System and method for power assisted shifting of mechanical transmissions

摘要

A shifting mechanism for a mechanical transmission includes a selector shaft (120) having associated shift forks (124, 126, 128, 130) for engaging or disengaging a selected gear ratio and a control rod (144) directionally coupled to the selector shaft(120) for positive rotation while allowing a predetermined relative axial translation. A cylinder assembly (158) is operatively associated with the selector shaft (120) and control rod (144) to provide a fluid coupling which applies a force on the selector shaft (120) in response to the relative translation between the selector shaft and the control rod to reduce the operator effort required to complete a gear shift.