Shift lever supporting mechanism for a manual transmission

摘要

A shift lever supporting mechanism for supporting a shift lever in a manual transmission and having a shift lever retainer, the shift lever having an enlarged spherical portion retained in the shift lever retainer through sphere-to-sphere engagement so that the shift lever is pivotally moved for performing the selecting and shifting operations. The shift lever includes a hollow support provided on the enlarged spherical portion of the shift lever and aligned with a rotational axis of the enlarged spherical portion for the shifting operations of the shift lever, at least one spherical member received in the hollow support, a spring received in the hollow support for biasing the spherical member, and at least one cam portion provided on the shift lever retainer and having at least one inclined cam surface. The at least one spherical member is urged to the at least one cam portion by a spring force of the spring. When the shift lever is moved for performing the selecting operations, the at least one spherical member moves along the cam surface of the cam portion while being forced into the hollow support against the spring force of the spring.