Gear Shifter Position Sensor Assembly with Pivot Amplification
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing gear shifters face a design dilemma between achieving a compact design and ensuring accurate discrimination between shift lever positions, as a compact design necessitates short sensor triggering element travel distances, which conflicts with the need for reliable spatial resolution of position sensors.
Innovation Solution
The element carrier is pivotally mounted with respect to the position sensor assembly, allowing the sensor triggering element to travel further due to a transmission ratio greater than 1, enabling position sensors to be spaced farther apart without accidental triggering, thus achieving a compact and accurate gear shifter design.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If the gear shifter is designed to be compact with limited shift lever length, then the device complexity and overall size are reduced, but the sensor triggering element travel distance becomes too short to provide reliable spatial resolution for position sensor discrimination
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an element carrier as an intermediary component between the shift lever and the sensor triggering element. This element carrier includes a pivot arm that pivots about a pivot point spaced apart from the position sensor assembly, creating a mechanical leverage system. The linkage couples to the element carrier at a location between the pivotal mounting and the sensor triggering element, establishing a transmission ratio greater than 1 that amplifies the sensor triggering element's travel distance relative to the shift lever's movement, thereby resolving the contradiction between compact size and measurement precision
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the geometric parameters of the sensing system by positioning the pivot point at a specific distance from the position sensor assembly and coupling the linkage at an intermediate location on the element carrier. This parameter configuration creates a transmission ratio greater than 1, which transforms the relationship between shift lever movement and sensor triggering element travel, enabling sufficient spatial resolution while maintaining a compact gear shifter design
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention is directed to a gear shifter for a transmission of a vehicle comprising a shift lever (2) which is mounted in a housing to be pivotable about a first axis, a position sensor assembly (4) disposed stationary in the housing and comprising a plurality of position sensors (6) distributed along a path, a sensor triggering element (8) mounted on an element carrier which is moveably mounted in the housing and coupled to the shift lever by a linkage (18) in such a manner to be able to move the sensor triggering element (8) along said path of position sensors (6) in response to pivotal shift movements of the shift lever about the first axis, characterized in that the element carrier (10) is pivotally mounted with respect to the position sensor assembly (4) at a pivot point (12) spaced apart from the sensor triggering element carried by it and spaced apart from the path of position sensors such that a pivotal movement of the element carrier (10) moves the sensor triggering element (8) along the path of position sensors, and in that the coupling of the linkage (18) to the element carrier is located on the element carrier between its pivotal mounting (12) and the sensor triggering element.