JP2009255815A - Shift lever - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a shift lever enabling a reduction in the quantities of fastening parts such as screws, which have been required, and cover parts for concealing tightening sections tightened by the tightening parts, and assembling man-hours. <P>SOLUTION: This shift lever comprises a lever body 12 having a knob attaching section 20 and a knob 14 having an attaching tubular section 32 into which the knob attaching section 20 is inserted. The attaching tubular section 32 comprises a flexible piece 42 elastically deformable to the side. A snap fit comprising a locking claw section 28 and an engagement hole section (engagement recess) 43 unreleasably engaged with each other utilizing the elastic deformation of the flexible piece 42 is installed between the knob attaching section 20 and the attaching tubular section 32. The knob 14 comprises a cover section 46 made of a soft material for covering the entire outer surface of the knob. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a shift lever used in a shift lever device or the like of an automatic transmission for a vehicle.

A shift lever according to a conventional example will be described. FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing the shift lever. In addition, the decomposition | disassembly state of each member is shown by the dashed-two dotted line in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 13, the shift lever 100 includes a lever main body 101 having a hollow shaft-like knob mounting portion 102 and a knob 103 having a mounting cylinder portion 104 into which the knob mounting portion 102 is inserted. Upper and lower screw holes 105 are formed in the knob mounting portion 102. Further, upper and lower screw insertion holes 106 are formed in the mounting cylinder portion 104. Then, with the knob mounting portion 102 inserted into the mounting cylinder portion 104, the lever 107 is tightened into the screw holes 105 of the knob mounting portion 102 through the screw insertion holes 106 of the mounting cylinder portion 104. A knob 103 is attached. In addition, the cylindrical cover member 108 that has been fitted to the knob mounting portion 102 in advance is put on the mounting cylindrical portion 104, so that the tightening portion of the screw 107 is concealed.

According to the above-described conventional shift lever 100 (see FIG. 13), when the knob 103 is attached to the lever main body 101 with the screw 107, the screw 107 and the cover member 108 are required. In addition, the man-hours for fastening the screws 107 and the man-hours for attaching the cover member 108 are required. Furthermore, it is necessary to align the screw hole 105 of the knob mounting portion 102 with the screw insertion hole 106 of the mounting cylinder portion 104. Further, when the knob body 30 is a resin molded product, there is a risk that cracking of the peripheral portion of the screw insertion hole 106 may occur due to overtightening of the screw 107, and therefore torque management of a tightening tool for tightening the screw 107 is necessary. Therefore, there is a problem that the number of parts is increased and the number of assembling steps for assembling those parts is also increased.
The problem to be solved by the present invention is that a shift lever capable of reducing the number of parts and assembly man-hours such as screws and the like, which are conventionally required, and cover parts for concealing the tightening part by the fastening parts. Is to provide.

The above-mentioned problem can be solved by a shift lever having the structure described in the claims.
That is, according to the shift lever described in claim 1 of the claims, the knob mounting portion of the lever body is inserted into the mounting tube portion of the knob, and the locking claw portion is utilized by utilizing the elastic deformation of the flexible piece. By engaging the engaging recess with the engaging recess so as to be prevented from coming off by snap fitting, the knob can be easily attached to the lever body. Moreover, since the outer surface of the knob is entirely covered with the cover portion made of a soft material, the design and touch of the knob can be improved. At the same time, the cover part is used to conceal the attachment cylinder part including the flexible piece, so that a dedicated cover part for concealing the attachment cylinder part can be omitted. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the number of parts such as fastening parts such as screws and cover parts for concealing the fastening parts and the number of assembling steps, which are conventionally required.

  Further, according to the shift lever described in claim 2 of the claims, when removing the knob, the distal end portion of the disengaging tool is inserted into the insertion recess between the knob mounting portion and the flexible piece. By inserting and elastically deforming the flexible piece with the tool, it is possible to release the engagement between the snap-fitting locking claw and the engaging recess. For this reason, the serviceability concerning removal of a knob can be improved.

  According to the shift lever described in claim 3 of the claims, the engagement release tool is engaged with the engagement portion of the knob attachment portion by using the tip portion of the engagement release tool as a fulcrum. Can be operated accurately. For this reason, it is possible to prevent or reduce damage to the design surface of the knob mounting portion due to the tip portion of the disengaging tool.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[Example 1]
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described. In this embodiment, a shift lever used in a straight shift type shift lever device of a vehicle automatic transmission (not shown) is illustrated. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a shift lever. For convenience of explanation, the front-rear direction of the shift lever conforms to the front-rear direction of the vehicle, and the left-right direction conforms to the left-right direction in a state facing the instrument panel of the vehicle.
As shown in FIG. 1, the shift lever 10 includes a lever main body 12 that forms the main body of the shift lever 10 and a knob 14 that is attached to the front end (upper end) thereof.

  Although not shown, the base end portion (lower end portion) of the lever main body 12 can be rotated in the front-rear direction via a shift shaft whose axial direction is the vehicle width direction with respect to the base bracket disposed on the vehicle side. That is, it is supported so that it can be shifted. The lever main body 12 has a hollow cylindrical shape, and a detent rod is provided in the hollow portion so as to be movable up and down. The detent rod includes a detent pin 16 (see FIG. 1) that protrudes through a vertically long opening formed in the side surface of the lever body 12. Further, a push button 18 for operating the detent rod is provided on the right side surface of the knob 14 so as to be able to be pushed. Further, the shift lever device regulates the operation of the shift lever 10 to another range by engaging the detent pin 16 with the detent engaging portion on the base bracket side, and is provided on the knob 14 of the shift lever 10. The detent rod 16 moves downward based on the pushing operation of the push button 18 to release the engagement of the detent pin 16 with the detent engaging portion, thereby enabling the shift lever 10 to be operated to another range. A detent mechanism is provided.

Next, the attachment structure of the knob 14 with respect to the lever main body 12 is demonstrated. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing the shift lever, FIG. 3 is a side view showing the shift lever, FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line IV-IV in FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is a line VV in FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line VI-VI in FIG. 4, and FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing a portion VII in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, the lever main body 12 is made of a resin made of a hard material such as polyamide (PA66) resin, and has a rectangular tube-shaped knob mounting portion 20 at the tip (upper end) thereof. The knob mounting portion 20 is formed in a rectangular shape with a long cross section that lengthens the front-rear direction, and can be inserted into a mounting tube portion 32 (described later) of the knob 14 (see FIG. 4). As shown in FIG. 5, the knob mounting portion 20 is formed with a partition wall 21 that partitions the hollow portion into two front and rear chambers at a position near the rear portion. An extending tube portion 23 extends on the end face of the front rectangular tube portion (not shown) including the partition wall 21 (see FIGS. 2 and 6). The outer shape of the extending cylinder portion 23 is formed with a small outer shape that is substantially similar to the outer shape of the square tube portion on the front side.

  As shown in FIG. 2, at the four corners of the outer surface of the extending tube portion 23, ridges 24 that protrude radially and extend in the axial direction, that is, the longitudinal direction are formed. As shown in FIG. 6, the front end surfaces of the left and right ridges 24 on the front side have the same outer shape as the outer shape of the square tube portion on the front side. Further, the front end surfaces of the left and right ridges 24 on the rear side are formed with a projection height substantially the same as the projection height in the radial direction of the left and right ridges 24 on the front side.

As shown in FIG. 5, a front concave groove portion 26 that opens the front surface and the upper surface is formed at the center portion of the front surface of the knob mounting portion 20. In addition, a rear concave groove portion 27 having a split groove shape opening on the upper surface is formed at the center of the rear side wall of the knob mounting portion 20 (see FIG. 2). The front and rear concave groove portions 26 and 27 are symmetrical in the front-rear direction.
In addition, a pair of left and right engaging claw portions 28 project left and right symmetrically at the center of the left and right side surfaces of the knob mounting portion 20 (see FIG. 5). The locking claw portion 28 is formed in a cross-sectional wedge shape having a predetermined lateral width in the front-rear direction (see FIG. 2).

  As shown in FIG. 4, the knob 14 is formed mainly of a resin knob main body 30 made of a hard material such as polyacetal (POM) resin. The knob body 30 includes a grip portion 31 that slidably accommodates the push button 18 (see FIG. 1), and a rectangular tube-shaped mounting tube portion 32 that protrudes from the center of the lower surface of the grip portion 31. ing. The hollow portion of the mounting tube portion 32 is formed in a two-step upper and lower stepped hole shape into which the knob mounting portion 20 including the extending tube portion 23 can be inserted almost densely. The mounting cylinder part 32 includes an upper cylinder part 33 (see FIG. 6) having an upper hole 34 and a lower cylinder part 35 (see FIG. 5) having a lower hole 36. The upper cylindrical portion 33 is thickened, and the lower cylindrical portion 35 is thinned (see FIG. 4).

As shown in FIG. 5, the lower hole 36 is formed so as to be fitted to the knob mounting portion 20. Both front and rear projections 37 and 38 that can be engaged with the front and rear concave groove portions 26 and 27 of the knob mounting portion 20 are provided on both front and rear wall surfaces of the lower hole 36, respectively.
Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the upper hole 34 is formed so as to be able to be fitted to the extended cylinder portion 23. At the four corners of the upper hole 34, grooves 39 that engage with the protrusions 24 of the extending cylinder 23 are formed.

  As shown in FIG. 5, a pair of front and rear slit grooves 41 are formed on the left and right side portions of the lower tube portion 35, and the upper end portion of each slit groove 41 is separated from the upper tube portion 33. A pair of left and right flexible pieces 42 are formed which are supported in a hand-held shape and can be deformed so as to be bent laterally, so-called elastic deformation. Each of the flexible pieces 42 is formed with a rectangular engagement hole 43 in the lower part (see FIG. 3). As shown in FIG. 7, the engagement hole 43 is formed so as to be engageable with both the locking claws 28 of the knob mounting portion 20. A tapered slope 44 is formed inside the lower end portions of both flexible pieces 42.

  The knob 14 is provided with a resin cover 46 as a skin covering the entire outer surface of the knob body 30. The cover portion 46 is made of a soft material such as vinyl chloride resin or polyurethane resin, and is integrally provided on the knob body 30 by molding.

  Next, a procedure for attaching the knob 14 to the lever body 12 will be described. In the state shown in FIG. 2, the knob mounting portion 20 of the lever main body 12 is inserted into the mounting cylinder portion 32 of the knob main body 30 of the knob 14. As a result, the knob mounting portion 20 is fitted into the lower hole 36 of the lower cylindrical portion 35 of the mounting cylindrical portion 32 and the extended cylindrical portion 23 is fitted into the upper hole 34 of the upper cylindrical portion 33. When this fitting is nearing the end, both the locking claw portions 28 of the knob mounting portion 20 interfere with the inclined surfaces 44 of the both flexible pieces 42 of the mounting cylinder portion 32, and then both the flexible pieces are moved by the both locking claw portions 28. 42 is deformed (elastically deformed) laterally (in the left-right direction in FIG. 4), that is, in the expanding direction. Then, when both the locking claws 28 and the engagement hole portions 43 of the flexible pieces 42 are aligned, the flexible pieces 42 are elastically restored, and both the locking claw portions 28 and the both engagement hole portions 43 are restored. And engage in the retaining state by snap fit. Thereby, the knob 14 is attached to the lever main body 12 in a state in which the knob 14 is prevented from coming off (see FIGS. 3 to 5 and 7). The engagement hole 43 corresponds to an “engagement recess” in this specification. Further, the engaging claw portion 28 and the engaging hole portion 43 of the flexible piece 42 constitute a “snap fit” in this specification.

  Further, although the cover portion 46 is elastically deformed following the elastic deformation of both the flexible pieces 42, the cover portion 46 is elastically restored to the original shape by the elastic restoration of the both flexible pieces 42, so that the design of the shift lever 10 is achieved. Will not be damaged. Further, the elasticity of the cover portion 46 is also effective in preventing or reducing the expansion deformation of the two flexible pieces 42 in a normal state.

  When the knob 14 is attached to the lever main body 12, the knob attachment portion 20 and the lower cylinder portion 35 of the attachment cylinder portion 32 are fitted, and the upper cylinder portion 33 of the extension cylinder portion 23 and the attachment cylinder portion 32 are fitted. And the knob 14 is prevented from rotating around the lever body 12 (see FIG. 4). At this time, the concave groove portion 26 on the front side of the knob mounting portion 20 and the projection 37 on the front side of the lower cylindrical portion 35 are engaged, and the concave groove portion 27 on the rear side of the knob mounting portion 20 and the rear cylindrical portion 35 on the rear side. The protrusion 38 is engaged (see FIG. 5). As a result, the knob 14 can be prevented from rotating around the lever body 12 and rattling between the members 12 and 14 can be suppressed. Moreover, each protrusion 24 of the extension cylinder part 23 and each groove 39 of the upper stage cylinder part 33 engage (refer FIG. 6). As a result, the knob 14 can be prevented from rotating around the lever body 12 and rattling between the members 12 and 14 can be suppressed. Further, in the state where the knob 14 is attached to the lever main body 12, an insertion recess 48 that opens the lower surface is formed between the inclined surfaces 44 of both the flexible pieces 42 and both side surfaces of the knob attachment portion 20.

  According to the shift lever 10 described above, the knob mounting portion 20 of the lever main body 12 is inserted into the mounting tube portion 32 of the knob 14, and the locking claw portion 28 and the engagement hole are utilized by utilizing the elastic deformation of the flexible piece 42. The knob 14 can be easily attached to the lever body 12 by engaging the portion 43 with the snap fit so as to be prevented from coming off. Further, since the outer surface of the knob 14 is entirely covered with the cover portion 46 made of a soft material, the design and touch of the knob 14 can be improved. At the same time, the cover part 46 is used to conceal the attachment cylinder part 32 including the flexible piece 42, so that a dedicated cover component for concealing the attachment cylinder part 32 can be omitted.

  Therefore, it is possible to reduce the number of parts such as fastening parts such as screws and cover parts for concealing the fastening parts and the number of assembling steps, which are conventionally required. That is, in the shift lever 100 according to the conventional example (see FIG. 13), the screw 107 and the cover member 108 when the knob 103 is attached to the lever main body 101 with the screw 107 can be omitted, and the number of parts can be reduced. In addition, the man-hour for tightening the screw 107, the man-hour for mounting the cover member 108, the man-hour for aligning the screw hole 105 of the knob mounting portion 102 and the screw insertion hole 106 of the mounting cylinder portion 104, and torque management of the tightening tool for tightening the screw 107 Such man-hours can be omitted, and assembly man-hours can be reduced.

  When the knob 14 is removed, the tip of the minus driver 50 (see FIG. 8) is inserted into the insertion recess 48 (see FIG. 7) between the knob mounting portion 20 and the flexible piece 42. The driver is tilted outward (see arrow Y1 in FIG. 8). As a result, as shown in FIG. 9, the flexible piece 42 is elastically deformed laterally, thereby releasing the engagement between the snap-fit locking claw portion 28 and the engagement hole portion (engagement recess portion) 43. can do. For this reason, the serviceability concerning removal of the knob 14 can be improved. Further, the knob 14 may be removed from the knob mounting portion 20 after the engagement by the locking claw portions 28 and the engaging hole portions (engaging recesses) 43 of both the left and right snap fits is released. The minus driver 50 corresponds to the “engagement release tool” in this specification. Further, a similar tool may be used in place of the minus driver 50.

Next, other examples 1 and 2 of the disengagement tool will be described.
[Example 1]
As shown in FIG. 10, a wedge-shaped plate material 52 is used as a disengagement tool. The front end portion of the plate-like material 52 is inserted into the insertion recess 48 between the knob attachment portion 20 and the flexible piece 42, and the plate-like material 52 is slid upward along the side surface of the knob attachment portion 20. (See arrow Y2 in FIG. 10). As a result, as indicated by a two-dot chain line 42 in FIG. 10, the flexible piece 42 is elastically deformed (expanded deformed) laterally, whereby the engaging claw portion 28 and the engaging hole portion (engaging concave portion). The engagement with 43 can be released.

[Example 2]
As shown in FIG. 11, a tool in which the plate-like members 52 (see FIG. 10) are provided symmetrically on both ends of a U-shaped connecting member 54 a straddling the knob mounting portion 20 as a disengagement tool. 54 is used. In this case, the tips of both plate-like members 52 of the tool 54 are respectively inserted into the insertion recesses 48 between the knob mounting portion 20 and the flexible pieces 42 (see FIG. 10), and the tool 54 is attached to the knob. A sliding operation is performed along the portion 20 (see arrow Y3 in FIG. 11). As a result, the flexible pieces 42 are elastically deformed (expanded deformation) laterally at the same time, thereby engaging the left and right engaging claws 28 and the engaging hole portions (engaging recesses) 43 simultaneously. The release workability can be improved.

[Example 2]
A second embodiment of the present invention will be described. Since the present embodiment is obtained by changing a part of the first embodiment, the changed portion will be described, and redundant description will be omitted. In addition, FIG. 12 is explanatory drawing which shows the principal part of a shift lever.
As shown in FIG. 12, in this embodiment, a recess 56 corresponding to the insertion recess 48 is formed on the side surface of the knob mounting portion 20 in the first embodiment. A stepped portion 57 on the lower side of the recessed portion 56 is a hooking portion 57 (the same reference numeral as that of the stepped portion) that hooks the tip of the minus driver 50 as a fulcrum. Therefore, the minus driver 50 can be appropriately tilted (see arrow Y1 in FIG. 12) by hooking the hook portion 57 of the knob mounting portion 20 on the tip of the minus driver 50 as a fulcrum. . For this reason, it is possible to prevent or reduce damage to the design surface of the knob mounting portion 20 due to rubbing associated with the positional deviation of the tip portion of the minus driver 50.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. For example, in the above embodiment, the shift lever 10 used in the straight shift type shift lever device of the automatic transmission for a vehicle is illustrated, but the present invention is not limited to this, and other shift types such as a gate shift type can be used. The present invention can also be applied to a shift lever 10 used in a shift lever device, a shift lever 10 used in a vehicle manual transmission, and a shift lever 10 for switching other devices and mechanisms. Further, the present invention can be applied to the shift lever 10 of a shift lever device such as a floor shift type, an instrument panel shift type, and a column shift type. In the embodiment, the locking claw portion 28 is provided in the knob mounting portion 20 and the engaging hole portion 43 is provided in the flexible piece 42 of the knob main body 30 of the knob 14. While providing the engaging hole portion 43 in the attachment portion 20, the engaging claw portion 28 may be provided in the flexible piece 42 of the knob body 30 of the knob 14. Further, the number, shape, and the like of the locking claw portion 28 and the engagement hole portion 43 are not limited to those of the above-described embodiment, and can be changed as appropriate. Further, the engagement hole 43 can be replaced with a recess in a bottomed shape. In the above embodiment, the knob mounting portion 20 is provided with a concave groove portion, and the knob main body 30 is provided with a protruding portion. On the contrary, the knob mounting portion 20 is provided with a protruding portion, and the knob 14 has a knob. A concave groove may be provided in the main body 30. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the protrusion 24 is provided on the extension cylinder portion 23 of the knob attachment portion 20 and the groove 39 is provided on the knob body 30. On the contrary, the extension of the knob attachment portion 20 is provided. While providing the groove 39 in the cylinder part 23, you may provide the protrusion 24 in the knob main body 30. FIG. Further, the number, shape and the like of the protrusions 24, the recessed grooves 26 and 27, the protrusions 37 and 38, and the grooves 39 are not limited to those of the above-described embodiment, and may be appropriately changed or omitted. be able to.

It is a perspective view which shows the shift lever which concerns on Example 1. FIG. It is a perspective view which decomposes | disassembles and shows a shift lever. It is a side view which shows a shift lever. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line IV-IV in FIG. 3. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VV in FIG. 4. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VI-VI in FIG. 4. It is sectional drawing which shows the VII part of FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the operation start state of a disengagement tool. It is explanatory drawing which shows the operation state of a disengagement tool. It is explanatory drawing which shows the other example 1 of a disengagement tool. It is explanatory drawing which shows the other example 2 of a disengagement tool. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a main part of a shift lever according to a second embodiment. It is a perspective view which shows the shift lever which concerns on a prior art example.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Shift lever 12 Lever main body 14 Knob 20 Knob attachment part 28 Locking claw part 32 Attachment cylinder part 42 Flexible piece 43 Engagement hole part (engagement recessed part)
46 Cover part 48 Insertion recessed part 50 Slotted screwdriver (engagement release tool)
52 Plate material (disengagement tool)
54 Tool (Disengagement tool)
57 Hook

Claims (3)

A lever body having a knob mounting portion, and a knob having a mounting cylinder portion into which the knob mounting portion is inserted,
A flexible piece that is elastically deformable to the side is provided on the mounting tube portion,
Between the knob mounting portion and the mounting cylinder portion, a snap fit is formed which includes a locking claw portion and an engaging concave portion that are engaged with each other so as to be prevented from coming off by using elastic deformation of the flexible piece. ,
The shift lever according to claim 1, wherein the knob is provided with a cover portion made of a soft material that covers the entire outer surface of the knob. The shift lever according to claim 1,
An insertion recess that allows insertion of a distal end portion of a disengaging tool for elastically deforming the flexible piece from the opening end side of the attachment cylinder portion between the knob attachment portion and the flexible piece. The shift lever characterized by being provided. The shift lever according to claim 2,
The shift lever according to claim 1, wherein the knob mounting portion is provided with a latching portion for latching with the tip end portion of the disengaging tool as a fulcrum.

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