A gear shift lever biasing apparatus includes a shift lever biased primarily along a first dimension axis using a spring. The shift lever is retained to a backing plate, which may be mounted on a frame. A contact area on the backing plate engages with a bumper that is secured to the frame with a semi-rigid retainer, thereby providing bias to the gated shift lever primarily along a second dimension axis that is primarily orthogonal to the first dimension axis.

An operating device includes a shaft operated to tilt, a contact section on the shaft in a biased state movable and tiltable integrally with the shaft, a first holding section generating a feeling of moderation by sliding against and holding the contact section at tilted positions the shaft, and a second holding section contacting the contact section, guiding the contact section to a predetermined position from the tilted positions, and holding the contact section at the predetermined position. The first holding section is movable between first and second positions. The contact section contacts the first holding section and is separated from the second holding section when the first holding section is at the first position. The contact section is separated from the first holding section and contacts the second holding section when the first holding section is at the second position.

An operating device according to one embodiment includes a tiltable operating lever, a holding member that holds the operating lever, a locking member that restricts a tilt of the operating lever, a driving source, a hold driving mechanism driven by the driving source and configured to move the holding member between a hold position where the operating lever is held at a tilted position, and a return position where the operating lever returns to a predetermined position from the tilted position, and a lock driving mechanism driven by the driving source and configured to move the locking member between a lock position where the tilt of the operating lever is restricted, and a release position where restricting the tilt of the operating lever is released. The hold driving mechanism and the lock driving mechanism are respectively driven by the driving source at different timings.

A shift device for a vehicle includes a baseplate, a shift lever having a spherical shaft part at a lower end, and a control lever connected to the shift lever. The spherical shaft part of the shift lever is supported by the baseplate and configured to turn relative to the baseplate. A cable coupling part is provided at an upper part of the control lever. A turning shaft part supported by the baseplate is provided at a lower part of the control lever outward of the spherical shaft part of the shift lever in a vehicle width direction, and the turning shaft part is configured to turn relative to the baseplate. The control lever has a branched part between the cable coupling part and the turning shaft parts, and the branched part is located above the spherical shaft part and branched in the vehicle width direction.

A variable track joystick device includes a support housing, a joystick movable with respect to the support housing, and a joystick guidance mechanism controllable to selectively confine joystick movement to a predetermined track pattern. During operation of the variable joystick device, a controller determines when the variable track joystick device is placed in a selected one of (i) a first mode in which joystick movement controls the first work vehicle function and (ii) a second mode in which joystick movement controls the second work vehicle function. The controller further commands the joystick guidance mechanism to restrict joystick movement to the predetermined track pattern when the joystick device is placed in the first mode, while permitting joystick movement outside of the predetermined track pattern when the joystick device is placed in the second mode.

A gear selector comprising a gate pattern and a gear lever arranged to be moveable within the gate pattern, the gate pattern comprising: a high range gate sub-pattern comprising one or more high range gear planes for moving the gear lever into to select a high range gear; a low range gate sub-pattern comprising one or more low range gear planes for moving the gear lever into to select a low range gear; a neutral plane extending transversely with respect to the high and low range gear planes; and a force profile arranged to urge the gear lever when in the neutral plane toward a resting position in one of the one or more high range gear planes, the force profile comprising a first interference arranged to divide the high range gate sub-pattern from the low range gate sub-pattern, wherein the gear lever is moveable past the first interference from the high range gate sub-pattern to the low range gate sub-pattern when a first predefined action is performed by an operator moving the gear lever.

An operating device according to one embodiment includes a tiltable operating lever, a holding member that holds the operating lever, a locking member that restricts a tilt of the operating lever, a driving source, a hold driving mechanism driven by the driving source and configured to move the holding member between a hold position where the operating lever is held at a tilted position, and a return position where the operating lever returns to a predetermined position from the tilted position, and a lock driving mechanism driven by the driving source and configured to move the locking member between a lock position where the tilt of the operating lever is restricted, and a release position where restricting the tilt of the operating lever is released. The hold driving mechanism and the lock driving mechanism are respectively driven by the driving source at different timings.

An operating device includes a shaft operated to tilt, a contact section on the shaft in a biased state movable and tiltable integrally with the shaft, a first holding section generating a feeling of moderation by sliding against and holding the contact section at tilted positions the shaft, and a second holding section contacting the contact section, guiding the contact section to a predetermined position from the tilted positions, and holding the contact section at the predetermined position. The first holding section is movable between first and second positions. The contact section contacts the first holding section and is separated from the second holding section when the first holding section is at the first position. The contact section is separated from the first holding section and contacts the second holding section when the first holding section is at the second position.

A shift signal transmitter for a manual transmission of a vehicle, in particular of a motorcycle, includes a shift rod for force-transmitting coupling to a foot lever, optionally with the interposition of an extension rod. The shift rod is guided along its longitudinal axis in an axially displaceable manner between two axial stops in an, in particular sleeve-shaped, housing. A connecting piece, which serves for coupling to a shift lever, is rigidly connected to the housing opposite to an internal axial end of the shift rod. A distance sensor for contact-free distance measurement is disposed within the housing opposite to the internal axial end of the shift rod and a sensor area of the distance sensor is oriented radially relative to the longitudinal axis. A shift apparatus for a manual transmission of a vehicle is also provided.

A method for operating a motor vehicle, in particular a passenger vehicle, having at least one drive engine and an automatic transmission. A motor vehicle with conventional shift transmission is imitated by providing a clutch pedal for separating the drive connection, a shift lever for the manual shifting of the gear ratios, and an electronic control unit, by which the functions of clutching and shifting are converted into corresponding control signals for the automatic transmission.