Haptic shifting devices

• US 20030188594A1
• Filed: 04/03/2002
• Published: 10/09/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 04/03/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Immersion Corporation
• Original Assignee: Immersion Corporation
• Inventors: Vassallo, Steven P., Levin, Michael D.
• Granted Patent: US 6,904,823 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 74/473.12
• CPC Class Codes: F16H 2061/241 Actuators providing feel or simulating a shift gate, i.e. with active force generation for providing counter forces for feed back
• CPC Class Codes: F16H 2061/242 Mechanical shift gates or similar guiding means during selection and shifting
• CPC Class Codes: F16H 59/044 consisting of electrical switches or sensors range selectors with electric switches or sensors F16H59/105
• CPC Class Codes: F16H 59/105 consisting of electrical switches or sensors
• CPC Class Codes: F16H 61/24 Providing feel, e.g. to enable selection
• CPC Class Codes: G05G 2009/04766 providing feel, e.g. indexing means, means to create counterforce
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 74/2003 Electrical actuator
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 74/20159 Control lever movable through plural planes
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 74/20201 Control moves in two planes

Abstract

A haptic shift device for use in shift-by-wire systems in vehicles. The haptic shift device includes a shift lever manipulatable by a user. At least one sensor detects a position of the shift lever, and a transmission gear of the vehicle is caused to be changed based on the position of the shift lever. At least one electrically-controlled actuator outputs a force on the shift lever. In some embodiments, the shift lever is moveable within a pattern and is blocked from areas outside the boundaries of the pattern. The actuator(s) can be active or passive, and/or a variable mechanical gate can be used to implement the pattern. Provided shifting modes can include automatic, manual, and/or sequential modes. Other shifting modes can also be provided.

Claims

1. A haptic shift device for a vehicle, the haptic shift device comprising:

a shift lever physically contacted and manipulatable by a user in at least one degree of freedom;

at least one sensor operative to detect a position of said shift lever in said at least one degree of freedom, wherein position data representative of said position is derived from said at least one sensor;

a processor able to receive said position data and output data causing a transmission gear of said vehicle to be changed based on said position of said shift lever; and

at least one actuator operative to output a force on said shift lever, said at least one actuator being electrically controlled.

2. A haptic shift device as recited in claim 1 wherein said shift lever is moveable within a pattern and is blocked from areas outside the boundaries of said pattern.

3. A haptic shift device as recited in claim 2 wherein said pattern includes at least one channel for said shift lever allowing diagonal movement of said shift lever relative to a Cartesian orientation of said pattern.

4. A haptic shift device as recited in claim 2 wherein said shift lever is blocked from said outside areas by a barrier force output by said at least one actuator.

5. A haptic shift device as recited in claim 4 wherein one of said at least one actuators is an active actuator operative to output active forces on said shift lever.

6. A haptic shift device as recited in claim 4 wherein one of said at least one actuators is a passive actuator operative to provide resistance force s on said shift lever.

7. A haptic shift device as recited in claim 1 wherein said at least one actuator includes two actuators, and wherein one of said actuators is a passive actuator operative to provide resistance forces on said shift lever and the other of said actuators is an active actuator operative to output active forces on said shift lever.

8. A haptic shift device as recited in claim 1 wherein said at least one actuator includes two actuators, and wherein both of said actuators are active actuators operative to output active forces on said shift lever.

9. A haptic shift device as recited in claim 1 wherein said at least one actuator includes two actuators, and wherein both of said actuators are passive actuators operative to provide resistance forces on said shift lever.

10. A haptic shift device as recited in claim 1 wherein said at least one actuator includes at least one combination of an active actuator portion and a passive actuator portion for a particular degree of freedom of said shift lever.

11. A haptic shift device as recited in claim 10 wherein said active actuator portion outputs haptic effects on said shift lever and said passive portion provides forces to block said shift lever from moving outside a predetermined pattern.

12. A haptic shift device as recited in claim 2 further comprising a mechanical gate implementing said pattern, wherein said shift lever is blocked from at least some of said outside areas by said mechanical gate.

13. A haptic shift device as recited in claim 11 wherein said mechanical gate is used to provide two different patterns, one of said patterns being a manual transmission pattern having at least two vertical channels joined by a horizontal channel and used in a manual mode, and another of said patterns being an automatic transmission pattern having a single vertical channel and used in an automatic mode or sequential mode.

14. A haptic shift device as recited in claim 13 wherein said mechanical gate is a variable mechanical gate having at least one mechanically moving component that allows mechanical barriers to be provided for said shift lever in multiple directions in said manual mode and said automatic mode.

15. A haptic shift device as recited in claim 14 wherein said at least one mechanically moving component includes a plurality of gate fingers that are slid to block a horizontal channel in said pattern of said manual mode.

16. A haptic shift device as recited in claim 14 wherein said at least one mechanically moving component includes a gate component that is moved linearly to open or block a channel of at least one of said shift patterns.

17. A haptic shift device as recited in claim 14 wherein said at least one mechanically moving component includes a gate component that is moved rotationally to open or block a channel of at least one of said shift patterns.

18. A haptic shift device as recited in claim 1 wherein said at least one actuator is controlled by a processor to output haptic effects on said shift lever.

19. A haptic shift device as recited in claim 1 wherein said processor is a shift lever processor that is in communication with a second processor, said second processor coordinating functions of said vehicle not related to said haptic shift device.

20. A haptic shift device as recited in claim 1 wherein said shift lever can be moved in two rotary degrees of freedom, wherein said shift lever is coupled to a fivemember closed-loop gimbal mechanism.

21. A haptic shift device for a vehicle, the haptic shift device comprising:

a shift lever physically contacted and manipulatable by a user in two degrees of freedom;

at least one sensor operative to detect a position of said shift lever in said two degrees of freedom, wherein position data representative of said position is derived from said at least one sensor, wherein said position data is used to cause a transmission gear of said vehicle to be changed based on said position of said shift lever;

at least one actuator operative to output a force on said shift lever, said at least one actuator being electrically controlled; and

a mode selector allowing said user to select one of a plurality of shifting modes of said haptic shift device, wherein at least two of said shifting modes have different shifting patterns for said shift lever.

22. A haptic shift device as recited in claim 21 wherein said shift lever is blocked from areas outside the boundaries of said shifting pattern.

23. A haptic shift device as recited in claim 22 wherein said shift lever is blocked from said outside areas by a barrier force output by said at least one actuator.

24. A haptic shift device as recited in claim 23 wherein said shifting modes include at least one of an automatic mode, a manual mode, and a sequential mode.

25. A haptic shift device as recited in claim 23 wherein said shifting modes include an automatic mode, a manual mode, and a sequential mode.

26. A haptic shift device as recited in claim 23 wherein one of said at least one actuators is an active actuator operative to output active forces on said shift lever.

27. A haptic shift device as recited in claim 23 wherein one of said at least one actuators is a passive actuator operative to provide resistance forces on said shift lever.

28. A haptic shift device as recited in claim 22 further comprising a mechanical gate implementing at least one of said shifting patterns, wherein said shift lever is blocked from at least some of said areas outside said pattern by said mechanical gate.

29. A haptic shift device as recited in claim 26 wherein said mechanical gate is used to provide two different patterns, one said patterns being a manual transmission pattern having at least two vertical channels joined by a horizontal channel and used in a manual mode, and another of said patterns being an automatic or sequential transmission pattern having a single vertical channel and used in an automatic or sequential mode.

30. A haptic shift device as recited in claim 21 wherein said at least one actuator outputs haptic effects on said shift lever, said haptic effects being felt by said user.

31. A haptic shift device as recited in claim 30 wherein said haptic effects include at least one of a detent and a hill.

32. A method for shifting gears of a vehicle transmission, the method comprising:

providing a shift lever to be physically contacted and moved by a user in at least one degree of freedom;

detecting a position of said shift lever in said at least one degree of freedom, wherein position data representative of said position is derived from said at least one sensor;

outputting data causing a transmission gear of said vehicle to be changed based on said position of said shift lever; and

outputting a force on said shift lever using at least one actuator, said at least one actuator being electrically controlled.

33. A method as recited in claim 32 wherein said shift lever is moveable within a pattern and is blocked from areas outside the boundaries of said pattern.

34. A method as recited in claim 33 wherein said shift lever is blocked from said outside areas by a barrier force output by said at least one actuator.

35. A method as recited in claim 34 wherein said force output on said shift lever is an active force and said at least one actuator is an active actuator.

36. A method as recited in claim 34 wherein said force output on said shift lever is a passive resistance force and said at least one actuator is a passive actuator.

37. A method as recited in claim 34 wherein said force output on said shift lever includes a passive resistance to provide said barrier force and an active force to provide haptic sensations to said user.

38. A method as recited in claim 33 further comprising blocking said movement of said shift lever into said areas outside said boundaries of said pattern using a mechanical gate implementing said pattern.

39. A method as recited in claim 38 wherein said mechanical gate is used to provide two different patterns, one said patterns being a manual transmission pattern having at least two vertical channels joined by a horizontal channel and used in a manual mode, and another of said patterns being an automatic transmission pattern having a single vertical channel and used in an automatic mode.

40. A method as recited in claim 39 further comprising mechanically moving a component of said mechanical gate when changing modes of said haptic shift device, allowing mechanical barriers to be provided for said shift lever in all directions in said manual mode and said automatic mode.

41. A method as recited in claim 32 wherein said at least one actuator outputs haptic effects on said shift lever, said haptic effects being felt by said user, said effects including at least one of a detent and a hill.

42. A haptic shift device for a vehicle, the haptic shift device comprising:

a shift lever physically contacted and manipulatable by a user in at least one degree of freedom;

at least one sensor operative to detect a position of said shift lever in said at least one degree of freedom, wherein position data representative of said position is derived from said at least one sensor, wherein said position data is used to cause a transmission gear of said vehicle to be changed based on said position of said shift lever;

at least one actuator operative to output a force on said shift lever, said at least one actuator being electrically controlled; and

a mode selector allowing said user to select one of a plurality of shifting modes of said haptic shift device, wherein at least two of said shifting modes provide different physical characteristics for said shift lever.

43. A haptic shift device as recited in claim 42 wherein said different physical characteristics include a different range of motion of said shift lever in at least two different modes.

44. A haptic shift device as recited in claim 42 wherein said different physical characteristics include different force sensations output in at least two different modes.

45. A haptic shift device as recited in claim 44 wherein in one of said modes, only barrier force sensations are applied to said shift lever, while in another one of said modes, barrier force sensations and other types of force sensations are applied to said shift lever.

46. A haptic shift device for a simulated vehicle implemented by a computer system, the haptic shift device comprising:

a shift lever physically contacted and manipulatable by a user in at least one degree of freedom;

at least one sensor operative to detect a position of said shift lever in said at least one degree of freedom, wherein position data representative of said position is derived from said at least one sensor, wherein said position data is provided to said computer system to cause a simulated transmission gear of said simulated vehicle to be changed based on said position of said shift lever;

at least one actuator operative to output a force on said shift lever, said at least one actuator being electrically controlled; and

a mode selector allowing said user to select one of a plurality of shifting modes of said haptic shift device, wherein at least two of said shifting modes provide different shifting patterns for said shift lever, wherein said shift lever is moveable within said shifting patterns and is blocked from areas outside the boundaries of said shifting patterns.

47. A haptic shift device as recited in claim 46 wherein said at least one actuator includes at least one combination of an active actuator portion and a passive actuator portion for a particular degree of freedom of said shift lever.