JPH04337162A - Manual type shift lever device for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve operatability of a shift lever by transferring the shift lever to a specified neutral position according to vehicle speed. CONSTITUTION:There are provided a neutral position guiding means 13 which guides a shift lever 1 to a specified neutral position, and a vehicle speed sensor 11 serving as a vehicle speed detection means which detects the vehicle speed. A microcomputer 12 is provided as a control means which controls the neutral position according to the detected vehicle speed of the vehicle speed sensor 11.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an improvement in a manual shift lever device for a vehicle, which improves the operability of a shift lever for changing gears.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, as shown in FIG.
is provided with a plurality of neutral positions 3, 4, ..., and by moving the shift lever 1 toward the front or rear of the vehicle from any neutral position 3, 4, ..., the shift lever 1 can be shifted to any position (1st, 2nd, 3rd). speed, 4th speed, etc.).

That is, by moving the shift lever 1 from the low-speed neutral position 3 toward the front or rear of the vehicle to the first or second gear position, the gear is shifted to the first or second gear. Further, by moving the shift lever 1 from the high-speed side neutral position 4 toward the front or rear of the vehicle to the third or fourth speed position, the gear is shifted to the third or fourth speed.

0004

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in such a conventional manual shift lever device for a vehicle,
When the shift lever 1 is in the neutral zone 2, the shift lever 1 is biased by an unillustrated biasing means so as to always move the shift lever 1 to the high-speed neutral position 4, so the vehicle starts from waiting at a traffic light. When shifting from neutral to 1st or 2nd gear,
After moving the shift lever 1 laterally from the high-speed neutral position 4 to the low-speed neutral position 3, it is difficult to operate the vehicle because it has to be moved toward the front or rear of the vehicle. It is conceivable that the driver forgets to move the vehicle to the side neutral position 3 and shifts to 3rd or 4th gear.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a manual shift lever device for a vehicle that improves the operability of the shift lever by moving the shift lever to a predetermined neutral position according to the vehicle speed. .

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above problems, the manual shift lever device for a vehicle according to the present invention has the following features:
Neutral position guiding means having a neutral zone for the shift lever over a predetermined length in the vehicle width direction, the neutral zone having at least two neutral positions, and for guiding the shift lever in the neutral zone to a predetermined neutral position; The vehicle is characterized in that it is provided with a vehicle speed detection means for detecting a vehicle speed, and a control means for controlling the neutral position in accordance with the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed detection means.

[0007]

According to the manual shift lever device for a vehicle according to the present invention, the vehicle speed is detected by the vehicle speed detection means, and this signal is input to the control means. The control means controls the neutral position guiding means, and the shift lever is guided to a predetermined neutral position according to the detected vehicle speed.

[0008] In this way, the shift lever is guided to a predetermined neutral position according to the vehicle speed, so by moving the shift lever toward the front or rear of the vehicle from this position, a proper shift operation can be easily performed. .

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of a manual shift lever device for a vehicle according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIGS. 2 and 3 show one embodiment.

Reference numeral 1 in FIG. 2 is a shift lever provided on the console box C (see FIG. 7), and this shift lever 1 passes through the floor in the vertical direction and is shown in FIG. As shown, it is swingably supported on the floor via the spherical part 5.

A lower end 1a of the shift lever 1 is connected to a shaft 6 connected to a transmission (not shown) and supported by a spring 7.

The shift lever 1 is movable within the neutral zone 2 by swinging around the spherical portion 5, and can also be tilted forward or backward of the vehicle from the neutral position 3 on the low speed side of the neutral zone 2. It is shifted to 1st or 2nd speed, and shifted to 3rd or 4th speed by tilting the vehicle forward or backward from the high-speed neutral position 4.

In the position shown by the solid line in FIG. 2, the shift lever 1 is in the high-speed neutral position 4, and in the position shown by the two-dot chain line, the shift lever 1 is in the low-speed neutral position 3.
It is in.

The shift lever 1 is moved as shown by a solid line or a two-dot chain line in FIG. 2 by a neutral position guiding means 13 as described below, and is moved to a high speed neutral position 4 or a low speed neutral position shown in FIG. 3.

That is, reference numeral 8 in FIG. 2 is a plunger of a solenoid 9, and when the solenoid 9 is turned on, it is projected as shown by the two-dot chain line in the figure against the biasing force of the spring 10. There is. When the solenoid 9 is turned off, the biasing force of the spring 10 causes the plunger 8 to
is moved rightward in the figure, and the shift lever 1 etc. are returned to the position shown by the solid line in the figure. Further, when the solenoid 9 is manually operated to move the shift lever 1 to the position shown by the solid line in the figure, the plunger 8 is retracted by the operating force.

On the other hand, a vehicle speed sensor 11 for detecting vehicle speed is provided, and upon receiving a signal from this vehicle speed sensor 11,
The microcomputer 12 serving as a control means controls the neutral position guidance means 13 so that the vehicle speed is set to a set value α1.
(here, 20 km/h) When the vehicle speed is below, move the shift lever 1 to the low speed neutral position 3 side, and when the vehicle speed is greater than the set value α1, move the shift lever 1 to the high speed neutral position 4 side. . (See Figure 1).

Next, the operation of the microcomputer 12 will be explained based on the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, in step 101, it is determined whether or not the ignition switch is on. If it is on, the vehicle speed is detected in step 102 based on a signal from the vehicle speed sensor. Then, in step 103, it is determined whether the vehicle speed is less than or equal to the set value α1. This set value α1 is, for example, 20 Km/h.

Therefore, if the vehicle speed is, for example, 20 km/h or less, the neutral position guiding means 1 is activated in step 104.
3 to move the shift lever 1 to the low speed neutral position 3.

Specifically, the solenoid 9 is turned on by a signal from the microcomputer 12, and the plunger 8 in FIG.
The shift lever 1 is swung around the spherical portion 5 as shown by the two-dot chain line, and the shift lever 1 is moved to the low-speed neutral position 3.

Further, if the vehicle speed is greater than 20 km/h, for example, the neutral position guidance means 13 is activated in step 105.
, and move the shift lever 1 to the high-speed neutral position 4.

Specifically, the solenoid 9 is turned off by a signal from the microcomputer 12, and at the same time, the plunger 8 in FIG. Due to the biasing force, the shift lever 1 is swung as shown by the solid line in the figure and moved to the high speed neutral position 4.

After this, the process returns to step 101 and the above operations are repeated.

In this way, by moving the shift lever 1 to the appropriate neutral position 3 or 4 according to the vehicle speed and simply moving it toward the front or rear of the vehicle from this position, the shift operation can be performed easily and appropriately. It can be carried out.

On the other hand, the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 show modified examples of control by the microcomputer 12.

First, in step 201 in FIG. 4, it is determined whether the ignition switch is on or not, and if it is on, it is determined in steps 202 to 206 whether or not the shift lever 1 is in the 1st to 5th speed positions. .

If the shift lever 1 is in the first or second gear position, the vehicle speed is detected in step 207 based on the signal from the vehicle speed sensor. Let the vehicle speed at this time be α. Then, in step 208, it is determined whether the vehicle speed is less than or equal to the set value α1. This set value α1 is, for example, 20 Km/h.

Therefore, if the vehicle speed is, for example, 20 km/h or less, the neutral position guidance means 1 is activated in step 209.
3 to maintain the low speed neutral position 3 of the shift lever 1.

Further, if the vehicle speed is higher than 20 km/h, for example, the neutral position guidance means 13 is activated in step 210.
, and move the shift lever 1 to the high-speed neutral position 4.

Next, in steps 211 to 213, it is determined whether the shift lever 1 is in the 3rd, 4th or 5th gear position. If the shift lever 1 is not in 3rd, 4th or 5th gear, the process returns to step 207. shift lever 1 is 3
If the vehicle is in the 4th, 4th or 5th speed, the set value α1 is updated in step 214 of FIG. This update is based on the following formula. That is, α1=0.9α1+0.1α After this, the process returns to step 201 again.

On the other hand, if it is determined in steps 204 to 206 that the shift lever 1 is in the 3rd, 4th, or 5th gear position, the vehicle speed is detected in step 215 of FIG. 5 based on the signal from the vehicle speed sensor. Let the vehicle speed at this time be α. Then, in step 216, it is determined whether the vehicle speed is less than or equal to the set value α2. This set value α2 is, for example, 40 Km/h.

Therefore, if the vehicle speed is higher than 40 km/h, for example, the neutral position guide means 13 is controlled in step 217 to maintain the high speed side neutral position 4 of the shift lever 1.

If the vehicle speed is, for example, 40 km/h or less, the neutral position guide means 13 is activated in step 218, and the shift lever 1 is moved to the low speed neutral position 3.
move it to

Next, in steps 219 and 220 in FIG. 5, it is determined whether the shift lever 1 is in the first or second gear position. If the shift lever 1 is not in either 1st or 2nd speed, the process returns to step 215. If the shift lever 1 is in either the first or second speed, the set value α2 is updated in step 221. This update is based on the following formula. That is,
α2=0.9α2+0.1α After this, the process returns to step 201 in FIG. 4 again.

As described above, by controlling the neutral position guiding means 13 by the microcomputer 12, the shift lever 1 can be guided to the neutral position according to the vehicle speed.

Furthermore, it is possible to make the microcomputer 12 learn the timing and habits of upshifting and downshifting due to differences in driving (person), and guiding the shift lever 1 to an appropriate neutral position according to the driving (person). can.

Further, as a modification of the neutral position guide means 13, there is one shown in FIG.

The shift lever 1 is held between a plunger 21 biased by a spring 20a and a plunger 22 biased by a spring 20b, which face each other from the vehicle width direction toward the lower end 1b of the shift lever 1. , are swingably supported via the spherical portion 5. One of the plungers 22 and the solenoid 24 are connected via a connecting rod 23. This solenoid 24 is connected to a spring 20 that biases the plunger 22 when activated.
It is designed to project in the direction opposite to the bias of b.

That is, under the control of the microcomputer 12, when the vehicle speed is less than the set value α1, the solenoid 24 is turned on, the plunger 22 is projected rightward in the figure, and the shift lever 1 is shifted to the low-speed neutral position shown in FIG. Move it to position 3.

Further, when the vehicle speed is higher than the set value α1, the solenoid 24 is turned off, and the plunger 22 is retracted to the left in the figure by the urging force of the spring 20b, and at the same time, the plunger 21 is retracted by the urging force of the spring 20a. The shift lever 1 is projected to the left in the figure, and the shift lever 1 is moved to the left in the figure.
Move it to the high speed side neutral position 4 shown in the figure.

With this configuration, the shift lever 1 can be always held between the plunger 21 and the plunger 22, so that the operating feeling of the shift lever 1 can be further improved.

[0043] In the above-mentioned embodiment, an explanation has been given of an example in which two neutral positions are provided, one for high speed and one for low speed. However, the manual shift lever device for a vehicle according to the present invention is not limited to this. Of course, it can also be applied to systems with three or more neutral positions.

[0044]

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the manual shift lever device for a vehicle according to the present invention, the shift lever is guided to the neutral position according to the vehicle speed.
This has the effect of improving the operability of the shift lever.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a manual shift lever device for a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a driving portion of a manual shift lever device for a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the microcomputer of the manual shift lever device for a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of a microcomputer according to a modification of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart following FIG. 4 for explaining the operation of a microcomputer according to a modification of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a side view of a neutral position guide means according to a modification of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a manual shift lever for a vehicle.

FIG. 8 is a schematic explanatory diagram of a manual shift lever for a vehicle.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Shift lever 3 Low speed neutral position 4 High speed neutral position 11 Vehicle speed sensor (vehicle speed detection means) 12 Microcomputer (control means) 13 Neutral position guidance means 8 Plunger 21 Plunger 22 Plunger 9 Solenoid 24 Solenoid 10 Spring 20a Spring 20b Spring

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A neutral zone having a neutral zone for a shift lever over a predetermined length in the vehicle width direction, the neutral zone having at least two neutral positions, and a neutral zone for guiding the shift lever in the neutral zone to a predetermined neutral position. A manual shift lever for a vehicle, comprising: a position guidance means; a vehicle speed detection means for detecting vehicle speed; and a control means for controlling the neutral position according to the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed detection means. Device.