JPS6320515A - Collapsible shift lever device for automatic speed change gear - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To facilitate seat movement in a room by falling down a shift lever toward the navigator seat at right angles to the speed changing operation direction. CONSTITUTION:The upper lever part 20 of the shift lever does not meet folding guide grooves 76 and 96 formed in a cover member at shift positions except a specific range, so the shift lever 10 can not be folded. When the shift lever 10 is shifted to the specific range, a slide cover 100 also slides associatively along the upper wall inner peripheral surface 90d of the cover member and said folding guide grooves 76 and 96 and the cut groove 104 of the slide cover are aligned, so that the upper lever part 20 can be fallen down toward the navigator's seat along the folding guide grooves 76 and 96. Further, the slide cover 100 is divided into three and the plate thickness t1 of the center cover part piece 101 where the cut groove 104 is formed is set larger than the plate thickness t2 of the front and rear cover part pieces 102 and 103, so the strength of the slide cover 100 is improved.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a floor shift type shift lever for automobiles, etc.
The present invention relates to a foldable shift lever device for an automatic transmission configured to be foldable in a predetermined range, and particularly to a slide cover that displays a gear shift position and has a sealing function.

[Conventional technology]

In recent years, shift levers of automatic transmissions in automobiles, etc.
A so-called floor shift type shift lever, in which the shift lever is disposed on the vehicle floor between the driver's seat and the passenger's seat, has become popular. A shift lever that stands upright from the floor of the vehicle inside the vehicle 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 seat 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 halves, and the two parts were connected with a pin to make the shift lever bendable, thereby making it easier to change seats. A type shift lever device (for example, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 56-32887) has been proposed.

However, in the conventionally proposed foldable shift lever device for automatic transmissions, when moving the seat, the shift lever is moved in the direction of gear change operation (vehicle longitudinal direction).
It is designed to be folded down and folded down. Moreover, no means is taken to restrict the bending operation position of the shift lever.

Therefore, 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 interferes with the parking brake lever and the like, making it impossible to lower the shift lever to a sufficiently low position, and the shift lever tends to get in the way. Furthermore, the shift lever
When the seat is folded, 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.

In addition, in a floor shift type shift lever device for an automatic transmission, the upper wall of the cover member attached to the fixed member usually has a curved shape, and the upper wall has a shape that allows rotational movement of the shift lever. A detent groove is formed. And, at the detent groove position of the cover member,
A flexible slide cover made of resin is provided and fitted onto the shift lever. This slide cover has the shape of a starter plate (for example, about 0.8 va in thickness), and slides along the inner peripheral surface of the upper wall of the cover member in conjunction with the shift lever, and displays the gear shift position. ,
It is designed to close and seal the detent groove.

However, the above-described slide cover having a shift lever mounting hole in the center cannot be used as is in a foldable shift lever device.

Therefore, the present applicant first formed a bending guide groove in a cover member that covers the bending portion of the shift lever attached to the fixed member, which allows the upper lever portion to be bent toward the passenger seat only in a predetermined range, and As shown in FIG. 26, a notch groove 2 that opens toward the passenger seat side is formed in the slide cover 1, and the front end surface of the notch groove 2 is formed into an inclined surface 3 that widens toward the opening end. Proposed a foldable shift lever device for aircraft (patent application 1986)
-090253).

In this foldable shift lever device for automatic transmission,
The folded shift lever does not get in the way when moving the seat.
It is extremely easy to move seats within the vehicle. Moreover, even if the open end of the slide cover 1 is elastically deformed toward the outer periphery due to the presence of the notched groove 2, the open end will not be caught by the rear end surface of the guide groove of the cover member due to the inclined surface 3 of the notched groove.

Therefore, since the slide cover 1 slides smoothly, excellent performance was obtained in that the slide cover 1 could be prevented from being damaged.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, in the folding shift lever device for an automatic transmission according to the above-mentioned prior application, the thickness of the slide cover 1 is all constant, and since the notch groove 2 is present, the width of the slide cover 1 is changed accordingly. decreases in strength. Therefore, there is a fear that the slide cover 1 may crack.

Therefore, if the thickness of the slide cover 1 is set thick,
The strength of the slide cover 1 can be ensured, and the above-mentioned problems can be solved. However, increasing the thickness of the slide cover 1 increases the sliding resistance when the slide cover 1 slides as the shift lever moves. Therefore, there is a problem that the gear shifting operation becomes heavy and the operational feeling deteriorates.

That is, in a shift lever device for a floor shift type automatic transmission, the cover member usually has a shape that is largely curved with respect to the shift lever speed change operation direction.

By curving the cover member, both ends of the slide cover 1 are made to hang downward, and the slide cover 1
This is because the movement space of the shift lever can be taken downward, and the space on the plane in the direction of gear change operation of the shift lever can be reduced. On the other hand, it is preferable that the upper surface of the cover member be formed as flat as possible with a large radius of curvature in order to make it easier to see the gear shift position.

Therefore, in order to meet the above requirements, corner sliding portions with a small radius of curvature are provided in the cover member at front and back positions in the direction of movement of the slide cover 1, so that the slide cover 1 hangs downward.

Therefore, when the slide cover 1 slides on a small corner sliding portion, the deformation resistance (sliding resistance) is large, and the thicker the slide cover 1 is, the larger the deformation resistance (sliding resistance) is.

However, as mentioned above, in order to ensure the strength of the slide cover 1, the plate thickness is increased (thus increasing the sliding resistance of the slide cover 1, and conversely, in order to reduce the sliding resistance of the slide cover 1, the plate thickness is increased). If the thickness is reduced, the strength of the slide cover 1 cannot be ensured.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to prevent cracking of the slide cover and reduce sliding resistance while maintaining the above-mentioned good seat mobility in a folding shift lever device for an automatic transmission.

[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 bending guide groove that allows the upper lever portion to be bent toward the passenger seat only in a predetermined range is provided in the cover member, and the bending guide groove is continuous with the detent groove. The slide cover is arranged so as to be partially overlapped with a central cover piece having a notched groove opening on the passenger seat side where the upper lever part is engaged, and the central cover piece at the front and rear positions in the moving direction of the central cover piece. It is characterized in that it is composed of front and rear cover pieces, and the plate thickness of the front and rear cover pieces is set thinner than the plate thickness of the central cover piece.

More specifically, referring to FIGS. 1 to 3 as an example, the foldable shift lever device for an automatic transmission has a shift lever (10) disposed between a driver's seat and a passenger's seat, and a shift knob ( It is divided into two parts: an upper lever part (20) on the side (21) and a lower lever part (30) on the transmission side.
20 and 30) are foldably connected by a joint means (40).

Then, an upper wall (70
The cover member (b, 90b) is provided with a detent groove (73, 93) in which the upper lever portion (20) can rotate.
70/90) are installed. Further, the upper lever portion (
20), and the detent groove (
A flexible slide cover (100) made of resin is provided to cover the parts 73 and 93).

The cover member (70, 90) has a bending guide groove (76, 96) that allows the upper lever part (20) to be bent toward the passenger seat only in a predetermined range (P range).
are formed continuously with the detent grooves (73, 93).

Further, the slide cover (100) has a cutout groove (10) opened on the passenger seat side where the upper lever part (20) is engaged.
4), and front and rear cover pieces (102 and 103) disposed to be partially overlapped in the front and back positions of the center cover piece (101) in the moving direction.
), and the front and rear cover pieces (102.
The plate thickness (t2) of the central cover piece (101
) is set thinner than the plate thickness (t, ).

(Function) According to the above-mentioned means, at a shift position other than the predetermined range (P range), the upper lever part (2
0) and the bending guide groove (76) formed on the cover member.
96) does not fail, and the shift lever (10) cannot be bent.

When the shift lever (10) is shifted to a predetermined range, the slide cover (100) also slides along the inner peripheral surface (90d) of the upper wall of the cover member, and the upper lever part (20) and the cover member The bending guide grooves (76, 96) formed and the notch grooves (10) of the slide cover
4), and the upper lever part (20) can be bent and tilted toward the passenger seat side along the guide grooves (76, 96).

With the shift lever in the tilted state, the driver's seat is moved, that is, from the driver's seat to the passenger's seat, or from the passenger's 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 groove (T6/96) of the cover member, contrary to the above.

Furthermore, the slide cover (100) is divided into three parts, and the plate thickness (tl) of the cutout: a (104) and the center cover part (101) are determined by the thickness (tl) of the cover parts (102 and 103) before and after it.
), the strength of the slide cover (100) can be improved.

Furthermore, the thickness (t2) of the front and rear cover pieces (102, 103) is the thickness (t,) of the center cover piece (101).
Because it is set thinner than the original, it can be easily deformed.
The slide cover (100) is attached to the inner circumferential surface of the upper wall of the cover member (
90d).

〔Example〕

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

1 to 17 show a foldable shift lever device for an automatic transmission according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, the foldable shift lever device is roughly divided into a shift lever 10, a torsion spring 50 attached to the shift lever, a lower bracket 60 that supports the shift lever, and a shift position of the shift lever. It is comprised of a detent plate 70 for regulating, a slide stop 7 pa 80 for preventing bending of the shift lever, a resin cover 90 for covering the detent mechanism, a slide cover 100 for indicating the shift position, a rubber boot 110, and the like.

In these figures, 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 is divided into two parts: an upper lever part 20 on the side of the shift knob 21 and a lower lever part 30 on the side of the transmission, both of which are foldably connected by a coupling means 40.

That is, a pipe-shaped rotating shaft 22 is welded to the lower end of the upper lever portion 20, as shown in FIG. On the other hand, the lower lever portion 30 consists of a fork-shaped shift lever support 31 and a pipe-shaped rotating shaft 32, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, and the two are integrated by welding. A port 41 is fastened by a napht 42 through a hole formed in the support 31 via a spring washer. On the outer periphery of this port 41, the pipe-shaped rotary ring 22 of the upper lever portion is arranged concentrically via a collar 43 and a pair of resin flanged bushes 44, and the upper lever portion 20 is aligned with the axis Z of the bolt 41. They are coupled so as to be rotatable about Z 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 is attached to the upper lever portion 20, and both bent end portions 50 are attached to the upper lever portion 20.
2 are respectively locked to the supports 31 of the lower lever part. The spring force of this torsion spring 50 biases the upper lever portion 20 in the right direction in the paper of FIG. 4 (shift lever bending direction).

Reference numeral 60 designates a lower bracket, which is integrally fixed with a plurality of bolts and nuts to a chassis frame cross member on the vehicle frame side (not shown) together with a cable bracket 61 fastened to the lower surface thereof with a plurality of bolts and nuts. There is.

The lower bracket 60 supports the shift lever 10 rotatably in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle.

That is, as shown in FIG. 4, a shift lever retainer 62 having a pair of left and right upright portions 62a is welded to the upper surface of the core bracket 60. And a pair of upright parts 6
A detent plate 70 that regulates the shift position of the shift lever 10 is arranged on the outside of the shift lever 2a, and a bolt 63 passes through these holes and is fastened with a nut 64 via a spring washer. . Further, on the outer periphery of the bolt 63 located inside the pair of upright portions 62a,
The pipe-shaped rotating shaft 32 of the lower lever portion 30 is arranged concentrically via a collar 65 and a pair of resin flanged bushes 66. As a result, the shift lever 10 is rotatably supported in the left-right direction (vehicle longitudinal direction) in the plane of FIG. 3 about the axis bs x -x of the bolt 63. The shifting 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, an upper bevel gear 3 is attached to the pipe-shaped rotating shaft 32.
3 is fixed by means such as welding, caulking, press-fitting, etc.

A lower bevel gear 34 that meshes with the upper bevel gear 33 is rotatably attached to a pin shaft 67 that fits into a hole in the horizontal base 62b of the shift lever retainer and is welded by a stop 35 via a plate washer and a spring washer. It is being A control lever 36 is welded to the lower bevel gear 34, and a pin shaft 67
It is possible to rotate around the axis Y-Y. 37 is a pair of 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 pusher (not shown).

As a result, the rotational movement of the shift lever 10 around the axis X-X is converted into the rotational movement around the axis Y-Y of the control lever 36 by the pair of bevel gears 33 and 34, and the control cable is further reciprocated in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. The automatic transmission is configured to be operated to switch the automatic transmission to a predetermined gear position. In addition, Fig. 2, Fig. 3, and Fig. 5
A dashed-dotted line C in the figure indicates the central axis of the control cable.

The detent plate 70 has a shape as shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, and has bolts 63 passing through holes 71 formed in a pair of side walls 70a in the vehicle width direction, and holes 70 formed in a wall 70c in front of the vehicle. It is attached by a bolt 69 passing through the hole 72 and fastened to a nut 68 welded to the front upright portion 62c of the shift lever retainer shown in FIG.

The upper wall 70b of the detent plate has a curved shape with a large radius of curvature centered on the central axis (axis X-X) of the pair of holes 71, and the upper wall 70a has the shift lever as shown in FIG. A detent groove 73 is formed in which -10 can rotate. This detent groove 73 extends in the shift lever speed change operation direction (vehicle longitudinal direction).
It has a step shape to regulate the shift position of the shift lever 10. The upper lever portion 20 is pressed by the spring force of the torsion spring 50 against the end surface 73a of the detent groove on the passenger seat side. R range at the end surface 73a of this detent groove.
At the N range, D range, 3 range, 2 range, and L range positions, there are arcuate grooves that correspond to the outer peripheral surface of the upper lever part 20 in order to give a sense of moderation to the shift operation of the shift lever 10 and prevent erroneous operation. Groove 73.・73N ・73
°・73, ·73□ and '73t are formed, respectively. In this way, the N range, D range and 3 range are obtained on the same plane, and the R range and 2 range are at the position where the shift lever 10 is operated around the axis Z-Z toward the driver's seat (upper part of Fig. 2). Further, the P range and the L range can be obtained by similarly operating the shift lever 10 further toward the driver's seat side.

Further, the detent groove 73 in the upper lever portion 20
Is there a detent on the part that comes into contact with the ? Each step part 74F of R
・74e ・74, ・743 ・74□ and 74L
A parallel width across flats 23 is formed for abutting against and accurately setting the shift operation position. The width W2 of the P range groove 75 in the detent groove 73 is set to be smaller than the outer diameter DI of the upper lever portion 20 shown in FIG. 3, and slightly larger than the width W between the widths across flats 23. There is.

Further, the detent plate 70 is formed with a bending guide groove 76 (hereinafter referred to as the guide groove 76) that extends to the passenger seat side and is continuous with a predetermined range groove (in this embodiment, the P range groove 75).

This guide groove 76 is substantially perpendicular to the direction of shift lever speed change operation, and its axis extending from its center line A extends in a direction passing through the axis XX. Then, the surface in front of the vehicle is
Step portion 74 of range groove 75. The surface at the rear of the vehicle is shaved so that Iiws in the middle is slightly thicker than the outer diameter D+ of the upper lever part 20 shown in FIG. The width W4 is set to be approximately the same as the width W2 of the P range groove 75. Further, the side wall 70a of the detent plate 70 on the passenger seat side has an axis line X-X.
A pin 77 forming a rotation axis of a slide stopper, which will be described later, and a pin 78, to which one end of a return spring of the slide stopper, which will be described later, is locked, are press-fitted and welded to the inner peripheral edge of the slider in parallel to the axis x-x. There is. Furthermore, an arcuate groove 79 centered on the axis O-O of the pin 77 is formed on its outer peripheral edge to which a release knob of a slide stopper to be described later is attached.

The rotation center axis 6go-o of the pin 77, which forms the rotation axis of the slide stopper, is positioned on the axis connecting the speed change operation rotation center axis XX of the shift lever 10 and the center line A of the guide groove 76. It is located in

As shown in FIGS. 9 to 11, the slide stopper 80 has a section on the outer peripheral edge of a side wall 80a that blocks the guide groove 76 and has an upper wall 80b bent at right angles that contacts the upper lever portion 20. It has a circuit shape.

A pipe-shaped rotating shaft 81, which is fitted onto the pin 77, is welded to the lower end of the slide stopper 80. The outer circumferential surface 80d of the upper wall has a curved shape centered on the central axis (axis 0-0) of the pipe-shaped rotating shaft 81,
The inner circumferential surface 7 of the upper wall of the curved detent plate
It is designed to slide along 0d. Further, the side wall 80a of the slide stopper has a knob mounting shaft 82 on its outer peripheral edge that fits into the circular arc groove 79 of the detent plate, and a pin 83 on its inner peripheral edge to which one end of a return spring to be described later is locked. , are press-fitted and welded parallel to the axis oo. Furthermore, the shift lever
The front end surface (left end surface in FIG. 10) of the slide stopper that comes into contact with the upper lever portion 20 during the return operation is connected to the shaft 61 o -
An angle θ with respect to the plane B connecting o and the front end surface of the upper wall 80b
It is formed as an inclined surface 80c having a shape.

As shown in FIG.
By fitting into the pin 77 fixed at 0a via a pair of resin flanged bushes 84, the pin 77 is rotatably supported about the axis o-0. Further, the slide stopper 80 is held in the axial direction by a snap ring 86 fitted into an annular groove of the pin 77 via a spacer 85. The rotation angle of the slide stopper 80 is determined by the arc n between the knob mounting shaft 82 and the detent plate.
The angle is restricted to a certain range by the contact relationship with 79.

87 is a return spring (
The pivoted middle part is wound around the pipe-shaped rotating shaft 81, and both bent ends are respectively locked to the pin 78 of the detent plate and the pin 83 of the slide stopper. The return spring 87 normally biases the slide stopper 80 in a direction to close the guide 176 so that the shift lever 10 does not fall down even when it is in the P range. That is, the slide stopper 80 is biased to the left in the paper of FIG. 3 (toward the front of the vehicle), and the knob mounting shaft 82 is held in the position shown in FIG. In this way, the slide stopper 80 that blocks the guide groove 76 functions as a part of the detent plate 70 by preventing the shift lever 1O from bending during normal operation.At the same time, the outer peripheral surface 80d of the slide stopper
The guide groove 76 is closed along the inner circumferential surface 70d of the detent plate to ensure sealing performance.

88 is fitted to the knob mounting shaft 82 and is attached to the detent plate 7.
0 and the slide stopper 80.

In addition, Fig. 4 shows the knob mounting shaft 8 in order to easily understand the mounting relationship of the slide stopper 80 and the stopper release knob.
The figure is partially cut away along a plane including 2.

The resin cover 90 has a box shape that covers the aforementioned detent mechanism. As shown in FIGS. 12 to 14, the resin cover 90 has a similar shape corresponding to the detent groove 73 (P range guide 75), guide a 76, and arcuate groove 79 of the detent plate. 93 (P range groove 95), a guide groove 96 and an arcuate groove 99 (FIG. 5).

The upper wall 90b of the resin cover has a curved shape with a large radius of curvature centered on the axis XX, similar to the detent plate 70 described above. Further, a pair of parallel resin stays 91 along the curved shape are fixed to the inner surface 90d of the upper wall by heat caulking, adhesive, etc. The nine-car stay 91 has a crank-shaped cross section, It serves as a guide for the slide cover 100 interposed in the gap between the curved resin cover and the inner circumferential surface 90d of the upper wall.

Note that the stay 91 is cut out and does not exist at the position corresponding to the guide groove 96. Furthermore, a corner sliding portion 90e with a small radius of curvature is formed at the boundary between the upper wall 90b and the front wall 90f in the resin cover.

This resin cover 90 has its left and right side walls 90
It is attached to the detent plate 70 with four screws 94 tightened into holes 92 formed in a. Further, a stopper release knob 89 made of resin is screwed to the knob attachment shaft 82 protruding from the arcuate groove 99. A plate washer 98 is fitted onto the knob mounting shaft 82 and interposed between the detent plate 70 and the resin cover 90. Furthermore, the lower inner circumferential surface 90c of this resin cover is formed as an inclined surface (draft angle during injection molding) from the viewpoint of sealability and assemblability with a rubber boot 110, which will be described later.

The slide cover 100 is made of a resin material such as polyamide resin, and has an extremely thin plate shape with flexibility. The slide cover 100 slides in conjunction with the upper lever portion 20 of the shift lever along the inner circumferential surface 90d of the upper wall of the resin cover having a curved shape, and displays the gear shift position as well as the detent grooves 73 and 93.
(In addition, the guide grooves 76 and 96 are also sealed for models other than the P range.) Furthermore, this slide cover 100 has the function of closing and sealing the guide grooves 76 and 96, as shown in FIG. A cutout groove 104 is formed in the end surface (lower surface in the figure) on the passenger seat side.

The rubber boot 110 has a rubber base 112 in which a reinforcing metal plate 111 having an angular cross-section is embedded, as shown in FIG.
and a weather strip type seal portion 1 which is fitted and attached to an outer circumferential groove 113 formed in this base portion 112.
It consists of 14. The base portion 112 is attached to the lower bracket 60 in advance by fastening three screws 115 shown in FIG. 2 to a nut 116 (FIG. 5) welded to the lower bracket 60. Then, when the resin cover 90 is placed over the top and fixed to the detent plate 70 using the four-piece screws 94, the upper outer peripheral surface of the base 112 tightly fits into the inner peripheral surface 90C of the resin cover. . In this way, the lower bracket 60 and the resin cover 90
The space is completely sealed. Although the rubber 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. At the edge 117 of the seal portion 114, the vehicle 7072
It seals the space between them. The rubber boot 110 is installed between the lower bracket 60, the resin 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.

As shown in FIG. 1, the slide cover 100 in this embodiment is divided into three parts depending on the direction of movement.

That is, the slide cover 100 has a center cover piece 1.
01, the center cover piece 101 is composed of a front cover piece 102 and a rear cover piece 103, which are disposed in front and rear positions in the moving direction of the center cover piece, partially overlapping each other. As shown in the figure, there is a notched groove 104 opened in the end surface (lower surface in the figure) on the passenger seat side, which allows bending of the upper lever part 20, which is engaged with the width across flats 23 of the upper lever part, at approximately the center position. It is formed. Furthermore, a pair of protrusions 105 (see FIG. 1 in vF) are integrally molded on the inner peripheral surfaces of both front and rear ends of the central cover piece 101.

As shown in FIG. 16, the front cover piece 102 has a pair of longitudinally extending sliding slots 106 that are cut out and engaged with the projections 105 of the center cover piece. Further, a pair of long sliding grooves 107 are formed in the rear cover piece 103 as well, as shown in FIG. 17.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 1, the thickness t of the center cover piece 101 and the thickness t2 of the front and rear cover pieces 102 and 103 are 1. >1. The relationship is set as follows. That is, the plate thickness 1 of the central cover piece 101 is a thickness that can ensure the strength of the peripheral edge of the notch groove 104 that engages with the upper lever part 20.
For example, (L is about 8 fl to 1.2 fi. On the other hand,
The thickness 1t of the front and rear cover pieces 102 and 103 is as thin as possible to facilitate deformation, for example, 0.3 ta to 0.3 ta.
Approximately 6 turtles.

Moreover, it is preferable that the front and rear cover pieces 102 and 103 are made of a softer material than the center cover piece 101. And, by engaging and overlapping the protrusion 105 of the central cover piece with the long grooves 106 and 107 of the front and rear cover pieces, a double-structured slide cover 100 is formed. This slide cover 100 is assembled into the gap between the stay 91 and the curved inner circumferential surface 90d of the upper wall of the resin cover 90 before screwing the resin cover 90 to the detent plate 70. At this time, since the stay 91 prevents the slide cover 100 from falling off, ease of assembly is good. Moreover, since the stay 91 is made of resin (low coefficient of friction) and has a small contact area with the slide cover 100, the sliding resistance of the slide cover 100 can be reduced.

Moreover, the length of the center cover piece 101 is the same as that of the shift lever 1.
When O is shifted to the P range (the state shown in FIG. 3), the size is set so that it does not cover the corner sliding portion 90e in front of the resin cover. In addition, if there is a corner sliding part behind the resin cover 90, the size is set so that it does not overlap the rear corner sliding part in the L range state.

On the other hand, the lengths of the front and rear cover pieces 102 and 103 and the lengths of the long grooves 106 and 107 are such that they can close the detent grooves 73 and 93 in the P range and L range shifted states, and especially the front cover piece 102 In this case, the dimensions are set so that the lower end does not come into contact with the upper end of the rubber boot 110.

In the foldable shift lever device for an automatic transmission configured as described above, the shift lever 10 is operated around the axis 2-2 along the detent groove 73 of the detent plate 70, and also around the axis XX. Manipulate. As a result, the control lever 36 is rotated around the axis Y-Y via the pair of bevel gears 33 and 34G, and the control cable (not shown) is reciprocated in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. Operate the valve lever to switch to the specified gear.

At shift positions other than the P range, 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. When the shift lever 10 is shifted to the P range, the slide cover 100 also slides along the inner circumferential surface 90d of the upper wall of the resin cover, and the upper lever portion 20, the bending guide grooves 76 and 96, and the slide cover The notch groove 104 coincides with the upper lever portion 20, and the upper lever portion 20 tends to fall down due to the spring force of the torsion spring 50. However, it comes into contact with the slide stopper 80 in the guide groove 76 and stops at that position, preventing bending. At this time, the load applied by the torsion spring SO in the direction of tilting the upper lever portion 20 is received by the detent plate 70 mainly through the plate washer 88 fitted to the knob mounting shaft 82.

When bending and tilting the shift lever 10, the operation is as follows.

First, shift lever 10 to P range. In this shift position, the upper lever portion 20 of the shift lever
and the second guide 176 provided on the detent plate 70 coincide with each other, and the shift lever becomes a bendable position. however,
The shift lever bending operation is prevented by a slide stopper 80.

Next, move the stopper release knob 89 to the return spring 87.
It is moved clockwise (in the direction of arrow G) in FIG. 5 along the arcuate groove 79 while resisting. Then, slide stopper 8
0 also rotates around the axis 1o-o at the same time, releasing the guide groove 76.

When the slide stopper 80 is unlocked, the torsion spring 50 is acting on the upper lever part 20 in the direction of pushing it down, so as soon as the slide stopper 80 completes its movement, it naturally falls to the passenger side, and the guide groove 76
It stops when it comes into contact with the lower end surface of. In addition, this shift lever
When tilting down, the outer diameter D1 portion of the upper lever portion 20 passes through the groove width W1 portion of the guide groove 76, and then the width across flats 23 of the upper lever portion engages with the groove width W4 portion of the guide groove 76. Therefore, even when the shift lever is in the tilted state, the upper lever portion 20 is guided with a slight gap. 476.

When the upper lever part 20 falls, the slide stopper 80 rotates around the axis OO 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 portion 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 move the upper lever portion 20. It is securely held and highly safe. In addition, even if the shift lever is tilted down with the engine running, the gap between the upper lever part 20 and the guide i-shaft 76 is small and is biased by the return spring 87, so there will be no rattling noise between the two. is hardly a problem.

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's seat, or from the passenger's seat to the driver's seat.

In particular, in a cab-over type vehicle as shown in FIG. By folding the shift lever 10 toward the front of the seat E, 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 the seat movement much easier. Note that F indicates the vehicle floor and H indicates the steering wheel.

Moreover, since the shift lever 10 can only be bent when shifted to the P range, in the unlikely event that the shift lever 10 is moved away from the driver's seat while the engine is running while the vehicle is stopped, or the shift lever is accidentally moved when moving the seat. Even if a part of the body touches the shift lever 10, the shift lever 10 is reliably held in the P range, so there is no risk of the automatic transmission inadvertently operating, and 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,
The upper lever portion 20 can be released by simply moving the stopper release knob 89 of the slide stopper 80 toward the front of the vehicle.
The upper lever part 20 automatically falls down due to the spring force of the torsion spring 50 pressing the detent groove end face 73a of the detent plate, so that the shift lever
Extremely good bending operability.

According to this embodiment, the upper lever portion 2 is moved by using the spring force of the detent torsion spring 50.
Since the upper lever part 20 is tilted down, a new spring for tilting the upper lever part 20 is not required, and the upper lever part 20 can be manufactured at a low cost. Moreover, the durability of the shift lever 10 can be improved since no unreasonable force is applied to the joint portion (bending portion) of the shift lever 10. Furthermore, since the bent portion of the shift lever 1O is covered by the detent plate 70 and the resin cover 90, there is a risk that clothing may get caught on the bent portion when the shift lever is in the tilted position, or that the shift lever 1O may get dirty with the grease applied for lubrication. do not have.

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

That is, without operating the stopper release knob 89, the fallen upper lever portion 20 is moved to the upright state along the guide groove 76 of the detent plate, centering on the axis Z-Z, while resisting the torsion spring 50. Then, as the upper lever portion 20 moves, the slide stopper 80 also rotates around the axis O-0 by the inclined surface 80C, thereby releasing the guide groove 76. Then, as soon as the upper lever part 20 passes, the return spring 870 automatically returns to the original position of blocking the guide groove 76 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. Therefore, the return operation of the shift lever 10 is also extremely easy.

Now, in the P range, as shown in FIGS. 18 and 19, the center cover piece 101 almost overlaps with the front cover piece 102 and only partially overlaps with the rear cover piece 103.

Next, when the shift lever 10 is operated from the P range to the L range, the center cover piece 101 begins to move in conjunction with the shift lever 1O. However, the front and rear cover pieces 102
and 103, the protrusion 105 of the central cover piece is in the long groove 1.
Since it moves within 06 and 107, it is in a stationary state.

Subsequently, when the protrusion 103 of the center cover piece comes into contact with the rear end surface of the long groove 106 of the front cover piece (the right end face in the figure) and the rear end face of the long groove 107 of the rear cover piece, the front and rear cover pieces 102 and 103 also begin to move, and when shifted to the L range, the state shown in FIGS. 20 and 21 is reached. Also, when the shift lever 10 is operated from the L range to the P range, the protrusion 105 of the center cover part touches the front end surface (left end surface in the figure) of the long groove 106 of the front cover part, and the rear When the cover piece comes into contact with the front end surface of the long groove 107, the front and rear cover pieces 102 and 103 also begin to move in the same direction, and when shifted to the P range, the state shown in FIGS. 18 and 19 is achieved. At this time, the movement range of the thick center cover piece 101 is determined so as not to cover the corner sliding part 90e of the resin cover.
This corner sliding portion 90e is connected to a thin front cover piece 105.
only slides.

Therefore, since the slide cover portion that slides on the corner sliding portion 90e is the thin front cover piece 105, it is easily deformed and has low deformation resistance. Furthermore, the slide cover 100 is divided into three parts, and the protrusion 10
5 and the end faces of the long grooves 106 and 107, the front and rear cover pieces 102 and 103 are stationary, so the sliding area is reduced accordingly. As a result, the operating force of the shift lever 10 is light, and the operating feeling can be made good.

Moreover, since the central cover piece 101 having the notch groove 104 with which the shift lever 10 is engaged can be formed thick, the strength of the slide cover 100 itself can be improved. Therefore, cracking of the slide cover 100 can be prevented.

Moreover, the center cover part 101 uses a resin mold.
It can be produced by a simple method and at low cost.

Note that if the rear part of the center cover piece 101 is extended as shown by the imaginary line in FIG.
0′? (See Figures 18 and 19)
. Therefore, it is possible to further improve the sealing performance.

22 to 24 show a slide cover applied to a foldable shift lever device for an automatic transmission according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

In this embodiment, the shape of the cutout groove of the center cover piece and the engagement structure between the center cover piece and the front and rear cover pieces are changed.

That is, the slide cover 200 has the center cover piece 2
01 and front and rear cover pieces 202 and 203.

The notch groove 204 of the central cover piece 201 is formed into an inclined surface (according to this embodiment, a curved surface) 209 whose front end surface becomes wider toward the opening end. A pair of protrusions 205 are integrally molded on the front and rear ends of the central cover piece 201.

Further, the front and rear cover pieces 202 and 203 have slide grooves 206 and 207 formed on both sides thereof, in which the protrusion 205 of the central cover piece engages.

According to this embodiment, since the front end surface of the notch groove is formed into an inclined surface 209 that becomes wider toward the opening end, P
When shifting from the range to the D range side, for example, if the notch groove 2
Even if the opening end of 04 is elastically deformed toward the outer circumference, the inclined surface 20
9 along the inner circumferential surface 90d of the upper wall of the resin cover and the stay 9.
It is induced in 1 hour. As a result, the slide cover 200 slides smoothly without getting caught on the rear end surface of the guide groove of the resin cover 90. Therefore, slide cover 2
00 can be prevented from being damaged. In addition, slide notch grooves 206 and 207 formed in the front and rear cover pieces.
Since it is formed on both sides, it is not exposed to the detent groove 93 of the resin cover, and the sealing performance is good.

The present invention has been described in detail with respect to specific embodiments, but
The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, but includes various embodiments within the scope of the claims. It can also be applied to a type of shift lever in which the detent rond is pushed down to release the detent plate from its engagement with the cam hole, and the shift lever is operated to change gears.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, since the shift lever is tilted toward the passenger seat side perpendicular to the direction of gear change operation,
The folded shift lever does not get in the way when moving the seat, making it easier to move the seat inside the vehicle.

Furthermore, since the thickness of the center cover piece having the notch groove that engages with the shift lever can be set, it is possible to prevent the slide cover from cracking.

Furthermore, since the slide cover is divided into three parts and the thickness of the front and rear cover pieces is set to be thinner than the thickness of the center cover piece, the deformation resistance when sliding on the corner sliding parts of the resin cover is small. , the sliding resistance of the slide cover can be reduced. Therefore, the shift lever operation force is light and the operation feeling is good.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 to 17 show a foldable shift lever device for an automatic transmission according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a slide cover, and FIG. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the main part taken in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle; Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along the TV-TV line in Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a side view of Fig. 2, Fig. 6 is an enlarged plan view of the detent plate seen from the arrow ■ direction of Fig. 7, Fig. 7 is a side view of Fig. 6, and Fig. 8 is a view of Fig. 7 from the front of the vehicle. Figure 9 is the view from 10th
Figure 10 is a side view of Figure 9, Figure 11 is Figure 10 viewed from the front of the vehicle, Figure 12 is a plan view of the resin cover. Figure 13 is a sectional view taken along the line xm-xm in Figure 12, Figure 14 is a sectional view taken along the line XIV-XIV in Figure 12, and Figure 15 is an enlarged plan view of the central cover piece. , FIG. 16 is an enlarged plan view of the front cover piece, FIG. 17 is an enlarged plan view of the rear cover piece, FIG. 18 is a plan view of the slide cover in the parking range state as seen from the shift lever axis direction, and FIG. 19 is an enlarged plan view of the front cover piece. The figure is a sectional view taken along XIX-XDCyA in Fig. 18, Fig. 20 is a plan view of the slide cover in the low range state as seen from the shift lever axis direction, Fig. 21 Fig. 20 (7)
A sectional view taken along line XX I-XX I, and FIGS. 22 to 24 show a foldable shift lever device for an automatic transmission according to a second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 22 shows a slide An exploded perspective view of the cover, FIG. 23 is a plan view of the slide cover in the parking range state, FIG. 24 is a side view of FIG. 23, and FIG. 25 is a cab-over type vehicle adopting the foldable shift lever device of the present invention. FIG. 26 is a plan view showing the slide cover according to the prior application. Explanation of symbols D-----Driver's side seat E--Passenger side seat F--Vehicle floor 10----1--Shift lever 20 --- Upper lever part 21 --- Shift knob 3 (1-m --- Lower lever portion 40 --- Joint means 50 --- ) - John Spring 60...
----1.Lower bracket 70---Detent plate (cover member) 70b,---Detent plate upper wall 73---Detent groove 76---Bending guide Crush 80 ---1 --- Slide stopper 9 (L--
------・Resin cover (cover member) 90b・-・
Upper wall 90 cl of the resin cover - inner circumferential surface 93 of the upper wall of the resin cover
--- Detent groove 96 --- Bending guide groove 100, 200 --- Slide cover 101
201--Central cover piece 102, 202----
--- One front cover piece 103, 203 --- Rear cover piece 104, 204 --- Notch groove 105, 205 --- One protrusion 106, 107 ------ Slide long groove 206・
207------ Notch groove t for slide, ---
---Plate thickness t of one center cover piece 2--Plate thickness 100 of front and rear cover pieces 100...Slide cover 101--111 Center cover piece 1G2- - Front cover piece 103 - Rear cover piece 10 , l - Notch groove tB - Thickness of central cover piece 1t - -
- Plate thickness of front and rear cover pieces Fig. 9 Fig. 11 Fig. 10 Fig. 8181 Fig. 6 Fig. 8 Fig. 7 Fig. 23 Gray B Fig. 24 Fig. 25

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) The shift lever located between the driver's seat and the passenger's 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 are foldably connected by a joint means. Further, a cover member having a detent groove in which the upper lever portion can be rotated is attached to an upper wall having a curved shape with respect to the fixed member, and the upper lever portion is attached along the inner circumferential surface of the upper wall of the cover member. In the foldable shift lever device for an automatic transmission, the cover member is provided with a flexible resin slide cover that is interlocked with the upper lever portion and closes the detent groove. A bending guide groove is formed continuously with the detent groove to allow the folding of the detent groove toward the passenger seat side.
Further, the slide cover is disposed so as to be partially overlapped with a central cover piece having a notch groove opened on the passenger seat side with which the upper lever part is engaged, at the front and back positions of the central cover piece in the moving direction. A foldable shift lever device for an automatic transmission, comprising front and rear cover pieces, the front and rear cover pieces being thinner than the center cover piece. .