Vibration damped gear lever mounting - has elastic ball and socket joint and axial sprung location

摘要

The floor mounted gear selector lever is located by a ball and socket joint (2) on a bottom chassis mounting while an upper ball and socket joint (8) is linked to the gear selector linkage (7). The bottom ball has downward facing slots (13) to locate a crossbar (6) through the gear lever for axial movement while a spring (10) holds the crossbar into the slot. The upper ball joint has a sliding fit inside a cylindrical sleeve (9) attached to the linkage and is made of plastic. Grooves in the upper ball are filled with a softer plastic for vibration damping. The lower ball is retained in its socket by a spring plate (13) bolted over the fitting. The axial movement allows selection of the reverse gear.