free end  10  from pivoting in the opposite direction to the desired direction. A bore  40  is provided, facing the bore  22 , for the passage of the articulation axle  4 . The other shapes depicted in the drawing of the free end  10  have no real technical function and are therefore not described in further detail here. 
     The collection of parts described hereinabove is assembled in such a way that the sleeve  6  and the split ring  8  are on the free end  10 . The latter is then mounted on the base  2  and the articulation axle  4  is passed through the bores  22  and  40 . 
     To keep this assembly in the deployed locked position shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, a spring  42 , mounted on the end  10 , presses on the split ring  8 , preloading it in the direction of the sleeve  6 . A fixed stop  44  is therefore provided on the end  10 , for this spring  42  to rest against. 
     To make the device easier to operate, provision is made for it to be equipped with an operating pull lever  46 . This extends along the end  10  from the split ring  8  to which it is attached as far as near to the knob  36 . The end of pull lever  46 , at the knob  36  end, is equipped with an easy-to-grasp finger  48 . 
     To keep the pull lever in its position corresponding to the locking of the device in the deployed position, an index  50 , preloaded by a spring  52 , collaborates in a known way with a hole  54  made in the pull lever  46 . The index  50  and the spring  52  are housed in a cavity formed in the free end  10 , as shown in FIG.  7 . 
     In the locked deployed position, the base  2  and the free end  10  are aligned along the axis  20  (FIGS.  1  and  4 ). The sleeve  6  covers the base  2  and part of the free end  10 . The articulation axle  4  is in the region of the slots  26  at the opposite end to the larger-diameter round end. The split ring  8  rests, via its conical sur face  30 ′, against the surface  30  of the sleeve  6 . The rib  34  is in the bottom of the groove  32 . The pull-lever  46  is in the locked position. 
     To move into the retracted position, the pull-lever  46  is unlocked, and by action on the finger  48  is pulled toward the knob  36 . The split ring  8  is pulled, against the action of the spring  42 , until the rib  34  engages with the groove  32  (FIG.  5 ). By pulling the finger  48  again, the split ring  8  pulls the sleeve  6  along. This sleeve, guided on the end of the lever  10  and by the ends of the articulation axle  4 , stops bearing via conical bearing surfaces on the base  2 . When the ends of the articulation axle  4  reach the approximately round part of the slots  26 , the sleeve can pivot with the free end  10  about the articulation axle  4 . The position depicted in FIG. 6 is thus reached. 
     To allow the lever to be returned subsequently to the locked deployed position in which it can be used for gearshifting, all that is required is for the folded-down free end  10  to be stood up. The various elements then return to their position shown in FIGS. 1 and 4 under the force of gravity and the force of the spring  42 . 
     This device for retracting a gearshift lever is not very bulky, is reliable and makes it possible to have a gearshift lever which exhibits no play when in the locked deployed position. 
     As goes without saying, the invention is not restricted to the embodiment described hereinabove by way of nonlimiting example; on the contrary, it encompasses all alternative forms that fail within the scope of the claims hereinafter. 
     Thus, for example, it is conceivable to nave a lever according to the invention which has no operating pull lever. Likewise, the presence of a slot in the sleeve and of other characteristics are optional. 
     Nor would it be departing from the scope of the invention if the sleeve, instead of sliding with respect to the free end of the lever, were to slide with respect to the base.