Shifting device
First Claim
1. A shifting device, comprising:
- a housing;
a shift lever supported by the housing, wherein the shift lever is movable along a first manipulation axis in a first direction and in a second direction opposite to the first direction, and further along, at least, a second manipulation axis in a third direction, for selecting one of a plurality of shift positions along each of the manipulation axes, where the first and second manipulation axes are non-parallel;
a non-contact position detecting mechanism capable of detecting said plurality of shift positions of the shift lever along each of the manipulation axes, wherein the position detecting mechanism includes a plurality of detecting devices and a reflector member, wherein relative positions between the detecting devices and the reflector member are variable, and wherein the position detecting mechanism detects a selected shift position according to the relative positions; and
a moving mechanism, wherein, according to movement of the shift lever, the moving mechanism moves at least one of the plurality of detecting devices and the reflector member at least along a first movement axis and a second movement axis, the first and second movement axes are non-parallel,wherein each of the detecting devices includes a pair of a light emitting portion and a photoreceptor portion, wherein the reflector member reflects light emitted by each light emitting portion so that reflected light is detected by a corresponding photoreceptor portion, and wherein the reflector member has a plurality of holes to selectively reflect or pass light through according to the relative positions between the detecting devices and the reflector member.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A shifting device includes a housing, a shift lever, and a sensor unit. The shift lever is moved along frontward or rearward and leftward or rightward to select one of shift positions. The sensor unit is of a non-contact type and detects the selected shift position. The sensor unit includes a plurality of sensors and a magnet. The relative positions of the sensors and the magnet are variable. The sensor unit detects the selected shift position according to the relative positions. According to movement of the shift lever, at least one of the group of the sensors and the magnet is moved along a first movement axis and a second movement axis. The first and second movement axes extend in different directions.
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Citations
11 Claims
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1. A shifting device, comprising:
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a housing; a shift lever supported by the housing, wherein the shift lever is movable along a first manipulation axis in a first direction and in a second direction opposite to the first direction, and further along, at least, a second manipulation axis in a third direction, for selecting one of a plurality of shift positions along each of the manipulation axes, where the first and second manipulation axes are non-parallel; a non-contact position detecting mechanism capable of detecting said plurality of shift positions of the shift lever along each of the manipulation axes, wherein the position detecting mechanism includes a plurality of detecting devices and a reflector member, wherein relative positions between the detecting devices and the reflector member are variable, and wherein the position detecting mechanism detects a selected shift position according to the relative positions; and a moving mechanism, wherein, according to movement of the shift lever, the moving mechanism moves at least one of the plurality of detecting devices and the reflector member at least along a first movement axis and a second movement axis, the first and second movement axes are non-parallel, wherein each of the detecting devices includes a pair of a light emitting portion and a photoreceptor portion, wherein the reflector member reflects light emitted by each light emitting portion so that reflected light is detected by a corresponding photoreceptor portion, and wherein the reflector member has a plurality of holes to selectively reflect or pass light through according to the relative positions between the detecting devices and the reflector member. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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Specification