JP2002059755A - Shift lever device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a shift lever device capable of making a weight of a support member to a light weight in the shift lever device provided with the support member for supporting a shift lever. SOLUTION: The support member has a mounting part 20 to which a shift lever is mounted; and these support beams 10, 13, 30 connected to the mounting part 20. The three support beams 10, 13, 30 have a tetra-structure.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a shift lever device for an automobile transmission, and more particularly to a shift lever support structure for reducing the weight of the shift lever device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, shift switching of a transmission for an automobile is performed, as shown in FIG. 5, by a shift lever device 70 and cables 72 and 74 connected to the shift lever device 70.
It is performed by That is, the operation of the shift lever 80 of the shift lever device 70 is transmitted to the transmission via the cables 72 and 74 to perform a shift change. As a shift lever device 70 used for such shift switching, for example, a shift lever device described in JP-A-6-94108 (shift lever device for manual transmission) is known.

The shift lever device described in the above publication mainly includes a shift lever 80 and a support member 90 for supporting the shift lever 80 as shown in FIG.
The shift lever 80 is provided at its lower end with a pin 88 to which the shift cable 74 is connected, and with a ball 82 at a predetermined position from the lower end. FIG.
As shown in (b), a select lever 84 is protruded. As shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, the support member 90 is a box-shaped member having a U-shaped cross section, and has an upper surface on which a mounting portion 92 to which the spherical portion 82 of the shift lever 80 is mounted is formed. You. A through hole (not shown) through which the lower end of the shift lever 80 (the portion where the pin 88 is provided) penetrates is provided on the bottom surface of the mounting portion 92, and a guide groove 94 is provided on the side surface of the mounting portion 92.
(See FIG. 6A). In such a configuration, in a state where the shift lever 80 is supported by the support member 90 (a state in which the ball portion 82 is mounted on the mounting portion 92), the lower end of the shift lever 80 projects into the internal space of the support member 90,
The select lever 84 protruding from the ball portion 82 has a guide groove 94.
It fits in. Also, select lever 8
As shown in FIG. 6 (b), a bell crank 94 (FIG.
(A) is not shown in FIG.
4 is provided with a pin 96 to which a select cable is connected. In such a shift lever device 70, the shift lever 80 is moved in the cable axial direction (arrow A in FIG. 6A).
In this case, the lower end of the shift lever 80 swings as shown by the arrow B, and the force is transmitted to the shift cable 74 attached to the lower end of the shift lever 80. Also, the shift lever 80 is set in a direction perpendicular to the cable axis (FIG. 6).
When the swing lever is swung in the direction of arrow C in (b), the tip of the shift lever 80 swings as shown by arrow D and the select lever 84 swings as shown by arrow E. When the select lever 84 swings, the bell crank 94 swings to transmit the movement to the select cable 72.

[0004]

In the above-described shift lever device, when the shift lever 80 is operated, a force acts on the support member 90 from the shift lever 80 to support the support member 90.
Bends. When the support member 90 is bent, the position of the lower end of the shift lever 80 and the like change, so that the movement of the shift lever 80 transmitted to the cable also changes. Therefore,
In order to perform an accurate shift operation, the support member 90 needs to have sufficient strength and rigidity. On the other hand, in recent years, weight reduction of a vehicle body has become a major issue for reasons such as improvement in fuel efficiency of automobiles. Therefore, there is a demand to reduce the weight of the shift lever device (support member 90). As a method for reducing the weight, it is conceivable to reduce the material used for the support member 90 (to reduce the thickness of the support member 90). However, for the above-described reason, it is necessary to reduce the thickness of the support member 90. Has limitations. In particular, the conventional support member 90 includes
Since the shift cable 74 needs to be connected to the lower end of the shift lever 80, the support member 90 is formed in a box shape having an open front surface. Therefore, when a force acts on the support member 90 from the shift lever 80, a bending moment acts on the support member 90. Therefore, the support member 90 must secure structurally sufficient strength and rigidity, which is an obstacle to reducing the weight of the support member 90.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a shift lever device capable of achieving weight reduction of a support member by changing the structure of the support member.

[0006]

Means and Effects for Solving the Problems To solve the above problems, a shift lever device according to claim 1 is provided with a support member for supporting a shift lever, wherein the support member is provided with the shift member. It has an attachment portion to which the lever is attached, and three support beams connected to the attachment portion, and the three support beams have a tetra structure (claim 1). Here, the “tetra structure” refers to a tetrahedron formed by the three supporting beams when the ends of the three supporting beams (the ends not connected to the mounting portion) are virtually connected. Is formed. Therefore, it is not necessary that the ends of the three support beams are actually connected by another member, and conversely, the ends may be connected.

In the shift lever device, the mounting portion (shift lever) is supported by three support beams having a tetra structure. Therefore, when a force acts on the mounting portion, a compressive force acts on the supporting beam. Therefore, since the structural strength is increased as compared with the conventional box-shaped structure on which a bending moment acts, the thickness of the support member can be reduced and the weight can be reduced. The cable connected to the lower end of the shift lever may be connected to the shift lever through any two supporting beams.

[0008] In the shift lever device according to the first aspect, it is preferable that the support member is formed of a material mainly composed of light metal (claim 2). According to such a configuration, since the support member is formed of a light metal having higher specific rigidity and specific strength than resin or iron, it is possible to reduce the weight of the support member while maintaining strength. Here, aluminum, magnesium, titanium or the like can be suitably used as the light metal. Further, in order to omit steps such as welding at the time of manufacturing, it is preferable that the support member is integrally formed by die casting or the like.

In the shift lever device according to the first or second aspect, it is preferable that at least one of the three support beams is foldably connected to the mounting portion. Item 3). According to such a configuration, it is possible to make one supporting beam compact by folding it, and it is possible to facilitate handling before storage in a vehicle (storage in a warehouse during transportation).

In the shift lever device according to the present invention, a bell crank for transmitting a movement of the shift lever in a select direction is rotatably mounted on the mounting portion. It is preferable that the one supporting beam is rotatably mounted by utilizing the crankshaft of (Claim 4). According to such a configuration, by using the crankshaft of the bell crank, parts can be shared and the number of parts can be reduced.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The invention described in each of the claims described above can be suitably implemented in the following embodiments. (Mode 1) A cable attachment portion for attaching a cable outer is provided at a tip of one of the three support beams. The shift lever device according to claim 1. According to such a configuration, by attaching the cable outer to the cable attaching portion and attaching the inner cable to the lever, a state where the shift lever and the cable are attached to the support member (sub-assembly state) can be achieved. it can.

(Mode 2) The shift lever device according to mode 1, wherein the support beam provided with the cable attachment portion is offset with respect to the axis of the cable connected to the lower end of the shift lever. . According to such a configuration, it is possible to prevent the cable connected to the lower end of the shift lever from coming into contact with the support beam provided with the cable attachment portion.

(Embodiment 3) The shift lever is provided with a ball portion, and the ball portion is assembled to the mounting portion of the support member in a state where the ball portion is sandwiched between two left and right divided sheet members. The shift lever device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein: According to such a configuration, the shift lever can be easily attached to the mounting portion as compared with the conventional case where the seat member is vertically divided.

[0014]

Embodiment A shift lever device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view schematically showing a shift lever device according to the present embodiment,
FIG. 2 is a view of the support bracket of the shift lever device shown in FIG. 1 as viewed from above, FIG. 3 is a view for explaining a mounting structure of a lever mounting side bracket and a cable mounting side bracket, and FIG. It is a figure for explaining the attachment structure of the shift lever to the bracket. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the shift lever device according to the present embodiment mainly includes a shift lever 60 and a support bracket 7 that supports the shift lever 60. The support bracket 7 includes a lever mounting side bracket 8 (in which the mounting portion 20 and the two supporting beams 10 and 13 are integrally formed) and a cable mounting side bracket 9 rotatably mounted on the lever mounting side bracket 8. (Support beam 30 and cable mounting case 4
0 is integrally molded).

The shift lever 60 has a lower end (not shown) connected to a shift cable, and a ball portion 60a at a predetermined position from the lower end, similarly to the shift lever device of the related art.
(See FIGS. 1 and 4). As shown in FIG. 4, a select lever 61 is protruded from the ball portion 60a. Further, the spherical portion 60a is surrounded by two divided sheet members 62 and 63, and the sheet members 62 and 63 are formed so that the outer shape is cylindrical when the spherical portion 60a is surrounded. Is formed. A select lever through hole 65 through which the select lever 61 passes is formed on the peripheral surfaces of the sheet members 62 and 63, and a protrusion 64 is formed on the outer peripheral surface opposite to the position where the select lever through hole 65 is formed. It is formed.

The shift lever 60 described above is mounted on a mounting portion 20 provided on the bracket 8 on the lever mounting side, as shown in FIG. That is, the mounting portion 20 of the lever mounting side bracket 8 is formed with a mounting hole 21 into which the ball portion 60a surrounded by the sheet members 62 and 63 is fitted. The lower end of the shift lever 60 is formed on the bottom surface of the mounting hole 21. A penetrating hole (not shown) is provided. A guide portion 25 for guiding the select lever 61 in the vertical direction is provided on a side wall surface of the mounting hole 21, and a groove 26 is provided on an inner wall surface facing the guide portion 25. In such a configuration, the spherical portion 60a surrounded by the sheet members 62 and 63
The mounting hole 2 is in a state in which the protrusion 64 is engaged with the groove 26 (the state in which the select lever 61 projects sideways from the guide 25).
1 and the shift lever 60 is attached to the attachment portion 20. At this time, the flanges formed at the upper ends of the sheet members 62 and 63 come into contact with the upper surface of the mounting portion 20, so that
The vertical positioning of the sheet members 62 and 63 is performed. When the ball portion 60a is attached to the attachment hole 21, the shift lever 60 is rotatable in a shift direction (front-back direction) and a select direction (left-right direction).

One end of each of the two support beams 10, 13 is connected to the rear of the mounting portion 20 as shown in FIGS. At the other end of the support beam 10, a floor fixing portion 11 is provided as shown in FIG. 2, and the floor fixing portion 11 is used to fix the lever mounting side bracket 8 to the floor surface of the shift lever device. Bolt holes 12 are formed. Similarly, a floor fixing portion 14 is provided at an end of the support beam 13, and a bolt hole 15 is formed in the floor fixing portion 14. The other ends of the supporting beams 10 and 13 (the ends where the floor fixing portion 11 and the floor fixing portion 14 are provided) are connected by a reinforcing beam 16 to increase the structural strength of the lever mounting side bracket 8.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a mounting recess 23 is formed on the front bottom surface of the mounting hole 21 of the mounting portion 20, and through holes 24 are formed on both side walls of the mounting recess 23. . The through-hole 24 has a bell crankshaft 52
Are supported, and the bell crank 50 is rotatably mounted to the mounting portion 20 by the bell crank shaft 52. The bell crank 50 has an L-shape as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, and has a through hole 55 through which a bell crank shaft 52 penetrates, an engagement groove 54 with which a select lever 61 is engaged, An attachment pin 51 to which the inner cable of the cable 68 is attached is formed. A spring 56 and a washer 57 are interposed between the bell crank 50 and the mounting portion 20. The spring 56 is engaged with the select lever 61, and a force acts on the select lever 61 so as to return to the neutral position when the select lever 61 is shifted from the neutral position. The washer 57 is formed of a resin, and the bell crank 50 and the mounting portion 20 are formed.
Is a component for setting a predetermined distance between them.

Further, using the bell crankshaft 52 described above, the cable mounting side bracket 9 is further attached to the mounting portion 20.
Assembled in More specifically, referring to FIG. 3, a connecting portion 36 is formed at one end of a support beam 30 provided on the cable mounting side bracket 9. This connecting part 3
6 has substantially the same width as the mounting recess 23 formed in the mounting portion 20, and has a through hole 37 having a diameter larger than that of the shaft portion of the bell crankshaft 52 in the width direction.
In order to assemble the connecting portion 36 to the mounting portion 20, first, the connecting portion 36 of the support beam 30 is fitted into the mounting concave portion 23. Next, the bell crankshaft 52 is penetrated to the opposite side through the through-hole 24 formed in the mounting part 20 and the through-hole 37 of the connecting part 36, and the other end is locked by a stopper 58 such as a snap ring or a push nut. I do. A rubber plate 38 is mounted in front of the connecting portion 36 of the support beam 30, and the rubber plate 38 comes into contact with the mounting portion 20 so that the support beam 3 is mounted.
Zero rotation is regulated.

As described above, the support beam 30 of the cable mounting side bracket 9 rotatably mounted on the mounting portion 20 is provided.
Is formed so as to be curved (offset from the axis) so as not to overlap with the axis of the shift cable 67 as shown in FIG. At the front end, floor fixing portions 31 are provided at two places on the left and right, and the floor fixing portions 31 are formed with bolt holes 32 for fixing the cable mounting side bracket 9 to the floor surface. 1 and 2
As shown in the figure, a cable mounting case 40 is provided in front of the floor fixing portion 31. The cable mounting case 40 is a rectangular case having a guide groove 41 for guiding a select cable and a shift cable. In the case, a cushion member 66 to which an outer casing of the shift cable 67 and the select cable 68 is fixed is provided. Will be accommodated. Shift cable 67 and select cable 6
The inner cable 8 is attached to the lower end of the shift lever 60 and the attachment pin 51 of the bell crank 50, respectively.

In the present embodiment, the above-described support beams 10, 13 and the lever mounting bracket 8 provided with the mounting portion 20, and the support beam 30 and the cable mounting bracket 9 provided with the cable mounting case 40 are: It is integrally formed by die-casting a light metal material.

The shift lever device constructed as described above is mounted on the body of an automobile in the following procedure. That is,
First, the inner cable of the shift cable 67 is attached to the tip of the shift lever 60, and the inner cable of the select cable 68 is attached to the attachment pin 51 of the bell crank 50. Then, the cushion member 66 to which the outer casing of the select cable 68 and the shift cable 67 is fixed is fitted and fixed in the cable mounting case 40. As a result, the two cables are attached to the shift lever device, and are conveyed to a vehicle assembly factory or the like in a sub-assembled state. At this time, the sub-assembled shift lever device can be folded by rotating the cable mounting side bracket 9 with respect to the lever mounting side bracket 8, so that it can be transported in a compact state. When the shift lever device is mounted on the vehicle body, the lever mounting side bracket 8 and the cable mounting side bracket 9 are opened (the state shown in FIG. 1), and the lower ends of the support beams 10, 13, and 30 are bolted to the vehicle body. Fix to the floor. Then, by connecting the other ends of the shift cable 67 and the select cable 68 to the transmission, the attachment to the vehicle body is completed. When the shift lever 60 is operated (rotated in the shift direction and / or the select direction) in a state where the shift lever 60 is attached to the vehicle body, a force acts on the attachment portion 20 via the ball portion 60a of the shift lever 60. At this time, the supporting beams 10, 1
A compressive force and a tensile force act on 3,30.

As is apparent from the above description, the shift lever device according to the present embodiment has a structure (tetra structure) in which the mounting portion 20 is supported by three supporting beams 10, 13, and 30. Therefore, the supporting beams 10, 13, 30
The supporting beams 10, 1 have the same structural strength and rigidity with respect to the compressive and tensile forces as compared with the conventional structure.
The thickness of 3, 30 can be reduced to reduce the weight. In the present embodiment, the mounting portion 20, the supporting beams 10, 13,
Since 30 is formed of a light metal having higher specific rigidity and specific strength than resin and iron, it is possible to achieve further weight reduction while maintaining strength. In particular, magnesium has the lightest weight (specific gravity: 1.74) among light metal materials, and has high strength per unit weight and high rigidity, so that a large weight-saving effect can be obtained (weight 35% as compared with the current product). Reduction). In this embodiment, the shift cable 67 is bent by bending the support beam 30.
The shift of the support beam 30 from the axis of the support beam 30 prevents the shift cable 67 and the support beam 30 from coming into contact with each other.
Further, in this embodiment, the cable mounting side bracket 9 can be compacted by rotating and folding the cable mounting side bracket 9 with respect to the lever mounting side bracket 8, and the handling before assembly to the vehicle can be easily performed. Further, the cable mounting side bracket is rotatably mounted by using the bell crank shaft 52 of the bell crank 50, thereby achieving commonality of parts.

Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above, this is merely an example, and the present invention can be implemented in various modified and improved forms based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art. For example, in the above embodiment, the ends of the supporting beam 10 and the supporting beam 13 are connected by the reinforcing beam 16,
Although the structural strength of the support bracket is increased, the present invention is not limited to such a form. The strength may be increased by appropriately connecting the tips of three support beams with a reinforcing beam. Although the above embodiment is an example of a manual transmission in which the transmission is shifted using two cables, the structure (tetra structure) of the present invention is, of course, a shift lever for an automatic transmission. It can also be used for devices. In the above embodiment, the lever mounting side bracket 8
Although the cable mounting side bracket 9 is manufactured by integral molding by die casting, the present invention is not limited to such a form, and these brackets may be appropriately divided and fixed by welding or the like.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a shift lever device according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a top view of a support bracket of the shift lever device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view for explaining a mounting structure of a lever mounting side bracket and a cable mounting side bracket.

FIG. 4 is a view for explaining a structure for attaching a shift lever to a support bracket.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a shift control system of the automobile transmission.

FIG. 6 is a view showing a conventional shift lever device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 8 ··· Lever mounting side bracket 9 ··· Cable mounting side bracket 10,13,30 ··· Support beam 20 ··· Mounting part 40 ··· Cable mounting case 60 ··· Shift lever

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A shift lever device comprising a support member for supporting a shift lever, wherein the support member has a mounting portion to which the shift lever is mounted, and three support beams connected to the mounting portion. The three
A shift lever device, wherein the support beam of the book has a tetra structure. 2. The shift lever device according to claim 1, wherein the support member is formed of a material mainly composed of a light metal. 3. The shift lever device according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the three support beams is foldably connected to the mounting portion. 4. A bell crank for transmitting a movement of a shift lever in a select direction is rotatably mounted on the mounting portion, and the supporting beam is utilized by using a crank shaft of the bell crank. The shift lever device according to claim 3, wherein the shift lever device is rotatably mounted.