Locking apparatus for shift lever in automatic transmission

A locking apparatus for a shift lever in an automatic transmission of a vehicle to control shifting of said shift lever from a non-driving position where said automatic transmission does not transmit driving force of an engine to the wheels, to a driving position for transmitting the driving force of said engine to said wheels, comprising:

• (a) detent means for holding said shift lever in a non-driving position, said detent means being attached to said shift lever;
• (b) a lock member being movable together with said detent means being a lock position and a shift-lever operating position, at said shift lever non-driving position at which said automatic transmission is set at a vehicle non-driving position;
• (c) a shift-lever release button provided on said shift lever and responsive to being pushed for releasing the holding of said detent means and for allowing said shift-lever to be shiftable to said driving position;
• (d) an electrically operated member that allows said shift-lever release button to be pushed to release the detent means when the brake pedal of said vehicle is being applied;
• and
• (e) manual release means for releasing said held lock member and for allowing said shift lever to be shifted even when said shift-lever release button has not been made operable by said electrically operated member due to malfunction thereof.

A locking apparatus for a shift lever in an automatic transmission of a vehicle, comprising:

• a shift lever for selecting one from among a plurality of positions by rotary operation, and a pushbutton provided on said shift lever;
• a detent pin being movable in one direction by depressing said pushbutton provided on said shift lever;
• a detent plate having a lock recess for restricting the rotary operation of said shift lever in cooperation with said detent pin and for receiving and engaging with said detent pin when moved in another direction when said shift lever is shifted to a predetermined non-driving position;
• a lock member being movable between a lock position where said lock member cooperates with said detent pin engaged with said lock recess to restrict the movement of said detent pin and a lock release position where said detent pin is movable;
• an electrically operated member having an actuator and being operable in response to an electrical signal based on the occurrence of predetermined conditions when said shift lever is located in a particular non-driving position, said electrically operated member being movable between a holding position where said actuator holds said lock member in said lock position by operation of said electrically operated member and a release position where the holding of said lock member is released;
• and
• a manual release member being manually operable to forcibly move said actuator of said electrically operated member from said holding position to said release position.

A locking apparatus for a shift lever of an automatic transmission of a vehicle to permit said shift lever to become operable under predetermined conditions, comprising:

• (a) detent means for inhibiting said shift lever, when said shift lever is set at a vehicle non-driving position, from shifting to a vehicle driving position where said automatic transmission would also be set at a vehicle driving position, said detent means being movable between a shift-lever operating position and a lock position;
• (b) a lock member movable together with said detent means between said shift-lever operating position and said lock position, the movement of said lock member and said detent means occurring when said shift lever is set at a vehicle non-driving position;
• (c) shift-lever releasing means for moving said detent means from said lock position to said shift-lever operating position to allow said shift lever to be shifted;
• (d) electrically operated means for holding said lock member to keep said detent means at said lock position and for releasing said held lock member in response to an electrical signal based on predetermined conditions, thereby to make said shift-lever releasing means operable;
• and
• (e) manual release means for overriding said electrically operated means and making said shift-lever releasing means operable, said electrically operated means otherwise operating independently from said manual release means during conditions where said manual release means is not being operated.