Vehicle shifter

A vehicle shifter for actuating a shift cable to cause the shifting of a vehicle transmission, the vehicle comprising a steering wheel tilt head which allows tilting of the steering wheel at least in fore and aft directions about a tilt pivot axis, the tilt head being carried at an upper portion of a steering column, the steering column being adjustable in length to raise or lower the elevation of the tilt head relative to the floor of the vehicle and to thereby respectively raise or lower the steering wheel, the vehicle shifter comprising:

• a shift lever support pivotally coupled to the tilt head so as to pivot relative to the tilt head as the tilt head is pivoted;
• a shift lever carried by the shift lever support and movable relative to the shift lever support to a plurality of shift positions to cause shifting of the vehicle;
• an elongated shift actuator having an upper portion coupled to the shift lever and a lower portion coupled to the shift cable such that movement of the shift lever from one shift position to another shift position moves the shift actuator and cable to shift the vehicle transmission;
• a shift actuator support positioned below the shift lever support and coupled to the shift actuator so as to permit the lower portion of the shift actuator to move upwardly relative to the floor of the vehicle as the vehicle steering wheel is raised and to move downwardly relative to the floor of the vehicle as the vehicle steering wheel is lowered;
• the steering column comprising a first movable section which is raised as the steering wheel is raised and lowered as the steering wheel is lowered, the shift actuator support being coupled to the first movable section for upward and downward movement with the respective upward and downward movement of the first movable section;
• a lower portion of the shift actuator being coupled to the shift actuator support;
• at least one crank coupled to the shift cable and to the shift actuator such that movement of the shift lever from one shift position to another shift position pivots the shift actuator and also pivots the at least one crank to move the shift cable to shift the vehicle transmission;
• a slide guide coupled to the first movable section of the steering column for upward and downward movement with the first movable section;
• a slide disposed in the slide guide for sliding movement along the slide guide;
• the crank being coupled to the slide and the shift cable also being coupled to the slide such that the crank is coupled to the shift cable through the slide;
• the crank being operable to move the slide along the slide guide as the crank is pivoted to thereby move the shift cable and shift the transmission.

A vehicle shifter for actuating a shift cable to cause the shifting of a vehicle transmission, the vehicle comprising a steering wheel tilt head which allows tilting of the steering wheel at least in fore and aft directions about a tilt pivot axis, the tilt head being carried at an upper end portion of a steering column, the steering column being adjustable in length to raise or lower the elevation of the tilt head relative to the floor of the vehicle and thereby to raise and lower the steering wheel, the vehicle shifter comprising:

• a shift lever support pivotally coupled to the tilt head at a location which is above the tilt pivot axis so as to be pivotal relative to the tilt head;
• a shift lever carried by the shift lever support and movable relative to the shift lever support to a plurality of shift positions to cause shifting of the vehicle;
• an elongated shift actuator having an upper end portion coupled to the shift lever and a lower end portion coupled to the shift cable such that movement of the shift lever from one shift position to another shift position moves the shift actuator and cable to shift the vehicle transmission;
• and
• a shift actuator support positioned below the shift lever support and coupled to the shift actuator so as to permit the lower end portion of the shift actuator to move upwardly relative to the floor of the vehicle as the steering wheel is raised and to move downwardly relative to the floor of the, vehicle as the steering wheel is lowered.

A vehicle shifter for actuating a shift cable to cause a shifting of a vehicle transmission, the vehicle comprising a steering wheel tilt head which allows tilting of the steering wheel at least in fore and aft directions about a tilt pivot axis, the tilt head being carried at an upper end portion of a steering column, the steering column being adjustable in length to raise or lower the elevation of the tilt head relative to the floor of the vehicle and thereby to raise or lower the steering wheel, the vehicle shifter comprising:

• a shift lever;
• shift lever support means for carrying the shift lever such that the shift lever pivots relative to the shift lever support, said shift lever support means also comprising means for pivoting to the tilt head of the vehicle such that the shift lever support means pivots about an axis which is spaced from the tilt pivot axis;
• shift actuator means for coupling the shift lever to a shift cable for moving the shift cable in response to pivoting movement of the shift lever to thereby shift the vehicle transmission, the shift lever actuator means comprising an elongated rod coupled to the shift lever at one end portion and to the shift cable at the other end portion whereby the rod pivots with pivoting of the shift lever to shift the cable;
• and
• shift actuator support means for carrying the shift actuator means such that the shift actuator means moves upwardly relative to the floor of the vehicle as the steering wheel is raised and downwardly relative to the floor of the vehicle as the steering wheel is lowered.

A method of moving a vehicle shifter as the elevation of a steering wheel is raised or lowered and also as the steering wheel is tilted, the method comprising:

• pivoting the shifter relative to the steering wheel as the steering wheel is tilted;
• and
• raising the elevation of the shifter with the raising of the elevation of the steering wheel and lowering the elevation of the shifter with the lowering of the elevation of the steering wheel;
• and
• in which the act of pivoting the shifter comprises the act of pivoting the shifter about a pivot axis which is located above the pivot axis about which the steering wheel is tilted.

A vehicle shifter for actuating a shift cable to cause the shifting of a vehicle transmission, the vehicle comprising an elongated shift actuator which is pivoted by a shift lever to move the shift cable during shifting of the vehicle, the vehicle shifter comprising:

• at least one crank coupled to the shift cable and to the shift actuator such that movement of the shift lever from one shift position to another shift position pivots the shift actuator and also pivots the at least one crank to move the shift cable to shift the vehicle transmission;
• a slide guide;
• a slide disposed in the slide guide for sliding movement along the slide guide;
• the crank being coupled to the slide and the shift cable also being coupled to the slide such that the crank is coupled to the shift cable through the slide;
• the crank being operable to move the slide along the slide guide as the crank is pivoted to thereby move the shift cable and shift the transmission.