Park release mechanism with deployable handle and indicator
AssigneeFca US LLC
InventorsBrian P Sturza, Dorinel Neag, Carl Mather
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A manual park release assembly includes a housing extending along a longitudinal axis between a first end and a second end, and a handle disposed at least partially in the housing. The handle is deployable relative to the housing along the longitudinal axis between a stored position and a deployed position, and the handle is rotatable relative to the longitudinal axis when the handle is in the deployed position. The manual park release assembly further includes an actuator having a first portion coupled to the handle for rotation with the handle and a second portion coupled to the first portion and movable axially in response to rotation of the first portion.
Claims18
A manual park release assembly, comprising:
- a housing extending along a longitudinal axis between a first end and a second end, the housing having an inner cavity extending from the first end to an outer cavity that is open to the second end;
- a handle disposed at least partially in the outer cavity of the housing, the handle having an inner member and an outer member that is slidable relative to the inner member, and the outer member of the handle being movable relative to both the housing and the inner member of the handle along the longitudinal axis between a stored position and a deployed position, wherein the outer member is located at least partially inside the outer cavity in the stored positions and the outer member is located outside of the outer cavity in the deployed position and the handle is rotatable relative to the longitudinal axis when the handle is in the deployed position;
- and
- an actuator coupled to the handle and received within the inner cavity, the actuator having a first portion coupled to the inner member of the handle for rotation with the handle and a second portion coupled to the first portion and movable axially in response to rotation of the first portion.
A manual park release assembly, comprising:
- a housing extending along a longitudinal axis between a first end and a second end;
- a handle disposed at least partially in the housing, the handle being deployable relative to the housing along the longitudinal axis between a stored position and a deployed position, and the handle being rotatable relative to the longitudinal axis when the handle is in the deployed position;
- an actuator coupled to the handle, the actuator having a first portion coupled to the handle for rotation with the handle and a second portion coupled to the first portion and movable axially in response to rotation of the first portion;
- and an indicator including a rear end coupled to the second portion of the actuator and a front end extending longitudinally to the second end of the housing, wherein when the handle is in the deployed position and rotated in a first direction about the longitudinal axis the indicator is driven axially and increasingly protrudes out of the second end of the housing.
A vehicle, comprising:
- a vehicle body;
- a transmission coupled to the vehicle body, the transmission including a shift lever that is driven to change the gear setting of the transmission;
- a housing coupled to the vehicle body and having a longitudinal axis, an inner cavity and an outer cavity that is open to the inner cavity;
- a handle at least partially disposed in the outer cavity of the housing, the handle being movable along the longitudinal axis between a stored position and a deployed position, more of the handle is received within the outer cavity in the stored position than in the deployed position, and the handle is rotatable about the longitudinal axis in the deployed position but not in the stored position;
- an actuator disposed in the inner cavity of the housing, the actuator having a first portion coupled to the handle for rotation with the handle and a second portion coupled to the first portion and movable axially in response to rotation of the first portion;
- and
- a cable connected to the second portion of the actuator and to the shift lever so that movement of the second portion of the actuator is transmitted to the shift lever via the cable, to move the shift lever.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.