Selector assembly having an internal ball joint and detent mechanism

A selector assembly comprising:

• a housing having internal supports that extend to a guide surface that partially defines a spherical cavity, wherein the housing further includes a detent cavity that extends outward from the spherical cavity;
• and
• a selector that slidably operates within the housing about a center point of the spherical cavity, the selector comprising:
• a spheroid member that is contained within the spherical cavity and slidably engages the guide surface;
• a first pivot having a first rotational axis that extends through the center point of the spherical cavity;
• a second pivot having a second rotational axis that extends through the center point of the spherical cavity;
• a stalk that extends from the spheroid member and protrudes from the housing, wherein the selector is rotationally fixed with respect to a longitudinal axis that extends through the stalk and the center point;
• and
• a detent pin that is biased toward a detent surface of the detent cavity and slidably engages the detent surface to define a plurality of selector positions of the selector.

A selector assembly for a vehicle, the selector assembly comprising:

• a housing that is disposed within a console, the housing including a spherical cavity and a detent cavity that form a continuous selector cavity;
• a selector that protrudes from the housing and slidably operates within the continuous selector cavity and about a center point of the spherical cavity, the selector comprising:
• a selector body having a spheroid member slidably contained within the spherical cavity, a first pivot having a first rotational axis that extends through the center point of the spherical cavity, a second pivot having a second rotational axis that extends through the center point of the spherical cavity and a detent sleeve;
• and
• a detent pin that extends from the detent sleeve and is biased toward a detent surface of the detent cavity and slidably engages the detent surface to define a plurality of selector positions of the selector, wherein the selector body is rotationally fixed with respect to a longitudinal axis that extends through a stalk of the selector.