Chrysler Corporation

Fca US LLC

Daimlerchrysler Corporation

Jay T TenBrink

Kurt H Stroeters

Michael Perecki

Maryanne R Farkas

Waine T Brock

Loren Michael Trotter

Kirk Ypma

Donald Niskanen

Robert J Vendt

Ray Janssen

Rene J Bacholzky

Robert L Brown

Richard P Burns

Richard Burns

A shifter assembly includes a shift lever, a base, a coupling member having a toothed member and pivotably coupling the shift lever to the base, and a speed sensitive damping arrangement housed in the base. The damping arrangement includes a housing associated with the base and defining an internal cavity, a shaft disposed in the cavity and having an end extending from the housing, and a gear coupled to the shaft end extending from the housing and configured for rotation therewith, where the gear is meshingly engaged with the toothed member of the coupling member such that pivotable movement of the coupling member rotates the gear and the shaft. The gear is configured to rotate faster than the shift lever such that damping to movement of the shift lever provided by the damping arrangement is proportional to a square of a speed of movement of the shift lever.

Automatic transmission shifter with speed sensitive damping

An electronic shifter can include a base, a shift lever assembly, a detent system and a clutch system. The shift lever assembly can include a pivot base having a coupling member. The detent system can include a biasing member and a detent member associated with the shift lever assembly. The biasing member can bias the detent member into engagement with a cam member. The clutch system can include a flexible clutch member and a bearing area having a bearing surface. The bearing area can be associated with the base and can receive the coupling member and clutch member to pivotably couple the shift lever assembly to the base. The detent system can apply a downward force onto the coupling member thereby forcing the clutch member against the bearing surface and providing frictional damping of the shift lever assembly during movement thereof proportional with a biasing force of the biasing member.

Transmission electronic shifter with adjustable damped friction clutch

An electronic shifter assembly includes a shift lever and a speed sensitive damping arrangement housed within a base of the assembly. The speed sensitive damping arrangement includes a housing, a shaft coupled to the shift lever, a plurality of stacked plates and a damping substance. The stacked plates are associated with the shaft and a cavity of the housing, where at least one of the stacked plates is keyed to the shaft and at least another one of the stacked plates is keyed to the housing such that rotation of the shaft via the shift lever causes relative movement of the keyed stacked plates. The damping substance is packed into the internal cavity and about the stacked plates such that the damping arrangement provides speed sensitive damping to the shift lever proportional to a speed of movement of the shift lever.

A wheel speed sensor latch for securing a wheel speed sensor to a bearing cap of a vehicle speed sensing assembly. The latch includes a main body having a collar section adapted for receiving the wheel speed sensor therethrough. The latch further includes a pair of bifurcated legs extending from the main body. The pair of bifurcated legs being engageable with a pair of latching members formed on the bearing cap such that the pair of latching members and the pair of bifurcated legs cooperate to secure the wheel speed sensor on the bearing cap.

Wheel speed sensor with positive mounting latch

A speed sensor assembly is mounted to a steering knuckle with a threaded fastener. The fastener is initially hand tightened until it is axially obstructed by a spacer provided on the speed sensor assembly. A tool then is used to apply high torque to the fastener so as to deflect or break away the spacer so that the speed sensor assembly may be tightly clamped to the steering knuckle by the fastener. The spacer prevents hand tightened speed sensor assemblies from being properly aligned with a tone wheel. Unless a tool is used to fully seat the speed sensor assembly, the assembly will give a false test signal indicative of improper or incomplete mounting.

Wheel speed sensor with stand-off tabs

A glider block assembly for a window regulator in a motor vehicle structure includes a glider block and a spring clip adapted to receive a pin with an engaging head extending from a window lift plate. The glider block has an opening sized to receive the pin and a guide pin slot intersecting the opening. The spring clip is disposed in the spring clip slot and provides an entry gap smaller than the engaging head. The clip extends in part across the opening to provide an entry gap smaller than the engaging head. The spring clip expands to allow the engaging head to pass therethrough in response to pressure of the head thereagainst when the pin is received by the block and snaps back behind the head, thereby retaining the plate to the block.

Snap-in attachment of window pane lift plate to window regulator

A vehicle door adapted to accommodate a vertically translating window pane includes an outer door panel and an inner door panel fixed to the outer panel and defining a void therebetween. The inner panel has two access openings to the void and a recessed pan portion extending into the void and separating the openings. The door inner panel also defines four approximately keyhole shaped apertures with one disposed above and below each of the two openings.

Growing community of inventors

Goodrich, MI, United States of America

Jay T TenBrink