Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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BACK~ROUND OF THE I~VE~TION
I'he present invention relates to a safety device which
prohibits the shift lever of an automatiç transmission of an
automobile to be disengaged from the "park" position unless the
brake pedal is depressed.
~ problem which is particular to au~omobiles equipped
with automatic transmission6 is that the vehicle may be set in
motion inadveLtently while in the park po~ition, for example,
by small children in6ide the car or by pets left in the car, if
the ignition is not turned off. This is because presently
automobiles equipped with automatic ~ransmissions use the
ignition key to lock up the movement of the shift level. Hence
the shift level can only be moved when ~he ignition key is in
the l'onll position. This i~ a potentially dangerous situation
because the automobile can be se~ into motion without the
drive~ ts control it, and it may cause unde~irable damages.
I~ is an object oE the present invention to ~rovide a
safety device which will not allow the shit lever of the
automatic transmission to be moved rom the "park" position
unless the brake pedal is fully depressed to the point where
~he brake light switch is activated and the ignition key is in
the "on" position.
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SUM~ARY O~ THE INVE~TION
According to the present invention there is provided a
safety device to be used in co-operating wi~h ~he shif~ year
lever rocl of an au~omobile equipped with an automatic
transmission having a shift lever arm to operate the shift gear
lever cod and having a foo~ brake with an brake light system.
The safety device comprises a control a~m secured to the shiEt
gear lever rod and is movable in a linear direction in
conjunction with the shiEt gear lever rod between "park"
position and operative positions of the shift gear lever rod.
There i5 an electrical~y operated s~op means which operates in
co-operation with one end of the con~rol arm such that when the
shift lever arm i8 in "park" position, the stop means obstructs
the linear mov~ment of that end of the control arm out of
"park" posi~ion and to operative positions of the shift gear
lever rod when ~he foot brake has not been depressed to the
point that i~ activates the brake ligh~ system and the stop
mearls allows unobstructed slide motion o the control arm
between "p2Lk" position and operative positions of the ~hift
gear lever rod when ~he foot brake has been depressed.
In a preferred embodiment of the safety device
acccrding to the present invention, the stop means comprises an
electroma~net unit having a spring loaded pin such that the pin
movably extends to obstruct the movement of the control arm
when the electromagnet is not ener~ized and when the
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electromagnet i~ energized, the pin retracts compressing the
~pring, whereby the control arm mo~ion becomes unobstructed.
B~IEF D~SCRIP~IO~ OF THE DRA~INGS
These and other objects and advantage6 of the
in~en~ion will become apparent upon reading the following
detailed de~cri~tion and upon referring to the drawings in
which:
E'igure 1 shsws the components of ~he electrically
o~era~ed safety device in accordance with the present invention
where the sp~ing loaded pin of the sto~ means is in the fully
extended position obstructing the movement of the control arm.
Figure 2 shows the components of the electrically
o~erated safety device in accordance with the present invention
wheLe the spring loaded pin of the stop means is in ~he
ret~acted position unohstructing t:he movement of ~he control
arm.
While the invention will be described in conjunction
with an example embodiment, it will be understood that it is
no~ intended to limit the invention to such embodiments. On
the contLary, it i.s intended to cover all alternatives,
modifica~ion6 and equivalents as may be included within the
spirit and scope of the inven~ion as defined by the ap~ended
claims.
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D~TAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTIO~
In the sllowing description, similar features in the
drawings have been given similar refeÆQnce numerals.
Turning to Figure 1 there is shown an electrically
operatad saEe~y device 2 having a control arm 4, the fixed end
6 of which is mounted by means o bolts and clam~ on the shift
gear lever rod 8. Hence any linear motion of the shift gear
lever rod 8 causes the control arm ~ ~o move linearly in the
same direction~ For examele, when the shift lever arm 10 is
moved from ~he `'park" position ~o an opera~ive gear position,
this cau~es a linear downward movemen~ of the shift gear lever
8 which in turn causes a similar movement of the control arm.
Hence the free end 12 of ~he control arm 4 moves simultaneously
with the shift gear leveL rod 8.
~5 The f~e~ end 12 of the con~rol arm 4 is slide movable
in the guides block 14. Stop means 16 such as a solenoid is
mounted beside guides 14 such that the spring loaded pin 18 is
at ~ight angles to the direction of mction of the free end 12
of the control arm 40 The s~ri:ng loaded pin 18 when fully
extended obstructs the downward movement of the movable end 12
of ~he control arm 4, hence ~reventing the shift gear lever rod
8 to move from the "park~ position of the operati~e position.
TuLning to E'igure 2 there is illustrated a situation
where the oot bLake has been depressed such that the brake
light sy~tem 20 i~ activated. Once activated this syfitem also
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provides electrical power ~o the electromagnet 22 of the stop
means 16 causi.ng the electromagnet 22 to energize creating a
magnetic field which attrac~s the spring load pin 18 cau6ing
the pin 1~ to re~ract from the guides 14 and compres6ing the
s~ring 24 as it retracts and holding the spring 24 in place by
means of the spring retainer 26. This allows the movable end
12 of the control a~m 4 to have downwards unobstructly in the
guides 14 when the shift gear leveL rod 8 is moved from the
"park" positi.on to the operative position such as the "drive"
position
When the shift gear lever rod 8 is moved into the
desired operative position and upon releasing the foot brake,
the brake ligh~ 6ystem 20 becomes deactiva~ed and cuts off the
electrical power to ~he electromagnet 22 o~ the stop means 16.
Therefore, magnetic field which hold~ the pin 18 in the
retracted po~ition disappears an~d the pin 18 extends back
towards guide6 14 under the p:ressure of the spring 24.
However, at this stage the control arm 4 which has already slid
downward from the l'park~l ~osition blocks the path of the ~in 18
and the pin 18 cannot ex~en~ fully; hence, it cannot obstruct
any fur~her movement o the control arm 4 between the different
operative positions, ~uch as "reverse", "neutral", "drive" and
"low", even though the oot brake may not be depressed.
Normally the foot bLake is used to bring the car into
a 6top position before the shift geae lever rod 8 is put in the
"paLk" position: hence ~he pin 18 is once again in the
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re~racted position under the magnetic field from the
electromagnet 22 which is energized as the brake system 20 i~
ac~iva~ed. In the "park" po~ition the free end 12 of the
control arm 4 i~ clear from the parts of the pin 18, hence when
the foot brake is released the pin 18 becomes fully extended
under the spring pressure Erom the spring 24 as the magnet
field disappears because the brake light sy~tem 20 is
deactivated. Once again the shift gear lever rod 8 is blocked
in the "park" position by the pin 18.
Thu6 it i~ apparent that there has been provided in
a¢cordance with the in~ention an electrically operated safety
device co~operating with the shift gear lever rod of an
automobile equi~ped with an automatic ~ransmission that fully
sati~fie~ ~he objects, aim~ and advantages set forth above.
:L5 While the invention has been deE~cribed in conjunction with
specific embodimen~s thereof, lt is evident that many
alternative6, modifications and variation~ will be apparent to
those skilled in the art in light of the foregoing
descri~tion. Accordingly. it is intended to embrace all such
alternatives, modifications and variation6 a6 fall within the
s~irit and broad sco~e of the invention.
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