Patent ID: 7549353

Claim:
A vehicular shift lever device wherein a path of movement of a shift lever is defined by a guide slot having a corner portion which has an angle of bend of about 90° and which corresponds to an intermediate position of the shift lever that is spaced apart from a parking position in a select direction and from other operating positions in a shift direction perpendicular to the select direction, so that the guide slot permits the shift lever to be operated from the parking position to one of the other operating positions, when the shift lever is first moved from the parking position to the intermediate position in the select direction and then moved from the intermediate position to said one other operating position in the shift direction, wherein: said guide slot includes a first guide surface and a second guide surface which define a width of a first portion of said guide slot between first and second positions respectively corresponding to said parking position and said intermediate position, wherein said width extends in a first direction extending from one end to another end in the shift direction, and wherein said first guide surface is more distant in said first direction than said second guide surface from a third position corresponding to said one other operating position, and wherein said width of said first portion of said guide slot has a dimension in said first direction which decreases from a value at said first position to smaller values at positions along said first portion which are closer to said second position such that as said shift lever is moved from the parking position in a second direction transverse to said first direction, the width with respect to said first direction of the guide slot at a location of the shift lever becomes smaller.