JPH10184910A - Switch device for shift lever - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To detect the operation in two directions of a shift lever as well as to eliminate inconvenience such as cutoff by preventing the erroneous operation in which a hand is placed on the shift lever. SOLUTION: A switch device 12 for a shift lever 9 is provided with a rod 11 to be interlocked with the shift lever 9 and divided on the way into two parts, a cylinder body 18 provided on one rod 17, a piston 19 provided on the other rod 16, stoppers 23, 24 provided on both end sides in the axial direction of the cylinder body 18, a hole 30 formed in the piston radial direction, a spring 29 and detent balls 27 which are housed in the hole 30, a detent groove 28 provided on the inner surface of the cylinder body 18, and a pair of switches 31, 32 arranged on both sides in the axial direction of the detent groove 28 and to react by being pressed by the detent balls 27 in the movement from the neutral position of the piston 19.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a switch device for a shift lever combined with an automatic / semi-automatic clutch device in a large vehicle such as a bus or a truck.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An automatic clutch device (auto clutch system) capable of automatically engaging and disengaging a clutch has been developed for the purpose of reducing the burden on a driver. This can automatically perform the on and off operation of the friction clutch, but delicate operation is required at the time of start and the control becomes complicated, so apart from this, manual operation using the clutch pedal and actuator A semi-automatic clutch device (semi-auto clutch system) that can be used in combination with automatic operation has also been developed.

In these automatic / semi-automatic clutch devices, when a driver operates a shift lever to a desired selection stage, a predetermined shift signal is sent to an electronic control unit such as an ECU, and the clutch disconnection by an actuator is performed. , And the clutch connection after the shift is performed. The switching device that outputs the shift signal is a switch device that is provided along with the shift lever.

[0004]

Conventionally, this type of switch device is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 49-127778 and Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 53-1.
As disclosed in JP-A-5238 and JP-A-53-112030, most of the shift knobs have a built-in switch inside. In other words, the shift knob is attached to the shift shaft so as to be swingable, and is normally positioned so as to be relatively immovable with a detent ball or the like. When the shift knob is swung by the shift operation force, the switch is turned on or off at the same time, and the shift The operating direction of the lever is specified, and the position of the shift lever is detected.

However, such a structure has the following problems.

[0006] It is difficult to set the pressure sensitivity of a detent ball or the like. If the pressure is too small, a malfunction is likely to occur due to hand placement or contact, and if the pressure is too large, the reaction will be delayed or uneven, and some will not react.

[0007] Since the wiring is drawn out from the inside of the shift knob, the wiring is easily pulled every time the gearshift operation is performed, and there is a concern about a problem such as disconnection.

It is difficult to detect operations in both shift and select directions due to the arrangement of a swing mechanism, a switch, and the like inside the shift knob. That is, if the detection in two directions is to be performed, the internal structure becomes very complicated, and the feasibility is extremely low.

[0009]

According to the present invention, there is provided a switch device for a shift lever, which operates in the axial direction in conjunction with the shift lever, and a rod divided on the way and a cylinder body provided at a divided end of the rod. A piston, a pair of stoppers provided on the cylinder body to limit the movement range of the piston, a hole drilled in the piston along the radial direction, a spring and a detent ball housed in the hole. A detent groove provided on the inner surface of the cylinder body for receiving the detent ball and positioning the piston at a neutral position, and disposed on both axial sides of the detent groove, when the piston moves from the neutral position, It is provided with a pair of switches that are pressed and reacted by a detent ball.

According to this, since a switch or the like is attached to the rod that is interlocked with the shift lever, it is easy to set the pressure sensitivity due to the backlash of the rod and the like. And the detection in two directions is possible.
As a result, the above problem can be solved at once.

Here, the detent groove has a larger radius than the detent ball, and when the piston comes into contact with the stopper, the detent ball is located in the detent groove and presses the switch. Preferably it is.

[0012]

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 5 is a structural view showing a semi-automatic clutch device to which the shift lever switch device according to the present invention is applied. In the figure, the left is the front of the vehicle, and a friction clutch 2 and a transmission 3 are sequentially connected to a rear end of the engine 1. The clutch 2 has a clutch lever 5 exposed to the outside of the clutch housing 4. When the clutch lever 5 is at a position shown in the figure, the clutch 2 is disconnected, and when the clutch lever 5 is rotated backward from this position, the clutch 2 is connected. The clutch lever 5 is operated by an actuator 6 which receives a predetermined control signal from an ECU 7 which is an electronic control unit (controller) and moves the operating rod 8 back and forth to operate the clutch lever 5. Has become.

Although not shown, the actuator 6 comprises a clutch booster (power booster), a plurality of solenoid valves, a pneumatic supply / discharge pipe, a pneumatic supply source, etc., and controls pneumatic supply / discharge to the clutch booster. Is performed, the operating rod 8 as an output shaft is operated, and the clutch 2 is automatically turned on and off. Further, the actuator 6 here can also perform manual intermittent operation using a clutch pedal, that is, a hydraulic pipe for transmitting hydraulic pressure generated from the master cylinder, a hydraulically operated valve operated by the hydraulic pressure, and the like. Further, a cancel mechanism or the like is provided so that the automatic interruption and the manual interruption do not buffer each other.
Such a configuration has been disclosed by the present applicant in, for example, Japanese Patent Application No. 7-176354.

On the other hand, the shifting operation of the transmission 3 is performed purely mechanically by a manual operation using the shift lever 9. That is, the transmission 3 here is in the form of a manual transmission. The transmission 3 has a gear shift lever 10 that can rotate in a shift direction (vehicle length direction). The gear shift lever 10 is connected to a shift lever 9 via a rod 11. The shift lever 9 can be operated in the select direction (vehicle width direction) in addition to the shift direction in accordance with the normal H-shaped operation pattern, but only the operation in the shift direction causes the gear shift lever 10 to rotate. . Therefore, for the operation in the select direction, an operating force is transmitted to a gear select lever (not shown) of the transmission 3 by another rod (not shown), whereby the shift of the transmission 3 in the select direction is executed. It will be.

The rod 11 has a front end rotatably attached to the gear shift lever 10 and a rear end rotatably attached to the shift lever 9, and operates in the shift direction, that is, the axial direction in conjunction with the operation of the shift lever 9 in the shift direction. I do. In the middle thereof, a switch device 12 according to the present invention is provided. The switch device 12 is electrically connected to the ECU 7, and details thereof will be described later. Also E
The CU 7 has an engine speed sensor 13, an input shaft speed sensor 14, a clutch stroke sensor 1
Each sensor such as 5 is electrically connected.

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the switch device 12. As shown in the figure, the switch device 12 includes the rod 11 described above, and the rod 11 is divided into two parts on the way and divided into a lever-side rod 16 and a non-lever-side rod 17. Of these, the lever-side rod 16 is connected to the shift lever 9 at the rear end, and the
Is connected at its front end to the gear shift lever 10 (FIG. 5).

A cylinder body 18 extending in the axial direction of the rod is integrally attached to the rear end (divided end) of the rod 17 on the side opposite to the lever. A piston 19 extending in the rod axial direction is also provided at the front end (divided end) of the lever-side rod 16.
Are attached integrally. The piston 19 integrally has a rod portion 19a extending rearward.
9a is an attachment portion to the lever side rod 16. A cylinder hole 20 is defined inside the cylinder body 18, and a pair of slide bushes 21 that are separated from each other on the front end side and the rear end side are fitted and fixed in the cylinder hole 20. The piston 19 is slidably mounted in the slide bush 21. The cylinder bore 20 has a slightly longer axial length than the piston 19, and its front end wall 23
And the rear end wall 24 form a pair of stoppers for limiting the movement range of the piston 19. The piston 19 has bump stoppers 25 and 26 on the front end surface and the rear end surface, and the movement of the piston 19 is regulated by the bump stoppers 25 and 26 abutting on the front end wall 23 or the rear end wall 24. Here, the bump stoppers 25 and 26 are formed of resin or the like so as to reduce an impact when the bump stoppers 25 and 26 abut. The rear end wall 24 of the cylinder body 18 has an insertion hole 24a through which the rod 19a of the piston 19 is inserted.

FIG. 1 shows a state in which no operation force is applied to the shift lever 9 and the shift lever 9 and the transmission 3 are in the neutral position, that is, in the middle position of the shift stroke. . At this time, piston 1
Numeral 9 is in a neutral position in the cylinder body 18, the axial length centers of the piston 19 and the cylinder hole 20 coincide, and the bump stoppers 25 and 26 do not abut on either end wall 23 or 24. The detent ball 27, the detent groove 28 and the spring 29 as positioning means perform the positioning of the piston 19 at the neutral position.

A hole 30 is formed at the center of the axial length of the piston 19 so as to extend through the hole 30 in the radial direction. A spring 29 is accommodated in the hole 30 at the center in the radial direction. 27 are movably accommodated. On the other hand, a detent groove 28 for accommodating the detent ball 27 is formed in the inner surface of the cylinder hole 20 exposed between the slide bushes 21 in the circumferential direction.
The inner surface of the detent groove 28 is curved with a radius larger than the radius of the detent ball 27, so that even if the piston 19 moves until the piston 19 abuts on the front end wall 23 or the rear end wall 24, the detent ball 27 remains in the detent groove 28. Still left. Further, since the detent ball 27 is urged radially outward by the spring 29, the detent ball 27 moves in the axial direction while sliding on the inner surface of the detent groove 28 when the piston 19 moves. The rotation of the piston 19 around its axis is restricted by rotation stop means (not shown).

Further, the cylinder body 18 is provided with a pair of bosses 18a whose outer surfaces are formed in a convex shape, and these bosses 18a are used to detect a forward or rearward shift operation. A pair of switches 31 and 32 are provided. The switches 31 and 32 are connected to the boss 1
At the same time, push pins 33 and 34 at the tips protrude into the cylinder hole 20 at the front end or the rear end of the detent groove 28. As will be described in detail later, a switch 31 provided on the lower boss portion 18a is disposed behind the detent groove 28 and detects a forward shift operation of the shift lever 9. A switch 32 provided on the upper boss 18a is disposed in front of the detent groove 28 and detects a rearward shift operation of the shift lever 9. The lead wires 35 and 36 of the switches 31 and 32 are connected to the ECU 7 described above. ECU7
As shown in FIG. 5, a shift sensor 37 for detecting the amount of rotation of the gear shift lever 10 and a gear select lever (not shown), thereby detecting the current shift position and the select position of the transmission 3. And a select sensor (not shown).

In the state shown in FIG. 1, the detent ball 27 is located between the push pins 33, 34 and does not push the push pins 33, 34. At this time, the switches 31 and 32 are turned off (no response), and the ECU
7 is not executed.

Next, as shown in FIG.
Is operated forward, first, the piston 19 relatively moves rearward with respect to the stationary cylinder body 18, and the push pin 33 is pushed by the lower detent ball 27, and at the same time, the piston 19 (bump stopper 26) is moved by the rear end wall 24. Hit. In this case, the forward operation detection switch 31 is turned ON.
(Reaction state), the signal is output to the ECU 7, the ECU 7 determines that the shift has started, and operates the actuator 6 to disconnect the clutch 2. Thereafter, the shift lever operating force in the rearward direction is transmitted from the piston 19 to the cylinder body 18 through the rear end wall 24, whereby the entire rod 11 is integrally moved rearward, and the transmission 3 is shifted rearward in the transmission 3. The operation will be performed. When the shift is completed, a signal indicating this is sent from shift sensor 37 to E
The ECU 7 determines that the shift is completed, and operates the actuator 6 to connect the clutch 2. Also, at this time, no operating force is applied to the shift lever 9, so that the detent groove 2
The detent ball 27 located at the rear end 8 returns to the center position (neutral position) of the detent groove 28 while slightly pulling the piston 19 forward by the urging force of the spring 29. Thus, the detent ball 27 is separated from the push pin 33, and the switch 31 is turned off.
Becomes

On the other hand, as shown in FIG.
Is exactly the same except that the operation is performed in the opposite direction to the above. That is, first, the piston 19 (the bump stopper 2) is attached to the front end wall 23 of the cylinder body 18.
5) abuts, whereby the upper push pin 3
4 is pressed, and the backward operation detection switch 32 is turned ON.
The ECU 7 receives the signal and operates the actuator 6 to sever the clutch 2. A forward operating force is transmitted to the cylinder body 18 from the piston 19,
As a result, the entire rod 11 moves forward integrally,
The transmission 3 is operated to the forward shift stage. After the shift is completed, the clutch 2 is connected based on the output signal from the shift sensor 37 in the same manner as described above. When the operating force of the shift lever 9 is lost, the detent ball 27 located at the front end of the detent groove 28 is
Due to the urging force of 9, the piston 19 is returned to the center position (neutral position) of the detent groove 28 while slightly pushing the piston 19 backward. Thus, the switch 32 is turned off.

As described above, the device 12 outputs a signal in response to the presence or absence of an operation force on the shift lever 9, and always outputs one of the switches 31, 32 while the operation force is present.
Is set to ON. This is combined with a semi-automatic clutch device, and the shift lever 9 is
When the shift operation is detected, the clutch 2 is disconnected, and when the shift sensor 37 detects the completion of the shift, the clutch 2 is connected.

In particular, since the switch device 12 is provided in the middle of the rod 11 that is interlocked with the shift lever 9, and the rod 11 is disposed in a relatively large space inside the vehicle body, wiring can be performed with a margin and the switch device 12 is narrow. It is also possible to prevent repeated bending or the like in a space, eliminate problems such as disconnection () as in conventional devices, and increase reliability and durability. Further, since a link system from the shift lever 9 to the transmission 3 usually has a natural backlash and a vibration preventing damper, a slight movement of the shift lever 9 is absorbed by these, and the device 12 is sensitive. Reaction can be prevented. As a result, the conventional problem (1) of the switch device 12 due to manual mounting on the shift lever 9 or erroneous contact, that is, the malfunction of the clutch 2 or the difficulty of setting the pressure sensitivity of the detent ball 27 can be solved. Further, by applying such a device 12 to a rod for a select operation, the on / off control of the clutch 2 becomes possible even for a select operation (the problem is solved). There is also an advantage that components can be shared and costs can be reduced.

Further, a hole 30 is provided in the piston 19,
Since the spring 29 and the detent ball 27 are accommodated therein, the structure of the positioning means for the piston 19 is very compact, and the overall length is reduced, the overall size is reduced, and the layout flexibility is improved.

The present invention can adopt an embodiment as shown in FIG. In this case, the hole 30a is not a through hole, and a spring 29 is accommodated in the bottom thereof, and only one detent ball 27 is seated on the spring 29. The front operation detection switch 31a is arranged in parallel with the rear operation detection switch 32a, and since they are located at the same position along the circumferential direction, the boss portion 18b is also provided at only one position. The switches 31a and 32a are of small diameter (thin) to prevent mutual interference. Other configurations are the same as those described above, and the same reference numerals are given in the drawings, and description thereof will be omitted. In this case, the same operation and effect as described above can be obtained.

Various modifications other than those described above are conceivable. The semi-automatic clutch device may be an automatic clutch device, and the transmission may be an automatic transmission having an actuator such as a pneumatic shifter. Further, a power assist device may be provided at the output end of the rod, and the shift operation of the transmission may be executed through the power assist device.

[0030]

The present invention exhibits the following excellent effects.

(1) It is possible to prevent erroneous operation due to, for example, manual mounting on the shift lever.

(2) Problems such as disconnection are eliminated, and the reliability and durability are improved.

(3) The operation of the shift lever in two directions can be detected.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a state in which a switch device according to the present invention is not operated.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a state when the switch device according to the present invention is operated forward.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a state when the switch device according to the present invention is operated backward.

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view showing another embodiment of the switch device according to the present invention and showing a state at the time of no operation.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram showing a semi-automatic clutch device to which the switch device according to the present invention is applied.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 9 shift lever 11 rod 12 switch device 18 cylinder body 19 piston 23 front end wall 24 rear end wall 27 detent ball 28 detent groove 29 spring 30 hole 31, 32 switch

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continuing from the front page (72) Inventor Masaaki Nishigami 8 Tsuchiya, Fujisawa City, Kanagawa Prefecture Isuzu Central Research Institute Co., Ltd.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A rod which operates in the axial direction in conjunction with a shift lever and is divided on the way, a cylinder body and a piston respectively provided at divided ends of the rod, and a cylinder body and a piston provided on the cylinder body. A pair of stoppers for limiting a moving range, a hole formed in the piston along a radial direction thereof, a spring and a detent ball housed in the hole, and a detent ball provided on an inner surface of the cylinder body; And a pair of switches which are disposed on both sides in the axial direction of the detent groove and which are pushed by the detent ball to react when the piston moves from the neutral position. A switch device for a shift lever, comprising: 2. The detent groove has a radius that is greater than the detent ball, and when the piston is abutted against the stopper, the detent ball is positioned in the detent groove and depresses the switch. 2. The switch device for a shift lever according to claim 1.