Ghsp, Inc.

Todd Michael Burghgraef

Ian Patrick Sage

Eric William Bryant

Richard W Harris

Gary Douglas Kortge

A vehicle shifter interface including a protruding contoured member including an outer surface having a first contour with a round shape and a second contour; a first set of capacitive touch sensor pads disposed on an inner surface of the protruding contoured member in an area underlying the first contour, the first set of capacitive touch sensor pads arranged to provide output signals in response to a rotary movement of a driver's fingers about the round shape of the first contour thereby indicating a change in gear selection; and a second set of capacitive touch sensor pads disposed on the inner surface in an area underlying the second contour, the second set of capacitive touch sensor pads arranged and configured to provide output signals in response to at least one of a position of a driver's finger on the second contour and a change of position of a driver's finger.

Vehicle shifter interface having capacitive touch rotary shifting

A transmission shifter includes a base defining P, R, N, D gear positions; four electrical dome switches associated with each of the P, R, N, D gear positions, and analog and digital circuits operably connected to the electrical switches, respectively, and associated with the P, R, N, D gear positions. The dome switches are arranged in different patterns in each of the different gear positions, and in combination with pushbutton actuators operate with different actuator motions and with different closure distances and forces to cause reliable ad confirmed intentional actuation, including redundancy. The switches are operably connected to analog and digital circuits, which provides additional functional advantage, reliability, and certainty of intentional operation.

Growing community of inventors

Caledonia, MI, United States of America

Todd Michael Burghgraef