Storable shifter with electronic gear shift reset

A shifter apparatus for shifting a transmission having a plurality of gear positions, comprising:

• a base;
• a driver interface module attached to the base and movable from a first position to a second position to indicate a desire to shift the transmission from a presently selected one of the gear positions to a new one of the gear positions;
• a display capable of generating indicia corresponding to the plurality of gear positions of the transmission, the indicia including first indicia showing the presently selected one gear position and a second indicia corresponding to the new one gear position;
• at least one sensor adapted to sense predetermined vehicle conditions;
• and
• a controller operably coupled to the driver interface module, the display, and the sensor and programmed to, when the driver interface module indicates a shift change and the at least one sensor indicates the predetermined vehicle conditions are met, generate a transmission-controlling output signal adapted to shift the transmission to the new one gear position and further to change the display from the first indicia to the second indicia;
• the controller being further programmed, when the driver interface module indicates a shift change but the at least one sensor does not indicate that the predetermined vehicle conditions are met, to not shift the transmission and instead to cause the display to show the first indicia until a new shift request signal is received from the driver interface module, and
• the driver interface module being movably attached to the base, and the base including a recess for moving the driver interface module between a storage position within the recess and a use position at least partially outside of the recess.

A shifter apparatus for shifting a transmission having a plurality of gear positions, comprising:

• a base;
• a driver interface module attached to the base and movable from a first position to a second position in a two-step sequence to indicate a desire to shift the transmission from a presently selected one of the gear positions to a new one of the gear positions;
• a display capable of generating indicia corresponding to the plurality of gear positions of the transmission, the indicia including a first indicia showing the presently selected one gear position and a second indicia corresponding to the new one gear position;
• at least one sensor adapted to sense predetermined vehicle conditions;
• and
• a controller operably coupled to the driver interface module, the display and the sensor and programmed to, when the driver interface module indicates a shift change via the two-step sequence and the at least one sensor indicates the predetermined vehicle conditions are met, generate a transmission-controlling output signal adapted to shift the transmission to the new one gear position and further to change the display from the first indicia to the second indicia;
• the controller being further programmed, when the driver interface module indicates a shift change but the at least one sensor does not indicate that the predetermined vehicle conditions are met, to not shift the transmission until a new driver-interface signal is received, the controller including a timer and being programmed to initially change the display to show the second indicia upon receiving an indication for the shift change from the driver interface module, but being programmed to reset the display to show the first indicia if the timer times out before the at least one sensor indicates that the predetermined vehicle conditions are met, and being programmed to reset the controller so that within the controller, the second position becomes reset to become analogous to the first position for the purpose of indicating a future shift change, with the future shift change being based on relative movement of the driver interface module from the second position.

A shifter apparatus for shifting a transmission having a plurality of gear positions, comprising:

• a base;
• a driver interface module attached to the base and movable from a first position to a second position to indicate a desire to shift the transmission from a presently selected one of the gear positions to a new one of the gear positions;
• a display capable of generating indicia corresponding to the plurality of gear positions of the transmission, the indicia including a first indicia showing the presently selected one gear position and a second indicia corresponding to the new one gear position;
• at least one sensor adapted to sense predetermined vehicle conditions;
• and
• a controller operably coupled to the driver interface module, the display and the sensor and programmed to, when the driver interface module indicates a shift change and the at least one sensor indicates the predetermined vehicle conditions are met, generate a transmission-controlling output signal adapted to shift the transmission to the new one gear position and further to change the display from the first indicia to the second indicia;
• the controller being further programmed, when the driver interface module indicates a shift change but the at least one sensor does not indicate that the predetermined vehicle conditions are met, to not shift the transmission until a new driver-interface signal is received, the controller including a timer and being programmed to initially change the display to show the second indicia upon receiving an indication for the shift change from the driver interface module, but being programmed to reset the display to show the first indicia if the timer times out before the at least one sensor indicates that the predetermined vehicle conditions are met;
• and
• the driver interface module being movably attached to the base and the base including a recess for moving the driver interface module between a storage position within the recess and a use position at least partially outside of the recess.

An apparatus for shifting a vehicle transmission having a plurality of gear positions, comprising:

• a driver interface module configured to move between a plurality of discrete positions and to generate a shift-change-request signal based on the movement;
• and
• a controller operably connected to the driver interface module for receiving the shift-change-request signal, the controller being programmed to shift the vehicle transmission based on a relative change in position of the driver interface module as the driver interface module is moved between the discrete positions, the controller characteristically being programmed so that the plurality of discrete positions correspond to the plurality of gear positions at any point in time but so that the plurality of discrete positions will index and correspond in a new manner to the plurality of gear positions if the shift request signal is rejected by the controller;
• and
• a base, the driver interface module being movably attached to the base and the base including a recess for moving the driver interface module between a storage position within the recess and a use position at least partially outside of the recess.

A shifter apparatus for shifting a transmission for a vehicle comprising:

• a base;
• a driver interface module operably mounted to the base;
• and
• a cover movable between an open position for permitting driver access to the driver interface module and a shielding position for covering the driver interface module.

A shifter apparatus for shifting a transmission having a plurality of gear positions, comprising:

• a base;
• a driver interface module including a shift member movably mounted on the base for relative movement between a plurality of positions;
• a sensor device adapted to generate a signal representing a shift change request based on a relative movement of the shift member from an original position to a changed position;
• a controller operably connected to the sensor and programmed to determine whether predetermined vehicle operating conditions are met and, if met, being programmed to shift the transmission to a selected one of the gear positions based on the relative movement, and if not met, being programmed to reject the shift change request;
• the controller, in preparation for the next shift change request, being programmed to reset so that the changed position becomes recognized by the controller as a newly reset home position even though the shift change request is rejected and even though the shift member remains in a newly-selected one of the plurality of positions.

A shifter for shifting a vehicle transmission having a plurality of gear positions, comprising:

• a shifter base defining a home position and a plurality of discrete positions, an upright shift lever shiftable between the home position and the plurality of discrete positions, and at least one shifter position sensor configured to output a shift change request signal when the shift lever is moved from the home position to one of the discrete positions;
• and
• a controller operably connected to the shifter position sensor for receiving the shift change request signal, the controller being programmed to shift the vehicle transmission based on a relative change in position of the shift lever as the shift lever is moved from the home position to a selected one of the discrete positions when predetermined vehicle conditions are met, but being programmed to not shift the transmission when predetermined vehicle conditions are not met, the shift lever being biased to return to the home position, the controller characteristically controlling the transmission based on relative movement of the shift lever from the home position to the selected one discrete position and not shifting the transmission based on an absolute location of the driver interface module, the controller being programmed to reset the home position to correspond to an actual gear position of the transmission and to activate a display showing the actual gear position of the transmission.