An operation apparatus for an automatic transmission

Abstract: The object of the present invention is to present an operation apparatus of an automatic transmission to be favorable for the vehicles of the A/T type, in which automatic transmission of automobiles is electrically controllable by using the shift lever (1) having a single knob and further a detent of each driving position is effected with reliablity. The operation apparatus is structured such that there are provided A/T switch (23) for transmitting the electric signals corresponding to desirable driving positions to the transmission side by operating a shift lever (1) swingably, and an actuator (19) of the electrically-driven type for removing the contact pin (11) to inhibit the movement of the shift lever (1) upon a predetermined condition of automobiles from a contact slit (1j) provided on the detent plate (1a).

Description: The present invention relates to an operation apparatus for an automatic transmission to be used for a shift lever for effecting a shifting operation for a desired driving position among driving positions such as run, stop, park and the like, in the vehicles such as automobiles of the A/T (Automatic Transmission) type, according to the preamble of claim 1. According to a conventional vehicles such as automobiles of the A/T type, the shift lever position side in which a shift lever for selecting a desired driving position out of several driving positions by shifting operation due to the shift lever, is connected usually through a wire to the transmission position side in which the operation of an automatic transmission of an engine is effected by driving the shift lever swingably, and therefore the swingable operation of the shift lever at the shift lever position side is transmitted to the transmission position side through the wire. Moreover, as a detent mechanism for the shift lever for shifting desired driving positions, there has been presented such structure that a contact pin for inhibiting the movement of the shift lever is contacted with and removed from a contact slit mounted on a detent plate, as shown in Japanese Utility Model Registration No. 2584279. Therefore, there has been adopted generally the shift lever of two knob type in which a detent knob for operating the detent mechanism is additionally mounted on a shift knob of the shift lever. Moreover, for example, Japanese Utility Model Publication Laid-Open No. 5-33432 discloses as a conventional operation apparatus for an automatic transmission, a technique in which many switches each of which is operated for each range position are provided. [Problems to be Solved by the Invention] As mentioned above, however, according to a conventional vehicles such as automobiles of the A/T type, the shift lever position side is connected usually through a wire to the transmission position side, and therefore there has been the problem that deviations in the transmission of swingable operation force due to the shift lever is undesirably generated between both position sides because of slack off and distortion of the wire. Furthermore, there are problems that it is necessary to secure the space required for the wiring of wires between both position sides, and the manufacturing cost of the wiring may be increased. Moreover, according to the detent mechanism of the shift lever for shifting it to a desired driving position as shown in Japanese Utility Model Registration No. 2584279 mentioned above, the shift lever of two knob type in which a detent knob is additionally mounted on a shift knob has been adopted, and therefore there is the problem that the operation of the shift lever becomes complex. Moreover, according to the conventional operation apparatus of an automatic transmission as shown in Japanese Utility Model publication Laid-Open No. 5-33432 mentioned above, there is merely provided each of switches for operating at each of range positions respectively, and therefore there is the problem that there is not provided any function for inhibiting error operations in spite of the necessity of different two directional operations in view of the prevention of error operations. The closest prior art document US-A-5 834 720 discloses an operation apparatus for automatic transmission comprising a shift lever being swingable about a first shaft in the vertical direction and about a second shaft in the front-rear direction. A steering column switch is provided which comprises a prestressed holding element. This holding element locks the driver of the steering column switch in the neutral position until the holding element is moved into its unlocked position by pivoting the shift lever relative to the driver. In this position of the shift lever, the driver may be pivoted so as to shift the transmission. The present invention is made to solve the problems as mentioned above. According to the invention, the running ranges of an automatic transmission are electrically controlled to be changed on the basis of the shifting operations due to a shift lever disposed on a steering column section; wherein the shift lever is composed in such a manner that a movable body mounted at a base end section is pivoted by a second shaft mounted within a through hole which is configured to allow said shift lever to be swingable, thereby allowing the shift lever to be swingable around the second shaft in the vertical direction and further to be swingable around a first shaft mounted on the movable body in the front-rear direction. Therefore, it becomes possible to swingably operate the shift lever of the column type on the AUT mode position and the MAN mode position in the front-rear direction, and further to add many functions in multiple directions to the shift lever. The shift lever is provided with an A/T switch, preferably mounted at the upper portion of the base end section, for being operated when the shift lever is on an auto mode position, and a manual switch mounted, preferably at the lower portion of the base end section, for being operated when the shift lever is on a manual mode position. Therefore, the conventional wire for connecting a shift lever position side provided with the shift lever and a transmission position side is not necessary, and further the electric signals corresponding to the desired driving positions are transmitted toward the transmission side, through the A/T switch or a manual switch to be operated by the swingable operation of the shift lever. Therefore, it becomes possible to effectively remove several problems due to slack and distortion of the wire and further the space at the periphery of the steering column required for receiving the wiring of wire is not necessary, and further to reduce the number of assembling parts and the assembling cost. The operation apparatus of an automatic transmission according to Claim 2 as claimed in Claim 3, has such structure that the shift lever is provided with a first movable contact piece mounted on the upper surface of the base end section for being contacted with a fixed contact of the A/T switch upon the auto mode position, and further a second movable contact piece mounted on the lower surface of the base end section for being contacted with a fixed contact of the manual switch upon the manual mode position. Therefore, since the A/T switch operated by the swingable operation of the shift lever and the manual switch are disposed within the case, it becomes possible to minimize the entirety of the operation apparatus of the automatic transmission. The operation apparatus of an automatic transmission according to Claim 2 or 3, as claimed in Claim 4, has such structure that the shift lever provided with a contact slit mounted at the upper surface of the base end section for being contacted with a contact pin for inhibiting the movement of the shift lever in the auto mode position, and the contact pin is removed from the contact slit through the actuator of the electrically-driven type. Therefore, it comes to add the function of a detent plate to the shift lever without adding any other parts and further any wrong operation of the shift lever is effectively avoided. The operation apparatus of an automatic transmission according to Claim 4, as claimed in Claim 5, has such structure that the actuator is coupled with the contact pin through a link mechanism composed of a link or the like, the link mechanism being provided between the actuator and the contact pin, the link is provided'with an interlocking section to be coupled with the contact pin at one end of the link and above the contact slit of the shift lever, and an interlocking section at the other end is disposed above the actuator, and further the link is disposed so as to be swingable within a receiving space provided in the inner, upper surface side of a case. Therefore, since the contact slit to be contacted with the contact pin composing so-called detent mechanism is formed on the shift lever, it becomes possible to reduce the number of assembling parts and man-hour for assembly and further minimize the entirety of the case. The operation apparatus of an automatic transmission according to Claim 4 or 5, as claimed in Claim 6, has such structure that the contact pin supports the shift lever at each of ranges in an auto mode position by contacting the contact pin with the contact slit mounted at the base end section of the shift lever and a notch slit formed on the side surface of the base end section. Therefore, it becomes possible to avoid any wrong operation due to the shift lever and further to increase the safety of the operation. The operation apparatus of an automatic transmission according to Claim 6, as claimed in Claim 7, has such structure that the notch slit supports the shift lever at P range by contacting the contact pin, and further the contact slit is formed with r position for supporting the shift lever at R range, n position for supporting the shift lever at N range, d position for supporting the shift lever at D range, and m position for supporting the shift lever to be movable from a D range to a manual mode position. Therefore, it becomes possible to increase the safety of the operation by utilizing the contact slit and the notch slit formed on the shift lever per se without using any detent plate. The operation apparatus of an automatic transmission according to Claim 7, as claimed in Claim 8, has such structure that the shift lever is formed with a contact projection formed on the lower surface of the base end section, which is adapted to be contacted with an operation range limiting hole when the shift lever has moved swingably to the manual mode position. Therefore, it becomes possible to avoid any wrong operation of the shift lever without increasing the number of parts for manufacturing. The operation apparatus of an automatic transmission according to Claim 8, as claimed in Claim 9 , has such structure that the operation range limiting hole has an approximate arc shape, one end of which is corresponding to an acceleration change position at which the contact projection is located when the shift lever has swingably moved from the neutral position of the manual mode position in the plus direction, and the other end of which is corresponding to a deceleration change position at which the contact projection is located when the shift lever has swingably moved from the neutral position of the manual mode position in the minus direction. Therefore, it becomes possible to limit the operation range of the shift lever without increasing the number of parts for manufacturing. The operation apparatus of an automatic transmission according to Claim 9 , as claimed in Claim 10, has such structure that the operation range limiting hole is composed of a continuously formed cylindrical section for protecting the contact projection projected from the lower peripheral portion of the case. Therefore, it becomes possible to avoid any damage due to any strike of the contact projection against external objects and further to avoid any wrong operation of the shift lever. The operation apparatus of an automatic transmission according to Claim 1, 2, 3, or 4, as claimed in Claim 11, has such structure that the shift lever has a first click body disposed at the end of the shift lever, the movable body has a second click body disposed at the end of the movable body to be pressed to a second click slit, and further the first click body is pressed with pressure to a first click slit for supporting the shift lever to each range when the shift lever is located on an auto mode position, and a second click slit for automatically restoring the shift lever to the neutral position from a plus position and a minus position of the manual mode position when the shift lever is located on a manual mode position. Therefore, it becomes possible to support the shift lever at each range on the auto mode position and the manual mode position. The operation apparatus of an automatic transmission according to claim 1, as claimed in Claim 12 , has such structure that the running ranges of an automatic transmission are electrically controlled to be changed on the basis of the shifting operations due to a shift lever disposed on a steering column section; wherein the shift lever is composed in such a manner that a movable body mounted at a base end section is pivoted by a second shaft mounted within a through hole which is configured to allow the shift lever to be swingable, thereby allowing the shift lever to be swingable around the second shaft in the vertical direction and further to be swingable around a first shaft mounted on the movable body in the front-rear direction, and further the first shaft of the movable body pivotably supports a first movable plate having a contact section to be contacted with a first operation rod of an A/T switch, and a second movable plate having a contact section to be contacted with an operation rod of a manual switch. Therefore, it becomes possible to swingably operate the shift lever of the column type on the auto mode position and the manual mode position in the front-rear direction and further to add many functions in multiple directions to the shift lever. Furthermore, according to the operation apparatus of an automatic transmission, the conventional wire for connecting a shift lever position side provided with the shift lever of the column type and a transmission position side is not necessary, and further the electric signals corresponding to the desired driving positions are transmitted toward the transmission side. Therefore, it becomes possible to effectively remove several problems due to slack and distortion of the wire and further the space required for receiving the wiring of wire between both positions is not necessary and further it becomes possible to reduce the number of assembling parts and the assembling cost. The operation apparatus of an automatic transmission according to Claim 12, as claimed in Claim 13, has such structure that the first movable plate is formed with an operation section to be contacted when the shift lever has swingably moved to an auto mode position at the lower surface thereof, and the second movable plate is formed with an operation section to be contacted when the shift lever has swingably moved to the manual mode position at the upper surface thereof. Therefore, it becomes possible to present an operation apparatus for an automatic transmission capable of operating the shift lever on two positions, i. e. the auto mode position and the manual mode position in the front-rear direction. Tne operation apparatus of an automatic transmission according to Claim 12, as claimed in claim 14, has such structure that the operation section is contacted with a stopper formed at the inner wall of a case when the shift lever has swingably moved on the auto mode position thereby limiting the operation range of the shift lever. Therefore, it becomes possible to avoid any wrong operation of the shift lever by limiting the operation range of the shift lever on the auto mode position. The operation apparatus of an automatic transmission according to Claim 12 or 13, as claimed in Claim 15, has such structure that the operation section is contacted with a stopper formed at the inner wall of the case when the shift lever has swingably moved in the manual mode position thereby limiting the operation range of the shift lever. Therefore, it becomes possible to avoid any wrong operation of the shift lever by limiting the operation range of the shift lever on the manual mode position. The operation apparatus of an automatic transmission according to Claim 11 , as claimed in Claim 16, has such structure that the case is formed with a second notch slit and a third notch slit on the inner wall thereof, the shift lever is formed with the first notch slit within the through hole, the movable body is provided with a first notch body to be pressed with pressure to the first notch slit at its end, the first movable plate is provided with a second notch body to be pressed with pressure to the second slit at its end, and the second movable plate is provided with a third notch body to be pressed with pressure to the third notch slit at its end. Therefore, since the A/T switch operated by the swingable operation of the shift lever and the manual switch are disposed within the case, it becomes possible to minimize the entirety of the operation apparatus for an automatic transmission. Therefore, since the contact slit to be contacted with the contact pin composing the detent mechanism is formed on the first movable plate and the second movable plate disposed at the base end section of the shift lever, it becomes possible to maintain the safety of the operation of the shift lever by supporting the shift lever at each range without using any detent plate and to minimize the entirety of the case. The operation apparatus of an automatic transmission according to Claim 15, as claimed in Claim 17, has such structure that the first notch body is pressed with pressure to the first notch slit for supporting the shift lever when the shift lever has swingably moved to the auto mode position and the manual mode position, and the second notch body is pressed with pressure to said second notch slit for supporting the shift lever to each range when the shift lever has swingably moved to an auto mode position, and further the third notch body is pressed with pressure to the third notch slit for automatically restoring the shift lever to a neutral position from a plus position or a minus position when the shift lever is located on a manual mode position. Therefore, it comes to support the shift lever on the auto mode position and the manual mode position. The operation apparatus of an automatic transmission according to Claim 11 , as claimed in Claim 18, has such structure that the shift lever is provided with a contact slit to be contacted with a contact pin for inhibiting the movement of the shift lever on an auto mode position at the upper surface of the first movable plate, and further the contact pin may be removed from the contact slit by an actuator composed of a solenoid or an electric motor. Therefore, it becomes possible to operate the contact pin electrically, to eliminate any mechanical member such as wire to be provided between the shift lever and the automatic transmission, and to reduce the number of assembling parts and man-hour for assembly and further reduce the manufacturing cost. The operation apparatus of an automatic transmission according to Claim 17, as claimed in Claim 19 , has such structure that the actuator is composed of a plunger one end of which is coupled to a link and the other end of which is provided with a switch for interlocking the link. Therefore, it becomes possible to lock the shift lever through the contact pin when no electric current flows into the actuator. The operation apparatus of an automatic transmission according to Claim 17 or 18, as claimed in Claim 20, has such structure that the contact pin is mounted on the first movable plate, and further the shift lever is supported at a P range in the auto mode position of the shift lever by the fact that the shift lever contacts with the contact slit for supporting the shift lever at a R range and the side surface of the first movable plate. Therefore, it becomes possible to avoid any wrong function due to the shift lever thereby increasing the safety of the operation of the shift lever. An operation apparatus of an automatic transmission of the present invention has such structure that a shift lever is mounted on, for example, a steering column, and an A/T switch to be operated by the swing operation of the shift lever, for transmitting electric signals corresponding to desirable driving positions to the transmission side is mounted on the column section, and further an actuator of the electrically-driven type for removing the contact pin for inhibiting the movement of the shift lever from the contact slit. Therefore, in the case where. the operation apparatus of the automatic transmission thus constructed as mentioned above is adopted to the shift lever for controlling vehicles such as automobiles of the A/T type, the convention wire for connecting between a shift lever position side provided with the shift lever and a transmission position side is not necessary to use, and therefore it is achieved with reliability that operation of the automatic transmission of an engine is effected by an electrical control using electric signals merely by transmitting the electric signals corresponding to the desired driving positions by the swing operation of the shift lever toward the transmission side, through the A/T switch mounted on one side surface of the shift lever. Moreover, so-called detent mechanism for the shift lever is composed of an actuator of the electrically-driven type operated by the electric signals from a key switch, a stop lamp switch, a vehicle's speed sensor, an engine's rotation speed sensor and the like, in order to remove the contact pin for inhibiting the movement of the shift lever from the contact slit, and therefore it is achieved to effect a detent function at the desired driving positions by utilizing the shift lever having a single shift knob, without utilizing any detent knob for operating so-called detent mechanism. Referring now to Figs. 1 to 8, the embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail hereinafter, Fig. 1 is a plan view showing a first embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2 is a lateral sectional view showing a main portion of the first embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section showing a main portion of the first embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section showing a main portion of the first embodiment of the present invention as similar to Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view showing a main portion of the first embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 6 is an enlarged sectional view showing a main portion of the first embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 7 is an enlarged plan view showing the base end section of the shift lever of the first embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 8 is a lateral section showing the lower case in the first embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 9 is a plan view with a partial section of the second embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 10 is a longitudinal section showing a main portion of the second embodiment of the present invention. Numeral 1 denotes a shift lever for selecting a desired driving position out of plural driving positions such as run, park and the like, in the vehicles such as automobiles of the A/T type, and it is mounted on a steering column. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the shift lever 1 of the column type is supported swingably in the front-rear direction as shown by the arrows A and B around the first shaft 3a of a movable body 3 within a case 2. Moreover, the shift lever 1 is supported swingably in the vertical direction as shown by the arrows C and E around the second shaft 4 crossing with the first shaft 3a as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. The above mentioned shift lever 1 is provided with a through hole 1b extending in the vertical direction for disposing the movable body 3 at the center of a base end section 1a. The shift lever 1 is provided with a blind hole 1c for receiving a click spring 5 and a first click body 6 at the end surface of the base end section 1a. At the upper surface of the base end section 1a, there are provided a blind hole 1f for receiving a first movable piece 9 and a contact spring 10 of the A/T switch 23 so as to allow the movement of the first movable piece 9 along with the blind hole, and a contact slit 1j for allowing the movement of the contact pin 11 in the contact-remove direction. According to such structure, the base end section 1a effects the function as a detent plate. At the lower surface of the base end section 1a, there are formed a blind hole 1h for disposing a second movable piece 12 and a contact spring 13 of a manual switch 24 so as to allow the movement of the second movable piece 12 along the blind hole 1h, and a contact projection 1i to be contacted with an operation region limiting hole 2d at the bottom surface of the case 2 so as to allow the movement of the contact projection 1i in the contact-remove direction. Moreover, there are provided a shaft hole 1d to be inserted with a second shaft 4 so as to rotatably support the movable body 3, and a second click slit 1e to which a second click body 8 is pressed by the resilient force due to the click spring 7. The case 2 is composed of an upper case 2e as an upper half and a lower case 2f as a lower half to be combined with the upper case to form the case 2, and the case 2 is screwed on a steering column at the lower side of, for example, a combination switch. As shown in Figs. 3, 4, and 8, the operation range limiting hole 2d is the hole for limiting the swing operation range of the shift lever 1 in the front-rear direction as shown by the arrows A and B by contacting of the contact projection 1i when the shift lever 1 is shifted to the manual (MAN) mode position, and the operation range limiting hole is shaped as an approximate arc. Moreover, as shown in Fig. 8, the above-mentioned operation range limiting hole 2d is shaped as an approximate arc, and has three positions i. e. a neutral position 2k at which the shift lever 1 is supported on the MAN mode position, an acceleration change position 2m at which the transmission is changed up by one step when the shift lever 1 has swingably moved from the neutral position 2k in the plus direction, and a deceleration change position 2n at which the contact projection 1i contacts with the hole 2d when the shift lever 1 has swingably moved from the neutral position 2k in the minus direction. As shown in Figs. 3 and 4, at the lower peripheral portion of the operation range limiting hole 2d, there is formed a cylindrical section 2h for protecting the contact projection 1i projected from the lower case 2f. Moreover, at the bottom surface of the lower case 2f, a supporting hole 2i is formed to support an actuator 19, and through holes 2j are formed at the position adjacent to the supporting hole 2i so as to pass screws for fixing the actuator 19. The movable body 3 swingably moves only in the front-rear direction as shown by the arrows F and G because of the first shaft 3a is movably supported by the shaft holes 2a and 2a on the upper case 2e and the lower case 2f respectively. The shift lever 1 swingably rotates around the first shaft 3a together with the movable body 3 in the front-rear direction as shown by the arrows A and B because the first shaft 3a inserted into the through hole 1b is rotatably supported by the shaft holes 2a and 2a. In the auto (AUT) mode position, the shift lever 1 is supported at each range position of P (Parking), R (Reverse), N (Neutral), and D (Drive) because the first click body 6 is clicked at each slit of the first click slit 2b formed at the inner wall of the upper case 2e and the lower case 2f. The shift lever 1 upon the MAN mode position is supported to restore to the neutral position 2k automatically. As shown in Figs. 2 to 4, the movable body 3 is formed with the first shaft 3a disposed in the vertical direction, the second shaft 4 disposed to be crossing to the first shaft 3a in the left-right direction, and a cylindrical click body mounting section 3c provided with the blind hole 3b to be inserted with the click spring 7 and the second click body 8 in the extending direction of the shift lever 1. The second click body 8 is pressed with pressure to the second click slit 1e formed at the inner wall of the through hole 1b thereby to support the shift lever 1 at two positions of MAN (Manual operation position) and AUT (Auto operation position). The shift lever 1 is swingable around the second shaft 4 in the vertical direction as shown by the arrows C and E. The second shaft 4 is made of metallic material and shaped in a pin formation having a head section 4a as shown in Fig. 7, and the one end of the second shaft 4 is fixed by using a stopping ring 4b, after the second shaft 4 is passed through the shift lever 1 and the movable body 3 thereby supporting the shift lever 1 and the movable body 3 swingably. Moreover, the second shaft 4 has only to be a shaft which is capable of rotatably supporting the movable body 3 on the shift lever 1, and therefore it may'be a shaft rod or projections projected from the movable body 3 and integrally made with the movable body 3 in a body. As shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the first click body 6 supports the shift lever 1 at each range by being pressed with pressure to the first click slit 2b, when the shift lever 1 is operated to the AUT mode position. Moreover, the first click body 6 automatically restores the shift lever 1 from the plus position and the minus position to the neutral position 2k by being pressed with pressure to the second click slit 2c, when the shift lever 1 is shifted to the MAN mode position. The first click slit 2b is composed of a group of click slits formed in the inner wall of the upper case 2e composing the upper half of the case 2, in turn the second click slit 2c is formed at the inner wall of the lower case 2f composing the lower half of the case 2. The first movable pieces 9 compose the A/T switch 23 to be operated by being contacted with the fixed contacts 14 when the shift lever 1 is located at the AUT mode position, and further the fixed contacts 14 are composed of the fixed contacts 14a, 14b, 14c, and 14d mounted on a first substrate 15 screwed on the upper and inner surface of the upper case 2e. As shown in Fig. 2, the first movable pieces 9 are positioned at the fixed contacts 14a to make the contact therebetween, when the shift lever 1 locates at P range. Similarly, the first movable pieces 9 are positioned at the fixed contacts 14b to make the contact therebetween, when the shift lever 1 locates at R range; are positioned at the fixed contacts 14c to make the contact therebetween, when the shift lever 1 locates at N range; and are positioned at the fixed contacts 14d to make the contact therebetween, when the shift lever 1 locates at D range. The above-mentioned A/T switch 23 is electrically connected to the automatic transmission. The second movable pieces 12 compose a manual switch 24 to be operated by being contacted with the fixed contacts 16 of each range when the shift lever 1 is located at the MAN mode position, and further the fixed contacts 16 are composed of the fixed contacts 16a, 16b, and 16c mounted on a second substrate 17 screwed on the bottom and inner surface of the lower case 2f . The second movable pieces 12, as shown in Fig. 2, contact on the fixed contacts 16a, when the shift lever 1 locates at the neutral position 2k in the MAN mode position. The second movable pieces 12 contact on the fixed contacts 16b when the shift lever 1 locates at the plus position in the MAN mode position, and further the second movable pieces 12 contact on the fixed contacts 16c when the shift lever 1 locates at the minus position in the MAN mode position. The above-mentioned manual switch 24 is electrically connected to the automatic transmission. ' The contact pin 11 is the member for limiting the movement of the shift lever 1, and the shift lever 1 becomes able to move to each of the driving positions by the fact that the contact pin 11 is removed from the contact slit 1j of the shift lever 1. As shown in Fig. 5, the head section 11a of the contact pin 11 is hooked at the interlock section 18a formed at the end of the link 18 thereby being moved in the vertical direction through the actuator 19. Moreover, the contact pin 11 may be composed of a plunger 19a per se of the actuator 19 without using the link 18 mentioned above. As shown in Figs. 6 and 7, the contact slit 1j is composed of three slits, i. e. a first slit 1m, a second slit 1n, and a third slit 1p for limiting the swing movement of the shift lever 1 by a notch slit 1k and through the vertical contact of the end of the contact pin 11 vertically moving. The first and second slits 1m and 1n are respectively formed in an approximate arc shape and on the same arc with the center common to that of the first shaft 3a. The first slit 1m is provided for holding the shift lever 1 on the R range upon the contact with the contact pin 11, and the second slit 1n is provided for supporting the shift lever 1 on the N range and the D range upon the contact with the contact pin 11, and further the third slit 1p is provided for movably supporting the shift lever 1 from the D range to the MAN mode position upon the contact with the contact pin 11. As shown in Fig. 6, when the shift lever 1 is on the P range, the lower end of the contact pin 11 is positioned at the P position at which the lower end of the contact pin 11 is contacted on the notch slit 1k which is a part of the contact slit 1j formed on the side wall of the shift lever 1, and therefore the shift lever 1 is inhibited to move toward other ranges. Upon the R range of the shift lever 1, the lower end of the contact pin 11 is positioned at the r position of the contact slit 1j thereby limiting the movement of the shift lever 1 toward other ranges. Upon the N range of the shift lever 1, the lower end of the contact pin 11 is positioned at the n position of the contact slit 1j thereby limiting the movement of the shift lever 1 toward any range except D range. Similarly, upon the D range of the shift lever 1, the lower end of the contact pin 11 is positioned at the d position of the contact slit 1j thereby limiting the movement of the shift lever 1 toward any range except the N range and the MAN mode position. Moreover, upon the MAN mode position of the shift lever 1, the lower end of the contact pin 11 is positioned at the m position of the contact slit 1j thereby limiting the movement of the shift lever 1 toward any position except the MAN mode position. As shown in Fig. 5, the link 18 is disposed so as to be movable in the vertical direction as shown by the arrows H and I, within a receiving space 2g projected over the upper surface of the upper case 2e. The link 18 is rotatably supported at the central shaft 20, and the interlocking section 18a provided at the one end of the link 18 is hooked with the above-mentioned head section 11a, and the interlocking section 18b at the other end of the link 18 is coupled with the projected section 19b of the plunger 19a of the actuator 19. The lower surface of the link 18 located between the central shaft 20 and the interlocking section 18b is pressed with pressure by a push rod 22 urged through a spring 21 in the direction as shown by the arrow H. Both end of the shaft 20 are fixed on the upper case 2e composing the receiving space 2g. The actuator 19 is an electric device composed of a solenoid to be operated by electromagnetic force or an electric motor, and used for removing the contact pin 11 from the contact slit 1j of the shift lever 1 through the link 18. The actuator 19 is adapted to be operated by the electric signals from a key switch, a stop lamp switch, a vehicle's speed sensor, an engine's rotation speed sensor and the like. The moving range of the plunger 19a is limited by the fact that the stopper 19c integrally formed with the plunger 19a is struck to the inner wall of the case 2. The actuator 19 is sandwiched between the upper case 2e and the lower case 2f and fixed by using screws. Numeral 25 as shown in Fig. 3 denotes a release lever for compulsorily releasing its limitation when the shift lever 1 on the MAN mode position is limited by the contact between the contact projection 1i and the operation range limiting hole 2d. The embodiment of the present invention thus constructed is operated as follows. According to the operation apparatus of the automatic transmission as the first embodiment of the present invention mentioned above, when a driver selectively operates the shift lever 1 to each position of AUT mode position of P range, R range, N range, and D range, the A/T switch 23 is activated through the swing operation of the shift lever 1, thereby transmitting the electric signals corresponding to each of desired positions to the transmission side, and therefore the automatic transmission of an engine is controlled through the electric signals. According to the structure of the lock mechanism in which the contact pin 11 contacts with the contact slit 1j of the shift lever 1, there is provided for the purpose of removing the contact pin 11 for inhibiting the movement of the shift lever 1 from the contact slit 1j, the actuator 19 composed of a solenoid or an electric motor actuated by electric signals from a key switch witch is activated through the insertion of an ignition key, a stop lamp switch which is activated by depressing a brake pedal, a vehicle's speed sensor which is activated when the vehicle' s speed is below a predetermined value, and an engine's rotation speed sensor which is activated when the engine' s rotation speed is below a predetermined value. Upon actuation of the actuator 19 due to the electric signals, the contact pin 11 is removed due to the vertical movement of the link 18 from the contact slit 1j, thereby enabling the shifting operation of the shift lever 1 toward each position in AUT mode position. An example of the conditions for operating the actuator 19 is as following Table. Key Switch Stop Lamp Switch Vehicle's Speed Sensor Engine's Rotation Speed Sensor P ○ ○ R ○ ○ ○ N ○ ○ D This Table shows that if the shift lever 1 is in the P range, and the key switch and the stop lamp switch are ON state respectively, the shift lever 1 can be moved to R range by actuating the actuator 19 to remove the contact pin 11 from the notch slit 1k. Therefore, if the shift lever 1 is in the R range, and the key switch and the stop lamp switch are ON state respectively, and further the fact that the vehicle's speed is below a predetermined value is detected by the vehicle's speed sensor, the shift lever 1 can be moved to P range by the fact that the actuator 19 is actuated to remove the contact pin 11 from the r position of the contact slit 1j. Moreover, if the shift lever 1 is in the N range, and the key switch is OFF state and the stop lamp switch is OFF state respectively, and further the fact that the engine's rotation speed is below a predetermined value is detected by the engine's rotation speed sensor, the shift lever 1 can be moved to R range by actuating the actuator 19 to remove the contact pin 11 from the n position of the contact slit 1j. Since the shift lever 1 is structured, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, such that the shift lever 1 can perform the swingable movement around the second shaft 4 crossing to the first shaft 3a in the vertical direction as shown by the arrows C and E, if the shift lever 1 is swingably moved from the D range of the AUT mode position upwardly in the direction as shown by the arrow C, the shift lever 1 is converted into the MAN mode position thereby enabling the manual operation. In the state that the shift lever 1 is swingably moved in the MAN mode position, it is possible to shift the shift lever 1 toward the plus direction or minus direction. At that time, the manual switch 24 is simultaneously operated thereby converting the position into the plus direction or the minus direction sequentially. For example, if the shift lever 1 is swingably moved from the neutral position of the MAN mode position to the plus direction, the automatic transmission is switched from a first speed stage to a second speed stage. Moreover, if the shift lever 1 is moved sequentially in the plus direction, the transmission is changed into a third speed stage, a fourth speed stage, and fifth speed stage sequentially. Similarly, if the shift lever 1 is moved from the fifth speed stage sequentially in the minus direction, the transmission is changed into the fourth speed stage, the third speed stage, the second speed stage, and the first speed stage sequentially thereby restoring the original transmission gear position. Referring now to Figs. 9 and 10, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail hereinafter. Numeral 101 denotes a shift lever for selecting a desired driving position out of plural driving positions such as run, park and the like, in the vehicles such as automobiles of the A/T type, and it is mounted on a steering column. The shift lever 101 of the column type is supported swingably in the front-rear direction as shown by the arrows A and B around the first shaft 103a of a movable body 103 within a case 102. Moreover, the shift lever 101 is supported swingably in the vertical direction as shown by the arrows C and E around the second shaft 104 crossing with the first shaft 103a. The above mentioned shift lever 101 is provided with a through hole 101b extending in the vertical direction for disposing the movable body 103 at the center of a base end section 101a. There are formed a first shaft hole 101c, a second shaft hole 101d, and a first click slit 101e within the through hole 101b of the shift lever 101. The first shaft hole 101c is the hole to be inserted with a shaft pin 105 for rotatably supporting the first shaft 103a on the shift lever 101. The second shaft hole 101d is the hole to be inserted with the second shaft 104 for supporting the shift lever 101 . The first click slit 101e is the slit to be pressed with pressure by a first click body 112 urged by a click spring 111 thereby supporting the shift lever 101 on the AUT mode position and the MAN mode position. The shaft pin 105 mounted in the first shaft hole 101c is inserted so as to be movable in the vertical direction within a longitudinal hole 103b formed at the center of a movable body 103, and further the shaft pin 105 performs the interlock the first shaft 103a disposed in the vertical direction and the shaft rod 107 inserted into the first shaft 103a. A base end section 101a of the shift lever 101 operates an A/T switch 108 by being contacted with an operation section 106a of a first movable plate 106 disposed at the upper side thereof when the shift lever 101 is on the AUT mode position. The A/T switch 108 contacts with the fixed contacts of each range when the shift lever 101 is on the AUT mode position to perform its operation. The base end section 101a operates the manual switch 110 by being contacted with an operation section 109a of the second movable plate 109 disposed at the lower side upon the shift lever 101 is on the MAN mode position. The case 102 is composed of an upper case 102a as an upper half and a lower case 102b as a lower half to be combined with the upper case to form the case 102, and the case 102 is screwed on a steering column at the lower side of a combination switch. The upper case 102a forms a shaft hole 102c rotatably supporting the first shaft 103a and the stoppers 102g and 102h for limiting the swingable range when the shift lever 101 is on the AUT mode position. The stoppers 102g and 102h are formed on both of the inner walls of the upper case 102a for limiting the swingable range of the shift lever 101 in the direction as shown by the arrows A and B by the fact that the base end section 101a strikes the stopper 102g and 102h when the shift lever 101 is on the AUT mode position. A lower case 102b forms a shaft hole 102d rotatably supporting the first shaft 103a and stoppers 102k and 102m for limiting the swingable range of the shift lever 101 when the shift lever 101 is on the MAN mode position. The stoppers 102k and 102m are formed on both of the inner walls of the lower case 102b for limiting the swingable range of the shift lever 101 in the direction as shown by the arrows A and B by the fact that the base end section 101a strikes the stopper 102k and 102m when the shift lever 101 is on the MAN mode position. The movable body 103 swingably moves only in the front-rear direction as shown by the arrows F and G because the upper side 103c of the first shaft 103a is movably supported by the shaft hole 102c of the upper case 102d, and further the lower side 103d of the first shaft 103a is movably supported by the shaft holes 102d of the lower case 102b. The shift lever 101 swingably rotates around the first shaft 103a together with the movable body 103 in the front-rear direction as shown by the arrows A and B because the first shaft 103a received into the through hole 101b is rotatably supported by the shaft holes 102c and 102d. In the AUT mode position, the shift lever 101 is supported at each range position of P (Parking), R (Reverse), N (Neutral), and D (Drive) because the base end section 101a is contacted with the operation section 106a of the first movable plate 106, and further the second click body 113 is contacted with the second click slit 102e formed on the inner wall of the upper case 102a. The shift lever 101 upon the MAN mode position is supported so as to be restored from the plus position and the minus position to the neutral position automatically, by the fact that the base end section 102a is contacted with the operation section 109a of the second movable plate 109 and further the third click body 114 is contacted with the third click slit 102f formed on the inner wall of the lower case 102b. The movable body 103 is formed with the first shaft 103a disposed in the vertical direction, the second shaft 104 disposed to be crossing to the first shaft 103a in the left-right direction, and a cylindrical click body mounting section 103e provided with the blind hole 101f to be inserted with a click spring 111 and a first click body 112 in the extending direction of the shift lever 101. The first click body 112 is pressed with pressure to a first click slit 101e formed at the inner wall of the through hole 101b thereby to support the shift lever 101 at two positions of MAN (Manual operation position) and AUT (Auto operation position). The shift lever 101 is swingable around the second shaft 104 in the vertical direction as shown by the arrows C and E . The first shaft 103a of the movable body 103 rotatably supports the first movable plate 106 at the upper side 103c and the second movable plate 109 at the lower side 103d. The first movable plate 106 has a contact section 106d at its upper surface for contacting a first operation rod 108a of the A/T switch 108 and a contact slit 106b for being contacted with and removed from a contact pin 115, disposed on the upper surface of the first movable plate 106, and further a blind hole 106c mounted at the end surface of the first movable plate 106 for receiving a second click spring 116 and a second click body 113. The second click body 113 is adapted to be contacted with a second click slit 102e. The operation section 106a is composed of two projection pieces contacting both sides of the base end section 101a of the shift lever 101 extended downwardly from the lower surface of the first movable plate 106 . The contact slit 106b is the slit for limiting the swingable range of the shift lever 101 by the fact that the lower end of the contact pin 115 contacts with the contact slit 106b and further the side surface of the first movable plate 106 contacts with the shift lever 101. The contact slit 106b is the slit for holding the shift lever 101 at the R range upon being contacted with the contact pin 115. The swingable operation range of the shift lever 101 in the front-rear direction as shown by the arrows A and B is limited by the fact that the base end section 101a contacts with the operation section 106a and further the first movable plate 106 contacts with the stoppers 102g and 102h mounted on the inner wall of the upper case 102a. The contact pin 115 is the member for limiting the swingable movement of the shift lever 101 and further the shift lever 101 can be moved to each of driving positions by removing the contact pin 115 from the contact slit 106b of the first movable plate 106. The upper end of the contact pin 115 is coupled with an interlocking section 117a formed at one end of a link 117, and further the contact pin 115 can be moved in the vertical direction through a plunger 118a of an actuator 118. The link 117 is disposed so as to be movable in the vertical direction as shown by the arrows H and I, within a receiving space 102i projected over the upper surface of the upper case 102a. The link 117 is rotatably supported around the central shaft 117c, and the interlocking section 117a provided at the one end of the link 117 is hooked to the contact pin 115, and the interlocking section 117b at the other end of the link 117 is coupled with the plunger 118a . The above-mentioned receiving space 102i is formed on the inner and upper surface of the upper case 102a and is covered with a cover member 120. The actuator 118 is an electric device composed of a solenoid to be operated by electromagnetic force or an electric motor, and used for the purpose of a shift rock by removing the contact pin 115 from the contact slit 106b of the first movable plate 106 through the link 117 on parking and the like. The actuator 118 is adapted to be operated by the electric signals from a key switch, a stop lamp switch, a vehicle's speed sensor, an engine's rotation speed sensor and the like. Moreover, the actuator 118 is sandwiched between the upper case 102a and the lower case 102b, and fixed by using screws. Moreover, the actuator 118 provides a switch 121 for detecting the movement of the plunger 118a at the lower end of the plunger 118a. The second movable plate 109 is mounted with a contact section 109c to be contacted with an operation rod 110a of the manual switch 110 on the lower surface and further a blind hole 109b for receiving a click spring 122 and a third click body 114 at the end surface thereof. The operation section 109a is composed of two projection pieces projected from the upper surface of the second movable plate 109 for contacting both sides of the base end section 101a of the shift lever 101. The third click body 114 contacts with the third click slit 102f. The above-mentioned manual switch 110 is contacted with the fixed contacts of each range when the shift lever 101 is on the MAN mode position to perform its operation. When the shift lever 101 is located on the MAN mode position, the base end section 101a contacts with the operation section 109a and further the second movable plate 109 strikes to stoppers 102k and 102m mounted on the inner wall of the lower case 102b, and therefore the swingable operation range of the shift lever 101 in the front-rear direction as shown by the arrows A and B is limited. The embodiment of the present invention thus constructed is operated as follows. According to the operation apparatus of the automatic transmission as mentioned above, when a driver selectively operates the shift lever 101 to each position of AUT mode position of P range, R range, N range, and D range, the A/T switch 108 is activated through the swing operation of the shift lever 101, thereby transmitting the electric signals corresponding to each of desired positions to the transmission side, and therefore the automatic transmission of an engine is controlled through the electric signals. According to the structure of the lock mechanism in which the contact pin 115 contacts with the contact slit 106b of the first movable plate 106 contacted with the shift lever 101, there is provided for the purpose of removing the contact pin 115 for inhibiting the movement of the shift lever 101 from the contact slit 106b, the actuator 118 composed of a solenoid or an electric motor actuated by electric signals from a key switch, a stop lamp switch, a vehicle's speed sensor, and an engine's rotation speed sensor. Upon actuation of the actuator 118 due to the electric signals, the contact pin 115 is removed through the vertical movement of the link 117 from the contact slit 106b, thereby enabling the shifting operation of the shift lever 101 toward each position in the AUT mode position. Since the shift lever 101 is structured, such that the shift lever 101 can perform the swingable movement around the second shaft 104 crossing to the first shaft 103a in the vertical direction as shown by the arrows C and E, if the shift lever 101 is swingably moved from the D range of the AUT mode position upwardly in the direction as shown by the arrow C, the shift lever 101 is converted into the MAN mode position thereby enabling the manual operation. In the state that the shift lever 101 is swingably moved in the MAN mode position, it is possible to shift the shift lever 101 toward the plus direction or minus direction. At that time, the manual switch 110 is simultaneously operated thereby converting the position into the plus direction or the minus direction sequentially. The present invention is never limited to the structures disclosed in each of the embodiments mentioned above, and further to the operation apparatus for automatic transmission of the column type. The present invention may be adapted to the operation apparatus for automatic transmission of the floor type such that the formation of the shift lever 101 is made as the formation of the floor type. The scope of the invention is defined only by the appended claims.

Claims: An operation apparatus of an automatic transmission in which running ranges of an automatic transmission are electrically controlled to be changed on the basis of the shifting operations due to a shift lever (1; 101) disposed on a steering column section; said shift lever being composed in such a manner that a movable body (3; 103) mounted at a base end section (1a; 101a) is pivoted by a second shaft (4; 104) mounted within a through hole (1b; 101b) which is configured to allow said shift lever to be swingable, thereby allowing said shift lever to be swingable around said second shaft in the vertical direction and further to be swingable around a first shaft (3a; 103a) mounted on said movable body in the front-rear direction, characterized in that , said operation apparatus comprises an auto mode position capable of switching to each range position of parking P, reverse R, neutral N and drive D, and a manual mode position capable of switching to and from the speed change position for acceleration that raises the transmission by one step and the speed change position for deceleration that lowers the transmission by one step and said shift lever (1) is provided with an A/T switch (23) to be operated when said shift lever is on an auto mode position, and a manual switch (24) to be operated when said shift lever is on a manual mode position. An operation apparatus of an automatic transmission according to claim 1, wherein said A/T switch (23; 108) is mounted at the upper portion of said base end section (1a), and said manual switch (24; 110) is mounted at the lower portion of said base end section (1a). An operation apparatus of an automatic transmission according to claim 2, wherein said shift lever (1) is provided with a first movable contact piece (9) mounted on the supper surface of said base end section (1a) for being contacted with a fixed contact (14) of said A/T switch (23) upon said auto mode position, and further a second movable contact piece (12) mounted on the lower surface of said base end section (1a) for being contacted with a fixed contact (1b) of said manual switch upon said manual mode position. An operation apparatus of an automatic transmission according to claim 2 or 3, wherein said shift lever (1) provided with a contact slit (1j) mounted at the upper surface of said base end section (1a) for being contacted with a contact pin (11) for inhibiting the movement of said shift lever in said auto position, and said contact pin is removed from said contact slip actuator (19) of the electrically-driven type. An operation apparatus of an automatic transmission according to claim 4, wherein said actuator (19) is coupled with said contact pin (11) through a link mechanism composed of a link (18) or the like, said link mechanism being provided between said actuator and said contact pin , said link (18) is provided with a interlocking section (18a) to be coupled with said contact pin (11) at one end of said link and above the contact slit (1j) of said shift lever, and an interlocking section (18b) at the other end is disposed above said actuator so as to be swingable within a receiving space provided in the inner, upper surface side of a case. An operation apparatus of an automatic transmission according to claim 4 or 5, wherein said contact pin (11) supports said shift lever (1) at each of ranges in an auto mode position by contacting said contact pin with said contact slit (1j) mounted at said base end section (1a) of said shift lever (1) and a notch slit (1k) formed on the side surface of said base end section. An operation apparatus of an automatic transmission according to claim 6, wherein said notch slit (1k) supports said shift lever (1) at P range by contacting said contact pin (11), and further said contact slit (1j) is formed with r position for supporting said shift lever at R range, n position for supporting said shift lever at N range, d position for supporting said shift lever at D range, and m position for supporting said shift lever to be movable from a D range to a manual mode position. An operation apparatus of an automatic transmission according to claim 7, wherein said shift lever (1) is formed with a contact projection (1i) formed on the lower surface of said base end section (1a), which is adapted to be contacted with an operation range limiting hole (2d) said shift lever has moved swingably to said manual position. An operation apparatus of an automatic transmission according to claim 8, wherein said operation range limiting hole (2d) has an approximate arc shape, one end of which is corresponding to an acceleration change position (2m) at which said contact projection (1i) is located when said shift lever (1) has swingably moved from the neutral position of said manual mode position in the plus direction, and the other end of which is corresponding to a deceleration change position (2n) at which said contact projection (1i) is located when said shift lever (1) has swingably moved from the neutral position of said manual mode position in the minus direction. An operation apparatus of an automatic transmission according to claim 9, wherein said operation range limiting hole (2d) is composed of a continuously formed cylindrical section (2h) for protecting said contract projection (1i) projected from the lower peripheral portion of said case. An operation apparatus of an automatic transmission according to claim 1, 2, 3 or 4, wherein said shift lever (1) has a first click body (6) disposed at the end of said shift lever, said movable body (3) has a second click body (8) disposed at the end of said movable body (3) to be pressed to a second click slit (1e), and further said first click body (6) is pressed with pressure to a first click slit (2b) for supporting said shift lever to each range when said shift lever (1) is located on an auto mode position, and a second click slit (2c) for automatically restoring said shift lever to said neutral position from a plus position and a minus position of said manual mode position when said shift lever is located on a manual mode position. An operation apparatus of an automatic transmission according to claim 1, wherein said first shaft (103a) of said movable body (103) pivotably supports a first movable plate (106) having a contact section (106d) to be contacted with a first operation rod of an A/T switch (23), and a second movable plate (109) having a contact section (109c) to be contacted with an operation rod of said manual switch (110). An operation apparatus of an automatic transmission according to claim 12, wherein said first movable plate (106) is formed with an operation section (106a) to be contacted when said shift lever (101) has swingably moved to an auto mode position at the lower surface thereof, and said second movable plate (109) is formed with an operation section (109a) to be contacted when said shift lever has swingably moved to said manual mode position at the upper surface thereof. An operation apparatus of an automatic transmission according to claim 12, wherein said operation section is contacted with a stopper (102g, 102h) formed at the inner wall of a case (102) when said shift lever (101) has swingably moved in said auto mode position thereby limiting the operation range of said shift lever. An operation apparatus of an automatic transmission according to claim 12 or 13, wherein said operation section is contacted with a stopper (102k, 102m) formed at the inner wall of said case (102) when said shift lever (101) has swingably moved in said manual mode position thereby limiting the operation range of said shift lever. An operation apparatus of an automatic transmission according to claim 11, wherein said case (102) is formed with a second notch slit and a third notch slit on the inner wall thereof, said lever is formed with said first notch slit within said through hole, said movable body (103) is provided with a first notch body (112) to be pressed with pressure to said first notch slit (101e) at its end, said first movable plate (106) is provided with a second notch body (112) to be pressed with pressure to said second notch slit (101e) at its end, and said second movable plate (109) is provided with a third notch body (114) to be pressed with pressure to said third notch slit (102f) at its end. An operation apparatus of an automatic transmission according to claim 15, wherein said first notch body (112) is pressed with pressure to said first notch slit (101e) for supporting said shift lever (101) when said shift lever (101) has swingably moved to said auto mode position and said manual mode positions, said second notch body (113) is pressed with pressure to said second notch slit (102e) for supporting said shift lever (101) to each range when said shift lever has swingably moved to an auto mode position, and said third notch body (114) is pressed with pressure to said third notch slit (102f) for automatically restoring said shift lever (101) to a neutral position from a plus position or a minus position when said shift lever is located on a manual mode position. An operation apparatus of an automatic transmission according to claim 11, wherein said shift lever (101) is provided with a contact slit (106b) to be contacted with a contact pin (115) for inhibiting the movement of said shift lever on an auto mode position at the upper surface of said first movable plate, and further said contact pin (115) may be removed from said contact slit (106b) by an actuator (118) composed of a solenoid or an electric motor. An operation apparatus of an automatic transmission according to claim 17, wherein said actuator (118) is composed of a plunger (118a) one end of which is coupled to a link (117) and the other end of which is provided with a switch (121) for interlocking said link. An operation apparatus of an automatic transmission according to claim 17 or 18, wherein said contact pin (115) is mounted on said first movable plate (106), and said shift lever (101) is supported at a P range in said auto mode position of said shift lever by the fact that said shift lever contacts with said contact slit (106b) for supporting said shift lever at a R range and the side surface of said first movable plate.

Inventors: FUJINUMA TAKAO, FUJINUMA, TAKAO
Applicants: NILES PARTS CO LTD, NILES PARTS CO., LTD.
Application year: 1999
Main classification: F16H59
IPC codes: B60K20, F16H59, F16H61