JP5686340B2 - Manual shift lever rotation support structure - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a rotation support structure for a manual shift lever used in a vehicle employing a manual transmission.

There are various shift levers in a vehicle employing a manual transmission. The shift lever needs to be movable “shift” and “select”, and the “shift” and “select” swing around the center or lower end support portion of the shaft of the shift lever.

For example, Patent Document 1 shows an example in which a rotation center is provided in a support portion in the middle of the shaft (near the center) as a shift lever of a manual transmission (detailed in “Embodiment of the Invention” below). Description). The support portion having the rotation center of the shaft is usually formed of a spherical body or a hemisphere, and has a case that slidably receives the support portion that is a spherical body or the like and transmits the rotation of the shift lever. ing. In a gap (that is, a sliding portion) between the spherical body and the case or the like, an interposing member such as a resin is disposed so that the spherical body and the like can be smoothly slid while eliminating “backlash”.

However, the presence of an intervening member such as resin is advantageous in eliminating the “backlash” at the center of rotation when the shaft is swung and rotated, but on the other hand, the slidability is reduced and the shift lever operation fee is reduced. There is a conflicting problem that the ring may be lowered.

In addition, if the support portion serving as the center of rotation is a spherical body or the like, the spherical body or the like rotates freely within the plane orthogonal to the shaft, so that a stopper is provided to swing the shaft toward the “shift” side or “select” side. In this case, it is necessary to provide a dedicated shape or a dedicated part. As a result, the setting of the stopper leads to a problem of increasing the size of the entire shift lever structure. At the same time, the support portion at the center of rotation is a spherical body or the like, which means that a dedicated fixing part is also required for fixing the neutral position when the shift lever is assembled.

JP 2010-228468 A

The present invention has been created in view of the above circumstances, and it is simple and does not require any separate parts that have a shaft swing stopper function while smoothly sliding the shaft center of rotation without "backlash". An object of the present invention is to provide a rotation support structure for a manual shift lever having a structure.

The manual shift lever rotating support structure of the present invention in order to achieve the above object, (if example embodiment, the shift lever 2 in the embodiment) shafts preparative extends in the width direction on both sides of the rotation axis with respect to the longitudinal direction or width direction of the shaft When the tip portion (for example, the tip portion 2d in the embodiment) has a substantially spherical pin (for example, the pin 2c in the embodiment) and the tip portion of the pin moves in the vertical direction around the shaft as a rotation center. And two bearing portions (for example, the bearing portion 6 in the embodiment) having a tray (for example, the tray 6h in the embodiment) that slidably receives the tip of each pin in an arc shape in the vertical direction. Yes. The bearing portion includes a through-molded opening (for example, the pin side hole 6c and the casing side hole 6d in the embodiment) in a sliding portion with the pin, and the pins extending on both sides of the shaft are the bearing portion 2. It is sandwiched between pieces.

According to the manual shift lever rotation support structure of the present invention, the pin extending in the width direction on both sides (lateral direction on both sides) is disposed at the rotation center of the shaft, and the tip end portion of the pin is formed in a substantially spherical shape. When the manual shift lever is in the “shift” or “select” position, it pivots at a position perpendicular to the pin and swings in the tilt direction of the shaft or around the axis of the pin. The arc rotates in accordance with the rotation of the shaft and the tilt direction of the shaft. In the present invention, a bearing portion having a receiving tray for receiving each tip portion so as to be slidable in the vertical direction is provided at the tip portion of the pin, and the pin is sandwiched from both sides by the two bearing portions. As a result, the shaft can receive the front-rear direction (eg, “shift” direction) by the rotation of the pin, and the shaft axial direction (eg, “select” direction) can be received by the inclination of the shaft. It can be slid smoothly and the operation fit is greatly improved.

Further, the rotation support structure for the manual shift lever of the present invention is easy to process. As will be described in detail later, for example, the tip end portion of the pin slides along a locus along the bearing portion. Therefore, if only the sliding locus is ensured, “backlash” can be reduced . Therefore, it is easy to suppress the sliding resistance while reducing the “backlash” by penetrating the opening of the sliding portion of the bearing portion to reduce the contact surface of the tip portion of the pin.

Furthermore, the bearing part that receives the sliding of the tip of the pin can easily take measures such as providing a stopper for sliding the tip of the pin in the vertical direction only by processing the upper and lower ends of the bearing itself. Various objectives can be sufficiently achieved without providing a separate stopper member.

It is a perspective view of an embodiment of a rotation support structure for a manual shift lever of the present invention. It is a schematic sectional view which illustrated the bearing part in the present invention. FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a state where a tip end portion of a pin is received in the bearing portion of FIG. 2. FIG. 3 is a process perspective view showing an assembly process of the bearing portion shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 (a). It is front sectional drawing of the rotation support structure of the manual shift lever of FIG. It is a schematic cross section which shows the modification of the bearing part in this invention. It is a schematic cross section which shows an example of the rotation support structure of the conventional manual shift lever. It is sectional drawing which shows the detailed example of the rotation support structure and peripheral structure of the manual shift lever of FIG. It is a schematic cross section which shows the other example of the rotation support structure of the conventional manual shift lever.

Next, the rotation structure of the manual shift lever shaft will be outlined as a premise for explaining the manual shift lever rotation support structure of the present invention.

≪Basic structure of a manual shift lever with a center of rotation at the center support part of the conventional shaft≫
As described above, the manual shift lever is generally movable with the center or lower end of the shaft as the center of rotation of the support portion. Here, an example in which the rotation center O1 is formed by the center support portion of the shaft will be described. FIG. 7 is a schematic front sectional view schematically showing a rotation support structure of a conventional manual shift lever.

In the case of this structure, a spherical support portion 2a is provided at the center of the shaft 2, and a casing 1 is disposed around the support portion 2a to receive it inside. The inner wall of the casing 1 forms a generally spherical surface so as to conform to the outer surface of the support portion 2a which is a spherical surface so that the support portion 2a can slide inside. A spherical receiving seat 8 made of resin is interposed in the gap between the casing 1 and the supporting portion 2a, and the sliding surface that directly contacts the outer surface of the supporting portion 2a is the spherical receiving seat 8. This spherical receiving seat 2a is advantageous in that “backlash” during the operation of the shaft 2 is absorbed. On the other hand, as described above, there is a possibility that the slidability is lowered and the operation feeling of the shaft 2 may be lowered.

Next, a detailed example of the rotation support structure of the manual shift lever of FIG. 7 is shown in FIG.
In FIG. 7, at the right end portion of the control shaft 3 protruding from the bush 1d, a socket portion 3b is formed integrally with the joint portion 3a. 3c is formed. As the control shaft 3 rotates and reciprocates in the axial direction, the socket portion 3b is moved within a range centering around the extension of the center line of the cylindrical portion 1c of the shift case 1b.

The shift lever 2 has a substantially hemispherical support portion 2a fixed to an intermediate portion in the vertical direction, and the support portion 2a is a resin spherical seat that is fitted and fixed to the bottom portion in the cylindrical portion 1c. 8 is slidably brought into contact with the spring 8 and is elastically pressed by a coil spring 9 interposed between the spring receiver 9a fixed in the cylindrical portion 1c. As a result, the shift lever 2 can swing around the center of the support portion 2a as the rotation center O1. The shift lever 2 protrudes largely upward from the support portion 2a on the opposite side to the small ball portion 2b, and a grip (also referred to as “shift knob”: not shown) for performing a speed change operation is provided at an upper end portion thereof. Between the outer periphery of the opening of the cylindrical portion 1c and the shift lever 2, a dust-proof boot made of rubber or the like (not shown) is provided.

A small spherical portion 2b formed at the lower end portion of the shaft (shift lever) 2 that is separated downward from the support portion 2a is fitted in a spherical hole 4a formed inside the cylindrical sliding body 4 so as to be rotatable only. The outer peripheral surface of the sliding body 4 is fitted into the cylindrical hole 3c of the socket portion 3b so as to be slidable in the axial direction. The sliding body 4 is an integrally molded product of synthetic resin having moderate elasticity such as nylon, and a conical escape hole 4b is formed on the upper side of the spherical hole 4a so that the outer side opens and allows the shift lever 2 to pass. Is formed with a through hole 4c. The sliding body 4 can be temporarily elastically deformed and opened, and the small spherical portion 2b can be pushed into the spherical hole 4a to be fitted. In this state, the outer peripheral surface of the sliding body 4 is in the cylindrical hole 3c of the socket portion 3b. When the sliding body 4 is fitted in the cylindrical hole 3c, the small spherical portion 2b is not detached from the spherical hole 4a.

The sliding body 4 has a cylindrical shape, but the flange portion 4d is provided at a part on the conical escape hole 4b side whose outer side is open. The sliding body 4 has an outer peripheral surface axially slid in the cylindrical hole 3c of the socket portion 3b in a state where the small sphere portion 2b of the shift lever 2 is fitted in the spherical hole 4a through the escape hole 4b so as to be able to rotate only. An annular elastic member 5 is interposed between the axially inner end surface of the flange portion 4d of the sliding body 2 and the one end surface of the socket portion 3b facing the flange portion 4d.

At the neutral position of the transmission where the center of the small spherical portion 2b of the shift lever 2 is on the neutral plane including the rotation axis O2 of the shift and select shaft 3 and the rotation center O1 of the support portion 2a, the support portion 2a of the shift lever 2 is provided. The rotation center O1 and the rotation axis O2 of the shift-and-select shaft 2 are arranged on opposite sides with respect to the center of the small ball portion 2b. If the shift lever 2 is swung around the axis extending in parallel with the rotation axis O2 of the shift and select shaft 2 through the rotation center O1 of the support portion 2a from this neutral position, the center of the small spherical portion 2b of the shift lever 2 is obtained. Moves along an arc of radius r1 centered on the rotation center O1 of the support 2a. On the other hand, the socket portion 3b of the shift and select shaft 3 that slidably supports the sliding body 2 moves along an arc having a radius r2 with the rotation axis O2 of the shift and select shaft 3 as the center.

≪Other basic structure of manual shift lever with center of rotation at the lower end support part of the conventional shaft≫
Up to this point, a conventional example in which the center of the shaft of the manual shift lever is movable with the center of rotation of the support portion as described above has been shown. Next, a conventional example of movement with the lower end of the shaft as the rotation center of the support portion will be described. FIG. 9 is a schematic front sectional view schematically showing a rotation support structure of a conventional manual shift lever, similarly to FIG. In the case of this structure, a spherical support portion 2a ′ is provided at the lower end of the shaft 2 ′, and a casing 1 ′ for receiving the support portion 2a ′ is provided around the support portion 2a ′. A resin-made spherical receiving seat 8 'is interposed in the gap between the casing 1' and the support portion 2a ', and "backlash" at the time of operation of the shaft 2' is absorbed by the spherical receiving seat 2a '. It is the same as that of the structure of FIG.

≪Example of rotation support structure of manual shift lever of the present invention≫
FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view exemplified by an embodiment of a rotation support structure for a manual shift lever of the present invention. In this embodiment, the direction in which the shaft 2 of the shift lever is inclined in the arrow X direction with respect to the rotation center O3 is the “select (width direction)” direction, and the shaft 2 is inclined in the arrow Y direction with respect to the rotation center O3. The direction is the “shift (front-back direction)” direction. The direction inclined in the arrow X direction may be “shift (front-rear direction)”. In this case, the direction inclined in the arrow Y direction is “shift (front-rear direction)”.

First, the shaft 2 has pins 2c extending from the rotation center O3 to both sides in the lateral direction (both sides in the left-right direction). The tip 2d of the pin 2c has a spherical shape (hemispherical shape). The pin 2c receives the tip 2d by a tray (described later) of the bearing 6 so that the shaft can rotate. FIG. 2A schematically shows a cross section of the bearing portion 6 (the upper side of the drawing is the pin 2c side). As can be seen from this figure, the bearing portion 6 has a pin-side hole having a vertical groove shape (see FIG. 1 (a groove shape in the left-right direction in FIG. 2)) so that the tip 2d of the pin 2c is received on the pin side. 6c is provided, and a casing side hole 6d smaller than the pin side hole 6c is provided on the casing side so that the tip of the tip 2d of the pin 2c can protrude. The pin side hole 6c and the casing side hole 6d are formed to penetrate therethrough.

The state in which the tip 2d of the pin 2c is received by the bearing 6 is schematically shown in FIG. In a state where the tip 2d of the pin 2c is received, the inner wall 6h of the holes 6c to 6d serves as a receiving surface for the tip 2d of the pin 2c, that is, a sliding surface. Since the pin 2c rotates around the rotation center O3 during “selection”, the tip 2d also swings in the vertical direction (arrow direction) in FIG. At this time, the tip 2d of the pin 2c protrudes from the casing side hole 6d (see FIG. 2A), and the sliding surface of the tip 2d is small. Therefore, the resistance when rocking can be reduced.

Incidentally, in FIG. 2 (b), without penetrating the opening pin side hole 6c of the bearing portion 6 in caging side, when receiving the distal end portion 2d of the pin 2c as concave pin side hole 6c, the bearing portion 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view . State in which the leading end portion 2d is received in the pin 2c in the bearing part 6 at this time is shown schematically in FIG. 3 (b). As shown in FIG. 3 (a), the pin side hole 6c and the casing side hole 6d are formed so as to penetrate, so that the bearing portion 6 is formed as a concave pin side hole 6c as shown in FIG. 3 (b). Compared to receiving the tip 2d of the pin 2c, the contact surface between the tip 2d of the pin 2c and the inner wall 6h of the holes 6c to 6d of the bearing 6 can be reduced, and the sliding resistance is suppressed. Can be easily done.

Returning to FIG. 1 again, it can be seen that the bearing 6 is divided into two upper and lower members. Specifically, the lower first bearing portion 6a and the upper side are constituted by the second bearing portion 6b. FIG. 4 schematically shows a process in which the first bearing portion 6a and the second bearing portion 6b are separated from each other (FIG. 4A) (FIG. 4B). There are two bearing parts 6 configured in this way on both sides of the left and right pins 2c, and the two bearing parts 6 sandwich the pin 2c.

As can be seen from FIG. 1, in order to swing the pin 2 c held between the two bearing members 6 in the Y direction (“select” direction), it is necessary to fix the bearing portion 6 to the casing. 6 is fixed to the casing 1 via the receiving member 7. FIG. 5 is a view of this state as seen from the front-rear direction of the shaft 2, and is a front view of FIG. FIG. 5 shows that the shaft 2 moves smoothly in the X and Y directions around the rotation center O3, but it can also be seen that a stopper 6g is provided for swinging in the X direction. The shape of each bearing portion 6 on both sides of the pin 2c is greatly changed at the upper and lower ends thereof, so that the tip 2d of the pin 2c does not protrude from the upper and lower ends of the bearing portion 6. The stopper 6g may be created by changing the shapes of the upper and lower ends of the bearing portion 6. However, the stopper 6g may be created by arranging separate new members 6g on the upper and lower ends of the normal bearing portion 6, respectively. .

Further, referring to FIG. 6, another modification of the bearing portion 6 is shown. The bearing portion 6 is divided into a first bearing portion 6a and a second bearing portion 6b, and has a pin side hole 6c and a smaller casing side hole 6d as shown in FIGS. ), Which is the same as the bearing portion 6 shown in FIG. 3A, but the bearing portion 6 in FIG. 6 has a notch 6e formed on the coupling surface between the first bearing portion 6a and the second bearing portion 6b. Will be greatly different. This notch 6e generates an intentional “backlash” only at the position of the notch 6e when the tip 2d of the pin 2c swings in the vertical direction (“select” direction). If the occurrence position of this “backlash” is set to the neutral position of the manual shift lever, it can be fixed at the neutral position.

Here, a triangular groove-like notch 6e reaching from the pin side hole 6c to the 6 casing side hole is shown as the notch 6e, but this notch 6e is for the purpose of setting a fixed position of the neutral position. Therefore, the configuration of FIG. 6 is not concerned. Further, it is conceivable to cope with a method of providing the receiving surface 6h with a protrusion that contacts the tip 2d of the pin 2c at the neutral position, even if it is not a notch.

As mentioned above, although embodiment and the concept about the rotation support structure of the manual shift lever of this invention were demonstrated, this invention is not limited to this, The spirit and teaching as described in a claim, a description, etc. Those skilled in the art will understand that other modifications and improvements can be obtained without departing from the scope.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Casing 1a Casing main body 1b Shift part Case part 1c Cylindrical part 1d Bush 2 Shaft (shift lever)
2a support portion 2b small ball portion 2c pin 2d tip portion 6 bearing portion 6a first bearing portion 6b second bearing portion 6c pin side hole 6d casing side hole 6e notch portion 6h receiving surface 7 receiving member 8 spherical receiving seat

Claims (1)

A pin that extends in the width direction on both sides of the shaft and has a substantially spherical tip at the front and rear direction or the rotation axis with respect to the width direction of the shaft;
When the tip of the pin moves in the vertical direction about the shaft as a rotation center, the bearing has two bearing portions having a tray that slidably receives the tip of each pin in an arc shape in the vertical direction,
The bearing part has a through-molded opening in a sliding part with the pin,
A manual shift lever rotation support structure in which the pin is clamped by the two bearing portions.