JP2008213505A - Shift lever device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a shift lever device capable of being installed easily and allowing a fastening member to be made smaller in size. <P>SOLUTION: In the shift lever device 1 in which butting surfaces 50a and 61a are arranged in mutually confronting vertical walls 50A-50D and 61A-61D of a lower bracket 10 and an upper bracket 11 respectively, bearing grooves 51a and 51b are arranged in the pair of butting surfaces of both the brackets respectively in two 50a and 61a, a shift rotating shaft 24 of a shift lever 3 is supported by a pair of bearing holes 51 formed by butting together the respective butting surfaces 50a and 61a of the lower and upper brackets 10 and 11, engaging projections 52 extending upward along the vertical walls 50B and 50D are arranged on the pair of vertical walls 50B and 50D perpendicularly intersecting with another pair of vertical walls 50A and 50C furnished with bearing grooves 51a of the lower bracket 10, while engaging recesses to admit engagement of the projections 52 are arranged in the pair of vertical walls 61B and 61D perpendicularly intersecting with another pair of vertical walls 61A and 61C furnished with bearing walls 51b of the upper bracket 11. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a shift lever device for an automatic transmission mounted on an automobile or the like.

  This type of conventional shift lever device has a base bracket composed of a lower bracket and an upper bracket. A pair of bearing holes are opened in the mutually opposing vertical walls of the lower bracket, a support shaft is inserted through the one bearing hole, and a shift lever is passed through the inserted support shaft within the lower bracket. The leading end of the support shaft penetrated is inserted into the other bearing hole. With such an assembly, the shift lever is swingably supported on the base bracket (see, for example, Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2).

  Another conventional shift lever device has a base bracket composed of two side brackets divided into two in the vertical direction. Bearing holes are formed at locations of the side brackets facing each other. Both side brackets are assembled while inserting the support shaft of the shift lever into the pair of bearing holes. With such an assembly, the shift lever is pivotably supported on the base bracket (for example, see Patent Document 3).

  However, in the former shift lever device, the shift lever must be passed through the tip of the support shaft in the lower bracket, so that the assemblability is poor. In the latter shift lever device, since it is necessary to assemble the pair of side brackets while inserting the support shafts of the shift levers into the bearing holes of the respective side brackets, this shift lever device is also poorly assembled.

  Therefore, there are the following shift lever devices with improved assemblability. This shift lever device has a base bracket composed of a lower bracket and an upper bracket. Butt surfaces are respectively provided on the vertical walls of the lower bracket and the upper bracket facing each other. Bearing grooves are provided on both of the pair of butting surfaces, and the support shaft of the shift lever is supported by a pair of bearing holes formed by both bearing grooves in a state where the butting surfaces of the lower bracket and the upper bracket are butted against each other.

  According to this shift lever device, the support shaft of the shift lever is placed in the bearing groove of the lower bracket, the upper bracket is put on the upper bracket, the two butted surfaces are butted together, and then the two brackets are fixed. Assemble the shift lever in a swingable manner. That is, assembling is easy because it can be assembled only by a simple operation of placing the support shaft of the shift lever in the bearing groove of the lower bracket and covering the upper bracket on the lower bracket.

In the shift lever device having such a structure, since the bearing grooves of the lower bracket and the upper bracket are combined to form a single bearing hole, both of them are required to accurately align the lower bracket and the upper bracket. In general, a positioning pin or a positioning hole is formed on the abutting surface, and fixed with a fastening member such as a screw.

Japanese Patent No. 3459325 JP 2001-294054 A JP 2004-268728 A

  However, in the shift lever device described above, external force is input from the support shaft of the shift lever to the lower bracket and the upper bracket. Since the positioning pin does not have a strong structure, the external force is received by a fastening member such as a screw. Therefore, a fastening member such as a screw has to be strong in strength, that is, a large size member must be used.

  Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a shift lever device that is easy to assemble and that can reduce the size of a fastening member.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the vertical surfaces of the lower bracket and the upper bracket that face each other are provided with butt surfaces, bearing grooves are provided on the pair of the butt surfaces, respectively, and the lower bracket and the upper bracket are connected to each other. A shift lever device that supports a support shaft of a shift lever with a pair of bearing holes formed by the bearing grooves facing each other in a state in which the butted surfaces are butted, wherein the bearing groove of the lower bracket is provided. A pair of vertical walls different from the pair of vertical walls are provided with engaging protrusions extending upward along the vertical wall, and a pair of vertical walls different from the pair of vertical walls provided with the bearing grooves of the upper bracket. An engagement recess that engages with the engagement protrusion is provided on the vertical wall.

  A second aspect of the present invention is the shift lever device according to the first aspect, wherein the upper end side of the engagement protrusion and the innermost side of the engagement recess are formed on arcuate surfaces that contact each other. Features.

  A third aspect of the present invention is the shift lever device according to the first or second aspect, wherein the pair of vertical walls of the upper bracket extends downward from the vertical wall, and the pair of lower brackets. An extended vertical wall that abuts on the outer surface of the vertical wall is provided.

  A fourth aspect of the invention is the shift lever device according to the third aspect, wherein a fastening hole is provided at a location of the pair of extended vertical walls of the upper bracket and the pair of vertical walls of the lower bracket that are in contact with the extended vertical walls. And the fastening bracket is used to fasten the upper bracket and the lower bracket with the fastening member.

  As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the support shaft of the shift lever is placed in the bearing groove of the lower bracket, the upper bracket is put on the upper bracket, the two butted surfaces are butted, and then both The shift lever can be pivotably mounted by fixing the brackets between the brackets. The shift lever support shaft is placed in the bearing groove of the lower bracket and the upper bracket is put on the lower bracket. Because it can, it is easy to assemble.

  In addition, the engaging protrusion protruding along the vertical wall of the lower bracket and the engaging recess formed in the vertical wall of the upper bracket are engaged, so that the external force acting between both brackets is substantially reduced between the vertical walls. Therefore, it is not necessary to receive the external force with a fastening member that fastens both brackets, and the fastening member can be of a small size. As described above, the assemblability is good and the size of the fastening member can be reduced.

  According to the invention of claim 2, in addition to the effect of the invention of claim 1, when the upper bracket is put on the lower bracket, the arcuate surface on the upper end side of the engagement projecting portion performs the insertion guide function. Good sex. In addition, the engagement protrusion and the engagement recess contact each other on both arc surfaces, and the arc force also receives the above external force, which contributes to an increase in strength. In addition, since the outer peripheral surface of the upper wall of the upper bracket and the corner of the vertical wall can be gently inclined, the shift lever device can be reduced in size while improving the assembly and increasing the strength as described above. Also contribute.

  According to the invention of claim 3, in addition to the effect of the invention of claim 1 or 2, the area of engagement with the lower bracket is increased by the extended vertical wall of the upper bracket, so that it acts between both brackets. External force can be received more reliably.

  According to the invention of claim 4, in addition to the effect of the invention of claim 3, the fastening hole is provided at a position away from the engagement protrusion and the engagement recess, so that the vicinity of the engagement protrusion and the engagement recess is provided. The strength can be prevented from being lowered, and the fastening member can be further reduced in size.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 to 7 show an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a shift lever device in an assembled state, FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the shift lever device, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 1, FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the main part of the lower bracket, FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the inner side of the upper bracket, and FIG. 7 is a shift position and shift lever movement. It is a figure explaining a track and a home automatic return function (self return).

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, a shift lever device 1 for a vehicle includes a base bracket 2 fixed to a vehicle body, a shift lever 3 supported by the base bracket 2 so as to be swingable, and the shift lever 3. The shift position detection unit 4 for detecting each shift position as an electrical signal and the check block 5 attached so as to cover the lower surface of the base bracket 2 are generally configured.

  The base bracket 2 includes a lower bracket 10 and an upper bracket 11 assembled to the upper portion of the lower bracket 10. The lower bracket 10 is provided with attachment holes 10a for attaching the shift lever device 1 to the vehicle body at appropriate positions. In the center of the upper surface of the upper bracket 11, a lever hole 11a through which the shift lever 3 passes is formed. A sound insulation damper plate 12 is attached to the inner surface side of the upper bracket 11 and around the lever hole 11a. The shift positions are a neutral position “N”, a drive position “D”, a reverse position “R”, a home position “H”, a downshift position “−”, and an upshift position “+” (see FIG. 7).

  The lower bracket 10 and the upper bracket 11 are assembled in the vertical direction, and the shift lever 3 is swingably supported by sandwiching a shift rotation shaft 24 that is a support shaft of the shift lever 3. The assembly structure of the lower bracket 10 and the upper bracket 11 and the support structure of the shift rotation shaft 24 will be described in detail below.

  The shift lever 3 includes a rod-shaped lever main body 20, a gripping part 21 fixed to the upper end of the lever main body 20, a central support block 22 fixed to the lower end of the lever main body 20, and the central support block 22. And a cylindrical lower rod portion 23 press-fitted into the lower end protruding portion 22a.

  The upper part from the base of the lever body 20 protrudes to the outside from the lever hole 11 a of the upper bracket 11, and the lower part from the base part of the lever body 20 is disposed in the base bracket 2.

  The central support block 22 is disposed in the lever through hole 24 a of the shift rotation shaft 24 and is supported rotatably by the select rotation shaft 25 supported by the shift rotation shaft 24 in the select direction. A retaining member 26 is attached to the tip of the select rotation shaft 25. At both ends of the shift rotation shaft 24, cylindrical rotation support portions 24b are provided so as to protrude. The pair of rotation support portions 24 b are rotatably supported by the pair of left and right bearing holes 51 of the base bracket 2 via the bush 27.

  In other words, the shift lever 3 swings in the select direction by swinging around the select rotation shaft 25, and in the shift direction by swinging around the shift rotation shaft 24 integrally with the select rotation shaft 25. Can swing. As shown in FIG. 7, the shift lever 3 moves between the home position “H” and the neutral position “N” by swinging in the select direction. The shift lever swings in the shift direction between the drive position “D”, the neutral position “N”, and the reverse position “R”, the downshift position “−”, the home position “H”, and the upshift position “+”. To selectively move between.

  A check rod 28 is slidably inserted in the axial direction on the outer periphery of the lower rod portion 23, and a check rod 28 is provided on the check block 5 side in the inner space of the lower rod portion 23 and the check rod 28. A coil spring 29 for energizing is housed. The check rod 28 includes a cylindrical portion 28a having an inner diameter slightly larger than the outer peripheral diameter of the lower rod portion 23, and a hemispherical tip portion 28b provided integrally with the tip. The check rod 28 is slidable between a position where the cylindrical portion 28a overlaps the lower rod portion 23 almost completely and a minimum overlap position where the cylindrical portion 28a is supported by the lower rod portion 23. Even if the sliding surface 40 of the block 5 has a large height difference, it can sufficiently follow.

  The shift position detection unit 4 projects from a rectangular frame-shaped unit case 30, a pair of select detection sliders 31 projecting from the mutually facing inner surfaces of the unit case 30, and the other facing inner surfaces of the unit case 30. A pair of shift detection sliders 32 and a base substrate (not shown) that is accommodated in the unit case 30 and that slides on the surfaces thereof are provided. The pair of select detection sliders 31 are movable in the select direction and are biased in the direction in which they are in close contact with the shift lever 3. The pair of shift detection sliders 32 are movable in the shift direction. Each select detection slider 31 and each shift detection slider 32 are provided with a plurality of moving contacts (not shown), and a plurality of fixed contacts (not shown) are provided at appropriate positions on a base substrate (not shown). It has been. When the shift lever 3 is displaced, the pair of select detection sliders 31 and the pair of shift detection sliders 32 are displaced following this, and a plurality of moving contacts (not shown) and a plurality of fixed contacts (depending on each shift position). The conduction pattern between them changes (not shown), and position information is obtained by this output.

  The check block 5 has a substantially oblong square shape, and has an H-shaped sliding surface 40 that is a moving track of the shift lever 3 at a position one step lower than the upper surface thereof. The sliding surface 40 has a different height for each shift position as described below, and has a gently inclined surface at a position corresponding to each shift position of the shift lever 3 and a steeply inclined surface between adjacent shift positions. It is formed as. As a result, the operator can confirm the displacement to each shift position by the change of the sliding resistance (shift check function). Further, the sliding surface 40 has the lowest home position, and is inclined so as to gradually descend toward the home position from any shift position other than the home position. As a result, as shown in FIG. 7, when the operator releases his hand from the shift lever 3 at a position other than the home position, the shift lever 3 automatically moves in the direction of lowering the sliding surface 40 by the spring force of the coil spring 29. Finally, it returns to the home position (home automatic return function).

  Next, the assembly structure of the lower bracket 10 and the upper bracket 11 and the support structure of the shift rotation shaft 24 will be described in detail. As shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, the lower bracket 10 has a rectangular box shape with two upper and lower stages, and the upper box shape is constituted by four vertical walls 50 </ b> A to 50 </ b> D. The upper end surfaces of the four vertical walls 50A to 50D are configured as a butting surface 50a except for a portion where an engaging projection 52 described below is projected. A semicircular bearing groove 51a is formed on each of the butted surfaces 50a of the pair of vertical walls 50A and 50C facing each other. The pair of vertical walls 50B and 50D orthogonal to the pair of vertical walls 50A and 50C provided with the bearing grooves 51a are respectively provided with engagement protrusions 52 extending upward along the vertical walls 50B and 50D. The upper end side of the outer peripheral surface of the engagement protrusion 52 is formed as an arc surface 52a.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4 and 6, the upper bracket 11 includes an upper surface wall 60 in which the lever hole 11 a is opened, and four vertical walls 61 </ b> A to 61 </ b> D that are suspended from the upper surface wall 60. The lower end surface of each of the vertical walls 61A to 61D is configured as a butting surface 61a except for a portion where an extended vertical wall described below is provided. Semicircular bearing grooves 51b are respectively formed on the butting surfaces 61a of the pair of vertical walls 61A and 61C facing each other. In the state in which the upper bracket 11 and the bracket 10 are assembled, a circular bearing hole 51 is formed by both the bearing grooves 51a and 51b, and both ends of the shift rotation shaft 24 are rotatably supported by the pair of bearing holes 51. The

  The pair of vertical walls 61B and 61D orthogonal to the pair of vertical walls 61A and 61C provided with the bearing grooves 51b are respectively formed with engaging recesses 62 with which the engaging protrusions 52 are engaged. The innermost side of the engaging recess 62 is formed on the arc surface 62a. The pair of vertical walls 61B and 61D orthogonal to the pair of vertical walls 61A and 61C provided with the bearing grooves 51b are respectively provided with extended vertical walls 63 extending downward along the vertical walls 61B and 61D. . The pair of extended vertical walls 63 are in contact with the outer surfaces of the pair of vertical walls 50 </ b> B and 50 </ b> D of the lower bracket 10 when assembled with the lower bracket 10. Screw holes 64, which are fastening holes, are formed in the portions of the extended vertical walls 63 and the corresponding vertical walls 50B and 50D of the lower bracket 10 respectively. The lower bracket 10 and the upper bracket 11 are fastened by screws 65 which are fastening members screwed into the screw holes 64.

  Next, a procedure for assembling the shift lever 3 to the base bracket 2 will be briefly described. The shift rotation shaft 24 of the shift lever 3 is placed in the bearing groove 51a of the lower bracket 10, and the upper bracket 11 is put over the upper bracket 11 so that the two abutting surfaces 50a and 61a are abutted with each other. The shift lever 3 can be pivotably mounted by fixing the screw with a screw 65.

  Next, the operation of the shift lever device 1 will be briefly described. When the operator grips the grip portion 21 of the shift lever 3 and applies an operation force to the shift lever 3 from the home position toward a predetermined shift position, the check rod 28 in which the spring force of the coil spring 29 is biased. Follows the sliding surface 40 of the check block 5, and the shift lever 3 is displaced to the target shift position. The sliding surface 40 has a steep inclination between the home position and the target shift position, but the sliding surface 40 has a gentle inclination at the target shift position, and the sliding resistance that the operator receives from the shift lever 3 is low. It becomes weak suddenly, and it can check (recognize) that it has shifted to the shift position. When displaced to the target shift position, this is detected by the shift position detection unit 4 and the information is transmitted as an electric signal to the transmission. Further, when the operator releases his hand from the shift lever 3 at the target shift position, the check rod 28 biased by the coil spring 29 exerts a biasing force in the direction of lowering to the sliding surface 40, so that the shift lever 3 Automatically moves down the sliding surface 40 and finally returns to the home position.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the pair of vertical walls 50B and 50D orthogonal to the pair of vertical walls 50A and 50C provided with the bearing groove 51a of the lower bracket 10 are engaged with each other and extend upward along the vertical walls 50B and 50D. The protrusion 52 is provided, and a pair of vertical walls 61B, 61D orthogonal to the pair of vertical walls 61A, 61C provided with the bearing grooves 51b of the upper bracket 11 are provided with engagement recesses 62 with which the engagement protrusions 52 are engaged. It was. Accordingly, the shift lever 3 can be assembled to the base bracket 2 by a simple operation of placing the shift rotation shaft 24 of the shift lever 3 in the bearing groove 51a of the lower bracket 10 and covering the upper bracket 11 on the lower bracket 10. Good sex.

  Further, the engaging protrusion 52 protruding along the vertical walls 50B and 50D of the lower bracket 10 and the engaging recess 62 formed in the vertical walls 61B and 61D of the upper bracket 11 are engaged, and both the brackets 10, 11 is received by the vertical walls 50B, 50D, 61B, 61D (specifically, the vertical walls 61B, 61D formed with the engaging protrusions 52 and the engaging recesses 62 of the vertical walls 50B, 50D). Therefore, it is not necessary to receive the external force with the screw 65 that fastens both the brackets 10 and 11, and the screw 65 that is a fastening member can be of a small size. As described above, the assembling property is good and the size of the screw 65 as the fastening member can be reduced.

  In this embodiment, since the upper end side of the engagement protrusion 52 and the innermost side of the engagement recess 62 are formed on the arc surfaces 52a and 62a that are in contact with each other, when the upper bracket 11 is put on the lower bracket 10, Since the arcuate surface 52a on the upper end side of the engaging protrusion 52 fulfills the insertion guide function, the assembling property of the upper bracket 11 is good. The engagement protrusion 52 and the engagement recess 62 abut on both arc surfaces 52a and 62a, and the arc surfaces 52a and 62a receive the external force, thereby contributing to an increase in strength. In addition, since the upper peripheral wall 60 of the upper bracket 11 and the outer peripheral surfaces of the corners of the vertical walls 61B and 61D can be gently inclined surfaces, as described above, the shift lever can be improved while improving the assembling property and increasing the strength. This also contributes to downsizing of the device 1.

  In this embodiment, the pair of vertical walls 60B and 60D of the upper bracket 11 extend downward from the vertical walls 60B and 60D, and are in contact with the outer surfaces of the pair of vertical walls 50B and 50D of the lower bracket 10. Each wall 63 is provided. Accordingly, the area of engagement with the lower bracket 10 is increased by the length of the extended vertical wall 63 of the upper bracket 11, so that an external force acting between the brackets 10 and 11 can be more reliably received.

  In this embodiment, the pair of extended vertical walls 60 </ b> B and 60 </ b> D and the pair of vertical walls 50 </ b> B and 50 </ b> D of the lower bracket 10 that contacts the extended vertical walls 60 </ b> B and 60 </ b> D are fastened with screws 65. Accordingly, since the screw hole 64 is provided at a position away from the engagement protrusion 52 and the engagement recess 62, strength reduction in the vicinity of the engagement protrusion 52 and the engagement recess 62 can be prevented, and the screw which is a fastening member. A further reduction in size of 65 is possible.

  In this embodiment, the shift lever 3 has an H-shaped moving track, but the present invention can be applied to a moving track other than the H-shaped track (for example, a gate type). is there.

  In this embodiment, the present invention is applied to a shift lever device of a so-called shift-by-wire system in which the shift position of the shift lever for a vehicle is output to the transmission as an electrical signal. Of course, the present invention can be similarly applied to a shift lever device of a normal type that outputs to a transmission by the mechanical structure of the above.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an assembled state of the shift lever device according to the embodiment of the present invention. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a shift lever device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of the present invention and is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 1, showing an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a main part of the lower bracket according to the embodiment of the present invention. It is the perspective view which showed one Embodiment of this invention and looked at the inner surface side of the upper bracket. It is a figure which shows one Embodiment of this invention and demonstrates the shift position, the movement track | orbit of a shift lever, and a home automatic return function (self return).

Explanation of symbols

1 Shift lever device 3 Shift lever 24 Shift shaft (support shaft)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Lower bracket 11 Upper bracket 50A-50D Vertical wall 50a Butting surface 51 Bearing hole 51a, 51b Bearing groove 52 Engagement protrusion 52a Arc surface 61A-61D Vertical wall 61a Butting surface 62 Engaging recess 62a Arc surface 63 Extension vertical wall 64 Screw hole (fastening hole)
65 screws (fastening members)

Claims (4)

In the state where the abutting surfaces are respectively provided on the vertical walls facing each other of the lower bracket and the upper bracket, the bearing grooves are respectively provided in the pair of the abutting surfaces, and the abutting surfaces of the lower bracket and the upper bracket are abutted with each other. A shift lever device for supporting the support shaft of the shift lever with a pair of bearing holes formed by the bearing grooves facing each other,
The pair of vertical walls different from the pair of vertical walls provided with the bearing grooves of the lower bracket are provided with engaging protrusions extending upward along the vertical walls, and the bearing grooves of the upper bracket are provided. A shift lever device, wherein a pair of vertical walls different from the pair of vertical walls is provided with an engagement recess that engages with the engagement protrusion. The shift lever device according to claim 1,
The shift lever device according to claim 1, wherein an upper end side of the engagement protrusion and an innermost side of the engagement recess are formed on arcuate surfaces that contact each other. The shift lever device according to claim 1 or 2,
A shift lever device characterized in that an extended vertical wall extending downward from the vertical wall and abutting against an outer surface of the pair of vertical walls of the lower bracket is provided on the pair of vertical walls of the upper bracket. . A shift lever device according to claim 3,
A fastening hole is provided in each of the pair of extended vertical walls of the upper bracket and a pair of the vertical walls of the lower bracket that are in contact with the extended vertical walls, and the upper bracket and the lower bracket are fastened by a fastening member using the fastening holes. Shift lever device characterized in that it is fastened between the two.

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