Abstract:
The present invention relates to an automatic transmission assembly that prevents an erroneous operation. The automatic transmission assembly includes a housing including a detent part; a gear shift lever including a guide part and a detent bar that is movable up and down in the guide part. The detent bar is movable; and a stopper including a resilient part and a head on a side of the resilient part, the head being disposed to be located on a side of the detent part, where the stopper is pivotable in the front, back, left, and right directions, the detent bar, when moving rearward, makes contact with the outer front surface of the head to confine the movement of the gear shift lever, and the stopper pivots in the left and right directions to move irrespective of the head when the detent bar moves from the rearmost side to the front side.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0001]    The present invention relates to an automatic transmission assembly for a vehicle, and more particularly to an assembly for an automatic transmission erroneous operation preventing assembly for preventing an erroneous operation that is generated during a rapid gear shift. 
       BACKGROUND ART 
       [0002]    A straight automatic transmission apparatus generally installed in a vehicle shifts gears of the vehicle by moving a gear shift lever to the front and rear sides of the driver, and in this case, when the driver rapidly manipulates the gear shift lever without carefully viewing the gear shift knob while shifting gears from a transmission stage (generally, stages P and R) situated on the front side of stage N (neutral) to stage D (driving), the gear shift lever may be moved to stage M (low speed) via stage D in an unintended way. In particular, the unskilled drivers are apt to generate erroneous operations more frequently, and the erroneous operations may cause very dangerous results such as traffic accidents according to the location or driving condition of the vehicle. 
         [0003]    In order to solve the problem, Korean Patent Application Publication No. 2003-0020697 discloses an apparatus that includes a vehicle speed detecting sensor to interrupt an operation of a gear shift lever when a gear shift that does not agree with a detected speed and a vehicle state is made, to prevent an erroneous operation, but manufacturing costs increase due to a high-priced electronic device and an erroneous operation or an operation discontinuation may be caused by the electronic equipment. 
         [0004]    Accordingly, Korean Patent Application Publication No. 2003-0016654 discloses an apparatus for preventing an erroneous operation of a transmission by using a mechanical device, but due to a large number of components installed in the mechanical device, the problems such as a gap between components, generation of noise, and damage to the components still exist, and the problems such as a mis-assembly and the complexity of the manufacturing process are not solved. 
         [0005]    (Patent Document 1) KR 2003-0020697 A 
         [0006]    (Patent Document 2) KR 2003-0016654 A 
       DISCLOSURE 
     Technical Problem 
       [0007]    The present invention has been made in an effort to solve the above-mentioned problems, and provides an automatic transmission erroneous operation preventing assembly that prevents an erroneous operation, reduces manufacturing costs, and simplifies a manufacturing process with a simple structure. 
       Technical Solution 
       [0008]    According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an automatic transmission assembly including: a housing including a detent part; a gear shift lever including a guide part and a detent bar that is movable upwards and downwards within the guide part, the detent bar being movable within a detent part; and a stopper including a resilient part and a head on one side of the resilient part, the head being situated one one side of the detent part, wherein the stopper is pivotally movable forwards, rearwards, leftwards, and rightwards, and the detent bar confines a movement of the gear shift lever while making contact with a front surface of an outside of the head when the detent bar is moved rearwards and the stopper is pivoted leftwards and rightwards when the detent bar is moved from the rearmost side to the front side such that the stopper is movable irrespective of the head. 
         [0009]    It is preferable that the stopper further includes: first and second stopping portions situated on the front and rear sides of the head, respectively; and a hollow portion that is a space formed between the first and second stopping portions of the head, and an upper side of the head is opened. 
         [0010]    It is preferable that the detent bar enters and exits from the hollow portion while moving between the inside and outside of the hollow portion. 
         [0011]    It is preferable that the first stopping portion is rounded on a side close to the hollow portion, and the detent bar is rounded at an end close to the stopper. 
         [0012]    It is preferable that the stopper further includes a neck part that connects the resilient part and the head, and the automatic transmission assembly further includes an interval maintaining part extending from the neck part towards the housing. 
         [0013]    It is preferable that the automatic transmission assembly further includes stopping step protruding from one side of the detent part. 
       Advantageous Effects 
       [0014]    As described above, according to the automatic transmission assembly according to the present invention, a remarkable effect of reducing manufacturing costs can be achieved as compared with an apparatus that electronically controls an erroneous operation, by installing an erroneous operation preventing stopper having a simple structure, and a gap between components, noise due to the gap, and damage to the components, caused by a plurality of components can be prevented by integrally forming the stopper of a resilient plastic material. 
     
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
         [0015]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view illustrating an automatic transmission assembly according to the present invention in its entirety; 
           [0016]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view illustrating a stopper  300  and a detent bar  210  that are elements of the automatic transmission assembly according to the present invention; 
           [0017]      FIGS. 3 to 6A  are enlarged views illustrating the detent part  110  of the automatic transmission assembly according to the present invention to describe operations of the detent bar  210  and the stopper  300 ; and 
           [0018]      FIGS. 6B and 6C  are perspective views of the stopper  300  and the detent bar  210  that are elements of the automatic transmission assembly according to the present invention to describe the operations of the stopper  300  and the detent bar  210 . 
       
    
    
     BEST MODE 
       [0019]    The elements constituting the automatic transmission assembly according to the present invention may be integrally used or separately used as occasion demands. Further, some element may be omitted according to the usage of the automatic transmission assembly. 
         [0020]    A preferred embodiment of the automatic transmission assembly according to the present invention will described with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the drawings are not to precise scale and may be exaggerated in thickness of lines or size of components for descriptive convenience and clarity. In addition, terms used herein are defined by taking functions of the present invention into account and can be changed according to user or operator custom or intention. Therefore, definition of the terms should be made according to the overall disclosure set forth herein. 
         [0021]    Description of Structure of Assembly for Preventing Erroneous Operation of Automatic Transmission 
         [0022]    Hereinafter, the automatic transmission assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to  FIGS. 1 to 3 . 
         [0023]    The automatic transmission assembly according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a housing  100 , a gear shift lever  200 , and a stopper  300 . 
         [0024]    The housing  100  has a hollow box shape, and includes a detent part  110  and a stopping step  120 . 
         [0025]    The detent part  110  is formed by opening some portions of the left and right side surfaces of the housing  100 , and it is preferable that an upper portion of the detent part  110  is stepped. 
         [0026]    The stopping step  120  may protrude while being spaced apart from the detent part  110  rearwards by a predetermined distance. 
         [0027]    The gear shift lever  200  has a bar shape such that a lower end thereof is inserted into the housing  100  to be pivoted forwards and rearwards, and includes a detent bar  210  and a gear shift button  230 . 
         [0028]    The detent bar  210  has a bar shape and is disposed at a lower portion of the gear shift lever  200  to be moved upwards and downwards in a guide part  220  that passes through the gear shift lever  200  in the lengthwise direction thereof 
         [0029]    That is, the detent bar  210  is disposed to cross the transmission lever  200 , and it is preferable that an end of the detent bar  210 , at which a stopper  300 , which will be described later, is situated, is rounded toward the front side. 
         [0030]    The gear shift button  230  is situated on one side of an upper portion of the gear shift lever  200 , and the detent bar  210  is moved downwards if the gear shift button  230  is pushed and the detent bar  210  is moved upwards if the pushed state is released. 
         [0031]    Hereinafter, the stopper  300  that is one of the main elements of the automatic transmission assembly according to the present invention will be described in detail. 
         [0032]    As illustrated in  FIGS. 1 and 3 , the stopper  300  is spaced apart from the detent part  110  on one of the left and right side surfaces of the housing  100  to be connected to the housing  100  by a first connector  311  and a second connector  312 , and includes a resilient part  310 , a head  320 , and an interval maintaining part  330 . 
         [0033]    Further, it is preferable that the stopper  300  is integrally formed of a plastic material having a resilient force, but respective parts of the stopper  300  will be described for convenience of description in the following. 
         [0034]    Opposite sides of the resilient part  310  are connected to the first connector  311  and the second connector  312 , respectively. That is, the resilient part  310  is situated between the first connector  311  and the second connector  312 , and it is preferable that the resilient part  310  is has an elongated shape to show a maximum resilient force while maintaining the strength of the plastic material. 
         [0035]    The head  320  is connected to the detent part  110  by a neck part  313  extending from the first connector  311  connected to one side of the resilient part  310  to cover an opened portion of the detent part  110 , and may be pivoted about the first connector  311  forwards, rearwards, leftwards, and rightwards by applying the resilient forces of the resilient part  310  and the neck part  313 . 
         [0036]    Accordingly, because the detent bar  210  makes contact with the head  320  such that a rearward movement thereof is confined when the detent bar  210  is moved rearwards within the detent part  110 , an erroneous operation is prevented while a manipulation lever  200  is moved rearwards. 
         [0037]    Further, as illustrated in  FIG. 2 , a hollow portion  321  is formed in the interior of the head  320  and a first stopping portion  322  and a second stopping portion  323  are formed on the front and rear sides of the hollow portion, respectively. 
         [0038]    The hollow portion  321  is a space that is formed in the interior of the head  320 , and the first stopping portion  322  is formed on the front side of the hollow portion  321  and the second stopping portion  323  is formed on the rear side of the hollow portion  321  such that they block the front and rear sides of the hollow portion  321 , respectively, and it is preferable that a side of the hollow portion  321  that is close to the first stopping portion  322  is rounded. 
         [0039]    That is, the head  320  has a space in the interior thereof, and a side of the head  320  close to the housing  100  and an upper side of the head  320  are opened such that the head  320  has a laid U-shape when viewed from the top, and the detent bar  210  makes contact with an outer surface of the first stopping portion  322  when the the detent bar  210  is moved rearwards, and accordingly, the head  320  retreats such that an outer surface of the second stopping portion  323  makes contact with the stopping step  120 . 
         [0040]    Further, the detent bar  210  overpasses the first stopping portion  322  to be movable upwards, downwards, forwards, and rearwards in the hollow portion  321 , which will be described below. 
         [0041]    The interval maintaining part  330  is situated at the neck part  313  and protrudes from the neck part  313  towards the housing  100 , and prevents friction between the stopper  300  and the housing  100  by maintaining the interval between the stopper  300  and the housing  100  at a predetermined distance such that the head  320  is pivoted forwards and rearwards. 
         [0042]    Description of Operational Process of Automatic Transmission Assembly 
         [0043]    Hereinafter, the operational process of the automatic transmission assembly according to the present invention will be described with reference to  FIGS. 3 to 6C . 
         [0044]    The terms regarding the locations of the transmission, which will be used in the following description will be denoted by gear shift stages that are used in general automatic transmissions, and it is noted that although P, R, N, D, and M stages are illustrated in  FIGS. 3 to 6A  in sequence from the front side and stage P represents “parking gear”, stage R represents “reverse gear”, stage N represents “neutral gear”, stage D represents “driving gear”, and stage M represents “low-speed driving gear”, stage M may be replaced by stage L and the numbers such as stage  2  and stage  1 . 
         [0045]    Further, in stage M, the detent bar  210  is situated on the rearmost side of the forward/rearward movable displacement. 
         [0046]    Further, because it has been described that the detent bar  210  is moved upwards and downwards along the guide part  220  formed at a lower portion of the gear shift lever  200 , which is a known technology, the gear shift lever  200  and the guide part  220  are not be illustrated but the detent bar  210  and the stopper  300  are mainly illustrated in the drawings except for  FIG. 3  for convenience of description and understanding of the present invention, and an operation of the detent bar  210  is indicted by a solid line arrow, a movement of the stopper  300  is indicted by a broken line arrow, and the operations of the detent bar  210  and the stopper  300  will be mainly described in the following description. 
         [0047]    First, referring to  FIG. 3 , if the gear shift lever  200  is pulled rearwards after the detent bar  210  is moved downwards by pushing the gear shift button  230  while the gear shift lever  200  is situated at stage P, the detent bar  210  is moved rearwards to make contact with the first stopping portion  322  that is a front portion of the head  320  of the stopper  300 . 
         [0048]    Next, referring to  FIG. 4 , if the detent bar  210  is further moved while making contact with the first stopping portion  322  and reaches stage D, the head  320  is pivoted rearwards and the second stopping portion  323  on the rear side of the head  320  is stopped by the stopping step  120  formed in the housing  100  so that the detent bar  210  is prevented from being further moved rearwards and an intended erroneous operation to stage M is prevented when stage P is instantaneously converted to stage D. 
         [0049]    Next, referring to  FIG. 5A , after an erroneous operation is prevented, the detent bar  210  is situated at stage D, and the stopper  300  returns to its original position due to the resiliency of the resilient part  310  and the neck part  313 . 
         [0050]    If the gear is to be shifted to stage M in this state, the detent bar  210  is moved downwards as illustrated in  FIG. 5B , and then, because the detent bar  210  may enter the interior of the open-topped hollow portion  321  from the interior of the head  320  and may be moved rearwards, the gear may be shifted from stage D to stage M. 
         [0051]    Next, in order that the gear may be shifted from stage M to gear stages (stages N, R, and P) situated on the front side except for stage D, the detent bar  210  should be moved forwards after being moved downwards, and illustrated in the hatched part of  FIG. 6A  and  FIG. 6B , the detent bar  210  may be stopped inside the first stopping portion  322  when it is moved forwards. 
         [0052]    Then, the stopper  300  may be damaged if an excessive pressure is applied to move the detent bar  210  as the stopper  300  is not smoothly moved forwards and the driver should apply a considerable load even though the stopper  300  is moved, which causes an inconvenience or a stopping feeling during an operation of the assembly, and as illustrated, the detent bar  210  may pass through the first stopping portion  322  by rounding an inside of the first stopping portion  322  and an end of the detent bar  210  and as illustrated in  FIG. 6C , the stopper  300  is pivoted to an opposite side of the housing  100  due to resiliency so that a smoother movement effect can be achieved. 
         [0053]    As described above, according to the automatic transmission assembly of the present invention, a manufacturing cost problem of the conventional electronic erroneous operation preventing apparatus can be solved by integrally forming the stopper  300  of one plastic material, the manufacturing costs and the weight of assembly can be remarkably reduced by solving a problem caused as the conventional mechanical erroneous operation preventing apparatus is assembled and installed with a larger number of components, and a gap between components of the conventional erroneous operation preventing apparatus and noise due to the gap can be solved by excluding a plurality of components. 
         [0054]    Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention can be variously corrected and modified without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention claimed in the claims. 
       DESCRIPTION OF REFERENCE NUMERALS 
       [0055]      100 : housing; 
         [0056]      110 : detent part 
         [0057]      120 : stopping step 
         [0058]      200 : gear shift lever 
         [0059]      210 : detent bar 
         [0060]      220 : guide part 
         [0061]      230 : gear shift button 
         [0062]      300 : stopper 
         [0063]      310 : resilient part 
         [0064]      311 : first connector 
         [0065]      312 : second connector 
         [0066]      313 : neck part 
         [0067]      320 : head 
         [0068]      321 : hollow portion 
         [0069]      322 : first stopping portion 
         [0070]      323 : second stopping portion 
         [0071]      330 : interval maintaining part