CN-115151744-B - Shifter assembly for vehicle

Abstract

A vehicle shifter assembly has a housing supporting a monostable shift knob that is accessible to a vehicle operator to be rotatable. The processor enables the printed circuit board to be incorporated into the housing and upon actuation of the knob, indicates a shift condition to the display component. The housing may be incorporated into any of a variety of positions that are accessible to the vehicle operator, including engagement into the steering wheel such that as the wheel rotates, the housing or display continuously reorients to maintain an upright position as viewed by the operator.

Inventors

• Brian Andrew Mayville
• Carlogero TheAlu
• Michael benedeto danuccio
• Thorsten Dirk Conneman

Assignees

• 库斯特北美公司

Dates

Publication Date

20260505

Application Date

20210222

Priority Date

20200221

Claims (20)

1. 1. A shifter assembly comprising: A housing supporting a switch knob having a protruding protrusion accessible to a vehicle operator; At least one stop profile configured on the switching knob, the switching knob comprising a circular shaft and a wheel-shaped portion; A magnetic member mounted at a concave end position of the circular shaft and positioned proximate to a sensor mounted to a printed circuit board within the housing, the magnetic member being displaced relative to the sensor in response to actuation of the switching knob in either of opposite monostable directions; A display component in communication with the printed circuit board and viewable through the housing, and At least one biasing element supported within the housing and in contact with the stop profile such that upon actuation of the switching knob by an operator, the biasing element is caused to displace relative to the stop profile, the magnetic member being adapted to rotate with the circular shaft and relative to the sensor of the printed circuit board to electronically indicate gear shift by a processor associated with the printed circuit board.
2. 2. The shifter assembly of claim 1 wherein the housing further comprises an assemblable portion adapted to be incorporated into any one of a steering wheel, steering column, dashboard, console, or other location within a vehicle instrument panel.
3. 3. The shifter assembly of claim 1, further comprising at least one of a pair of first and second plates secured within the housing or spaced apart bearings secured within the housing for rotatably supporting the shift knob between the pair of first and second plates or between the spaced apart bearings.
4. 4. The shifter assembly of claim 3, wherein the biasing element further comprises a pair of pawls biased by a pair of compression springs supported within the housing, the detent profile further comprising a first detent profile and a second detent profile configured on opposite sides of the shift knob, and the pair of pawls biased against the first detent profile and the second detent profile.
5. 5. The shifter assembly of claim 1, wherein the biasing element further comprises a pair of wave springs supported within the housing, the stop profile further comprising a first stop profile and a second stop profile configured on opposite sides of the shift knob, and contact portions of the wave springs biased against the first stop profile and the second stop profile.
6. 6. The shifter assembly of claim 1 wherein the biasing element further comprises a torsion spring incorporated into the shaft portion of the shift knob, wherein rotation of the shift knob in either direction is reverse biased by the torsion spring.
7. 7. The shifter assembly of claim 1 wherein the display component further comprises any one of a thin film transistor, an organic light emitting diode, and a segmented display.
8. 8. The shifter assembly of claim 1, further comprising a pair of windows defined in an upper face of the housing for seating each of the shift knob and the display member.
9. 9. The shifter assembly of claim 1, further comprising a return park function in which the printed circuit board resets the shifter to park in response to a determined external input.
10. 10. The shifter assembly of claim 1, further comprising each of a park lock function and a neutral lock function for preventing gear change from occurring by rotation of the shift knob if the printed circuit board does not determine a condition necessary to provide an electronic shift.
11. 11. The shifter assembly of claim 1 wherein the shifter assembly further comprises the feature that the housing is supported within a steering wheel, rotation of the steering wheel resulting in simultaneous rotation of the housing such that the display member is maintained in a continuously upright orientation regardless of the rotational position of the steering wheel.
12. 12. The shifter assembly of claim 11 further comprising the feature that the housing has a circular configuration with any one of a toothed outer circumferential portion and a frictionally engaged outer circumferential portion.
13. 13. The shifter assembly of claim 12 further comprising a drive belt extending around the outer circumferential portion of the housing and a central axis support located within the steering wheel.
14. 14. The shifter assembly of claim 12, further comprising a series of interconnected gears for cooperatively rotating the housing in response to rotation of the steering wheel.
15. 15. The shifter assembly of claim 1, further comprising the feature that the housing is supported within a steering wheel, the sensor measuring a steering wheel angle for continuously redirecting the display member to an upright viewing position.
16. 16. The shifter assembly of claim 11 wherein the display member further comprises a capacitive touch screen and a sensor, the sensor of the display member determining angular rotation of the steering wheel to reposition the display member to maintain the display member in an upright orientation.
17. 17. The shifter assembly of claim 1, wherein the shifter assembly further comprises a feature applied to any one of a gear shifter, a windshield wiper controller, a volume controller, and a dimmer controller.
18. 18. A shift shifter assembly for a vehicle, comprising: A housing having an upper housing and a lower housing that are assemblable, the upper and lower housings define an enclosure for containing an interior; a printed circuit board supported within the lower housing; A keypad located above the printed circuit board and incorporating a plurality of keypad buttons in selective communication with an arrangement of sensors and switches within the printed circuit board; A shift knob supported on the keyboard and proximate to the keyboard button, and supported such that monostable rotation of the shift knob in either a first direction or an opposite second direction is reverse biased to return the shift knob to a central position; a display component in communication with the printed circuit board and viewable through the upper housing, and When an operator actuates the shift knob in either of the reverse biased directions, at least one of the sensor and the switch of the printed circuit board closes a circuit, electronically indicating a gear shift by a processor associated with the printed circuit board.
19. 19. The shifter assembly of claim 18 wherein the shift knob further comprises a paddle pivotally supported to selectively contact an externally located subset of the plurality of keyboard buttons.
20. 20. The shifter assembly of claim 19, further comprising a box-shaped internal rotation Niu Keti that positions the shift knob, the internal rotation Niu Keti positioned over an inner subset of the plurality of keyboard buttons and, in response to pressing down the shift knob, instructs the printed circuit board to return the vehicle from any of a reverse position, a neutral position, or a travel position to a park position.

Description

Shifter assembly for vehicle Cross Reference to Related Applications The present application claims priority from USSN 62/979,794 submitted on month 21 of 2020. Technical Field The present invention relates generally to shifter assemblies. More specifically, the present invention discloses a shift shifter adapted to be mounted at different locations (steering wheel, lever, dashboard, IP, etc.) within the vehicle interior according to any desired orientation. Monostable and return to the center change-over switches are integrated into the assembly, which also provide direct drive and direct park functions by holding the shifter in the end stop position for a determined extended period of time. The switching resistance of the switch is provided by any of a spring and pawl device, torsion spring or wave spring or keyboard with a support plate to provide the additional advantages of reducing the number of parts and eliminating wear/friction parts. Background The prior art discloses a variety of vehicle shifter designs. A first example of this is disclosed in each of US10,100,919, 10,190,675 and WO 2017/213869 (each to Turney/Kongsberg), and teaches a shifter assembly comprising a switching device (see at 52 in exploded fig. 2) incorporated into a cover aperture on a lever to be coupled to the cover 38 and for movement by the cover between a first orientation and a second orientation. A sensor system is provided for interacting with an element mounted to the switching device to detect rotation of the cover between the first orientation and the second orientation. US 2014/016179 to Sata teaches a gear change system in the form of a pair of paddle shifters incorporated into, for example, a vehicle steering wheel or column for enabling and disabling gear change events. The switch includes an activated state and a deactivated state, the switch configured to selectively deactivate operation of the paddle shifter. Other shifter designs such as described in DeJonge's 2004/0226801 (GHSP) or 2014/0007726 of Muraki are an accumulation of the prior art and other types of vehicle shifter assemblies are disclosed. Disclosure of Invention A shift shifter assembly is applied to any of a gear shifter, a windshield wiper controller, a volume controller, or a dimmer controller, and has a housing supporting a shift wheel that includes an edge tab accessible to a vehicle operator. The shift shifter may be located at any vehicle interior location, not limited to a steering wheel, lever, dashboard, windshield wiper control, volume control or dimmer control or other location within the vehicle instrument panel. In any embodiment, the assembly includes a housing incorporating a monostable diverter switch or component. Various embodiments provide a detent profile configured on the switching wheel, wherein the magnetic member is positioned proximate to a sensor mounted to a Printed Circuit Board (PCBA) within the housing such that the magnetic member is displaced relative to the sensor in response to rotation of the switching wheel. The display component is mounted proximate to the PCBA. At least one pawl is supported within the housing and biased against the stopping profile such that upon actuation of the switching wheel by an operator, the pawl displaces relative to the profile to rotate the wheel until the accessible edge tab abuts the housing, and the magnetic member rotates relative to the PCBA sensor to electronically indicate a shift by a processor associated with the PCBA. Alternative variations include any of torsion springs, wave springs or biased plungers and keyboard paddles for providing the necessary haptic effect when the switch is actuated in either of the opposite monostable directions. The housing also includes various shaped housings for coupling to a desired vehicle location with an attachable bottom cover. Any arrangement for supporting the shift knob or wheel as a rotatable plate or bushing, and any arrangement of a biasing pawl or wave spring within the housing may be provided. Other features include a pair of windows defined in the upper face of the main housing for positioning either the switching knob or wheel and display member. The display component further comprises any of a thin film transistor, an organic light emitting diode, or a segmented display. A pair of windows is defined in an upper face of the main housing for seating each of the switching wheel and the display member. The return to park function causes the PCBA to reset the shifter to park in response to a determined external input. Each of the park lock and neutral lock functions is provided for preventing gear changes from occurring by switching wheel rotation if the PCBA does not determine the necessary conditions for providing an electronic shift. Other features include a direct shift function in which the PCBA-supported microprocessor shifts directly between park to drive, reverse to drive, drive to park, or manual to park positions when the