Patent ID: 8499661

Claim:
An operating device for selecting fixed gear ratios of a shift-by-wire gear shifting transmission, the operating device comprising: a housing base ( 14 ), a selector lever ( 2 ) being movable back and forth between at least a first detent position and a second detent position, a detent mechanism ( 9 ) comprising a spring-loaded selector lever detent element ( 11 ), the detent element ( 9 ) further having a notched contour ( 13 ) that releasably locks the selector lever ( 2 ) and a bevel contour ( 12 ) that returns the selector lever ( 2 ) back into the first detent position, the selector lever detent element ( 11 ) being brought into simultaneous overlapping with the notched contour ( 13 ) and also the bevel contour ( 12 ), and the notched contour ( 13 ) and the bevel contour ( 12 ) being displacable relative to each other in a direction of the selector lever detent element ( 11 ); the bevel contour ( 12 ) being essentially rigidly connected to the housing base ( 14 ), and the notched contour ( 13 ) being movable back and forth, relative to the housing base ( 14 ), between a first position near the detent element and a second position away from the detent element, the notched contour ( 13 ) being spring-loaded in the direction of the selector lever detent element ( 11 ), and in its first position overlaps the bevel contour ( 12 ); and the operating device comprising an actuating device ( 18 ) having an actuating block ( 17 ) for locking the notched contour ( 13 ) in its first position near the detent element, the spring-loading of the movable notched contour ( 13 ) being effectively weaker than the spring-loading of the selector lever detent element ( 11 ), and the first detent position of the notched contour ( 13 ) coincides with the first detent position of the bevel contour ( 12 ), when the notched contour ( 13 ) being located in its first position near the detent element.