Patent ID: 6979788

Claim:
An electrical switch system for use with a vehicular transmission having a manual shaft pivotable about a longitudinal axis of the manual shaft and a detent lever fixedly mounted on the manual shaft for pivotable movement with the manual shaft, the detent lever having opposed first and second generally planar face surfaces comprising: an insulative base member mounted on the first face surface, the insulative base member having a top surface and a lip spaced from the first face surface of the detent lever and extending in an outwardly, radial direction relative to the manual shaft, a plurality of movable electrical contact elements mounted on the top surface of the insulative base member, a housing member having an outer periphery mounted on the manual shaft and being pivotable relative to the manual shaft about the longitudinal axis, the housing member overlying the detent lever and having an inner surface facing the first face surface of the detent lever, a plurality of side-by-side stationary electrically conductive electrical contact segments disposed on the inner surface of the housing member and being alignable with respective movable electrical contact elements, the housing formed with a ledge having a free end portion along the outer periphery thereof spaced from the inner surface and extending in a radial direction inwardly toward the manual shaft, the free end portion of the ledge received between the lip of the insulative base member and the first face surface of the detent lever, and a coupling member extending from the vehicular transmission to the housing to maintain the housing at a pre-selected angular position regardless of pivotable movement of the manual shaft and detent lever, whereby the spacing between the contact segments on the inner surface of the housing member and the movable contact elements on the top surface of the insulative base member is limited by the lip and ledge arrangement throughout an operational range of pivotal movement of the manual shaft and detent lever.