JPH0292733A - Method for detecting position of shift lever - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To carry out accurate detection of a position by varying the light receiving quantity of a detecting sensor installed on a shift lever and optically detecting the position of the shift lever. CONSTITUTION:As a shift lever 11 is set to the first gear 1, the light L1 from a detecting sensor 15 is radiated on a white reflecting portion 19 and the reflected light therefrom is received. When the shift lever 11 is set to the second gear 2, the light L2 from the detecting sensor 15 turns aside from the side on an assistant driver's seat side of a black reflecting portion 17 and the reflected light from the front of an instrument panel is received. Thus, by varying the position of a shift lever 11, the light outputted from the light emitter of the detecting sensor 15 is radiated on a site having different reflectance, thereby making the reflecting light quantity from each site different. Hence, since the voltage outputted from the detecting sensor 15 is different according to the position of the shift lever 11, the voltage value is operated by a CPU 20 to know the position of the shift lever 11.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a shift lever position detection method for automatically detecting the position of a shift lever.

(Prior Art) For example, in order to set various performances of a car, it is necessary to measure the frequency of use of each shift lever position during driving, that is, the frequency at which the shift lever is used and how much it is used. May be required.

Conventionally, in order to determine the frequency of use of a shift lever, a microswitch is provided at each position, and when the shift lever position is changed, the microswitch at that position is activated by the shift lever, and the microswitch is activated by the shift lever. The position of the shift lever was detected based on the signal.

However, with such a detection means, it is inevitable that the shift lever will shift due to vibrations that occur during acceleration or driving, for example. As a result, the microswitch that is turned on by the shift lever may turn off or repeat turning on and off, making it impossible to accurately measure the frequency of use at each position of the shift lever. there were.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As described above, in the past, a microswitch was provided at each position, and the position was detected by turning on the microswitch using the shift lever. As a result, the shift lever vibrates when driving or accelerating, causing the microswitch to turn off or turn on and off repeatedly, making it impossible to accurately detect the frequency of use of each shift lever position. was there.

This invention was made based on the above-mentioned circumstances, and its object is to provide a shift lever that enables accurate detection by optically detecting changes in the position of the shift lever. An object of the present invention is to provide a position detection method.

[Structure of the invention]

(Means and Effects for Solving the Problems) In order to solve the above problems, the present invention attaches a detection sensor to the shift lever to detect the distance based on a change in the amount of light received, and the shift lever
By shifting the position of the sensor, the amount of light received by the detection sensor is changed. By detecting the position of the shift lever in this manner, it is possible to prevent the position from becoming undetectable due to slight movement of the shift lever due to vibration or the like.

(Example) An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a shift lever device for an automobile, and this shift lever device includes a shift lever 11. As shown in FIG. This shift lever 11 is capable of shifting into six stages: five forward speeds and one reverse speed.

As shown in FIG.
2 directions) in 1st, 3rd and 5th positions 1.3
．． 5 is provided along the passenger seat 13 side to the driver's seat 14 side, and 2nd, 4th and reverse positions 2.4 and R are provided at the rear.
are similarly provided along the side from the passenger seat 13 side to the driver's seat 14 side.

A detection sensor 15 incorporating a light projector and a light receiver (not shown) is attached to the shift lever 11 with its light emitting/receiving surface 15a facing toward the instrument panel 12, that is, toward the front. The output voltage of the detection sensor 15 changes depending on the amount of light output from the light emitter and detected by the light receiver. The amount of light detected by the light receiver varies depending on the distance to the irradiated area and the reflectance of the irradiated area. The output voltage from the detection sensor 15 is manually input to the CPU 20.

A reflector plate 1 is provided in front of the above-mentioned instrumental panel 12.
6 is provided. For example, a black reflective part 17 is formed on the upper part of this reflective plate 16, and a recessed part 18 is formed below this, and a white reflective part 19 and a red reflective part 21 are formed in this recessed part 18. A notch portion 22 is formed on the side of the red reflective portion 21 on the driver's seat 14 side.

When the shift lever 11 is tilted forward as shown by the chain line lla in FIG. be done. In addition, shift lever II is shown in Figure 2.
If you move it backwards as shown by the chain line in 4b and put it into 2nd gear,
The light L2 from the detection sensor 15 comes off the side of the passenger seat 13 side of the black reflective part 17 and reaches the instrumental panel 12.
The reflected light from the front of the is received. Also, the shift lever
11 into third gear 3, light L3 from the detection sensor 15
The light L4 from the detection sensor 15 illuminates the red reflective part 21, and when the fourth gear is shifted to 4, the light L4 from the detection sensor 15 illuminates the black reflective part 17. When the fifth gear is shifted to 5, the light from the detection sensor 15 illuminates the notched part 22. The light passes through and irradiates, for example, a portion of the console box 23 provided on the instrumental panel 12. Also, when moving into reverse R, the shift lever 11 moves to l.
Since it is tilted further backward than in the lb state, the light L6 from the detection sensor 15 will illuminate a portion above the reflection plate 16, such as a ceiling panel.

Note that at the N position, the light from the detection sensor 15 illuminates the red reflective portion 21 of the reflector plate 16 in the same way as in the third speed. However, since the amount of light received differs from the position W in the third gear 3 due to the difference in distance, it is possible to distinguish between these positions.

In this way, by changing the position of the shift lever 1, the light output from the light projector of the detection sensor 15 illuminates parts with different reflectances, and therefore the amount of reflected light from each part also differs. Therefore, shift lever 1
Since the voltage output from the detection sensor 15 differs depending on the position of the shift lever 11, the position of the shift lever 11 can be determined by calculating the voltage value by the CPU 20.

Note that even if the reflectance of the areas irradiated with light from the detection sensor 15 is the same, if the distances between those areas and the detection sensor 15 differ, the intensity of the amount of light detected by the detection sensor 151 will differ. Therefore, the shift lever 11 is
Even if a region with the same reflectance is irradiated at the la position and the llb position, the difference in position can be detected.

In this way, if the detection sensor 15 is attached to the shift lever 11 and the position of the shift lever 11 is detected based on the amount of light detected by the detection sensor 15, the area of the part irradiated with the light output from the detection sensor 15 can be reduced. It is possible to make it sufficiently large. Therefore, even if the shift lever 11 vibrates during driving or acceleration, and the area irradiated with the light output from the detection sensor 15 shifts slightly, the detection sensor 15 reliably intercepts the reflected light from the irradiation area. Since light can be received, the position of the shift lever 11 can also be detected reliably.

In addition, although the recessed part 18 was formed in the reflective plate 16 in the said one Example, the reflective plate 16 may be flat.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, in the present invention, the amount of light received by the detection sensor attached to the shift lever can be changed by shifting the position of the shift lever. Therefore, since the shift lever position is detected optically, even if the shift lever vibrates while driving or accelerating, the microswitch will not turn off due to the vibration, unlike conventional microswitch detection. There is no possibility that the position cannot be detected accurately.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of the shift lever portion, and FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the parts irradiated with light from the detection sensor at each position of the shift lever. . 11...Shift lever-15...Detection sensor, 16.
-Reflector plate, 17...Black reflective part, 19...White reflective part, 20...CPU, 21...Red reflective part. Applicant's agent Patent attorney Takehiko Suzue

Claims (1)

[Claims] Shift lever position detection, characterized in that a detection sensor for detecting distance based on a change in the amount of light received is attached to the shift lever, and by shifting the position of the shift lever, the amount of light received by the detection sensor is changed. Method.