Safety switch for small transmission
AssigneeThe J. B. Foote Foundry Co.
InventorsAnton J. Reinhard, Hans Hauser
Life of this patent
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Abstract
This invention relates to a safety switch for a small transmission to prevent operation of an engine when the transmission is in gear. The transmission can have an H-shaped shifting pattern with the engine being capable of starting only when a gear shift lever of the transmission is in neutral. The switch and preferably being made mostly of plastic material.
Claims9
A transmission including shift means having at least one gear-engaged position and a neutral position, said transmission including a housing, said shift means comprising two adjacent shifter forks linearly moveable in parallel paths and a shift lever having a shift rod selectively engagable with either of said shifter forks, a terminal housing affixed to said transmission housing and having an opening through which said shift lever extends, said terminal housing having two terminals extending therefrom, said terminal housing forming an elongate channel with two terminal buttons positioned transversely in the bottom of said channel and electrically connected with said terminals, a switch slider located in said elongate channel and having an elongate slot extending transversely to the longitudinal extent of said channel, with said shift lever extending through said elongate slot, and an end of said slider having a conducting strip extending transversely across the lower surface thereof and positioned to contact both of said terminal buttons when said shift lever is in the neutral position.
A safety switch for a transmission having a shift lever with an intermediate shift ball, said shift lever being moveable between a neutral position and at least one gear-engaged position, said safety switch comprising a plastic terminal housing having an opening through which the shift lever can extend, said terminal housing having a segmented spherical surface on a lower surface thereof around said opening for engaging an upper portion of the shift ball, said terminal housing having two terminals extending therefrom, said housing forming an elongate channel opening upwardly with two terminal buttons positioned transversely therein and electrically connected with said terminals, a one-piece, plastic switch slider located in said elongate channel and having an elongate slot extending transversely to the longitudinal extent of said channel through which an intermediate portion of the shift lever can extend, and an end of said slider having a spring-loaded conducting strip extending transversely thereacross and positioned to contact one of said terminal buttons when the shift lever is in the gear-engaged position and contact both of said terminal buttons when said shift lever is in the neutral position.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.