Patent ID: 7597022

Claim:
An instrument panel mounted shifter lever assembly for a motor vehicle comprising, in combination: a base adapted for mounting in an instrument panel of the motor vehicle; a shifter lever pivotably mounted to the base about a laterally extending pivot axis and movable relative to the base along a shift path; a plurality of gates defining a plurality of gear positions along the shift path; wherein the plurality of gates includes a park gate defining a park gear position along the shift path; a release mechanism including: a gate pin having a longitudinal length disposed in a lateral direction and parallel to the pivot axis of the shifter lever and movable along a linear path between a locked position wherein the gate pin cooperates with one of the gates to secure the shifter lever in a corresponding one of the gear positions against movement along the shift path and an unlocked position wherein the shifter lever is movable along the shift path; an actuator operatively coupled to the gate pin to selectively move the gate pin from the locked position to the unlocked position; and a pair of coaxial and spaced-apart rotatable rollers having an axis of rotation parallel to the pivot axis of the shifter lever and located at a fixed position relative to the park gate and near a rear end of the park gate so that longitudinal ends of the gate pin engage the rollers to provide rolling contact when the gate pin is moved from the locked position in the park gate to the unlocked position while a rearwardly directed preload force is applied to the shifter lever by an operator of the motor vehicle; and wherein the gate pin is rectangular-shaped in cross-section to define a planar engagement surface for cooperation with the roller.