Claims
- 1. A shifter for shifting a vehicle transmission having a plurality of gears including a plurality of drive gears, the vehicle transmission being configured to cooperate with a vehicle control system to shift automatically between the plurality of drive gears and to shift manually between the plurality of drive gears, comprising:
a base; a shift lever pivoted to the base for movement along a single planar shift path, the single planar shift path including a first portion having an automatic-shift drive position and including a second portion having a manual-shift drive position; and a switch associated with the shift lever for changing between an automatic shift mode where the first portion is operable, and a manual shift mode where the second portion is operable.
- 2. The shifter defined in claim 1, wherein the first portion includes park, reverse, and neutral gear positions, as well as the automatic-shift drive position.
- 3. The shifter defined in claim 2, wherein the second portion includes the manual-shift drive gear position, as well as upshift and downshift gear positions.
- 4. The shifter defined in claim 3, wherein the automatic shift mode and the manual shift mode include overlapping sections.
- 5. The shifter defined in claim 4, wherein the upshift drive position and the neutral gear position overlap.
- 6. The shifter defined in claim 5, including a switch operably connected to the shift lever for switching between the automatic shift and manual shift modes.
- 7. A shifter for shifting a vehicle transmission having a plurality of gears including a plurality of drive gears, the vehicle transmission being configured to cooperate with a vehicle control system to shift automatically between the plurality of drive gears and to shift manually between the plurality of drive gears, comprising:
a base; a shift lever pivoted to the base for movement along a shift path between park, reverse, neutral and drive gear positions, and further for movement from the drive gear position selectively to upshift and downshift positions, with one of the upshift and downshift positions being located on or between the reverse, neutral and drive gear positions; and a switch operably connected to the shift lever for changing from a first shift mode where the shift lever can be shifted between the park, reverse, neutral and drive gear positions, and for changing to a second shift mode where the shift lever can be manually shifted between the drive, upshift and downshift positions.
- 8. A shifter for shifting a vehicle transmission having a plurality of gears including a plurality of drive gears, the vehicle transmission being configured to cooperate with a vehicle control system to shift automatically between the plurality of drive gears and to shift manually between the plurality of drive gears, comprising:
a base; a shift lever assembly pivoted to the base for movement between an automatic-shift mode and a manual-shift mode, the shift lever assembly including a lever section pivoted to the base for pivoting movement both while in the automatic-shift mode and while in the manual-shift mode, and further including a transmission-cable-connected section for pivoting movement while in the automatic-shift mode but not for movement while in the manual-shift mode, and still further including an electrical device configured to fix the transmission-cable-connected section to the lever section when in the automatic-shift mode, but configured to fix the transmission-cable-connected section to the base when in the manual-shift mode; and a switch operably connected to the electrical device to selectively operate the electrical device.
- 9. The shifter defined in claim 8, wherein the electrical device includes an electromechanical device having an extendable pin that engages the lever section when in the automatic-shift mode, and that engages the base when in the manual-shift mode.
- 10. A shifter for shifting a vehicle transmission, comprising:
a shift lever operable in an automatic shift mode and in a manual shift mode; and a shift lever position indicator including first indicia for indicating shift lever positions when in the automatic shift mode and second indicia for indicating shift lever positions when in the manual shift mode, the shift lever position indicator further including a first polarized screen and a first polarized light source arranged to selectively illuminate the first indicia only when the shift lever is in the automatic shift mode, the shift lever position indicator further including a second polarized screen and a second polarized light source arranged to selectively illuminate the second indicia only when the shift lever is in the manual shift mode.
- 11. The shifter defined in claim 11, including a base, the shift lever being movably supported on the base.
- 12. The shifter defined in claims 10, wherein the first and second indicia overlap on each other.
- 13. A shifter for shifting a vehicle transmission, comprising:
a shift lever operable in an automatic shift mode and a manual shift mode; and a shift lever position indicator including indicia for indicating shift lever positions when in one of the automatic and manual shift modes, the shift lever position indicator further including a polarized screen and a polarized light source arranged and controlled to selectively operate and illuminate the indicia only when the shift lever is in the one shift mode.
- 14. A shifter for shifting a vehicle transmission, comprising:
a shift lever operable in an automatic shift mode and a manual shift mode; a shift lever position indicator including first indicia for indicating shift lever positions for the automatic shift mode and including second indicia for indicating shift lever positions for the manual shift mode; and a control circuit that illuminates the first indicia and not the second indicia when the shift lever is in the automatic shift mode, and that illuminates the second indicia and not the first indicia when the shift lever is in the manual shift mode.
- 15. The shifter defined in claim 14, wherein at least one of the first and second indicia includes at least one polarized light source and at least one polarized light film.
- 16. The shifter defined in claim 14, wherein the position indicator includes a cover and a light-wall between the first and second indicia.
- 17. The shifter defined in claim 14, wherein the control circuit includes a switch for switching the shift lever between the automatic and manual shift modes.
- 18. The shifter defined in claim 17, including a solenoid and extendable pin, the solenoid being connected to the switch and the extendable pin being positioned to engage and hold a cable connected section of the shift lever in a fixed position when extended.
- 19. The shifter defined in claim 18, wherein the extendable pin when retracted secures the cable connected section to the movable shift lever.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims benefit of provisional application filed under 37 C.F.R. 1.53(c), including provisional application Ser. No. 60/183,946, filed Feb. 22, 2000, entitled SHIFTER WITH AUTOMATIC AND MANUAL SHIFT MODES AND WITH SHIFT POSITION INDICATORS.
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60183946 |
Feb 2000 |
US |