Did You Know...
...that one person who claimed to be the inventor of the television is Russian emigre Vladimir Zworykin? In 1929 David Sarnoff, founder of RCA, asked Zworykin what it would take to develop TV for commercial use. He said: a year and a half and $100,000. In reality, it took 20 years and $50 million! Before his death in 1982 at the age of 92, Zworykin said of his invention: "The technique is wonderful. It is beyond my expectations. But the programs! I would never let my children even come close to this thing."
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8053691 | Park inhibition solenoid assembly A Park inhibition solenoid assembly for preventing the undesirable shifting of a transmission from an out-of-Park mode to a Park mode includes a follower and an armature slidably disposed within a valve body/housing and within a solenoid. The follower is moveable be... | 11/08/2011 |
| 7939772 | Electrical switch system for use with vehicular transmissions A linear vehicle transmission switch (10) has first and second interfitting housing members (12, 14) each having an electrically conductive lead frame (12m) insert molded in electrically insulative material and formed with exposed segment... | 05/10/2011 |
| 7078638 | Inhibitor switch An inhibitor switch is joined to a manual shaft inside a mission case which can be readily positioned. The inhibitor switch in which a movable base is interlocked and linked to a manual shaft of an automatic transmission inside a mission case of the automatic transm... | 07/18/2006 |
| 6930594 | Electronically-active vehicle gear-shift knob An electronically-active vehicle gear-shift knob (10) consisting of a hand-grasping section (12), an electronics enclosure (44) that is attached to an upper edge (14) of the hand-grasping section (12), and an electronics control ci... | 08/16/2005 |
| 6693249 | Inhibitor switch An inhibitor switch is used to correctly perform the detection of speed change positions. This inhibitor switch has a terminal block with fixed contacts and a moving block which is mounted and fitted onto a manual shaft of an automatic transmission, has a... | 02/17/2004 |
| 6683263 | Fall away transmission shift shaft switch profile A transmission gear position sensing assembly includes a transmission housing with a bore having a shift shaft disposed therein. The shift shaft has an axis about which the shaft translates as the transmission is shifted between gear positions. The housin... | 01/27/2004 |
| 6661114 | Shift apparatus for vehicles A shift apparatus for shifting gears in a vehicle driven by an engine. The shift apparatus includes a plurality of shift selectors that are pushed. The shift selectors instruct the shifting of gears. A rotatable engine start actuator is arranged at substa... | 12/09/2003 |
| 6621176 | Input device for use in vehicles for inputting settings pertaining to driver's intention of acceleration and deceleration An input device for use in a vehicle for inputting settings pertaining to a driver's intention of acceleration and deceleration includes a running mode selection switch and an acceleration/deceleration switch. A plurality of modes, for example, a manual s... | 09/16/2003 |
| 6526843 | Combined detent and neutral switch mechanism The detent and neutral switch mechanism includes a roller detent pin attached to a roller spring. The detent pin engages contoured shift fork extensions and resists movement of the shift fork extensions when gears are shifted and creates a "shift feel." A... | 03/04/2003 |
| 6518525 | Gear recognition switch system A recognition switch assembly (10) has a movable contact assembly (24) mounted on an actuator (22) mounted for sliding movement along a longitudinal direction (12a) in a housing (20) with a stationary contact board (26) mounted on the housing over the mov... | 02/11/2003 |
| 6500092 | Shift apparatus for vehicles A shift apparatus for shifting gears in a vehicle. The shift apparatus includes a shift selector rotated between a plurality of predetermined positions to instruct the shifting of gears in accordance with the position of the shift selector. A controller c... | 12/31/2002 |
| 6080945 | Control switch for an automatic vehicle transmission A control switch for an automatic vehicle transmission comprises a movable body turning in association with an operation of a gearshift lever of the automatic vehicle transmission provided in an automobile and a housing storing the movable body and having... | 06/27/2000 |
| 6072390 | Position sensing system for manually operated shift lever of a vehicle transmission A sensing system for detecting the position of a manually operated shift lever in an automatic transmission. The sensing system includes a plate member movable in response to movement of a shift lever. The plate member includes a generally flat contact su... | 06/06/2000 |
| 6057519 | Transmission electronic control unit including neutral start switch A control unit has an electronic control device that includes a base board on which a plurality of elements, including a microcomputer containing an automatic transmission program, are disposed. The electronic control device includes an integral neutral s... | 05/02/2000 |
| 6027426 | Neutral sensing and shift lever interlock assembly for a vehicular transmission A combined neutral sensing and shift lever interlock assembly senses when all of the shift rails of a transmission are in a neutral gear ratio and prevents more than one shift rail from being shifted out of a neutral position at any given time. The transm... | 02/22/2000 |
| 5977496 | Switch sensor with internal shear pin design A switch sensor is provided including a housing. A switch circuitry is disposed within the housing. An electrical contactor carrier is movably mounted within the housing. The electrical contactor carrier includes a shear pin hole and the housing includes ... | 11/02/1999 |
| 5960939 | Position detecting, rotary switch with movable contact-rotor assembly including relative rotary moment inhibiting structure In a position detecting switch, a first movable contact is disposed in a first receptacle formed in a sliding body and is urged toward a casing member by a first spring so as to engage first and second stationary contacts mounted in the casing member when... | 10/05/1999 |
| 5949041 | Automatic transmission control switch and harness assembly and method of manufacture An automatic-transmission control for outputting a switch signal of a shift position is produced as follows. A first terminal unit includes small-power fixed contacts coupled with small-power contacts of a connector through a coupling portion, is formed. ... | 09/07/1999 |
| 5926088 | Vehicle automatic transmission shift lever alarm system A put-in-park alarm which is energized whenever an automatic shift vehicle is stopped but the shift lever is not in park. The put-in-park alarm is energized when the driver moves his door handle in a door opening direction. Not only is the alarm energized... | 07/20/1999 |
| 5902975 | Internal transmission range switch system An internal vehicular transmission range switch (10) has a movable contact support (20) which slides along a straight path in a recess formed between a housing having a base member (12) and cover (14) between first and second extremities in dependence upo... | 05/11/1999 |
| 5903214 | Bicycle display apparatus A display apparatus for a bicycle includes a movable member that changes position in accordance with the state of a bicycle transmission, a sensor that detects the position of the movable member without contacting the movable member, and a display mechani... | 05/11/1999 |
| 5875683 | Controllable gear shifter with lock-in system The present invention provides an apparatus for locking a gear train in high and low gear modes. A printed circuit board has first, second and third conductive pads, each of which are in electrical communication with a main circuit. A conductive clip havi... | 03/02/1999 |
| 5867092 | Hall effect transfer case shift mechanism position sensor A shift mechanism position sensor for a transfer case or transmission includes a plurality of Hall effect sensors disposed adjacent a ferrous, metallic plate having a plurality of apertures arranged to provide multi-bit binary signals in gray code. The me... | 02/02/1999 |
| 5828023 | Inhibitor switch for detecting position of automobile automatic gear shifter including operating lever stoppers An inhibitor switch device having a projected portion on a bottom side of an operating lever, stoppers on an external wall of a case of the device that impact with the projected portion and allow a movement range of the operating lever that goes outside o... | 10/27/1998 |
| 5760683 | Vehicle door lock, shift lever interlock system A put-in-park alarm which is energized whenever an automatic shift vehicle is stopped but the shift lever is not in park. The put-in-park alarm is energized when the driver moves his door handle in a door opening direction. Not only is the alarm energized... | 06/02/1998 |
| 5669852 | Two-position neutral switch for multi-speed transmission An improved switch system is incorporated into a multi-speed transmission and engine combination. The switch system provides a positive electronic signal to an electronic control unit for the engine of both when the transmission is in a neutral state and ... | 09/23/1997 |
| 5634375 | Locking device with compensation element A locking device for a positional fixing of a displaceable adjusting element for a selector shaft of a mechanical gear transmission of a motor vehicle comprising an outer housing (2) and, displaceably guided therein, a locking pin (8) loaded at one end by... | 06/03/1997 |
| 5611244 | Electronic pressure modifier An apparatus for modifying the pressure of an electronically controlled automatic transmission including an electronic pressure controlled (EPC) solenoid, comprising: a pair of leads connected in parallel to the leads of the EPC solenoid; a pair of resist... | 03/18/1997 |
| 5581233 | Vehicle door lock, shift lever interlock system A put-in-park alarm which is energized whenever an automatic shift vehicle is stopped but the shift lever is not in park. The put-in-park alarm is energized when the driver moves his door handle in a door opening direction. Not only is the alarm energized... | 12/03/1996 |
| 5468197 | Shift rail position sensor for vehicle transmission A neutral start switch assembly for a vehicle transmission including a case having a plurality of generally parallel shift rails supported therein is disclosed. Each of the shift rails is longitudinally movable forwardly and rearwardly from a central neut... | 11/21/1995 |
| 5448029 | Idling engine clutch release control device of an automatic transmission An idling engine clutch release control device of an automatic transmission, which includes an electric switch connected to the accelerator pedal and to an element for metering the fuel, wherein closing of the switch prevents release of the stationary clu... | 09/05/1995 |
| 5325083 | Manual valve position sensing system A sensing system is provided for sensing the position of a manual gear select lever in an automatic transmission. The sensing system includes a plate member movable in response to movement of a shift lever and has a contact surface having a predetermined ... | 06/28/1994 |
| 5231254 | Automobile transmission mode sensing apparatus A switch is shown mounted inside the housing of an automatic transmission of a motor vehicle with a sliding movable electrical contact coupled to the manual valve of the transmission to provide an indication of the position of the manual gear selector. An... | 07/27/1993 |
| 5196663 | Transmission control apparatus for automotive vehicle In a transmission control apparatus for an automotive vehicle having a shift lever, a controller and a transmission actuator, a shift operation detector is additionally connected between the controller and the transmission actuator to apply an actuator co... | 03/23/1993 |
| 5099092 | Position indicator assembly An indicator providing an electrical indication of the positions of a user movable mechanical selector. The indicator base has a plurality of spring biased contact pins slidably contacting patterned conductive regions on the surface of the selector for co... | 03/24/1992 |
| 5031472 | Neutral sensing assembly A neutral sensing assembly for a multiple shift rail (60B, 62B, 64B) shift bar housing assembly (70) is provided. The neutral sensing assembly utilizes a single two-position sensing (112, 114) and a relatively simply shaped neutral sensing bar (104) exten... | 07/16/1991 |
| 5023414 | Electrical switch for detecting positions of an automatic transmission of an automobile An electrical rotary switch in use with an automatic transmission for detecting the operative position of the transmission and controlling an electric circuit associated with the positions of the transmission. The switch comprises a switch casing composed... | 06/11/1991 |
| 4896135 | Electronic range indicator for a motor vehicle An electronic range indicator apparatus in which a switch array powered by the vehicle ignition voltage is used to indicate the selected transmission range during both on and off periods of the vehicle. During on periods of the vehicle, the ignition volta... | 01/23/1990 |
| 4895053 | Ignition enabling-disabling device A device for closing an ignition-enablement switch only if a drive control is in neutral position includes a stop member, a switch mount and a closing member each biased toward its position of engagement with the stop member and movable to positions displ... | 01/23/1990 |
| 4850238 | Shiftlever mechanism for an automatic transmission A shiftlever mechanism for an automatic transmission is equipped with a shiftlever which can be moved freely from the drive position in the direction of shifting and an overdrive switch which is turned on or off by the shiftlever as the shiftlever is shif... | 07/25/1989 |
