Importance

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Abstract

Shift mechanism is provided for shifting gears in a gearbox. The gearbox has a housing, a gear shaft in the housing, a plurality of gears rotatably mounted on the shaft, a connecting member moveable along the shaft for individually connecting the gears to the shaft, and a collar positioned around the shaft and engageable with the connecting member to move it along the shaft. The shaft mechanism includes a shifter fork for moving the collar and the connecting member along the shaft, the fork having a shift shaft pivotally mounted in the housing transversely to the gear shaft. This shaft has a first arm affixed thereto and extending on one side of the collar, with the arm having a projection on an end portion engaging a first portion of the collar. The shifter fork also has a detent plate affixed to the shift shaft and extending on the other side of the collar, with the plate having a second projection engaging a second portion of the collar generally diametrically opposite the first portion thereon. The detent plate has a plurality of detent recesses on the side of the plate opposite the second projection to receive detents. Considerably less space is thus required along the shaft than when a separate shifter fork and separate, spaced detent plate were employed, as heretofore. The simplified shift mechanism also reduces costs since separate shifter fork arms and detent plates are not employed.

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First Claim