Electric shift apparatus

Claim 2

In a motor vehicle of the type comprising a body, an engine positioned within said body, drive wheels, and drive means interconnecting said engine to said drive wheels, the improvement wherein said drive means comprises: (A) an automatic transmission drivingly connected to said engine and including a mode select member for selectively shifting the transmission between a plurality of shift positions including neutral reverse, park and a plurality of forward speed positions; (B) an electric motor having a housing and an output shaft; (C) a speed reduction unit having a housing secured to said motor housing and having an output shaft driven at a reduced speed in response to rotation of said motor output shaft and having an output end drivingly coupled to said mode select member; and (D) encoder means operative to sense each of the shift positions of the transmission and generate a plurality of electrical encoder signals respectively corresponding to and representative of the sensed shift position.

Claim 3

A shift apparatus according to claim 1 wherein: (E) said encoder means includes an encoder wheel mounted on said speed reduction unit output shaft.

Claim 4

An apparatus according to claim 2 wherein: (F) said encoder wheel is positioned within said speed reduction unit housing.

Claim 5

An apparatus according to claim 3 wherein: (G) said encoder means further includes a pickup device carried by said speed reduction unit housing and arranged to selectively engage code indicia on said encoder wheel as said wheel rotates in response to actuation of said motor.

Claim 6

An apparatus according to claim 4 wherein: (H) said speed reduction unit includes a worm gear on said motor output shaft and a worm wheel on said speed reduction unit output shaft driven by said worm gear; and (I) said encoder wheel is secured to a side face of said worm wheel.

Claim 7

An electric shift apparatus for use with a motor vehicle having an automatic transmission of the type including a mode select shaft to selectively shift a transmission between a plurality of shift positions, said apparatus comprising: (A) a power module adapted to be mounted on the housing of the transmission proximate the mode select shaft and including an electric motor assembly having an output shaft adapted to be drivingly coaxially connected to the mode select shaft and encoder means operative to sense the shift position of the transmission and generate an encoder signal representative of the sensed shift position (B) a control module adapted to be mounted in the passenger compartment of the vehicle and including a plurality of mode select members accessible to the vehicle operator and corresponding respectively to the transmission shift positions, and generator means operative in response to operator actuation of each mode select member to generate an operator signal representative of the selected shift position; and (C) comparator means receiving said encoder signal and said operator signals, operative in response to receipt of an operator signal differing from the received encoder signal to energize said motor assembly in a sense to move the mode select shaft to a position corresponding to the operator signal, and operative in response to arrival of the mode select shaft in the selected position to deenergize said motor assembly.

Claim 8

An electric shift apparatus for use with a motor vehicle having an automatic transmission of the type including a mode select shaft to selectively shift a transmission between a plurality of shift positions, said apparatus comprising: (A) a power module adapted to be mounted on the housing of the transmission proximate the mode select shaft and including an electric motor assembly having an output shaft adapted to be drivingly coaxially connected to the mode select shaft and encoder means operative to sense the shift position of the transmission and generate an encoder signal representative of the sensed shift position (B) a control module adapted to be mounted in the passenger compartment of the vehicle and including a plurality of mode select members accessible to the vehicle operator and corresponding respectively to the transmission shift positions, and generator means operative in response to operator actuation of each mode select member to generate an operator signal representative of the selected shift position; and (C) comparator means receiving said encoder signal and said operator signals, operative in response to receipt of an operator signal differing from the received encoder signal to energize said motor assembly in a sense to move the mode select shaft to a position corresponding to the operator signal, and operative in response to arrival of the mode select shaft in the selected position to deenergize said motor assembly.

Claim 9

An electric shift apparatus according to claim 6 wherein: (D) said comparator means forms a physical part of said control module.

Claim 10

An apparatus according to claim 7 wherein: (E) said control module includes a housing structure defining a front face; (F) each of said mode select members comprises a push-button mounted in said front face of said housing structure; (G) said generator means is operative to generate a respective operator signal in response to depression of a respective push-button; and (H) said comparator means are positioned in said housing structure rearwardly of said push-buttons.

Claim 11

An apparatus according to claim 6 wherein: (D) said motor assembly comprises an electric motor and a speed reduction unit coupled to the output shaft of said motor and having an output shaft constituting the output shaft of said motor assembly; and (E) said encoder means includes an encoder member mounted on said power module and selectively movable in response to actuation of said motor.

Claim 12

An apparatus according to claim 9 wherein: (F) said encoder member comprises an encoder wheel mounted on said output shaft of said speed reduction unit.

Claim 13

An apparatus according to claim 10 wherein: (G) said speed reduction unit includes a housing defining a sealed, interior chamber; (H) said encoder wheel is positioned within said chamber; and (I) said encoder means further includes a pickup device carried by said speed reduction unit housing and arranged to selectively engage code indicia on said encoder wheel as said wheel rotates in response to actuation of said motor.

Claim 14

An apparatus according to claim 11 wherein: (J) said speed reduction unit includes a worm gear on the output shaft of said motor and a worm wheel on the output shaft of the speed reduction unit driven by said worm gear; and (K) said encoder wheel is secured to a side face of said worm wheel.

Claim 15

In a motor vehicle of the type including an automatic transmission having a mode select shaft having a free end positioned outside of the transmission housing and operative in response to rotation thereof to selectively shift the transmission between a plurality of shift positions and operator controlled means for selectively rotating said shaft, the improvement wherein said operator controlled means comprises: (A) a power module adapted to be mounted on the housing of the transmission proximate the free end of the mode select lever and including an electric motor assembly including an output shaft adapted to be drivingly and coaxially coupled to the free end of the mode select shaft so as to rotate the mode select shaft in response to actuation of the motor; (B) a control module adapted to be mounted in the passenger compartment of the vehicle and including a plurality of mode select members accessible to the vehicle operator and including a separate mode select member for each transmission shift position, and generator means operative in response to operator actuation of each mode select member to generate an operator signal representative of the shift position; and (C) energizing means operative in response to receipt of said operator signals to energize said motor assembly in a sense and to a degree to move said mode select shaft to a position corresponding to the operator signal.

Claim 16

In a motor vehicle of the type including an automatic transmission having a mode select shaft having a free end positioned outside of the transmission housing and operative in response to rotation thereof to selectively shift the transmission between a plurality of shift positions and operator controlled means for selectively rotating said shaft, the improvement wherein said operator controlled means comprises: (A) a power module adapted to be mounted on the housing of the transmission proximate the free end of the mode select lever and including an electric motor assembly including an output shaft adapted to be drivingly and coaxially coupled to the free end of the mode select shaft so as to rotate the mode select shaft in response to actuation of the motor; (B) a control module adapted to be mounted in the passenger compartment of the vehicle and including a plurality of mode select members accessible to the vehicle operator and including a separate mode select member for each transmission shift position, and generator means operative in response to operator actuation of each mode select member to generate an operator signal representative of the shift position; and (C) energizing means operative in response to receipt of said operator signals to energize said motor assembly in a sense and to a degree to move said mode select shaft to a position corresponding to the operator signal.

Claim 17

In a motor vehicle of the type including an automatic transmission having a mode select shaft having a free end positioned outside of the transmission housing and operative in response to rotation thereof to selectively shift the transmission between a plurality of shift positions and operator controlled means for selectively rotating said shaft, the improvement wherein said operator controlled means comprises: (A) a power module adapted to be mounted on the housing of the transmission proximate the free end of the mode select lever and including an electric motor assembly including an output shaft 12 adapted to be drivingly and coaxially coupled to the free end of the mode select shaft so as to rotate the mode select shaft in response to actuation of the motor; (B) a control module adapted to be mounted in the passenger compartment of the vehicle and including a plurality of mode select members accessible to the vehicle operator and corresponding respectively to the transmission shift positions, and generator means operative in response to operator actuation of each mode select member to generate an operator signal representative of the shift position; and (C) energizing means operative in response to receipt of said operator signals to energize said motor assembly in a sense and to a degree to move said mode select shaft to a position corresponding to the operator signal, said energizing means including (1) encoder means operative to sense the shift position of the transmission and generate an encoder signal representative of the sensed shift position, and (2) comparator means receiving said encoder signal and said operator signals, operative in response to receipt of an operator signal differing from the received encoder signal to energize said motor assembly in a sense to move the mode select shaft to a position corresponding to the operator signal, and operative in response to arrival of the mode select shaft in the selected position to deenergize said motor assembly.

Claim 18

In a motor vehicle of the type including an automatic transmission having a mode select shaft having a free end positioned outside of the transmission housing and operative in response to rotation thereof to selectively shift the transmission between a plurality of shift positions and operator controlled means for selectively rotating said shaft, the improvement wherein said operator controlled means comprises: (A) a power module adapted to be mounted on the housing of the transmission proximate the free end of the mode select lever and including an electric motor assembly including an output shaft 12 adapted to be drivingly and coaxially coupled to the free end of the mode select shaft so as to rotate the mode select shaft in response to actuation of the motor; (B) a control module adapted to be mounted in the passenger compartment of the vehicle and including a plurality of mode select members accessible to the vehicle operator and corresponding respectively to the transmission shift positions, and generator means operative in response to operator actuation of each mode select member to generate an operator signal representative of the shift position; and (C) energizing means operative in response to receipt of said operator signals to energize said motor assembly in a sense and to a degree to move said mode select shaft to a position corresponding to the operator signal, said energizing means including (1) encoder means operative to sense the shift position of the transmission and generate an encoder signal representative of the sensed shift position, and (2) comparator means receiving said encoder signal and said operator signals, operative in response to receipt of an operator signal differing from the received encoder signal to energize said motor assembly in a sense to move the mode select shaft to a position corresponding to the operator signal, and operative in response to arrival of the mode select shaft in the selected position to deenergize said motor assembly.

Claim 19

A motor vehicle according to claim 14 wherein: (D) said motor assembly comprises an electric motor and a speed reduction unit coupled to the output shaft of said motor and having an output shaft constituting the output shaft of said motor assembly; and (E) said encoder means includes an encoder member mounted on said power module and selectively movable in response to actuation of said motor.

Claim 20

A motor vehicle according to claim 15 wherein: (F) said encoder member comprises an encoder wheel mounted on said output shaft of said speed reduction unit.

Claim 21

A motor vehicle according to claim 16 wherein: (G) said speed reduction unit includes a housing defining a sealed interior chamber; (H) said encoder wheel is positioned within said chamber; and (I) said encoder means further includes a pickup device carried by said speed reduction unit housing and arranged to selectively engage code indicia on said encoder wheel as said wheel rotates in response to actuation of said motor.

Claim 22

A motor vehicle according to claim 17 wherein: (J) said speed reduction unit includes a worm gear on the output shaft of said motor and a worm wheel on the output shaft of said speed reduction unit driven by said worm wheel; and (K) said encoder wheel is secured to a side face of said worm wheel.

Claim 23

In a motor vehicle of the type including an automatic transmission of the type including a mode select shaft to selectively shift the transmission between a plurality of shift position and operator controlled means for selectively rotating said shaft, the improvement wherein said operator controlled means includes: (A) a power module adapted to be mounted on the housing of the transmission proximate the mode select shaft and including an electric motor assembly having an output shaft adapted to be drivingly connected to the mode select shaft; (B) a control module adapted to be mounted in the passenger compartment of the vehicle and including a plurality of mode select members accessible to the vehicle operator and corresponding respectively to the transmission shift positions, and generator means operative in response to operator actuation of each mode select member to generate an operator signal representative of the selected shift position; and (C) comparator means receiving said operator signals and encoder signals representative of the present shift position, operative in response to receipt of an operator signal differing from the received encoder signal to energize said motor assembly in a sense to move the mode select shaft to a position corresponding to the operator signal, and operative in response to arrival of the mode select shaft in the selected position to deenergize said motor assembly.

Claim 24

In a motor vehicle of the type including an automatic transmission of the type including a mode select shaft to selectively shift the transmission between a plurality of shift position and operator controlled means for selectively rotating said shaft, the improvement wherein said operator controlled means includes: (A) a power module adapted to be mounted on the housing of the transmission proximate the mode select shaft and including an electric motor assembly having an output shaft adapted to be drivingly connected to the mode select shaft; (B) a control module adapted to be mounted in the passenger compartment of the vehicle and including a plurality of mode select members accessible to the vehicle operator and corresponding respectively to the transmission shift positions, and generator means operative in response to operator actuation of each mode select member to generate an operator signal representative of the selected shift position; and (C) comparator means receiving said operator signals and encoder signals representative of the present shift position, operative in response to receipt of an operator signal differing from the received encoder signal to energize said motor assembly in a sense to move the mode select shaft to a position corresponding to the operator signal, and operative in response to arrival of the mode select shaft in the selected position to deenergize said motor assembly.