The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 07, 2002
Filed:
Sep. 11, 2000
Douglas J. Wheeler, Farmington Hills, MI (US);
Teleflex Incorporated, Plymouth Meeting, PA (US);
Abstract
An assembly for shifting gear positions ( and ) in an electronically controlled transmission including a single lever control for moving between various gear positions. The assembly includes a shift lever ( ) mounted to either a column support ( ) or a base ( ). The shift lever ( ) either moves a detent finger ( ) between a plurality of gear positions or moves a plurality of detent valleys ( ) of a detent housing ( ) into contact with a detent finger mechanism ( ). The distal end ( ) of the detent finger ( ) includes a magnet ( ) for generating a magnetic field. The detent valleys ( and ) represent each gear position and a Hall effect sensor ( ) is disposed in the predetermined depth of each detent valley ( and ). The sensor ( ) is activated by the magnetic field generated by the magnet ( ) attached to the distal end ( ) of the detent finger ( ). In response, the sensor ( ) generates an output voltage to a control module. The control module verifies the accuracy of the output voltage and signals the electronically controlled transmission to change gear positions. The assembly provides the feel of locking the shift lever (118) into a gear position through use of the detent valleys ( and ) while using a minimal amount of components.