WO2016177429A1

WO2016177429A1 - Pull-pull shifter assembly

Info

Publication number: WO2016177429A1
Application number: PCT/EP2015/059997
Authority: WO
Inventors: Kenneth Skogward
Original assignee: Kongsberg Automotive Ab
Priority date: 2015-05-06
Filing date: 2015-05-06
Publication date: 2016-11-10

Abstract

The present invention is directed to a Pull-pull shifter assembly comprising:a shift lever (2) having a spherical segment (4) received in a socket (7) to form a ball joint pivotably mounting the shift lever in a select and a shift direction, the ball joint defining a rotation centre point; a shift disc (10) coupled to the shift lever (2) so that movements of the shift lever (2) in shift direction are transferred to corresponding rotations of the shift disc (10), a shift cable (12) being fixed to the shift disc (10); a select disc (20) coupled to the shift lever (2) so that movements of the shift lever in select direction are transferred to corresponding rotations of the select disc (20), a select cable (22) fixed to the select disc; characterized in that the shift disc (10) and the select disc are rotatably mounted in the support (30) on top of each other below the shift lever with a common axis of rotation pointing to the rotation centre point of the ball joint, and the shift lever (2) comprises an extension (3) projecting beyond the ball joint and having a lower spherical surface (5) forming part of a sphere around the rotation centre point of the ball joint, the lower surface (5) having a shift coupling channel (6) extending in select direction and receiving a shift slide block (14) projecting from the shift disc (10) such that the shift slide block (14) is engaged by the shift coupling channel (6) in shift direction but free to slide along the shift coupling channel (6) in select direction, and a select coupling channel (8) extending in shift direction and engaging a select slide block (24) projecting from the select disc such that the select slide block (24) is engaged in select direction by the select coupling channel (8) but free to slide along the select coupling channel (8) in shift direction.

Description

Pull-pull shifter assembly

The present invention relates to a pull-pull shifter assembly comprising :

a shift lever having a spherical segment received in a socket fixed in a support, the spherical segment and the sock^¬ et forming a ball joint for pivotably mounting the shift lever in a select direction and in a shift direction perpendicular to the select direction, the ball joint defining a rotation centre point;

a shift disc coupled to the shift lever so that move^¬ ments of the shift lever in shift direction are transferred to corresponding rotations of the shift disc, a shift cable being routed around and fixed to the shift disc such that rotations of the shift disc are transmitted to corresponding displace^¬ ments of the shift cable;

a select disc coupled to the shift lever so that movements of the shift lever in select direction are trans^¬ ferred to corresponding rotations of the select disc, a select cable being routed around and fixed to the select disc such that rotations of the select disc are transmitted to corres^¬ ponding displacements of the select cable.

A traditional shifter assembly for a manual transmission of a vehicle typically comprises a shift lever which is displacea- ble in a shift direction (in forward and backward direction from a rest position, the shift direction normally being parallel to the longitudinal direction and driving direction of the vehicle) , and which is displaceable in a select direction between two or more shift gate positions (the select direction being to the left and right, perpendicular to the longitudinal direction and driving direction of the vehicle) . With a traditional push-pull cable the movements of the shift lever and the cable transferring the control commands from the shift lever to a shift shaft of a gearbox the resulting move^¬ ments are as follows: movement of the shift lever forward results in pulling the shift cable; movement of the shift lever backward results in pushing the shift cable; movement of the shift lever to the left results in pulling the select cable; and movement of the shift lever to the right results in pushing the select cable.

The cables are in turn connected to a shift tower which trans^¬ lates the movement of the cables into a rotation of a shift shaft around its longitudinal axis and into a longitudinal displacement of the shift shaft along its longitudinal axis. The shift shaft is in turn selectively engageable with shift forks which engages/disengages the various gears of the trans^¬ mission.

A problem associated with such traditional shifter assemblies is that the cables must be capable of transferring a pushing force. This implies high requirements on the structural rigid^¬ ity of the cables. A cable, more particularly the inner cable element which is enveloped by a cable sleeve, has to be rather stiff such that it does not bend when pushing forces are transferred through the inner cable element.

For this reason attempts have been made to utilize so-called pull-pull shifter assemblies, i.e. a shifter assembly that ac- tuates the shift tower solely by pulling cables. This requires two cable sections for each of the select and the shift direc^¬ tions (the two cable sections needed for each direction can in fact belong to one cable which is routed around a pulley and connected thereto such that rotational movement of the pulley in forward and backward directions result in a pulling action of one and the other of the two cable portions, respectively; alternatively two separate cable sections individually con^¬ nected to the respective pulley can be used) . However, al^¬ though more cables are needed the cables of a pull-pull shif^¬ ter assembly can still be cheaper than cables needed in tradi^¬ tional push-pull shifter assemblies which is due to the lower requirements on the structural rigidity of the cables in pull- pull shifters.

U.S. 2012/118,094 Al discloses a pull-pull shifter assembly according to the preamble of claim 1. The shifter assembly has a shift lever which is mounted to be pivotable in a select di^¬ rection between at least two shift gate positions and, at each shift gate position, from a neutral position in a shift direc^¬ tion perpendicular to the select direction. The shift lever is directly and fixedly connected to a shift disc so that moving the shift lever forward or backward in shift direction direct^¬ ly rotates the shift discs to make a corresponding rotational movement in forward or backward direction. A shift cable is routed around and fixed to the shift disc to transmit rota^¬ tional movements thereof to corresponding displacements of the shift cable. There is furthermore a select disc with a corres^¬ ponding select cable to transmit rotations of the select disc into corresponding displacements of the select cable. The shift lever comprises a select arm projecting at a right angle therefrom and extending into an elongated slot formed in the select disc such that upward and downward pivotal movement of the select arm caused by tilting of the shift lever in the left or right direction is transferred to corresponding rota- tional movements of the select disc. This arrangement requires that the shift disc is following the tilting movement of the shift lever if the latter performs a select movement. There^¬ fore, the rotational axis of the shift disc cannot be statio^¬ nary within the housing but has to accommodate the tilting se^¬ lect movements of the shift lever which requires a complicated bearing structure. Furthermore, there is a risk that the shift cable which is guided around the circumference of the shift disc in a circumferential groove thereof becomes dislodged from the shift disc when the latter is performing a tilting movement with the shift lever. Such removal of the shift cable from the shift disc would render the shifter assembly inopera^¬ tive. In addition, the assembly requires a rather large build^¬ ing space since the shift and select discs are located below the shift lever, and the shift and select discs are essential^¬ ly oriented with their rotational axis extending horizontally, i.e. with a disc diameter vertically extending in an area be^¬ low the shift lever.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a pull- pull shifter assembly which allows for a compact design.

This object is achieved by the pull-pull shifter assembly com^¬ prising the features of claim 1. Preferred embodiments of the invention are set out in the dependent claims.

According to the present invention the shift disc and the se^¬ lect disc are rotatable mounted in the support on top of each other vertically below the shift lever and with a common axis of rotation which extends vertically, pointing to the rotation centre of the ball joint. The shift lever comprises an exten^¬ sion projecting beyond the ball joint towards the shift and select discs and having a lower part-spherical surface forming part of a sphere around the rotation centre point of the ball joint. The lower spherical surface is provided with a shift coupling channel extending in select direction and receiving a shift slide block projecting from the shift disc, which shift slide block is pointing towards the rotation centre point of the ball joint. The shift slide block is engaged in shift di^¬ rection but free to slide along the shift coupling channel in select direction. The lower spherical surface is further pro^¬ vided with a select coupling channel extending in shift direc^¬ tion and engaging a select slide block projecting from the select disc, which select slide block is pointing towards the rotation centre point of the ball joint. The select slide block is engaged in select direction but free to slide along the select coupling channel in shift direction so that it transmits select movements of the shift lever to rotations of the select disc, while sliding along the shift coupling chan^¬ nel without moving the select disc during shift movements of the shift lever.

This arrangement has a number of advantages. Due to the mount^¬ ing of the shift disc and the select disc with fixed rotation^¬ al axis in the support the bearing structure for the discs is much simpler since no tilting movements have to be performed by the discs but purely rotational movements only. Mounting of the shift disc and the select disc with parallel axis of rota^¬ tion allows for a compact design since shift disc and select disc can be mounted adjacent and parallel to each other. In addition, by arranging the shift and select discs on top of each other below the shift lever with a common vertical axis of rotation requires very little building space below the shift lever since only the thicknesses of the shift and select discs have to be accommodated which requires much less space than in the prior art mentioned were a full diameter of one of the discs had to be accommodated below the shift lever.

The further characterizing features defining the part- spherical lower surface of an extension of the shift lever, the shift and select coupling channels formed therein, and the shift and select studs received therein as defined, allow to realize a very compact coupling requiring a minimal building space on the one hand, and to provide a very reliable mechani^¬ cal coupling between the shift lever and the respective discs by direct mechanical engagement.

In a preferred embodiment the shift disc is disposed above the select disc, wherein the select slide block extends through a cut-out in the shift disc which cut-out is arranged such that the shift and select discs are capable of rotating relative to each other about the common axis of rotation to perform the shift and select movements dictated by the shift and select movements of shift lever.

In a preferred embodiment the shift disc and the select disc each have the general shape of a segment of a spherical shell around the rotation centre point of the ball joint, i.e. the shift and select discs are curved. The surfaces of the part- spherical lower surface of the extension of the shift lever, and the surfaces of the shift disc and the surfaces of the se^¬ lect disc generally extend like onion skin layers around the rotation centre point of the ball joint. This allows a very compact piled-up arrangement of vaulted shell components.

In a preferred embodiment each of the shift and select discs has a central sleeve portion receiving a hub formed in the support for rotatable mounting the shift and select discs, wherein the sleeve portion of one of the shift and select discs is received on an inner hub of the support and is sur^¬ rounded by an outer hub on which the other of the shift and select discs is rotatable mounted by its sleeve portion. In t his arrangement the sleeve portions of the shift and select discs and the hubs formed in the support are arranged coaxial- ly with respect to the common axis of rotation of the discs. This allows to provide the rotatable mountings in a mechani^¬ cally very stable manner with high structural integrity. Fur^¬ thermore, such hubs and sleeve portions for the bearings can easily be formed if the support and the shift and select discs are made for example of plastic materials by injection mold^¬ ing .

The invention will now be described in connection with an embodiment shown in the drawings in which:

Fig. 1 shows a perspective exploded view of a pull-pull shif^¬ ter assembly;

Fig. 2 shows a perspective exploded view of parts of the pull- pull shifter assembly of Fig. 1 ;

Fig. 3 shows a perspective view of the components of Fig. 2 in the assembled stated, wherein some inner structures which would normally not be visible in the assembled state are indi^¬ cated by dashed lines;

Fig. 4 shows a perspective view of the lower extension of the shift lever, wherein parts of the inner structure are shown in dashed lines;

Fig. 5 shows a cross-sectional view of a central portion of the pull-pull shifter assembly of this embodiment; and

Fig. 6 shows a sequence of movement states of the pull-pull shifter assembly with a movement in shift direction and a movement and select direction.

Fig. 1 shows an exploded view of the pull-pull shifter assem^¬ bly of the embodiment described herein. The assembly has a housing 1 which in the assembled state is fixed to a support 30. A shift lever extends into the housing 1 and projects in upward direction from the housing. The shift lever 2 has a spherical segment 4 received in a socket 7 which is fixed rel^¬ ative to the housing 1. The spherical segment 4 and the socket 7 form a ball joint for pivotably mounting the shift lever 2 in a shift direction and in a select direction perpendicular to the shift direction. The ball joint of the shift lever 2 defines a rotation centre point. In addition the spherical segment 4 is provided with two opposite protrusions 44 which are received in complementary recesses in the socket. These recesses are elongated in vertical direction so that the pro^¬ trusions 44 can slide along the recesses during select move^¬ ments of the shift lever. During shift movements the protru^¬ sions 44 rotate about their own longitudinal axis extending between the two opposite protrusions 44. The width of the pro^¬ trusions 44 is adapted to the width of the recesses so that there is essentially no or very limited play in width direc^¬ tion. In this manner any rotational movements of the shift lever 2 about its longitudinal axis are prevented. Such rota^¬ tion stop prevents unwanted rotations of a shift or select disc due to rotation of the shift lever 2 about its longitu^¬ dinal axis as will become clear from the further description below .

A shift disc 10 is disposed below the shift lever 2, and is connected to a shift cable 12 which is routed around parts of the circumference of the shift disc 10. More particularly, the two end strands of the shift cable 12 are guided around the shift disc 10 on opposite sides and are connected with the their ends to pins which in turn are received in corresponding recesses in the shift disc such that the two end strands of the shift cable 12 are connected to the shift disc 10. In this manner rotation of the shift disc 10 in a first direction causes that one of the two end strands of the shift cable 12 pulled, and rotation of the shift disc 10 in the opposite di- rection results in pulling of the other of the two ends strands of the shift cable 12.

Below the shift disc 10 a select disc 20 is disposed which is also rotatably mounted in the support 30 as well be described in more detail further below. The shift disc 10 and the select disc 20 have a common axis of rotation which extends in vertical direction and which is pointing to the rotation centre point of the ball joint of the shift lever 2.

A shift cable 22 is guided around parts of the circumference of the select disc 20 in the same manner as described above for the shift cable 12. Consequently, rotation of the select disc 20 in a first direction pulls one of the two end strands of the select cable 22, whereas rotation of the select disc 20 in the opposite direction pulls the other one of the two end strands of the select cable 22.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 4 the coupling of the shift lever 2 to the shift and select discs 10, 20 will now be described in more detail. The shift lever 2 has below its spherical segment 4 and extension 3 projecting beyond the spherical segment 4 towards the shift and select discs 10, 20. The extension 3 has a lower end piece with a spherical lower surface 5. The spher^¬ ical lower surface is formed as a segment of a sphere around the rotation centre point of the ball joint. The discs 10 and 20 are generally formed as bent or curved discs (see Fig. 5) such that their surfaces also lie on hypothetical spheres around the rotation centre point.

As indicated in Fig. 4 the lower spherical surface 5 of the end piece of the extension 3 is provided with two perpendicu^¬ lar channels, namely a shift coupling channel 6 and a select coupling channel 8, wherein the shift coupling channel 6 serves to couple the shift lever 2 to the shift disc so that shift movements of the shift lever are transmitted to shift rotations of the shift disc 10, and the select coupling chan^¬ nel 8 forms part of the coupling of the shift lever 2 to the select disc 20 such that select movements of the shift lever 2 are transmitted into select rotations of the select disc 20.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 4 the shift disc 10 is provided with a pin 16 pointing to the rotation centre of the ball joint, which pin serves to mount shift slide block 14. The shift slide block 14 has a cubic shape and a width adapted to the width of the shift coupling channel 6 such that the shift slide block 14 is received in the shift coupling channel 6. In this manner a coupling of the shift slide block 14 in the shift coupling channel 6 is established so that a pivotal shift movement of the shift lever 2 is transmitted via the ex^¬ tension 3 and through the shift coupling channel 6 to the shift slide block 14 so that shift disc 10 is rotated in re^¬ sponse to shift movements of the shift lever 2. On the other hand the shift slide block 14 is free to slide along the lon^¬ gitudinal direction of the shift coupling channel 6 such that during select movements of the shift lever 2 there is no coupling to the shift disc 10 since the shift slide block 14 can freely slide along shift coupling channel 6 during select movements .

Perpendicular to the shift coupling channel 6 there is a se^¬ lect coupling channel 8 in the lower surface 5 of the projec^¬ tion 3. The select disc 20 is provided with a pin 26 pointing to the rotation centre point of the ball joint. The pin 26 serves to rotatably mount select slide block 24 which is therefore also oriented to point towards to the rotation cen^¬ tre point of the ball joint. In other words the select slide block has an axis of symmetry (coincident with the central axis of the pin 26) which is pointing towards the rotation centre point of the ball joint. The slide block 24 is mounted - li ^¬

on a projection extending from the select disc 20 so that it is disposed at a level above the select disc 20. The projec^¬ tion and the select slide block 24 project through a cut-out 15 in the shift disc 10. This cut-out 15 has the shape of a circular ring extending over part of the circumference of the shift disc 10. In this manner the select slide block 24 is disposed at a vertical level such that it is received in se^¬ lect coupling channel 8. As described before in connection with the shift slide block 14, the select slide block 24 has a cubic shape and a width adapted to the width of the select coupling channel 8 such there is a clearance-free coupling or a coupling with limited play between the select slide block 24 in the select coupling channel 8 for select movements of the shift lever 2. On the other hand the select slide block 24 is free to slide along the length of the select coupling channel 8 during shift movements of the shift lever 2.

As described above shift movements of the shift lever 2 are transmitted through the extension 3 and the shift coupling channel 6 to the shift slide block 14 which, in shift direc^¬ tion, is clearance-free or with limited play in the shift coupling channel 6 so that shift movements of the shift lever 2 are transmitted into rotations of the shift disc 10 about its vertical axis of rotation. On the other hand, during such shift movements of the shift lever 2 there is no coupling of the shift lever 2 to the select disc 20 since the select coupling channel 8 can slide along select slide block 24 so that the select disc 20 remains stationary during shift move^¬ ments of the shift lever 2. On the other hand, during select movements of the shift lever 2 the shift coupling channel 6 moves along shift slide block 14, or the shift slide block 14 relatively slides along the longitudinal direction of the shift coupling channel 6, so that no movement is transferred to the shift disc 10 during select movements of the shift lev^¬ er 2. During such select movement of the shift lever 2 the ex- tension 3 of the shift lever 2 is coupled to the select disc 20 to transmit such movements since the select slide block 24 is received in the select coupling channel 8 in a clearance- free manner or with limited play so that pivotal select move^¬ ments of the shift lever 2 are transmitted to rotational move^¬ ments of the select disc 20 about its vertical axis of rota^¬ tion.

A sequence of movement states of the shifter assembly is sche^¬ matically shown in Fig. 6. In Fig. 6 a) a neutral state of the shift lever 2 is shown. In Fig. 6b) the shift lever 2 has been pivoted in select direction to the left hand side. As indi^¬ cated by the arrows the lower end piece of the projection 3 performs a pivotal movement about the rotation centre point of the ball joint to the right hand side in the view of Fig. 6 b) . For such movement the select coupling channel 8 in the lower spherical surface 5 of the end piece of the extension 3 couples the shift lever 2 to the select slide block 24 and thereby to the select wheel 20 such that it perform a rota^¬ tional movement in clockwise direction as indicated by an ar^¬ row in Fig. 6 b). On the other hand during such select movement there is not coupling to the shift disc 10 such that shift disc 10 remains stationary during select movements of the shift lever 2.

In Fig. 6 c) again the neutral position is shown. In Fig. 6 d) the shift lever 2 has been pivoted forward so that the end piece of the extension 3 pivots rearward as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 6 d) . During such shift movement there is a force transmitting coupling between the shift lever 2 and the shift disc 10 since the shift slide block 14 is received in a clearance-free manner or with limited play in the shift coupl^¬ ing channel 6 such that the shift disc 10 performs a rotation^¬ al movement in anti-clockwise direction upon the forward pi^¬ votal shift movement of the shift lever 2 as shown in Fig. 6 d) . On the other hand the elongated select coupling channel 8 allows such shift movements without any coupling to the select disc 20 since the select slide block 24 can slide relative to the select coupling channel 8 during shift movements of the shift lever 2 so that select disc 20 remained stationary after the shift movement shown in Fig. 6 d) .

Please note that reference numerals are only indicated in Fig. 6a) .

Fig. 5 shows a cross-sectional view of the support 30 (taken along the line indicated by A in Fig. 2) which illustrates the mounting of the shift disc 10 and the select disc 20 in the support 30, with the shift disc 10 and select disc 20 being rotatable about a common, vertical axis of rotation. In the support 30 an inner hub 32 is formed in the centre. This inner hub 32 is received in a sleeve portion 18 formed on the centre of shift disc 10. Furthermore, there is an outer hub 34 formed in the support 30 formed concentric to the inner hub 32; the outer hub 34 is received by a sleeve portion 28 formed on cen^¬ tre of select disc 20. As can be seen from Fig. 5 such mount^¬ ing of the shift and select disc 10, 20 in the support 30 pro^¬ vides a mechanically stable and very compact design of the as^¬ sembly and provides a mounting of the shift and select discs 10, 20 to be rotatable about a common axis of rotation.

As can also be seen in Fig. 5 the lower surface 5 of the end piece of the extension 3 of the shift lever, as well as the main surfaces of the shift and select discs lie on parts of spheres which are disposed around the rotation centre point of the ball joint. Such arrangements allows for the pivotal shift and select movements of the extension 3, as well as the rota^¬ tional movements of the shift and select slide blocks 14, 24 and their movements along the shift and select coupling chan^¬ nels 6, 8 in the lower spherical surface 5.

Claims

1. Pull-pull shifter assembly comprising:

a shift lever (2) having a spherical segment (4) re^¬ ceived in a socket (7) fixed relative to support (30), the spherical segment and the socket forming a ball joint for pivotably mounting the shift lever in a select direction and in a shift direction perpendicular to the select direction, the ball joint defining a rotation centre point; a shift disc (10) coupled to the shift lever (2) so that movements of the shift lever (2) in shift direction are transferred to corresponding rotations of the shift disc (10), a shift cable (12) being routed around and fixed to the shift disc (10) such that rotations of the shift disc are transmitted to corresponding displacements of the shift cable (12);

a select disc (20) coupled to the shift lever (2) so that movements of the shift lever in select direction are transferred to corresponding rotations of the select disc (20), a select cable (22) being routed around and fixed to the select disc such that rotations of the select disc (20) are transmitted to corresponding displacements of the select cable (22);

characterized in that

the shift disc (10) and the select disc are rotatably mounted in the support (30) on top of each other vertical^¬ ly below the shift lever with a common axis of rotation which extends vertically, pointing to the rotation centre point of the ball joint, and

the shift lever (2) comprises an extension (3) pro^¬ jecting beyond the ball joint towards the shift and select discs (10, 20) and having a lower spherical surface (5) forming part of a sphere around the rotation centre point of the ball joint, the lower surface (5) is provided with a shift coupling channel (6) extending in select direction and receiving a shift slide block (14) projecting from the shift disc (10) and pointing towards the rotation centre point of the ball joint such that the shift slide block (14) is engaged by the shift coupling channel (6) in shift direction but free to slide along the shift coupling channel (6) in select direction, and with a select coupling channel (8) extending in shift direction and engaging a select slide block (24) projecting from the select disc and pointing towards the rotation centre point of the ball joint such that the select slide block (24) is engaged in select direction by the select coupling channel (8) but free to slide along the select coupling channel (8) in shift direction.

2. Pull-pull shifter assembly according to claim 1, characte^¬ rized in that the shift disc (10) is disposed above the select disc (20) and that the select slide block (24) ex^¬ tends through a cut-out (15) in the shift disc (10) which cut-out is arranged such that the shift and select discs (10, 20) are capable of rotating relative to each other to perform the shift and select movements commanded by the shift and select movements of the shift lever.

3. Pull-pull shifter assembly according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the shift disc (10) and the select disc (20) each have the general shape of a segment of a spheri^¬ cal shell around the rotation centre point of the ball j oint .

4. Pull-pull shifter assembly according to any of the preced^¬ ing claims, characterized in that each of the shift and select discs (10, 20) has central sleeve portion receiving a hub (32, 34) formed in the support (30) for rotatably mounting the shift and select discs (10, 20), wherein the sleeve portion (18) of one of the shift and select discs is received on an inner hub (32) of the support and is surrounded by an outer hub (34) on which the other of the shift and select discs is rotatably mounted by its sleeve portion (28).