JPH0454019Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] <Industrial Application Field> The present invention mainly relates to a support structure for a floor shift type shift lever.

<Prior Art> Retainers that spherically support a spherical part that serves as an operating fulcrum of a shift lever so that shift and select operations can be performed tend to be molded from synthetic resin in order to reduce the weight of the retainer. However, the resin retainer has the problem of creating a gap between it and the outer periphery of the spherical part of the shift lever due to its creep phenomenon, which deteriorates the operating feeling of the shift lever.

The following measures can be taken to absorb the gap that occurs between the retainer and the spherical portion of the shift lever due to the creep phenomenon described above.

Inside the retainer, the seat member that directly supports the spherical part of the shift lever is divided into upper and lower parts, and for example, the upper seat member is urged downward by a compression coil spring, and the upper seat on the lever is Means configured to press against the spherical part of the shift lever (for example, Utility Model No. 60-28527)
(see publication).

In addition, as a means similar to this, for example, there is a structure in which the upper sheet is similarly urged downward by elasticity such as a rubber washer.

The sheet member supporting the spherical part of the shift lever is divided into left and right parts, the outer periphery of the seat member is wrapped with an elastic material such as rubber, and the sheet member is pressed against the spherical part of the shift lever (for example, the method of 61-187736).

In addition, a similar method is one in which a seat member divided into two parts on the left and right is joined with bolts and nuts, and a rubber washer is interposed between the head of each bolt and the nut and the outer periphery of the seat member. or one in which a plurality of slits are formed vertically in a sheet member formed in one piece, and the outer periphery of the sheet member where these slits are formed is tightened with a spring ring. etc. can be mentioned.

All of the above-mentioned conventional structures function to keep the support load of the shift lever constant by absorbing the gap caused by the creep phenomenon of the seat member using the compression coil spring or the elasticity of the rubber.

<Problems to be solved by the invention> In the above-mentioned conventional technology, in order to absorb the above-mentioned gap, the general spring characteristics of an elastic body such as a compression coil spring or rubber, that is, proportional to the compression margin or tightening margin, are used. This makes use of the characteristic that the spring load changes linearly. Therefore, the support load of the shift lever based on this spring characteristic is high at the initial stage, and gradually decreases over time. In other words, the operating force of the shift lever is heavy at the beginning, and gradually becomes lighter as use progresses, leading to problems such as changes in operating feeling.

The present invention aims to solve these problems.

<Means for solving the problems> In order to solve the above problems, the present invention is configured as follows.

For example, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the retainer 10 has a seat surface 11 that spherically supports the spherical portion 31 of the shift lever 30 to enable shift and select operations, and is configured to have an open top surface.
The seat 16, which is incorporated into the retainer 10 from the open top side, is formed to spherically support the top surface of the spherical portion 31. Furthermore, this seat 16 is assembled by being screwed onto the inner circumferential surface of the retainer 10.

Moreover, between the retainer 10 and the seat 16,
A torsion coil spring 22 is incorporated. This torsion coil spring 22 applies a biasing force to the seat 16 in the screwing direction.

<Function> According to the above configuration, the seat 16 is always subjected to an action in the direction of being screwed into the retainer 10 due to the biasing force of the torsion coil spring 22 in the torsional direction. As a result, even if a gap occurs between the spherical part 31 of the shift lever 30 and the seat surface 11 of the retainer 10 that supports the spherical part 31 spherically, the seat 16 is screwed in to absorb the gap.

Further, the elasticity of the torsion coil spring 22 in the torsion direction exhibits a characteristic that the load changes little regardless of changes in the torsion angle. Utilizing this characteristic, the seat 16 can be moved to the shift lever 30.
Since the shift lever 30 is pressed against the spherical portion 31 of the shift lever 30, the supporting force of the shift lever 30 is always kept constant, and the operation feeling is stabilized.

<Example> Next, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

First, Figure 3 shows a cross section of the floor shift type shift lever support structure, and Figure 4 shows an exploded perspective view of the appearance of the shift lever support structure.
In the figure, a retainer 10 is integrally molded with its support portion 2 and base plate 1 from synthetic resin. Further, the retainer 10 is formed in a cylindrical shape with an open top, and the seat surface 11 inside thereof supports a spherical portion 31, which is the operation fulcrum of the shift lever 30, spherically so as to enable shift and selection operations from the lower surface side. ing.

The spherical part 31 of the shift lever 30 has a select arm 3 extending laterally from one side thereof.
2 are integrally molded. This select arm 32 protrudes to the outside from an opening 10a formed on the side of the retainer 10. Further, the tip of the lever, which is the lower end of the shift lever 30, is connected to the retainer 1.
0 and extends to a location close to the base plate 1. A shifting cable (not shown) using a push-pull cable is connected to the tip of the lever 30.

A bracket 13 is formed integrally with the support portion 2 in front of the retainer 10. A select bell crank 33 is rotatably attached to the bracket 13 by a shaft 35 having a collar 34 on its outer periphery. The select arm 32 of the shift lever 30 is located at the upper end of the select bell crank 33.
The tip is spherically connected. Further, a pin 33a connected to a selecting cable (not shown) using a push-pull cable is provided at the lower end of the select bell crank 33.
is fixed.

A select return spring 36 using a coil spring is installed on the axis of the shaft 35, which is the rotation axis of the select bell crank 33. Both ends of the select return spring 36 engage with the select arm 32 of the shift lever 30 so as to sandwich it from above and below.

Now, the first section showing the - line enlarged cross section in Figure 3.
As is clear from FIG. 2, which is an exploded perspective view of the main components of FIG. 1, a female thread 12 is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the retainer 10. A synthetic resin sheet 16 is inserted into the inside of this retainer 10 from the open top side.
The upper surface of the spherical portion 31 of the shift lever 30 is formed to support the upper surface of the spherical portion 31 , and a male thread 17 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the shift lever 30 to be screwed into the female thread 12 of the retainer 10 . Therefore, by changing the amount by which the seat 16 is screwed into the retainer 10, the load supported by the shift lever 30 can be adjusted.

The open upper surface of the retainer 10 is covered by a cap 19 through which a shift lever 30 can be operated for shift and selection. In other words,
This cap 19 is rotatably assembled to a bracket 14 integrally formed on the outer side of the retainer 10 by means of a hinge pin 20. Further, the cap 19 is integrally formed with a lock pawl 21 on the opposite side of the hinge pin 20, and this lock pawl 21 engages with a protrusion 15 formed integrally with the retainer 10. Keep it covered.

A torsion coil spring 22 is installed between the seat 16 and the cap 19. One end 22a of this torsion coil spring 22 is inserted into and locked into a locking hole 16a formed in advance on the upper surface of the seat 16, and the other end 22b is locked into a locking hole 16a formed through the cap 19. It is inserted into the hole 19a and locked. The torsion coil spring 22 in this state is
It has elasticity in the torsional direction so as to apply a biasing force in the screwing direction to the sheet 16.

The elasticity of the torsion coil spring 22 in the torsional direction generally exhibits characteristics as shown in FIG. As is clear from FIG. 5, the torsion coil spring 22 has a region A in which the elastic load F in the torsion direction along the vertical axis hardly changes with respect to a change in the torsion angle θ along the horizontal axis. ing. This region A is used to obtain the biasing force in the screwing direction against the sheet 16.

In the shift lever support structure configured as described above, when the shift lever 30 is shifted using its spherical portion 31 as an operating fulcrum, the movement of the tip (lower end) of the lever is transferred to the transmission side through a shifting cable (not shown). Shifting force is transmitted. Further, when the shift lever 30 is operated to select, the select bell crank 33 is rotated about the shaft 35 by the accompanying movement of the select arm 32. Due to this rotation of the select bell crank 33, a selecting force is transmitted to the transmission side through a selecting cable (not shown) connected to the pin 33a. Note that the movement of the select arm 32 during the select operation causes one end of the select return spring 36 to be bent, generating a force that constantly attempts to return the shift lever 30 to the select return position.

Now, over time, the seat surface 11 of the retainer 10 or the support surface of the seat 16 that supports the spherical portion 31 of the shift lever 30 may cause a creep phenomenon, etc. Gaps may occur. Then, the seat 16 receiving the biasing force of the torsion coil spring 22 is screwed in so as to close the gap.

As mentioned above, the above-mentioned torsion coil spring 22 is attached with the above-mentioned sheet 16 by utilizing the characteristic range A shown in FIG. It is strong. Therefore, even when the seat 16 is screwed in to close the gap, the force applied to the seat 16 by the torsion coil spring 22 is maintained at a substantially constant value from the initial state. As a result, regardless of changes over time, the shift lever 3
A supporting load of 0 is stable.

<Effects of the invention> As described above, the present invention consists of a retainer that supports the spherical part of the shift lever spherically, and a seat that is screwed onto the retainer to support the spherical part of the shift lever spherically from its upper surface. By incorporating a torsion coil spring between them and applying a biasing force in the screwing direction to the seat, the torsion coil spring has elastic properties in the torsion direction, that is, changes in the torsion angle. The characteristic that almost no load change occurs can be utilized, and the support load on the spherical part of the shift lever is stable over a long period of time regardless of the displacement of the seat in the screwing direction, and the shift lever support structure is stable. It is also possible to set the accuracy of parts to be low, and furthermore, it is possible to reduce changes (variations) in the shift lever support load for each product.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is an enlarged sectional view of the main part of the shift lever support structure (an enlarged sectional view taken along the - line in FIG. 3), and FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view showing the main part of the shift lever support structure. FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the shift lever support structure, FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the shift lever support structure, and FIG. 5 is a characteristic diagram of the torsion coil spring. 10... Retainer, 11... Seat surface, 12...
...Female thread, 16...Seat, 17...Male thread, 2
2... Torsion coil spring, 30... Shift lever, 31... Spherical part.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] A top-open type retainer having a seat surface that supports the bottom surface of a spherical part, which serves as an operating fulcrum of a shift lever, on a spherical surface to enable shift and select operations; A seat that spherically supports the upper surface of the spherical part of the lever and is screwed onto the inner circumferential surface of the retainer, and a seat that is installed between the retainer and the seat to apply a biasing force in the screwing direction to the seat. A shift lever support structure comprising a torsion coil spring.