Patent ID: 7219572

Claim:
A shift device for shifting gears of a vehicle transmission, the shift device comprising: a shift lever movable in a first direction and a second direction to shift the gears of the transmission, wherein the first direction is perpendicular to the second direction; a first movable member connected to the shift lever to move in cooperation with the shift lever for detecting the position of the shift lever in the first direction; a second movable member connected to the shift lever to move in cooperation with the shift lever for detecting the position of the shift lever in the second direction, wherein the first and second movable members pivot along the same plane; a first sensor mechanism including the first movable member; a second sensor mechanism including the second movable member; a sensor unit retaining the first and second sensor mechanisms; a first sensor arranged in the first sensor mechanism to generate a first detection signal corresponding to the position of the first movable member; a second sensor arranged in the second sensor mechanism to generate a second detection signal corresponding to the position of the second movable member; and an operation circuit connected to the first and second sensors to determining the position of the shift lever with the first and second detection signals.