Control element, in particular for a motor vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10865874-B2
Application number	US-201615392146-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 28, 2016
Priority date	Jul 10, 2014
Publication date	Dec 15, 2020
Grant date	Dec 15, 2020

Abstract

The present invention relates to a control element, in particular, a switching device, for manually controlling and/or activating functions in a motor vehicle, comprising a lever. The lever is mounted on a support such that the lever can be adjusted in at least one direction from a neutral position to an adjustment position. The lever interacts with a pressure element which is guided in a gate track of a gate and is resiliently loaded, in particular, in such a way that a return force in the direction of the neutral position acts on the lever when it is adjusted. A cam is present in the gate. The cam, in the neutral position, acts upon the lever in order to reduce play such that the lever is biased in the direction towards the adjustment position.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A control element for manually activating and/or triggering functions in a motor vehicle, comprising:
a handle having a gearshift shaft pivot-mounted on a support so that the handle may be moved in at least one shift direction from a neutral position to one or more shift positions;
a pressure element projecting from within the gearshift shaft, wherein the pressure element cooperates with the handle so that the pressure element is guided in a gate path of a gate, the gate consisting of a thermoplastic material, while being subjected to a resilient force from a resilient element positioned in the gearshift shaft, whereby a restoring force acts on the handle in a direction of the neutral position when the handle is moved; and
a cam, consisting of a thermoplastic material, which is integral with respect to a portion of a gate wall of the gate that is opposite to the gate path, and which extends a distance away from an outer surface of the gate wall toward an outer surface of the gearshift shaft, wherein the cam engages the gearshift shaft in the neutral position so that the handle is tensioned in the gate in the at least one shift direction and/or toward the one or more shift positions to reduce a movement play of the handle.

2. The control element as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the handle is movable in at least one of a first pivoting direction and a second pivoting direction about a respective one of a first swivel pivoting axis and a second swivel pivoting axis.

3. The control element as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the handle is a pivot-mounted selector lever.

4. The control element as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the support for the gearshift shaft is at least one of a universal joint and a cardan joint.

5. The control element as claimed in claim 4 , further comprising a housing;
wherein the gearshift shaft projects out of the housing for manual operation of the handle by a user.

6. The control element as claimed in claim 5 , wherein the gearshift shaft is pivot-mounted in the at least one of the universal joint and the cardan joint by a bearing pin, wherein the at least one of the universal joint and the cardan joint is movably mounted in the housing by at least one of journals and bearing shells, and wherein bearing points for at least one of the bearing pin, the universal joint and the cardan joint fit with a clearance.

7. The control element as claimed in claim 5 , further comprising a guide duct for the resilient element and the pressure element located in the gearshift shaft;
wherein the resilient element consists of a pressure spring; and
wherein the pressure element is a pin or a button.

8. The control element as claimed in claim 5 , further comprising:
a code carrier; and
a sensor,
wherein for each of the one or more shift positions of the handle, the code carrier is encoded such that when the handle is in that shift position, the sensor senses the encoding for that shift position such that the selected shift position of the handle is determined.

9. The control element as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the code carrier comprises a magnetic code plate including a plurality of magnetic fields, and the sensor consists of a plurality of Hall sensors at which a signal inversion occurs when the code carrier is displaced.

10. The control element as claimed in claim 9 , wherein the code carrier is mounted on the gearshift shaft by a guide component, and wherein the plurality of Hall sensors are attached to a printed circuit board mounted in the housing.

11. The control element as claimed in claim 1 ,
wherein the gate path has a three-dimensional contour for generating a haptic for the shifting of the handle.

12. The control element as claimed in claim 1 , wherein both the gate path and the pressure element are positioned below a bearing pin about which the gearshift shaft is pivot-mounted.

13. The control element claimed in claim 1 , wherein the cam engages the gearshift shaft at a location that is spaced a vertical distance away from any position where the pressure element engages the gearshift shaft.

Assignees

• Marquardt Gmbh

Inventors

• Haller Peter
• Berchtold Rainer

Classifications

• F16H2061/243

  Cams or detent arrays for guiding and providing feel · CPC title

• F16H61/24

  Providing feel, e.g. to enable selection · CPC title

• F16H59/105 Primary

  consisting of electrical switches or sensors · CPC title

• F16H59/044

  consisting of electrical switches or sensors · CPC title

• G05G23/00 Primary

  Means for ensuring the correct positioning of parts of control mechanisms, e.g. for taking-up play · CPC title