Gearshift Assembly

Abstract

The present invention is directed to a gearshift assembly comprising base, a shift lever (1) having an overmoulded ball portion (10) which is received in a socket (20) fixed in the base, the socket having a sidewall with an inner surface forming part of a sphere to provide a pivotal mounting for the ball portion for pivotal movement of the shift lever over a pivotal movement range, the socket having vertical slots (22) in the sidewall which have parallel vertical side edges and which are open at their upper ends to allow a sidewall portion between adjacent vertical slots to elastically flex outwardly during insertion of the ball portion into the socket, the ball portion (10) comprising a pattern of recesses having straight side walls, characterized in that the pattern of recesses is arranged such that all sidewalls of the recesses (12, 14, 16, 18) are inclined with respect to side edges (24, 26) of the vertical slots (22) over the pivotal movement range of the shift lever (1).

Claims

1. A gearshift assembly comprising base, a shift lever having an overmoulded ball portion which is received in a socket fixed in the base, the socket having a sidewall with an inner surface forming part of a sphere to provide a pivotal mounting for the ball portion for pivotal movement of the shift lever over a pivotal movement range, the socket having vertical slots in the sidewall which have parallel vertical side edges and which are open at their upper ends to allow a sidewall portion between adjacent vertical slots to elastically flex outwardly during insertion of the ball portion into the socket, the ball portion comprising a pattern of recesses having straight side walls, wherein the pattern of recesses is arranged such that all sidewalls of the recesses are inclined with respect to side edges of the vertical slots over the pivotal movement range of the shift lever.

2. The gearshift assembly according to claim 1, wherein the recess pattern comprises series of recesses extending along the ball portion.

3. The gearshift assembly according to claim 2, wherein the recesses are rectangular in cross-section with two opposite side walls aligned in the direction of the extension of each series of recesses.

4. The gearshift assembly according to claim 3, wherein the recesses have square cross-sections.

5. The gearshift assembly according to claim 4, wherein the longitudinal line of extension of each series of recesses is oriented at an angle of 45 with respect to the longitudinal axis of the shift lever.

6. The gearshift assembly according to claim 1, wherein the recesses are rectangular in cross-section with two opposite side walls aligned in the direction of the extension of each series of recesses.

7. The gearshift assembly according to claim 1, wherein the recesses have square cross-sections.

8. The gearshift assembly according to claim 1, wherein the longitudinal line of extension of each series of recesses is oriented at an angle of 45 with respect to the longitudinal axis of the shift lever.

9. The gearshift assembly according to claim 1, wherein the pattern of recesses is arranged such that the straight sidewalls of the recesses are inclined with respect to the vertical side edges of the vertical slots in the socket, wherein an angle of inclination is large enough such that the straight sidewalls of the recesses are misaligned with the vertical side edges of the vertical slots over the entire pivotal movement range of the shift lever during shift movements.

10. The gearshift assembly according to claim 1, wherein the recesses extend downwardly almost to the surface of the shift lever.

11. The gearshift assembly according to claim 1, wherein a thin plastic layer is remaining at the bottom of the recesses above the shift lever surface so that most of the material that makes up the ball portion is contained in the grid of crossing wall portions formed between adjacent series of recesses.

12. The gearshift assembly according to claim 1, wherein the straight side walls of the grid of crossing wall portions are inclined with respect to the longitudinal direction of the shift lever such that they are never aligned with the vertical side edges of the vertical slots of the socket over the pivotal movement range of the shift lever.

Description

[0013] The present invention will now be described with reference to preferred embodiment shown in the drawings in which:

[0014] FIG. 1 shows a partial view of the pivotal mounting of the shift lever of a gearshift assembly;

[0015] FIG. 2 shows a partial view of the pivotal mounting of the gearshift assembly, partially in cross-section;

[0016] FIG. 3 shows a view corresponding to FIG. 2 for a prior art gearshift assembly; and

[0017] FIG. 4 shows a partial view of the pivotal mounting of the shift lever of the prior art gearshift assembly of FIG. 3.

[0018] FIGS. 3 and 4 show the pivotal mounting of the shift lever 1 of a prior art gearshift assembly. The pivotal mounting comprises a socket 20 which is fixed in a base (not shown) to be mounted in a vehicle cabin. The inner surface of the socket is spherical and embraces a ball portion 10 formed on the shift lever 1 to form a ball joint. As can be seen in FIG. 4 the sidewall of the socket 20 is provided with vertical slots 22 distributed around the circumference of the socket 20. Each vertical slot 22 has opposite vertical side edges 24 and 26.

[0019] As shown in FIG. 3 the ball portion 10 of the shift lever 1 is provided with a pattern of recesses including recesses of square-shape which are arranged in a vertically extending series 2, 4, 6 and 8; several such series of recesses 2, 4, 6 and 8 are provided. The vertical sidewalls of the recesses are aligned with the side edges 24, 26 of the vertical slots 22. The recesses extend downwards almost to the surface of the shift lever so that only a thin plastic layer is remaining at the bottom of the recesses over the shift lever surface. In this manner a grid of parallel vertical wall portions and interconnecting horizontal wall portions define the body of the ball portion, wherein the major part of ball portion material is contained in these wall portion of uniform thickness.

[0020] When such a series of vertical sidewalls of recesses 2, 4, 6 and 8 passes side edges 24, 26 of vertical slots 22 during a shift movement a feeling of a slight jerk or unevenness is resulting.

[0021] In FIGS. 1 and 2 the pivotal mounting of the shift lever 1 of a gearshift assembly according to the invention is shown. As can be seen in FIG. 2 the pattern of recesses is arranged such that the straight sidewalls of the recesses are inclined with respect to the vertical side edges 24, 26 of the vertical slots 22 in the socket, wherein the angle of inclination is large enough such that the straight sidewalls of the recesses 12, 14, 16, 18 are disaligned with the vertical side edges 24, of the vertical slots over the entire pivotal movement range of the shift lever 1 during shift movements. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 the angle of inclination of the straight side walls of the recesses 12, 14, 16, and 18 is about 45 when the shift lever 1 is in a central position.

[0022] As can be seen in FIG. 2 the individual recesses, and the series of recesses 12, 14, 16 and 18 are tilted by 45 with respect to the longitudinal axis of the shift lever 1 compared to the arrangement of FIG. 3. In this manner also the thin wall portions formed between adjacent series of recesses, which were oriented vertically and horizontally in FIG. 3, are now tilted by 45 in either direction with respect to the longitudinal axis of the shift lever. As described for the prior art with respective FIG. 3 the recesses 12, 14, 16 and 18 also extend downwardly almost to the surface of the shift lever 1. In this manner only a thin plastic layer is remaining at the bottom of the recesses above the shift lever surface so that most of the material that makes up the ball portion is contained in the grid of crossing wall portions formed between adjacent series of recesses.

[0023] According to the invention the straight side walls of the grid of crossing wall portions are inclined with respect to the longitudinal direction of the shift lever such that they are never aligned with the vertical side edges 14, 16 of the vertical slots 22 of the socket over the pivotal movement range of the shift lever.