Patent Application
20090095107
The present invention relates to a control device according to the preamble of claim 1 and a gearbox comprising such a control rod.
In a manual gearbox of a motor vehicle, e.g. a passenger car, a truck, a tractor vehicle for semitrailers or a bus, the engagement of desired gears is usually controlled by a control device which forms part of the gearbox and is provided with a plurality of control rods. These control rods can, by operation of the vehicle's gear lever, be moved between various predetermined setting positions which define the various gear positions of the gearbox. Each control rod cooperates with a locking arrangement which ensures that the control rod will assume one of the predetermined setting positions in response to movement of the gear lever and that the control rod is not unintentionally shifted from the relevant setting position. EP 0 702 172 A1 refers to a conventional type of locking arrangement for a control rod of a gearbox. This locking arrangement comprises a locking means which, through the action of a spring means, is adapted to engaging in various recesses of the control rod. Each of these recesses corresponds to a predetermined setting position of the control rod. Each recess has a guide surface adapted to cooperating with the locking means in such a way that the locking means, through the action of this guide surface and against the action of the spring means, will move from a protruded position to a retracted position in response to an axial movement of the control rod starting from a setting position of the control rod with the locking means engaged in the respective recess. Changing from one setting position to another thus entails the control device being moved in its longitudinal direction with sufficient force to overcome the spring force from the spring means which, via the locking means, counteracts such movement. When the control rod has been moved so far that another of these recesses arrives in way of the locking means, the locking means will, through the action of the spring means, move forward to engage with that recess and thereby counteract further movement of the control rod. By means of these locking functions, the person operating the gear lever receives via the respective control rod and the gear lever a perception of the various gear positions.
The object of the invention is to provide a further development of a control device of the type indicated above in order to propose a configuration which in at least some respects affords an advantage as compared with a conventionally configured control device.
According to the present invention, said object is achieved by means of a control device having the features indicated in claim 1.
According to the invention, the control device comprises at least one control rod with a relating locking arrangement, which locking arrangement comprises a locking element provided with one or more grooves or recesses which each define a predetermined setting position of the control rod, whereby the control rod is arranged for movement relative to the locking element. The locking arrangement further comprises a resilient locking means arranged in a recess in the control rod, which locking means has a locking portion which, against the action of a spring force of the locking means, is arranged for movement in said recess in the control rod's radial direction between a protruded position in which the locking portion engages in one of said grooves/recesses in the locking element and thereby counteracts movement of the control rod relative to the locking element, and a retracted position in which the locking portion does not engage in any of said grooves/recesses in the locking element. According to the invention, the locking means is thus arranged in the actual control rod, thereby rendering the locking arrangement particularly space-saving. The solution according to the invention also makes simplified construction of the control device possible as compared with the conventional solution described above, thus providing the possibility of reduced manufacturing costs. Inter alia, the locking arrangement need not comprise any separate spring means acting upon the locking means, since the locking means is inherently resilient.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the locking means takes the form of a leaf spring, making it possible for the locking means to be manufactured easily and at low cost.
According to another embodiment of the invention, the locking means sits loosely in the relating recess in the control rod, with the advantageous result that the locking means, by abutment against side surfaces of the relating recess in the control rod, is prevented from moving in the control rod's longitudinal direction and circumferential direction. The need for special fastening means for fitting the locking means in the control rod's recess is thus eliminated, making it possible for the locking arrangement to comprise a small number of components of simple configuration and at the same time to be particularly easy to fit.
Other embodiments of the control device according to the invention are indicated by the dependent claims and the description set out below.
The invention also relates to a gearbox, preferably in the form of a manual gearbox for a motor vehicle, comprising a control device according to the present invention.
The invention is described below in more detail on the basis of embodiment examples with reference to the attached drawings, in which:
a depicts a schematic partly cutaway side view of part of a control rod with a relating locking arrangement shown in a locking position,
b depicts the side view according to
c depicts a schematic perspective view of the control rod and the locking arrangement according to
d depicts a schematic side view of a locking means forming part of the locking arrangement according to
The control device 1 according to the invention is intended to form part of a gearbox in order to control the engagement of desired gears of the gearbox. Apart from the locking arrangements described below, the control device and the relating gearbox may be of conventional and known configuration.
Of the aforesaid control rods, three control rods 3a-3c in the example illustrated are connected to a common control rod 3e, hereinafter called the operating rod. The operating rod 3e is supported for linear and rotary movement relative to the holder unit 2 in such a way that relative to the holder unit it is movable in its longitudinal direction and rotatable about its longitudinal axis. The operating rod 3e is connected in a known manner not here illustrated to a gear lever by means of which the operating rod 3e can be caused to perform linear and rotary movements relative to the holder unit 2. By operating the gear lever between various predetermined positions, the user, e.g. a driver in a motor vehicle, can move the operating rod 3e in its longitudinal direction and place it in any of a plurality predetermined linear positions. For each of the control rods 3a-3d, the operating rod 3e has a predetermined linear position. Depending on its linear position, the operating rod 3e is adapted to being able to move one control rod 3a-3c at a time between these predetermined setting positions by being rotated in a desired direction about its longitudinal axis. The control rods 3a-3c are each provided with control means 9a-9c for cooperation with a corresponding control means 9e of the operating rod 3e. Each control means 9a-9c, 9e is firmly connected to the relating rod 3a-3c, 3e. The control means 9e is thus caused to perform linear and rotary movements together with the operating rod 3e, and each control means 9a-9c will move together with the relating control rod 3a-3c. By movement of the operating rod 3e in its longitudinal direction, its control means 9e can be brought into engagement with one at a time of the control means 9a-9c of the control rods 3a-3c. When the operating rod 3e is in a linear position pertaining to a certain control rod 3a-3c, rotary motion of the operating rod 3e is converted to axial linear movement of the respective control rod via mutual engagement between the operating rod's control means 9e and the control rod's control means 9a-9c.
The setting position of the fourth control rod 3d is in the example illustrated not controlled by the operating rod 3e but may, for example, be adapted to being controlled pneumatically in a conventional manner not further described here.
Each of the control device's control rods 3a-3d is allocated a locking arrangement 20 adapted to defining one or more predetermined setting positions of the control rod 3a-3d relative to the holder unit 2.
The locking arrangement 20 further comprises a resilient locking means 23 arranged in a recess 24 in the control rod 3a. This recess 24 is arranged in the control rod's shell surface. The locking means has a locking portion 23a which, against the action of a spring force of the locking means 23, is arranged for movement in said recess 24 in the control rod's radial direction between a protruded position (see
The locking means 23 is elastically deformable and undergoes elastic deformation when the locking portion 23a moves from the protruded position to the retracted position, as illustrated by
In the example illustrated, the locking means 23 has two support portions 23b, 23c which are arranged on opposite sides of the locking portion 23a and support the locking portion 23a and via which the locking means 23 abuts against surfaces of the relating recess 24 in the control rod. These support portions 23b, 23c constitute limbs of the locking means 23 which connect to the locking portion 23a situated between them. In the example illustrated, the support portions 23b, 23c rest against a bottom surface 24a of the recess 24. The contact surfaces between the control rod 3a and the support portions 23b, 23c of the locking means constitute mutual slide surfaces which allow mutual sliding between the support portions and the control rod in the control rod's axial direction in response to a change of shape of the locking means 23 when its locking portion 23a moves in either direction between the protruded position and the retracted position. The end directed away from the locking portion 23a of each support portion 23b, 23c in the example illustrated is bent towards the locking portion 23a (upwards in the side view according to
The locking means 23 is preferably gullwing-shaped in side view with the locking portion 23a facing downwards, as illustrated in
The locking means 23 is advantageously made of metal, preferably steel, and takes with advantage the form of a leaf spring.
The locking means 23 with advantage sits loosely in the relating recess 24 in the control rod and is with advantage prevented from moving in the control rod's longitudinal direction and circumferential direction by abutting against side surfaces of the relating recess 24 in the control rod.
The locking means 23 and the relating recess 24 in the control rod are with advantage elongate and arranged to extend in the control rod's longitudinal direction, as illustrated in
To change from one setting position to another, the control rod 3a has to be moved in its longitudinal direction with such force that the spring force of the locking means 23 is overcome and the locking portion 23a of the locking means is brought out of engagement with the respective groove/recess of the locking element. When thereafter the control rod has been moved far enough for the locking portion 23a to arrive in way of another of the locking element's grooves/recesses 22a-22c, the locking portion 23a will, through the action of the spring force of the locking means 23, move forward to engage with that groove/recess and thereby counteract further movement of the control rod.
Each groove/recess 22a-22c in the locking element has a guide surface 27 adapted to cooperating with the locking portion 23a of the locking means in such a way that the locking portion will, through the action of this guide surface, move from its protruded position to its retracted position in response to a movement of the control rod 3a relative to locking element 21 starting from a setting position of the control rod with the locking portion 23a in engagement with the respective groove/recess 22a-22c. The grooves/recesses 22a-22c together constitute with advantage a substantially sinusoidal profile as seen in longitudinal section through the locking element 21, as illustrated in
With advantage, the operating rod 3e is also allocated a locking arrangement of the type described above which defines various predetermined setting positions of the operating rod 3e relative to the holder unit 2.
The control device 1 according to the invention is particularly intended to form part of a manual gearbox for a motor vehicle. Part of such a gearbox 10 is illustrated schematically in
The invention is of course in no way limited to the embodiments described above, since a multiplicity of possibilities for modifications thereof are likely to be obvious to a specialist in the field without thereby having to deviate from the basic concept of the invention as defined in the attached claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0600905-4 | Apr 2006 | SE | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/SE2007/050234 | 4/11/2007 | WO | 00 | 11/3/2008 |
