JPH041224B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a foldable shift lever device for automatic transmissions, and more specifically, to a foldable shift lever device for an automatic transmission, and more specifically, a shift lever device for a floor shift type of an automobile etc. that can be bent at a predetermined position. This invention relates to a foldable shift lever device for an automatic transmission configured as follows.

[Prior Art] In recent years, so-called floor shift type shift levers, in which the shift lever of an automatic transmission is disposed on the vehicle floor between the driver's seat and the passenger seat, have become popular in automobiles and the like. A shift lever that stands upright from the vehicle floor inside the vehicle cabin is used to switch gears of the automatic transmission via a remote control link system (control cable, etc.).

In automobiles equipped with this floor shift type shift lever, the driver often gets in and out of the vehicle from the passenger side in places where parking spaces are narrow or where traffic is heavy. In this case, when moving from the driver's seat to the passenger's seat, or from the passenger's seat to the driver's seat, the shift lever, which stands upright from the vehicle floor, becomes a protrusion that gets in the way, making it difficult to move from the driver's seat to the passenger's seat.

Therefore, the shift lever conventionally installed on the vehicle floor was divided into upper and lower parts, and the two parts were connected with a pin to make the shift lever bendable. This made it easier to change seats. type shift lever device (for example, Utility Model 56-
32887) has been proposed.

However, in the above conventionally proposed folding shift lever device for automatic transmission,
When the seat is moved, the shift lever is bent and tilted in the direction of the gear change operation (vehicle longitudinal direction). Moreover, no means is taken to restrict the bending operation position of the shift lever.

For this reason, when the shift lever is bent toward the front of the vehicle and laid down, the tilted shift lever tends to get in the way, especially in cab-over type vehicles.
Furthermore, when the shift lever is bent toward the rear of the vehicle and laid down, it tends to interfere with the parking brake lever, making it impossible to lower the shift lever to a sufficiently low position, and the shift lever tends to get in the way. Also,
When the shift lever is bent, the bent portion is exposed and forms a protrusion, and it is conceivable that clothing may be caught on the bent portion when moving the seat in the vehicle interior.

Moreover, if you bend the shift lever in the neutral position with the engine running while the car is stopped and accidentally touch the shift lever when moving from the driver's seat to the passenger's seat, the transmission will inadvertently shift into drive range. There are concerns about the problems that are likely to be shifted.

Furthermore, due to its bending structure, the upper lever part on the shift knob side is pushed down once against the spring along the J-shaped pin groove formed in the lower lever part.
Next, the upper lever part is rotated around the axis in this state, and after being pulled up by the spring, the upper lever part is folded up and brought down. For this reason, there was a problem in that the shift lever was located below the side of the driver's seat, making it difficult to bend and operate it in a normal driving position.

Therefore, the applicant first developed a cover that is fixed to the vehicle floor side and covers the bent part of the shift lever.
We propose a foldable shift lever device for automatic transmissions that has a bending guide groove that is visually exposed to the outside and allows the upper lever to be bent in one direction approximately perpendicular to the direction of gear shift operation only in the parking range. (Actual Application No. 60-091385).

With this foldable shift lever device for automatic transmissions, the folded shift lever does not get in the way when moving the seat, making it extremely easy to move the seat in the passenger compartment. It is safe because the transmission will not operate inadvertently even if any part of the body touches it. In addition, excellent performance was obtained, including good bending and operability of the shift lever.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, in the folding shift lever device for an automatic transmission configured in the prior application described above, the bending guide groove formed in the cover for bending the upper lever is open, and the sealing performance of the bending guide groove is poor. It is also possible that small items may be dropped. Therefore, it has been desired to improve the sealing performance of this bending guide groove.

It is possible to cover the bending guide groove along with the detent groove with slitted rubber, but this is not always effective as it is not easy to install the rubber, and it also increases the resistance to shift operation and worsens the seat feeling. It cannot be called a means.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to improve the sealing performance of the bending guide groove in the above-mentioned folding shift lever device for an automatic transmission that improves seat mobility, safety, and bending operation.

[Means for solving problems]

Therefore, the present invention adopts the following configuration as a means for solving the above-mentioned problems.

That is, the present invention provides the above-mentioned folding shift lever device for an automatic transmission, in which a slide stopper is provided on the rotating shaft to block the bending guide groove formed in the cover member and prevent the upper lever portion from bending. By arranging the center of rotation of the slide stopper approximately on the axis connecting the center line of the bending guide groove and the center of rotation of the gear change operation of the shift lever, the bending guide groove can be sealed by the slide stopper. It is characterized by what it did.

Specifically, referring to FIGS. 1 to 5 as an example, the folding shift lever device for an automatic transmission has a shift lever 10 disposed between a driver's seat and a passenger seat, and a shift knob 21. Upper lever part 20 on the side
and a lower lever portion 30 on the transmission side,
Both lever portions 20 and 30 are foldably connected by a joint means 40.

Cover members 70 and 90 that are attached to the fixed member and cover the bent portion of the shift lever include
Detent groove 7 on which the upper lever portion 20 contacts and slides
3, 93 are formed, and bending guide grooves 76, 96 extend toward the passenger seat side continuously from the parking range grooves 75, 95 in the detent groove.
is formed.

Further, a slide stopper 80 is provided on the rotating shaft 77 to block the bending guide grooves 76 and 96 and prevent the upper lever portion 20 from bending. The center of rotation (axis O-O) of the slide stopper 80 is approximately the bending guide groove 76,9
6 and the center of rotation of the shift lever 10 (axis X-X).

[Effect]

According to the above-mentioned means, in a shift position other than the parking range, the upper lever portion 20 of the shift lever 10 and the bending guide grooves 76, 96 formed in the cover members 70, 90 do not match, and the shift lever 10 is bent. I can't operate it.

When the shift lever 10 is shifted to the parking range, the upper lever portion 20 and the bending guide grooves 76, 96 formed in the cover member align, and the shift lever 10 is placed in a bendable position. However, the slide stopper 80 prevents the upper lever portion 20 from being bent.

Therefore, when the slide stopper 80 is removed, the bending guide grooves 76, 96 are released, and the upper lever portion 20 can be tilted toward the passenger seat along the bending guide grooves 76, 96.

When the shift lever is in the tilted state, the driver's seat is moved, that is, from the driver's seat to the passenger seat, or from the passenger seat to the driver's seat.

In addition, the shift lever 10 is returned to its original state by placing the upper lever portion 20 in an upright state along the bending guide grooves 76 and 96 of the cover member, contrary to the above.

In this way, the shift lever 10 can be bent only when shifted to the parking range. Furthermore, the bending direction is regulated toward the passenger seat side by bending guide grooves 76 and 96 formed in the cover member.

Furthermore, the center of rotation of the slide stopper 80 (axis O-O) is bent to match the center line of the guide grooves 76, 96 with the center of rotation of the shift lever for speed change operation (axis X-O).
Since it is set on the axis A that connects the slide stopper 80 with Good sealing performance of 76 and 96 parts is ensured.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

1 to 5 show a foldable shift lever device for an automatic transmission according to one embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 6 to 15 show a day tent, which is one of the component parts. The plate, slide stopper, dust cover, and slide cover are shown respectively.

The foldable shift lever device can be roughly divided into a shift lever 10, a torsion spring 50 attached to the shift lever 10, a lower bracket 60 that supports the shift lever 10, a daytent plate 70 that regulates the shift position of the shift lever 10, and a shift lever. It is comprised of a slide stopper 80 that prevents the lever 10 from being bent, a dust cover 90 that covers the detent mechanism, a slide cover 100 that displays the gear shift position, a dust boot 110, and the like.

In these figures, reference numeral 10 indicates the entire shift lever, which is disposed substantially upright between a driver's seat and a passenger seat (not shown). The shift lever 10 has an upper lever portion 2 on the shift knob 21 side.
0 and a lower lever portion 30 on the transmission side, both of which are foldably connected by a joint means 40.

That is, the lower end of the upper lever part 20 has a third
As shown in the figure, a pipe-shaped rotating shaft 22 is welded. On the other hand, the lower lever portion 30 is comprised of a fork-shaped shift lever support 31 and a pipe-shaped rotating shaft 32, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, and both are integrated by welding. A bolt 41 passes through a hole formed in the support 31 and is fastened with a nut 42 via a spring washer. The pipe-shaped rotating shaft 22 of the upper lever portion is concentrically arranged on the outer periphery of the bolt 41 via a collar 43 and a pair of resin flanged bushes 44, 44.
0 is coupled rotatably about the axis Z-Z of the bolt 41 in the left-right direction (vehicle width direction) in the paper of FIG.

Further, a torsion spring 50 is wound around the outer periphery of the pipe-shaped rotating shaft 22, and its protruding intermediate portion 51 and both end portions 52, 52 are connected to the upper lever portion 20 and the support 31 of the lower lever portion, respectively. It is locked. The torsion spring 50 moves the upper lever portion 20 in the right direction in the paper of FIG. 4 (shift lever bending direction).
is energized.

Reference numeral 60 denotes a lower bracket, which is integrally fixed to a chassis frame cross member on the vehicle frame side (not shown) with a plurality of bolts and nuts, along with a cable bracket 61 fastened to the lower surface thereof with a plurality of bolts and nuts. has been done.
The lower bracket 60 is the shift lever 10.
is rotatably supported in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle.

That is, the upper surface of the lower bracket 60 has a pair of left and right upright portions 62a, 62a, as shown in FIG.
A shift lever retainer 62 is integrally fixed by welding. A pair of upright parts 62a.
A detent plate 70 that regulates the shift position of the shift lever 10 is arranged on the outside of the shift lever 10, and one bolt 63 is inserted through these holes.
is fastened with a nut 64 via a spring washer. In addition, a pair of upright portions 62a, 62
A collar 65 and a pair of resin flanged bushes 66, 6 are attached to the outer periphery of the bolt 63 located inside a.
A pipe-shaped rotating shaft 32 of the lower lever portion 30 is arranged concentrically with the lower lever portion 30 interposed therebetween. This results in
The shift lever 10 is rotatably supported in the left-right direction (vehicle front-rear direction) in the paper of FIG. 3 about the axis XX of the bolt 63. As shown in FIG. The shift positions of the shift lever 10 are, from the front of the vehicle, parking range (P range), reverse range (R range), neutral range (N range), drive range (D range), third range (3 range), and second range (2 range). They are arranged in a line in seven positions: range) and low range (L range).

Further, a bevel gear 33 is fixed to the pipe-shaped rotating shaft 32 by means such as welding, caulking, press-fitting, or the like. Then, the lower bevel gear 34 that engages with the fastening bevel gear 33 is mounted on a pin shaft 67 that is fitted into a hole in the horizontal base 62b of the shift lever retainer 62 and welded to it by a nut 35 via a plate washer and a spring washer. It is rotatably mounted. Lower bevel gear 34
A control lever 36 is welded to the
It is rotatable around the axis YY of the pin shaft 67. 37, 37 are resin flanged bushes interposed between the pin shaft 67 and the lower bevel gear 34. Furthermore, a pin 38 is fixed to the tip of the control lever 36, and the end of the control cable is fitted onto this pin 38 via a rubber bushing (not shown). As a result, the rotational movement of the shift lever 10 around the axis XX is converted into the rotational movement of the control lever 36 around the axis YY by the pair of bevel gears 33 and 34.
Furthermore, the control cable is configured to reciprocate in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle to switch the automatic transmission to a predetermined gear position. In addition, Figure 2,
A chain line C in FIGS. 3 and 5 indicates the central axis of the control cable.

The detent plate 70 has the bolts 6 passing through a pair of holes 71, 71 formed in the side walls 70a, 70a in the vehicle width direction, as shown in FIGS. 6 to 8.
3, and a hole 72 formed in the vehicle front wall 70c.
The shift lever retainer 6 shown in FIG.
It is attached by a bolt 69 that is fastened to a nut 68 welded to the front upright portion 62c of No. 2.

The upper wall 70b of the detent plate 70 has a curved shape centered on the central axis (axis X-X) of the pair of holes 71 (the inner circumferential surface 70d has a radius _R1 ), and As shown in FIG. 6, the detent groove 70a is formed with a step-shaped detent groove 73 extending in the direction of shift lever operation (vehicle longitudinal direction) for regulating the shift position of the shift lever 10. The end surface 73 of this day tent groove 73 on the passenger side
In a, the above-mentioned upper lever portion 20 is pressed by the spring force of a torsion spring 50. The end surface 73 of this detent groove 73
At the R range, N range, D range, 3 range, 2 range, and L range positions in a, in order to give a sense of moderation to the shift operation of the shift lever 10 and prevent erroneous operation, there are Corresponding arc grooves 73 _R , 73 _N , 73 _D , 73 ₃ , 73 ₂ and
73 _L are formed respectively. In this way, N range, D range and 3 range are obtained on the same surface, and R range and 2 range are obtained on the shift lever 10.
The P range and L range can be obtained by moving the shift lever 10 further toward the driver's seat around the axis Z-Z (upper part of Figure 2). It's becoming like that.

In addition, the portion of the upper lever portion 20 that contacts the detent groove 73 comes into contact with each of the step portions 74 _P , 74 _R , 74 _N , 74 ₃ , 74 ₂ , and 74 _L of the detent groove to control the shift operation position. A parallel width across flats 23 is formed for accurate setting. The width W ₂ of the P range groove 75 in the detent groove 73 is
It is set to be smaller than the outer diameter D ₁ of the upper lever portion 20 shown in FIG. 3 and slightly larger than the width W ₁ between the widths across flats 23 .

Further, the detent plate 70 has a bending guide groove 76 (hereinafter referred to as the guide groove 76) extending to the passenger seat side continuously from the P range groove 75.
is formed. This guide groove 76 is substantially perpendicular to the shift lever speed change operation direction, and an axis A obtained by extending its center line extends in a direction passing through the axis XX, and the front surface of the vehicle is located at the step of the P range groove 75. The front and _rear surfaces of the vehicle are shaved so that the width W ₃ of the intermediate portion is set to be slightly larger than the outer diameter D ₁ of the upper lever portion 20 shown in FIG. The width W ₄ of the lower end portion is set to be substantially the same as the width W ₂ of the P range groove 75 . Further, on the side wall 70a of the detent plate 70 on the passenger seat side, a pin 77 forming a rotating shaft of a slide stopper (described later) and one end of a return spring of the slide stopper (described later) are disposed on the inner circumferential side closer to the axis X-X. A pin 78 to be locked is press-fitted parallel to the axis XX and integrally fixed by welding. Further, the axis O of the pin 77 is attached to the outer circumferential side of the pin 77, to which a release knob of a slide stopper, which will be described later, is attached.
An arcuate groove 79 with radius R ₂ centered at -O is formed.

The rotation center axis O-O of the pin 77 forming the rotation axis of the slide stopper is located on the axis A connecting the speed change operation rotation center axis X-X of the shift lever 10 and the center line of the guide groove 76. It is arranged like this.

As shown in FIGS. 9 to 11, the slide stopper 80 has an upper wall 80b bent at a right angle, which blocks the guide groove 76 at the outer peripheral edge of a side wall 80a and comes into contact with the upper lever portion 20. It has a substantially L-shaped cross section, and a pipe-shaped rotating shaft 81 that fits into the pin 77 is integrally provided at the lower end by welding. The outer peripheral surface 80d of the upper wall 80b is aligned with the central axis (axis O-) of the pipe-shaped rotating shaft 81.
The detent plate 70 has a curved shape with a radius R ₃ centered on the detent plate 70, and is adapted to slide along the inner circumferential surface 70d of the curved upper wall 70b of the detent plate 70. Also, slide stopper 8
On the outer peripheral side of the side wall 80a of 0, there is a knob mounting shaft 8 that fits into the circular arc groove 79 of the detent plate.
2. Pins 83, to which one end of a return spring to be described later is locked, are press-fitted parallel to the axis OO and integrally fixed by welding. Note that the front end surface (left end surface in FIG. 10) 80c of the slide stopper 80 is formed as an inclined surface forming an angle θ with respect to a plane B connecting the axis O-O and the front end surface of the upper wall 80b. .

As shown in FIG. 4, this slide stopper 80 is constructed by fitting a pin 77, which fixes a pipe-shaped rotating shaft 81 to a detent plate, through a pair of resin flanged bushes 84, 84. The pin 77 is rotatably supported about the axis O--O of the pin 77, and further held in the axial direction by a snap spring 86 fitted into an annular groove of the pin 77 via a spacer 85. And slide stopper 80
The rotation angle is regulated within a certain angular range by the contact relationship between the knob mounting shaft 82 and the circular arc groove 79 of the detent plate.

87 is a return spring (torsion spring) for the slide stopper 80, the middle part of which is wound around the pipe-shaped rotating shaft 81, and both ends of which are connected to the pin 78 of the detent plate and the pin 83 of the slide stopper, respectively. It is locked to. This return spring 87 is designed so that the slide stopper 80 is connected to the guide groove 7 so that the shift lever 10 does not fall even when it is in the P range.
6 is biased in the direction of closing. That is, the slide stopper 80 is biased to the left in the paper of FIG. 3 (vehicle direction), and the knob mounting shaft 82 is in the position shown in FIG. 3 in contact with the end of the circular arc groove 79 of the detent plate. to hold. In this way, the guide groove 76
In normal operation, the slide stopper 80 that blocks the shift lever 10 functions as a part of the detent plate 70 by preventing the shift lever 10 from being bent. At the same time, align the outer circumferential surface 80d of the slide stopper with the inner circumferential surface 70d of the detent plate so that the guide groove 7
6 is closed to ensure sealing performance. A plate washer 88 is fitted onto the knob mounting shaft 82 and interposed between the detent plate 70 and the slide stopper 80.

Note that FIG. 4 is partially cut away along a plane including the knob attachment shaft 82 so that the attachment relationship of the slide stopper 80 and the stopper release knob can be easily understood.

The dust cover 90 has a box shape that covers the aforementioned daytent mechanism, and is made of a resin material. And the dust cover 90 is
As shown in FIGS. 12 to 14, the detent groove 73 (P range groove 7
5), a detent groove 93 (P range groove 95) having a similar shape corresponding to the guide groove 76 and the arcuate groove 79;
It is provided with a guide groove 96 and an arcuate groove 99 (FIG. 5). The upper wall 90b of the dust cover 90 has a curved shape (the inner circumferential surface 90d has a radius _R4 ) about the axis XX, similar to the detent plate 70, and the inner circumferential surface 90d has a curved shape. A pair of parallel protrusions 91, 91 are formed along the shape. Both protrusions 91, 91 are connected to a slide cover 100 (FIG. 3 and FIG. (Figure 4). This dust cover 90 is attached to the detent plate 70 with four screws 94 tightened into holes 92 formed in the left and right side walls 90a, 90a. Also,
A stopper release knob 89 made of resin is screwed to the knob attachment shaft 82 protruding from the arcuate groove 99. 9
A plate washer 8 is fitted onto the knob mounting shaft 82 and interposed between the detent plate 70 and the dust cover 90. In addition, this dust cover 90
The lower inner circumferential surface 90c of the dust boot 1 to be described later
From the viewpoint of sealability with 10 and ease of assembly, it is formed as an inclined surface (draft angle during injection molding).

The slide cover 100 has an outer peripheral surface 70e of the detent plate upper wall 70b and a dust cover upper wall 9.
It slides together with the shift lever 10 along the inner circumferential surface 90d of 0b, and has the function of displaying the gear shift position and covering and sealing the guide groove 76 in modes other than the P range. This slide cover 1
00 is in the shape of a flexible, ultra-thin plate manufactured from a resin material, and fits into the width across flats 23 of the upper lever portion, and has a 15th plate in order to allow the upper lever portion 20 to be bent. A cutout groove 101 is formed in the end face (lower face in the figure) on the passenger seat side shown in the figure.

As shown in FIG. 3, the dust boot 110 includes a rubber base 112 in which a reinforcing metal plate 111 having an L-shaped cross section is embedded, and a rubber seal that is fitted and attached to an outer peripheral groove 113 formed in the base 112. 114. base 112
is attached to the lower bracket 60 in advance by fastening three screws 115 shown in FIG. 2 to nuts 116 (FIG. 5) welded to the lower bracket 60. Then, the upper outer circumferential surface of the base 112 is tightly fitted into the inner circumferential surface 90c of the dust cover, thereby sealing the space between them. Although the dust boot 110 is shown in a free state in FIGS. 3 and 5, when it is actually mounted on a vehicle, the seal portion 114 is pushed down by the vehicle floor F shown by the imaginary line in FIG. , its seal portion 114
The edge 117 seals between the vehicle floors F. The dust cover 110 is installed between the lower bracket 60, the dust cover 90, and the vehicle floor F, and prevents water, mud, dust, etc. from entering the vehicle interior, and also blocks noise from outside the vehicle interior.

In this manner, in the assembled state of the above-mentioned components, the slide stopper 80 as shown in FIG.
The rotation center axis O-O is located on the axis A connecting the center line of the guide groove 76 formed in the detent plate and the shift operation rotation center axis X-X of the shift lever. As a result, the curved outer peripheral surface 80d of the upper wall of the slide stopper 80 has a substantially concentric shape along the shape of the curved inner peripheral surface 70d of the upper wall of the detent plate 70.

In the foldable shift lever device for an automatic transmission configured as described above, the shift lever 10 is operated around the axis Z-Z along the detent groove 73 of the detent plate 70, and the shift lever 10 is operated around the axis Z-Z along the detent groove 73 of the detent plate 70.
Operate around X. As a result, the control lever 36 is rotated around the axis Y-Y via the pair of bevel gears 33 and 34, and the control cable (not shown) is reciprocated in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, thereby achieving an automatic transmission (not shown). Operate the machine's manual valve lever to switch to the specified gear.

Shift position other than P range (shift position)
In this case, the upper lever portion 20 and the guide groove 76 formed in the detent plate do not match, and the shift lever 10 cannot be bent. and,
When the shift lever 10 is shifted to the P range, the upper lever part 20 tries to fall down due to the spring force of the torsion spring 50, but it comes into contact with the slide stopper 80 in the guide groove 76 and stops at that position, and is bent. is prevented. At this time,
The upper lever part 2 is moved by the torsion spring 50.
The load in the tilting direction of 0 is mainly received by the detent plate 70 via the plate washer 88 fitted to the knob mounting shaft 82.

When folding the shift lever 10,
It is operated as follows.

First, the shift lever 10 is shifted to the P range. At this shift position, the upper lever portion 20 of the shift lever and the guide groove 76 provided in the detent plate 70 align, and the shift lever becomes a bendable position. However, the shift lever bending operation is prevented by the slide stopper 80.

Next, the stopper release knob 89 is moved clockwise (in the direction of arrow G) in FIG. 5 along the arcuate groove 79 while resisting the return spring 87. Then, the slide stopper 80 also rotates around the axis OO at the same time, releasing the guide groove 76.

When the slide stopper 80 is released from the locked state, since the upper lever part 20 is subjected to a force in the direction of tilting by the torsion spring 50, it falls down naturally at the same time as the slide stopper 80 completes its movement, and the guide groove 76 It stops when it comes into contact with the lower end surface of.
Note that when the shift lever is tilted, the outer diameter _D1 portion of the upper lever portion 20 is the groove width of the guide groove 76.
After passing through the W ₃ portion, the width across flats 23 of the upper lever portion engages with the groove width W ₄ portion of the guide groove 76 .
Therefore, even when the shift lever is in the tilted state, the upper lever portion 20 is held within the guide groove 76 with a slight gap. Therefore, even if the shift lever is pushed down with the engine running, the rattling noise between the two will hardly be a problem.

When the upper lever portion 20 falls, the slide stopper 80 rotates around the axis O--O by the action of the return spring 87 and returns to the original state shown in FIG. 3 in which the guide groove 76 is closed. When the shift lever 10 is in the tilted state, the upper lever part 20 is roughly held by the guide groove 76 of the detent plate and the inclined surface 80c of the slide stopper, and is further biased by the return spring 87 of the slide stopper to push the upper lever part 20. The section 20 is held securely.

Then, with the shift lever in the tilted state, the driver's seat is moved, that is, from the driver's seat to the passenger seat, or from the passenger seat to the driver's seat.

Next, return the shift lever 10 to its original state (regular P
To return to the range (range), proceed as follows.

That is, without operating the stopper release knob 89, the fallen upper lever portion 20 is moved along the guide groove 76 of the detent plate around the axis Z-Z while resisting the torsion spring 50. Then, as the upper lever portion 20 moves, the slide stopper 80 also moves along the axis O due to the inclined surface 80c.
-O to release the guide groove 76.
Then, at the same time as the upper lever part 20 passes, the return spring 87 automatically returns to the original position of blocking the guide groove 76 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. Therefore, from now on, slide stopper 8
0 ensures that the shift lever 10 is held in its normal upright position. Note that a tension spring may be used as the spring that presses the upper lever portion 20 against the detent groove end surface 73a of the detent plate.

Therefore, according to this embodiment, the shift lever 1
0 is bent and tilted toward the passenger seat side in the vehicle width direction, which is substantially orthogonal to the direction of the gear change operation, making it easy to move the seat within the vehicle interior.

In particular, in the case of a cab-over type vehicle as shown in FIG. By folding the shift lever 10 toward the front, the shift lever 10 that is folded down does not get in the way when moving from the driver's seat to the passenger seat, making it extremely easy to move the seat. Note that F indicates the vehicle floor and H indicates the steering wheel.

Furthermore, since the shift lever 10 can only be bent when shifted to the P range, in the unlikely event that the shift lever 1 is bent while the engine is running while the vehicle is stopped.
0 and leave the driver's seat, or if a part of your body accidentally touches the shift lever 10 while moving the seat, the shift lever 10 is securely held in the P range, so the vehicle will not accidentally shift. There is no risk of it starting to move, so it is safe.

Further, from the appearance, the fact that the shift lever 10 is foldable and the direction in which it is folded can be intuitively recognized. Moreover, by simply moving the stopper release knob 89 of the slide stopper 80 clockwise, the spring force of the torsion spring 50 pressing the upper lever portion 20 against the detent groove end surface 73a of the detent plate is activated. Since the upper lever part 20 automatically falls down when the shift lever is turned, the shift lever bending operation is extremely easy.

Moreover, since the rotation center axis O-O of the slide stopper 80 is set on the axis A connecting the center line of the guide groove 76 and the shift operation rotation center axis X-X of the shift lever, the slide stopper 80 is curved. The outer circumferential surface 80d of the upper wall can have a substantially concentric shape along the shape of the inner circumferential surface 70d of the curved upper wall of the detent plate 70. Therefore, good sealing of the guide groove 76 can be ensured by the slide stopper 80 when the shift lever 10 is not tilted and when the shift lever 10 is completely tilted.

If the rotation center of the slide stopper 80 deviates from the axis A, the outer circumferential surface 80d of the upper wall of the slide stopper cannot align with the inner circumferential surface 70d of the upper wall of the detent plate, and the front side thereof Alternatively, a gap may be formed on the rear side, resulting in a decrease in sealing performance.

According to this embodiment, the upper lever portion 20 is tilted down using the spring force of the torsion spring 50 for the detent, so a new spring is not required to tilt the upper lever portion 20. It can be manufactured at low cost. Also,
No excessive force is applied to the connecting part (bending part) of the shift lever 10, and the shift lever 1
It is also possible to improve the durability of 0. Furthermore, since the bent portion of the shift lever 10 is covered by the detent plate 70 and the dust cover 90, it is difficult to hang clothing on the bent portion or apply grease for lubrication when the shift lever is tilted down. There is no risk of it getting dirty.

Although the present invention has been described in detail with respect to specific embodiments above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and includes various embodiments within the scope of the claims. For example, the rotation center of the slide stopper can be set to be the same as the rotation center of the shift lever. It can also be applied to a type of shift lever in which the shift lever is operated by pressing a push button provided on the shift knob of the shift lever to push down the daytent rod and release the engagement with the cam hole of the daytent plate. .

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, the shift lever is tilted toward the passenger seat side perpendicular to the direction of gear change operation, so the soft lever that is bent and tilted does not interfere with seat movement, and the It becomes extremely easy to move.

Furthermore, since the shift lever can only be folded in P range, in the unlikely event that the shift lever is moved away from the driver's seat while the engine is running while the vehicle is stopped, or if a part of the body is accidentally touched by the shift lever while moving the seat. Even if touched, the transmission will not operate inadvertently, making it safe.

Moreover, since the rotation center of the slide stopper is set approximately on the axis connecting the center line of the guide groove and the shift operation rotation center of the shift lever, the curved upper wall outer peripheral surface of the slide stopper is aligned with the curve of the detent plate. The guide groove can have a substantially concentric shape that follows the shape of the inner circumferential surface of the upper wall, and the sealing performance of the guide groove can be improved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figures 1 to 5 show a foldable shift lever device for an automatic transmission according to one embodiment of the present invention, and Figure 1 shows the state with the dust cover, slide cover and dust boot removed. Side view, 2nd
The figure is a plan view with the shift lever shifted to the parking range, Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view of the main part taken in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, Figure 4 is a sectional view taken along the - line in Figure 3, and Figure 5 is a side view of Fig. 2, and Fig. 6~
Fig. 8 shows an enlarged view of the detent plate, Fig. 6 is a plan view seen from the direction of the arrow in Fig. 7, Fig. 7 is a side view, and Fig. 8 is a view seen from the front of the vehicle. Figures 9 to 11 are enlarged views of the slide stopper; Figure 9 is a plan view as seen from the direction of the arrow in Figure 10; Figure 10 is a side view;
Figure 1 is a view seen from the front of the vehicle, Figures 12 to 14 show the dust cover, Figure 12 is a plan view, and Figure 13 is a sectional view taken along line X-X in Figure 12. , FIG. 14 is a sectional view taken along the line X-X in FIG. 12, FIG. 15 is a plan view of the slide cover, and FIG. 16 is a cab-over type vehicle employing the foldable shift lever device of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view showing the interior of the room. Explanation of symbols, 10...shift lever, 20...
Upper lever part, 21...Shift knob, 30...Lower lever part, 36...Control lever, 40
...Jointing means, 41...Bolt, 50...Torsion spring, 60...Lower bracket, 63
... Bolt, 67 ... Pin shaft, 70 ... Detent plate (cover member), 70d ... Inner peripheral surface of upper wall of detent plate, 73 ... Detent groove, 73a ... Detent groove end surface, 75 ... Parking Microwave groove, 76...Bending guide groove, 7
7...Pin (slide stopper rotation axis), 79
...Circular groove, 80...Slide stopper, 80d
... Upper wall outer circumferential surface of slide stopper, 82 ... Knob mounting shaft, 87 ... Return spring, 89 ...
... Stopper release knob, 90 ... Dust cover (cover member), 93 ... Day tent groove, 95 ... Parking range groove, 96 ... Bending guide groove,
100...Slide cover, 110...Dust boot, X-X...Shift lever rotation center axis, Y-Y...Control lever rotation center axis, Z-Z...Shift lever bending rotation center axis , O-O... Rotation center axis of the slide stopper, A... Axis line connecting the center line of the bending guide groove and the shift operation rotation center of the shift lever, D...
...Driver's side seat, E...Passenger's side seat, F...
...vehicle floor.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A shift lever disposed between the driver's seat and the passenger seat is divided into two parts: an upper lever part on the shift knob side and a lower lever part on the transmission side, and both lever parts can be bent by a joint means. In the folding shift lever device for an automatic transmission, the cover member attached to the fixed member and covering the bent portion of the shift lever is formed with a detent groove in which the upper lever portion contacts and slides;
A bending guide groove extending toward the passenger seat is formed continuously with the parking range groove in the day tent groove, and a slide stopper is provided on the rotating shaft to block the bending guide groove and prevent the upper lever portion from bending. A folding shift for an automatic transmission, characterized in that the center of rotation of the slide stopper is arranged approximately on an axis connecting the center line of the bending guide groove and the center of rotation of the gear shift operation of the shift lever. Lever device.