JP2008056164A - Shift device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a shift device capable of suppressing any non-intended shift operation when operating a steering wheel. <P>SOLUTION: In the by-wire type shift device, a shift lever 1 is provided between a center spoke 11a and a right spoke 11b adjacent to each other out of three spokes 11a, 11b, 11c provided on a steering wheel 10. The shift position is changed by the displacement of the shift lever 1 between the center spoke 11a and the right spoke 11b. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a shift device.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a vehicle shift device is known in which a shift position of a transmission is changed by a driver's operation via a mechanical link mechanism or the like. Many of such mechanical shift devices are provided on a floor console or a steering column. The thing provided in a steering column has the advantage that the space of a floor console can be utilized compared with what is provided in a floor console, and it is easy to operate near a steering wheel. 2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, shift-by-wire has been proposed in which a shift operation of a transmission is changed by converting a driver's shift operation into an electrical signal and transmitting the electrical signal to a transmission or the like via a wire. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1). According to the by-wire type shift device, since a mechanical link mechanism or the like is not required, the size can be reduced. In addition, the shift lever can be made smaller than the conventional shift lever, and the operation force can be reduced. In recent years, not only floor-type but also column-type shift devices have been considered to be by-wire.
JP 2002-276804 A

  However, when the by-wire type shift device is provided in the steering column, the shift lever is touched when the steering wheel is operated, and the shift position may be unintentionally changed.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a shift device that can suppress an unintended shift operation when operating a steering wheel.

Hereinafter, means for achieving the above-described object and its operation and effects will be described.
The invention according to claim 1 is a by-wire type shift device, wherein a shift lever is provided between adjacent spokes among a plurality of spokes provided on a steering wheel, and the shift lever is the adjacent spoke. The gist is that the shift position is switched by being displaced between the two.

  According to this configuration, since the shift lever is provided between the spokes of the steering wheel, the shift lever can be operated by slightly releasing the hand from the steering wheel when switching the shift position. In addition, in the case where the shift lever is provided on the steering column, there is a possibility that the steering wheel may be touched when the steering wheel is rotated. There is no possibility of touching the lever 1, and an unintended shift operation can be suppressed.

  The gist of the invention according to claim 2 is that, in the shift device according to claim 1, the shift lever is operated in the same direction as the turning direction of the steering wheel to switch the shift position. It is said.

According to this configuration, since the operating direction of the shift lever is the same as the operating direction of the steering wheel, it is easy to operate when switching the shift position.
The gist of the invention of claim 3 is that, in the shift device of claim 2, the shift position of at least one of drive and reverse of the shift lever is set in the vicinity of the spoke.

According to this configuration, since the position of the shift lever when traveling is in the vicinity of the spoke, an unintended shift operation can be further suppressed when the steering wheel is operated.
The gist of the invention according to claim 4 is that, in the shift device according to claim 2, the shift position of at least one of the drive and reverse of the shift lever is a position in contact with the spoke.

  According to this configuration, since the position of the shift lever when traveling is a position in contact with the spokes, an unintended shift operation can be reliably suppressed when operating the steering wheel.

  The gist of the invention according to claim 5 is that, in the shift device according to any one of claims 2 to 4, the end of the shift lever is positioned in the vicinity of the outer edge of the central portion of the steering wheel. Yes.

  According to this configuration, since the end portion of the shift lever is located near the outer edge of the central portion, the shift lever can be provided on the steering wheel while maintaining a space for storing the airbag or the like in the central portion of the steering wheel. .

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the shift device according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, a moderation mechanism for holding the shift lever is provided at a position corresponding to the shift position of the shift lever. It is a summary.

According to this configuration, by providing the moderation mechanism, the shift position of the shift lever can be sensibly recognized when operating.
A seventh aspect of the present invention is the shift device according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, wherein the steering wheel is provided with a rail that guides the shift lever in the same direction as the operation direction of the shift lever. The gist is to provide it.

According to this configuration, by providing the rail, the shift lever moves smoothly along the rail, and the shift lever can be easily operated.
The invention according to an eighth aspect is the invention according to any one of the first to seventh aspects, wherein the shift lever has a locked state in which a rotation operation of the shift lever is restricted, and the same rotation operation. The gist of the invention is to provide a changeover switch for switching between an unlocked state in which the

  According to the configuration, by providing the changeover switch, when the shift position is changed, the operation of the changeover switch and the operation of the shift lever must be performed, so that the unintended shift operation can be further suppressed. it can.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to suppress unintended shift shift position changes when operating the steering wheel.

Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 1 is an overall view of the shift device. FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram showing the configuration of the shift device. FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a moderation mechanism of the shift device. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the shift device (FIG. 2) taken along line AA.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the steering wheel 10 includes a central portion 13 to which a steering shaft (not shown) is connected, a ring 12, three middle spokes 11 a that connect the central portion 13 and the ring 12, and a right side. A spoke 11b and a left spoke 11c are provided. The middle spoke 11a extends downward from the central portion 13, the right spoke 11b extends from the central portion 13 to the upper right, and the left spoke 11c extends from the central portion 13 to the upper left. Between the middle spoke 11a and the right spoke 11b, there is provided a shift lever 1 formed so as to connect the inside of the central portion 13 and the inside of the ring 12. The shift lever 1 is rotated in the same direction as the rotation direction of the steering wheel 10 between the position in contact with the middle spoke 11a and the position in contact with the right spoke 11b. The shift lever 1 is rotated to shift positions of drive (D in the drawing), neutral (N in the drawing), reverse (R in the drawing), and parking (P in the drawing). The drive shift position is a position where the left side surface of the shift lever 1 contacts the right side surface of the middle spoke 11a. The parking shift position is a position where the right side surface of the shift lever 1 contacts the left side surface of the right spoke 11b. The reverse shift position is in the vicinity of the right spoke 11b. The neutral shift position is between the drive shift position and the reverse shift position. A switch recess 31 is formed on the surface of the lever portion 2 of the shift lever 1, and a touch sensor 32 as a changeover switch is provided on the inner bottom surface of the switch recess 31. By operating the touch sensor 32, a locked state in which the turning operation of the shift lever 1 is restricted and an unlocked state in which the turning operation is allowed are switched.

  As shown in FIG. 4, an opening 14 is provided on the side surface of the central portion 13 of the steering wheel 10 according to the rotation range of the shift lever 1. At the end of the lever portion 2 on the side of the central portion 13, there is provided a rotating shaft portion 4 that is inserted and supported so as to be rotatable in the opening portion 14. The rotation shaft portion 4 (axis line P2) is located in the vicinity of the outer edge of the central portion 13 different from the rotation shaft (axis line P1) of the steering wheel 10. The rotation shaft portion 4 includes a rotation portion 42 coupled to the lever portion 2, a support portion 41 that supports the rotation portion 42, a rotation sensor 43 that detects a rotation angle of the rotation portion 42, and And a moderation mechanism 44 that holds the rotating portion 42 at a rotation position corresponding to the shift position of the shift lever 1. As shown in FIG. 3, in the moderation mechanism 44, the locking member 44a urged toward the rotating portion 42 by the spring 44b has a locking recess 44d formed in the rotating portion 42 corresponding to each shift position. , 44n, 44p, and 44r, the rotation of the shift lever 1 around the rotation shaft portion 4 is restricted. Thereby, the shift lever 1 is held at a predetermined shift position. As shown in FIG. 2, a rotation recess 15 is provided on the inner periphery of the ring 12 over the range in which the shift lever 1 rotates. As shown in FIG. 4, rails 16 are provided on two inner surfaces of the rotating recess 15 that face each other. And as FIG. 2 shows, the recessed part 17 is provided in the site | part corresponding to each shift position of the shift lever 1 of the rail 16, respectively. As shown in FIG. 4, a roller portion 5 that moves while rotating on the rail 16 is provided at the end of the lever portion 2 on the ring 12 side. The roller unit 5 includes a roller 5a and a roller 5b disposed so as to sandwich the lever unit 2 in the vertical direction. Both rollers 5a and 5b move while rotating along two rails 16 that are also provided on the upper and lower sides so as to correspond to them. A lock mechanism 6 that restricts the turning operation of the shift lever 1 is provided inside the ring 12 of the shift lever 1. The lock mechanism 6 includes a lock bar 61 fitted into and removed from the recess 17 from the inside of the shift lever 1 and a solenoid 62 fitted into and removed from the recess 17. That is, the operation of the shift lever 1 is restricted by inserting the lock bar 61 into the recess.

Next, the electrical configuration of the shift device will be described. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the shift device.
As shown in FIG. 5, the touch sensor 32 outputs a detection signal to the control device 70 when it detects contact with a finger or the like. Then, the control device 70 outputs a switching signal for releasing the lock to the solenoid 62 of the lock mechanism 6. Note that the lock mechanism 6 locks the turning operation of the shift lever 1 in a state where the touch sensor 32 does not detect contact. The rotation sensor 43 of the shift lever 1 outputs a shift position signal (angle signal) corresponding to the shift position of the shift lever 1 (more precisely, the rotation angle of the rotation unit 41) to the control device 70. The control device 70 recognizes the shift position signal based on the shift position signal (angle signal) from the rotation sensor 43. Then, based on the shift position signal, a shift switching signal for switching to the shift position corresponding to the shift position of the shift lever 1 is output to the transmission device 71. The transmission 71 switches to each shift position based on a shift switching signal input from the control device 70. Further, when operated to the parking shift position, the control device 70 outputs a parking lock signal to the parking lock actuator 72. Then, transmission 71 outputs to control device 70 a shift position signal that conveys the actually switched shift position. Control device 70 outputs a shift position signal to meter 73. The meter 73 displays the shift position signal actually switched based on the shift position signal received through the control device 70. When a parking lock signal is input from the control device 70, the parking lock actuator 72 locks the parking lock. The parking lock actuator 72 outputs a parking position signal to the control device 70 when the parking lock is applied.

Next, an operation mode of the shift device configured as described above will be described.
As shown in FIG. 2, the shift lever 1 can be rotated to drive, neutral, reverse, and parking shift positions. The shift lever 1 is positioned at a parking shift position in contact with the right spoke 11b when the engine is started. When it is desired to move forward, the shift lever 1 is displaced to the shift position of the drive by rotating the shift lever 1 to the position in contact with the middle spoke 11a in the clockwise direction. When the user wants to move backward, the shift lever 1 is displaced clockwise from the parking shift position, and the shift lever 1 is rotated counterclockwise from the drive shift position, thereby being displaced to the reverse shift position. That is, when shifting from the drive shift position to the reverse shift position, the neutral shift position is passed. Similarly, when moving from the reverse operation position to the drive operation position, the position passes through the neutral operation position. When the user wants to park, the shift lever 1 is displaced counterclockwise from the reverse shift position to be displaced to the parking shift position.

  Here, when the driver operates the shift lever 1, the shift lever 1 can be rotated by inserting a finger into the switch recess 31 and touching the touch sensor 32 in the switch recess 31. That is, when the touch sensor 32 detects contact, a detection signal is output to the control device 70, and the control device 70 outputs a switching signal to the solenoid 62 of the lock mechanism 6. When there is no input of a switching signal from the control device 70, the lock mechanism 6 is held in a state in which the lock bar 61 is fitted in the recess 17, and the rotation operation of the shift lever 1 is kept in a locked state. When a switching signal is input from the control device 70 to the solenoid 62, the lock bar 61 is driven in a direction in which the recess 62 is fitted and removed by electromagnetic force generated by exciting the solenoid 62. Thereby, the lock of the turning operation of the shift lever 1 is released.

  Thus, when operating the shift lever 1, when a finger is inserted into the switch recess 31 of the lever 2 and touches the touch sensor 32, the lock bar 61 of the lock mechanism 6 of the shift lever 1 is fitted from the recess 17. It can be removed and turned. The shift lever 1 is rotated to a desired shift position in this rotatable state, that is, with a finger or the like in contact with the touch sensor 32. Thereafter, when the finger is removed from the switch recess 31, the lock bar 61 is inserted into the recess 17, and the turning operation of the shift lever 1 is restricted again. Then, a shift position signal corresponding to the shift position (more precisely, the rotation angle) is output from the rotation sensor 43 to the control device 70, and a shift switching signal from the control device 70 to the transmission device 71 or a parking lock signal to the parking lock actuator 72. Is output. It should be noted that the driver does not shift the drive, neutral, reverse, and parking positions, that is, in a state where the lock member 44a of the moderation mechanism 44 is not fitted in any of the lock recesses 44d, 44n, 44p, 44r, When the finger is removed, a shift position signal indicating that the shift position is not an appropriate shift position is input to the control device 70 from the rotation sensor 43. In this case, the control device 70 outputs a shift switching signal for making the shift position neutral, to the transmission device 71, and does not display the shift position on the meter 73, indicating that the shift position is not appropriate. To inform.

As described above, according to the embodiment described above, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) Since the shift lever 1 is provided between the middle spoke 11a and the right spoke 11b of the steering wheel 10, the shift lever 1 can be operated by slightly releasing the hand from the steering wheel 10 when switching the shift position. it can. Further, in the case where the shift lever 1 is provided on the steering column, there is a possibility that the steering wheel may be touched when the steering wheel is rotated. However, according to the present embodiment, the steering wheel 10 is rotated integrally. In addition, there is no fear of touching the shift lever 1, and an unintended shift operation can be suppressed.

(2) Since the operation direction of the shift lever 1 is the same as the operation direction of the steering wheel 10, it is easy to operate when switching the shift position.
(3) Since the reverse shift position is in the vicinity of the right spoke 11b, an unintended shift operation can be further suppressed when the steering wheel 10 is operated.

(4) Since the shift position of the drive is a position in contact with the middle spoke 11a, an unintended shift operation can be reliably suppressed when the steering wheel 10 is operated.
(5) Since the rotation shaft P2 of the rotation shaft portion 4, which is the end portion of the shift lever 1, is located near the outer edge of the central portion 13 of the steering wheel 10, a space for storing an air bag or the like is maintained in the central portion 13. However, the shift lever 1 can be provided on the steering wheel 10.

(6) By providing the moderation mechanism 44, the shift position of the shift lever 1 can be sensibly recognized when operating.
(7) By providing the rail 16, the shift lever 1 moves smoothly along the rail 16, and the shift lever 1 is easy to operate.

  (8) By providing the touch sensor 32, when the shift position is switched, the touch sensor 32 and the operation of the shift lever 1 must be performed, so that an unintended shift operation is further suppressed. Can do.

In addition, the said embodiment can be implemented with the following forms which changed this suitably.
In the above embodiment, the shift position of the drive is the position where the shift lever 1 contacts the middle spoke 11a, but it may be in the vicinity of the middle spoke 11a.

  In the above embodiment, the shift position of the shift lever 1 is provided in the order of drive, neutral, reverse, and parking from the middle spoke 11a, but may be provided in the order of drive, neutral, reverse, and parking from the right spoke 11b.

  In the above embodiment, the shift lever 1 is disposed between the adjacent middle spoke 11a and the right spoke 11b, but between the other adjacent middle spoke 11a and the left spoke 11c, or between the right spoke 11b and the left spoke 11c. You may make it arrange | position between.

  In the above embodiment, when the shift position is switched, the detection signal is output to the control device 70 when a finger or the like touches the touch sensor 32 as the switch, but the present invention is not limited to the touch sensor. A non-contact sensor such as a sensor using a mechanical switch or a capacitance sensor may be used.

  In the above embodiment, the touch sensor 32 is disposed on the bottom of the hole of the switch recess 31 and the surface thereof is positioned inward of the switch recess 31, but the surface is flush with the surface of the lever portion 2. Or may protrude from the surface of the lever portion 2.

  In the above embodiment, the lock mechanism 6 is provided inside the lever portion 2 of the shift lever 1 and the lock bar 61 is inserted into the recess 17 from the inside. However, the lock mechanism as shown in FIG. 60 may be provided at each shift position of the ring 12 of the steering wheel 10. The lock mechanism 60 is the same as the lock mechanism 6 of the above embodiment. Further, a lock mechanism 80 as shown in FIG. 6B may be provided at each shift position of the ring 12 of the steering wheel 10. That is, the recess 18 is formed at the end of the shift lever 1 on the ring 12 side, and the lock member 81 pressed against the recess 18 by the spring 82 is fitted into the recess 18. Then, when the lock bar 84 is fitted into the concave portion provided on the side surface of the lock member 81 by the solenoid 83, the rotation operation of the shift lever 1 is locked. On the other hand, when the lock bar 84 is fitted and removed from the recess of the lock member 81, the lock member 81 comes out of the recess 18 when the shift lever 1 is operated with a force larger than the pressing force of the spring 82. ing.

In the above embodiment, the rollers 5a and 5b are used at the portion where the shift lever 1 contacts the rail 16, but balls or the like may be used.
In the above embodiment, the rail 16 is provided in the turning recess 15, but a configuration in which the rail 16 is omitted may be employed as long as the shift lever 1 can turn.

In the above configuration, a configuration in which the moderation mechanism 44 is omitted can be employed.
In the above configuration, a configuration in which the touch sensor 32 as the changeover switch is omitted can be adopted.

  The rotation axis P2 of the shift lever 1 may not be located in the vicinity of the outer edge of the central portion 13 if it is not necessary to make a space in the central portion 13. For example, the rotation axis P2 of the shift lever 1 may be coaxial with the rotation axis P1 of the steering wheel 10.

  The parking shift position is provided as a parking position switch in another part of the instrument panel, etc., and the shift lever shift position is provided in the order of drive, neutral and reverse from the middle spoke 11a, and the drive shift position is reversed to the middle spoke 11a. At the shift position, the right spoke 11b may be contacted. According to this configuration, since the vehicle is in contact with the spokes during driving and reverse during traveling, it is possible to further suppress erroneous operations such as fingering when operating the steering wheel 10.

  In the above embodiment, the three-spoke steering wheel 10 is provided with the shift lever 1 that is rotated in the same direction as the operation direction of the steering wheel 10. However, the four-spoke steering wheel as shown in FIG. 7 is provided with a shift lever that rotates between the adjacent spokes of the four spokes in the same direction as the steering wheel. Also good. Moreover, you may make it provide in the steering of two spokes or five or more spokes.

  In the above-described embodiment, the shift lever 1 is provided so as to rotate about the rotation shaft portion 4 (axis P2). However, the end portions of the shift lever 1 are respectively connected to the center portion 13 and the ring 12. When the shift lever 1 is positioned, both end portions may be provided so as to slide relative to the central portion 13 and the ring 12.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the shift lever 100 may be provided so as to reciprocate between the central portion 13 and the ring 12. The shift lever 100 is provided between the spoke 111a and the spoke 111b, and is moved along the rail 116 provided inside the spoke 111a and 111b. That is, the shift positions of parking (P in the drawing), reverse (R in the drawing), neutral (N in the drawing), and drive (D in the drawing) are sequentially arranged from the central portion 13 side. The shift lever 100 contacts the central portion 13 at the parking shift position and contacts the ring 12 at the drive shift position. A shift change is performed by performing a change operation in a direction reciprocating between the central portion 13 and the ring 12. The shift lever 100 is provided with a changeover switch 103 that switches between a locked state that restricts the changing operation of the shift lever 100 and an unlocked state that allows the changing operation. According to this configuration, the shift lever 100 is parallel to the ring 12, that is, the operation direction of the steering wheel 10 and the operation direction of the shift lever 100 are different. Even if it hits, since it is difficult to change the shift lever 100, erroneous operation can be suppressed.

  In the above embodiment, the shift lever 1 is held at both ends, but may be held only at one end.

FIG. The block diagram of a shift apparatus. The block diagram of the moderation mechanism of a shift apparatus. AA sectional drawing of a shift device. The figure which shows the electrical structure of a shift apparatus. (A) (b) The block diagram of a locking mechanism. FIG.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Shift lever, 2 ... Lever part, 4 ... Rotating shaft part, 5 ... Roller part, 5a, 5b ... Roller, 6 ... Lock mechanism, 10 ... Steering wheel, 11a, 11b, 11c ... Spoke, 12 ... Ring, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 13 ... Center part, 14 ... Opening part, 15 ... Turning recessed part, 16 ... Rail, 17, 18 ... Recessing part, 20 ... Steering shaft, 31 ... Switch recessed part, 32 ... Touch sensor, 41 ... Supporting part, 42 ... Turning 43, rotation sensor, 44 ... moderation mechanism, 44a ... lock member, 44b ... spring, 44d, 44n, 44p, 44r ... lock recess, 45 ... recess, 60 ... lock mechanism, 61 ... lock bar, 62 ... solenoid, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 70 ... Control apparatus, 71 ... Transmission, 72 ... Parking lock actuator, 73 ... Meter, 80 ... Lock mechanism, 81 ... Lock member, 82 ... Spring, 83 ... Soleno De, 84 ... lock bar, 100 ... shift lever, 103 ... selector switch, 111a, 111b ... spoke, 116 ... rail, P1, P2 ... pivot shaft.

Claims (8)

A by-wire shift device,
A shift lever is provided between adjacent spokes among a plurality of spokes provided on the steering wheel,
The shift device is characterized in that a shift position is switched by displacing the shift lever between the adjacent spokes. The shift device according to claim 1, wherein
The shift device is characterized in that a shift position is switched by being operated in the same direction as the rotation direction of the steering wheel. The shift device according to claim 2,
A shift device characterized in that at least one shift position of drive and reverse of the shift lever is set in the vicinity of the spoke. The shift device according to claim 2,
A shift device, wherein a shift position of at least one of drive and reverse of the shift lever is a position in contact with the spoke. In the shift apparatus as described in any one of Claims 2-4,
An end portion of the shift lever is positioned in the vicinity of an outer edge of a central portion of the steering wheel. In the shift apparatus as described in any one of Claims 1-5,
A moderation mechanism for holding the shift lever at a position corresponding to the shift position of the shift lever is provided. In the shift apparatus as described in any one of Claims 1-6,
A shift device characterized in that the steering wheel is provided with a rail for guiding the shift lever in the same direction as the operation direction of the shift lever. The shift lever includes a changeover switch that switches between a locked state in which a turning operation of the shift lever is restricted and an unlocked state in which the turning operation is allowed. The shifting device described.

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