# US 10,865,874 B2 · Control element, in particular for a motor vehicle > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,865,874 B2 - Document ID: US10865874B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 15/392,146 - Filed: 2016-12-28 - Published: 2017-05-25 - Granted: 2020-12-15 - Earliest claimed: 2014-07-10 - Assignees: Marquardt GmbH - Applicants: Marquardt GmbH - Inventors: Peter Haller; Rainer Berchtold - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10865874B2 ## CPC - F16H 59/0278: {Constructional features of the selector lever, e.g. grip parts, mounting or manufacturing} - G05G 23/00: Means for ensuring the correct positioning of parts of control mechanisms, e.g. for taking-up play - F16H 59/044: {consisting of electrical switches or sensors} - F16H 59/105: {consisting of electrical switches or sensors} - F16H 61/24: Providing feel, e.g. to enable selection - G05G 1/04: Controlling members for hand actuation by pivoting movement, e.g. levers - G05G 5/05: Means for returning or tending to return controlling members to an inoperative or neutral position, e.g. by providing return springs or resilient end-stops (G05G5/28 takes precedence) - G05G 9/047: the controlling member being movable by hand about orthogonal axes, e.g. joysticks {(for switches H01H25/04)} - F16H 2059/0295: {with mechanisms to return lever to neutral or datum position, e.g. by return springs} - F16H 2061/243: {Cams or detent arrays for guiding and providing feel} - G05G 2009/04755: {Magnetic sensor, e.g. hall generator, pick-up coil} - F16H: GEARING - G05G: CONTROL DEVICES OR SYSTEMS INSOFAR AS CHARACTERISED BY MECHANICAL FEATURES ONLY ("Bowden" or like mechanisms F16C1/10; gearings or mechanisms not peculiar to this purpose F16H; speed changing or reversing mechanisms for gearings conveying rotary motion F16H59/00 - F16H63/00) ## 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. ## Claims ### Claim 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. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) 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. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The control element as claimed in claim 2, wherein the handle is a pivot-mounted selector lever. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) 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. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) 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. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) 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. ### Claim 7 (depends on 5) 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. ### Claim 8 (depends on 5) 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. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) 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. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) 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. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) 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. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) 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. ### Claim 13 (depends on 1) 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.