Locking apparatus for shift lever in automatic transmission

• US 4,947,967 A
• Filed: 11/01/1988
• Issued: 08/14/1990
• Est. Priority Date: 11/05/1987
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Tokai RIKA Denki Seisakusho, Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Tokai RIKA Denki Seisakusho, Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Muramatsu, Tadao, Imai, Hajime, Harada, Shoichi, Kito, Shozo
• Primary Examiner(s): Cranmer, Laurie K.
• Application Number:
  US07/265,445
• Time in Patent Office: 651 Days
• Field of Search: 192/4 A, 74/483 R
• US Class Current: 477/96
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/02144 interlocked with gear box or gear lever
• CPC Class Codes: F16H 2059/746 Engine running state, e.g. on-off of ignition switch
• CPC Class Codes: F16H 2061/223 Electrical gear shift lock, e.g. locking of lever in park or neutral position by electric means if brake is not applied; Key interlock, i.e. locking the key if lever is not in park position
• CPC Class Codes: F16H 59/10 comprising levers
• CPC Class Codes: F16H 59/54 dependent on signals from the brakes, e.g. parking brakes
• CPC Class Codes: F16H 61/22 Locking of the control input devices constructional features of locking or disabling mechanisms F16H63/34
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 74/20238 Interlocked

Abstract

A locking apparatus for a shift lever in an automatic transmission of a vehicle which permits the shift lever to move from a vehicle non-driving position to a vehicle driving position by means of an electrically operated member, such as a solenoid, in the presence of a predetermined condition such as that of applying a brake pedal. When the shift lever is located in the non-driving position, a detent pin for inhibiting the shift lever from shifting is engaged with a lock recess formed in a lock member and the lock member is held in a lock position by means for the electrically operated member. Even though the electrically operated member fails to function due to a malfunction or the like, an occupant can manually shift the shift lever from the non-driving position to the driving position in order to move the vehicle.

Claims

1. A locking apparatus for a shift lever of an automatic transmission of a vehicle to permit said shift lever to become operable under predetermined conditions, comprising:

(a) detent means for inhibiting said shift lever from shifting to a vehicle driving position, at which said automatic transmission is set at a vehicle driving position, when said shift lever is set at a vehicle non-driving position, said detent means being movable between a shift-lever operating position and a lock position;

(b) a lock member being movable together with said detent means between said lock position and said shift-lever operating position, at said shift lever non-driving position at which said automatic transmission is set in a vehicle non-driving position;

(c) shift-lever releasing means for moving said detent means from said lock position to said shift-lever operating position to allow said shift lever to be shifted;

(d) electrically operated means for holding said lock member to keep said detent means at said lock position and for releasing said held lock member in response to an electrical signal based on predetermined conditions thereby to make said shift-lever releasing means inoperable;

(e) manual release means for releasing said held lock member and for allowing said shift lever to be shifted even when said shift-lever releasing means has not been made operable by said electrically operated means;

whereby, said shift lever is able to be shifted to enable said vehicle to be moved even when said electrically operated means is operable.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a link is interposed between said electrically operated means and said lock member, said lock member being held at said lock position due to engagement between said link and said lock member by said electrically operated means.

3. An apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said lock member releases said detent means to allow said shift lever to be shiftable when a vehicle'"'"'s ignition key is switched from a locked state to a vehicle operating state and when a brake pedal is applied.

4. An apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said detent means includes a detent pin which is attached to said shift lever and which is located in correspondence with a guide portion of a detent plate provided in a vehicle body, a lock recess formed in said guide portion for accommodating said detent pin located at said lock position when said shift lever is located at said non-driving position, and a recess formed in said lock member for accommodating said detent pin when said shift lever has reached said non-driving position, said recess being arranged to render said shift-lever releasing means inoperative by inhibiting the movement of said detent pin toward said shift-lever operating position when said lock member is held at said lock position.

5. An apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said lock recess formed in said lock member tightly accommodates said detent pin in a direction parallel to the axis of movement of said detent pin between said lock position and said shift-lever operating position.

6. An apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising urging means wherein said link is urged in a direction in which said link engages with said lock member.

7. An apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said electrically operated means includes a driving source which is operated to disengage said link from said lock member upon the condition of the brake pedal of said vehicle being applied.

8. An apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said driving source of said electrically operated means is a solenoid.

9. An apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said manual release means has an inclined surface which serves to disengage said link from said lock member by the manual application of operating force.

10. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said manual release means has a pushbutton which partially projects into the area of the vehicle interior which is near said shift lever.

11. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, said electrically operated means releases said detent means to allow said shift lever to be shiftable when a vehicle'"'"'s ignition key is switched from a locked state to a vehicle operating state and when a brake pedal is applied.

12. A locking apparatus for a shift lever in an automatic transmission of a vehicle to control shifting of said shift lever from a non-driving position where said automatic transmission does not transmit driving force of an engine to the wheels, to a driving position for transmitting the driving force of said engine to said wheels, comprising:

(a) detent means for holding said shift lever in a non-driving position, said detent means being attached to said shift lever;

(b) a lock member being movable together with said detent means being a lock position and a shift-lever operating position, at said shift lever non-driving position at which said automatic transmission is set at a vehicle non-driving position;

(c) a shift-lever release button provided on said shift lever and responsive to being pushed for releasing the holding of said detent means and for allowing said shift-lever to be shiftable to said driving position;

(d) an electrically operated member that allows said shift-lever release button to be pushed to release the detent means when the brake pedal of said vehicle is being applied; and

(e) manual release means for releasing said held lock member and for allowing said shift lever to be shifted even when said shift-lever release button has not been made operable by said electrically operated member due to malfunction thereof.

13. An apparatus according to claim 12, wherein a link is interposed between said electrically operated member and said lock member, said lock member being held in said lock position due to engagement between said link and said lock member by said electrically operated means.

14. An apparatus according to claim 13, wherein said detent means includes a detent pin which is attached to said shift lever and which is located in correspondence with a guide portion of a detent plate provided in a vehicle body, a lock recess formed in said guide portion for accommodating said detent pin located at said lock position when said shift lever is located in said non-driving position, and a recess formed in said lock member for accommodating said detent pin when said shift lever has reached said non-driving position, said recess being arranged to render said shift-lever releasing button inoperative by inhibiting the movement of said detent pin toward said shift-lever operating position when said lock member is held at said lock position.

15. An apparatus according to claim 14, wherein said lock recess formed in said lock member tightly accommodates said detent pin in a direction parallel to the axis of movement of said detent pin between said lock position and said shift-lever operating position.

16. An apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the driving source of said electrically operated member is a solenoid.

17. An apparatus according to claim 15, wherein said manual release means has an inclined surface which serves to disengage said link from said lock member by the manual application of operating force.

18. An apparatus according to claim 12, wherein, said electrically operated member releases said detent means to allow said shift lever to be shiftable when a vehicle'"'"'s ignition key is switched from a locked state to a vehicle operating state and when said brake pedal is applied.

19. A locking apparatus for a shift lever in an automatic transmission of a vehicle, comprising:

a shift lever for selecting one from among a plurality of positions by rotary operation, and a pushbutton provided on said shift lever;

a detent pin being movable in one direction by depressing said pushbutton provided on said shift lever;

a detent plate having a lock recess for restricting the rotary operation of said shift lever in cooperation with said detent pin and for receiving and engaging with said detent pin when moved in another direction when said shift lever is shifted to a predetermined non-driving position;

a lock member being movable between a lock position where said lock member cooperates with said detent pin engaged with said lock recess to restrict the movement of said detent pin and a lock release position where said detent pin is movable;

an electrically operated member having an actuator and being operable in response to an electrical signal based on the occurrence of predetermined conditions when said shift lever is located in a particular non-driving position, said electrically operated member being movable between a holding position where said actuator holds said lock member in said lock position by operation of said electrically operated member and a release position where the holding of said lock member is released; and

a manual release member being manually operable to forcibly move said actuator of said electrically operated member from said holding position to said release position.

20. A locking apparatus according to claim 19, wherein said manual release member has an operating section disposed in the vicinity of said shift lever within the vehicle.

21. A locking apparatus for a shift lever of an automatic transmission of a vehicle to permit said shift lever to become operable under predetermined conditions, comprising:

(a) detent means for inhibiting said shift lever, when said shift lever is set at a vehicle non-driving position, from shifting to a vehicle driving position where said automatic transmission would also be set at a vehicle driving position, said detent means being movable between a shift-lever operating position and a lock position;

(b) a lock member movable together with said detent means between said shift-lever operating position and said lock position, the movement of said lock member and said detent means occurring when said shift lever is set at a vehicle non-driving position;

(c) shift-lever releasing means for moving said detent means from said lock position to said shift-lever operating position to allow said shift lever to be shifted;

(d) electrically operated means for holding said lock member to keep said detent means at said lock position and for releasing said held lock member in response to an electrical signal based on predetermined conditions, thereby to make said shift-lever releasing means operable; and

(e) manual release means for overriding said electrically operated means and making said shift-lever releasing means operable, said electrically operated means otherwise operating independently from said manual release means during conditions where said manual release means is not being operated.