...that power steering was invented by independent inventor Francis W. Davis? As chief engineer in the 1920s of the truck division of the Pierce Arrow Motor Car Company, he saw how hard it was to steer heavy vehicles. So that he would be able to keep the profits from his future invention, Davis left his job, rented a small engineering shop in Waltham, Mass., and developed a hydraulic power steering system that led to power steering.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8024990 | Shift lever apparatus A shift lever apparatus includes a detent pin, and the distal end portion thereof is attached to a shift lever so as to be movable in the direction of coming into and out of contact with the shift lever. A lever guide is formed with a transition sliding surface on w... | 09/27/2011 |
| 7992463 | Shifter for automatic transmission A shifter for an automatic transmission has a gate plate with a main gate and a sub-gate. A shift lever has a spherical portion and is movable along the main gate and the sub-gate. A switching member enables switching the automatic transmission to a manual operation... | 08/09/2011 |
| 7900532 | Electric shifting device for a motor vehicle An electric shifting device for a vehicle includes a shift lever, a gate channel, and a detent device. The detent device has a spring-loaded pin and a detent contour cooperating therewith. The detent contour includes first and second paths and a connection path ther... | 03/08/2011 |
| 7891267 | AT selector cover An AT selector cover is disclosed having a base member having a select gate for an automatic mode and a manual mode gate formed along a vehicle's longitudinal direction, a first slide plate slidably held on the base member for sliding capability in the vehicle's lon... | 02/22/2011 |
| 7882760 | Shifting device for an automatic transmission of a motor vehicle A shifting device is provided for an automatic transmission of a motor vehicle with a first automatic shift gate and with a second tipping gate for a manual, stepwise shifting operation about a middle position. A selector lever can be pivoted about a first shift gat... | 02/08/2011 |
| 7878087 | Selector device for a transmission A selector device for an automated or automatic transmission, in particular of a motor vehicle, has a selector lever for selecting automatic shift stages and gears of the transmission. It being possible to move the selector lever from a stable initial position into ... | 02/01/2011 |
| 7770486 | Gearshift device and method of controlling same In an automatic transmission, a shift lever is operable to move to one of a plurality of shift positions corresponding to ranges established as selectable options. The plurality of shift positions are each configured as one of a momentary position allowing the shift... | 08/10/2010 |
| 7694604 | Shifting mechanism for an automated or automatic transmission A shifting mechanism for an automated or automatic transmission includes a selection lever that can be shifted in a first shift gate between automatic selection stages. The selection lever can be shifted, via a first lateral gate, to a second shift gate in order to ... | 04/13/2010 |
| 7597021 | Control apparatus of vehicular automatic transmission A control apparatus of a vehicular automatic transmission includes a control device designed to control gear changes of the transmission on the basis of operation or control signals from a first manual gearshifting part and a second manual gearshifting part. When it... | 10/06/2009 |
| 7530285 | Transmission selector device A selector device for an automated or automatic transmission, in particular of a motor vehicle, has a selector lever which is adjustable in an automatic selector gate to switch between automatic operating positions and can be moved via a transverse gate into a tip-a... | 05/12/2009 |
| 7472621 | Shift device A shift device includes a housing, a shift lever, a sensor unit. The shift lever is moved forward and rearward, and leftward and rightward of the shift device for selecting the connection state of the transmission of a vehicle. The sensor unit is attached to the hou... | 01/06/2009 |
| 7421923 | Electronic gearshift structure for vehicle An electronic gear shifter structure for a vehicle shift-by-wire system includes a shift lever that is manipulated for gear changes and equipped at one side surface thereof with a park range switch. An indicator is equipped at one side thereof with a gear range disp... | 09/09/2008 |
| 7406889 | Gear selection position displaying device A gear selection position displaying device includes a path display portion (56) which displays a movement path of a gearshift lever, lever position display portions (circled portions of 51c, 53b, 53c, 53d | 08/05/2008 |
| 7370909 | Fixed seating arrangement having a swing arm shroud with a sliding shield member A protective shroud for a swing arm includes a housing made of two shroud sections that are snapped together around the base of a fixed seating arrangement. The assembled shroud includes two rectangular openings on its sides configured to allow the swing arms of the... | 05/13/2008 |
| 7363836 | Shift lever apparatus A shift lever apparatus includes a base member, a shift lever, and one or more planar four-bar linkage mechanisms supporting the shift lever so as to be movable relative to the base member. The four-bar linkage mechanism includes four link elements including a base-... | 04/29/2008 |
| 7337051 | Shift control apparatus for step-variable automatic transmission A shift control apparatus for controlling shifting actions of a step-variable automatic transmission having a plurality of selectable groups of forward-drive positions (e.g., normal-spread group and narrow-spread or wide-spread group) having respective different set... | 02/26/2008 |
| 7322457 | Shifting device for the mechanical coupling-free transmission of shift commands to the automatic transmission of a motor vehicle A shifting device (1) for the mechanical coupling-free transmission of shift commands to an automatic transmission of a motor vehicle (shift-by-wire shifting), with at least one housing and/or one frame and one selector lever for the manual selection of shift... | 01/29/2008 |
| 7293480 | Shifting device A shifting device includes a housing, a shift lever, and a sensor unit. The shift lever is moved along frontward or rearward and leftward or rightward to select one of shift positions. The sensor unit is of a non-contact type and detects the selected shift position.... | 11/13/2007 |
| 7270027 | Detent lever assembly for an internal electronic transmission range selection (ETRS) system A detent lever assembly for implementation with an electronic transmission range selection (ETRS) system that shifts a transmission range between a park position and an out-of-park position. The detent lever assembly includes a shaft rotatably supported by a housing... | 09/18/2007 |
| 7219572 | Shift device A compact shift device for shifting gears of a vehicle transmission. The shift device includes a shift lever movable in a first direction and a second direction to shift the gears of the transmission. The first direction is perpendicular to the second direction. A f... | 05/22/2007 |
| 7210370 | Shifting device for an automatic transmission A shifting device (4) is provided for an automatic transmission and has an additional manual shifting function. The device includes a selector lever (6), which is mounted pivotably on a gear shift lever (10) such that different, automatically sh... | 05/01/2007 |
| 7201077 | Automatic transmission shift range display structure An automatic transmission shift range display structure is configured to make it possible to visually confirm that an automatic shift lever with a manual mode is in the manual mode. The automatic transmission shift range display structure has a shift lever with a ra... | 04/10/2007 |
| 7200477 | Driver-aid method and device for shifting gears in an automatic transmission A driver-aid method for shifting gears in an automatic transmission, wherein an automatic operating mode of the automatic transmission provides for shifting automatically by means of an optimization strategy based on information signals. Manual shifting of the gears... | 04/03/2007 |
| 7174802 | Automatic transmission shifter assembly for automotive vehicles An automatic transmission shifter assembly for automotive vehicles includes a shift lever, a gate plate formed with a gate passage, and a slide block having an engagement recess to be engaged with the shift lever, wherein the slide block is adapted to be moved front... | 02/13/2007 |
| 7131347 | Manual gearshift device for automotive automatic transmission A manual gearshift device for an automotive automatic transmission operative in an automatic shift mode in which a gear ratio is automatically varied according to driving conditions and a manual mode in which a gear ratio is manually changed is disclosed. The manual... | 11/07/2006 |
| 7121395 | Torque disconnect mechanism A torque disconnect mechanism controls transmission of torque from a first shaft to a second shaft in a transmission. The mechanism includes a housing which rotatably supports the first and second shafts, and which has an opening formed therein. A coupling member is... | 10/17/2006 |
| 7114410 | Select system for an automatic transmission In a select system for an automatic transmission in which switchover between a mechanical automatic mode and an electrical manual mode is achieved by a lateral shift of a select lever, the select lever has an engaging protrusion extending a distance to one side, whi... | 10/03/2006 |
| 7107868 | Transmission operating apparatus for vehicle A transmission operating apparatus A mainly includes: a forward/backward direction sensor 3 which detects positions of a shift lever 1 manipulated by the driver; an operation mode selecting switch 7 which selects one of two operation modes to be... | 09/19/2006 |
| 7094177 | Shift device of transmission A shift control ECU includes the steps of storing a position of a shift lever; starting a count-up timer when the shift lever comes to a neutral position; and recognizing a driver's request for the neutral position when a count-up timer value attains TN(1) if... | 08/22/2006 |
| 7086306 | Shift device A shift device includes a housing, a shift lever, a sensor unit. The shift lever is moved forward and rearward, and leftward and rightward of the shift device for selecting the connection state of the transmission of a vehicle. The sensor unit is attached to the hou... | 08/08/2006 |
| 7082851 | Hydraulic servo assembly for an internal electronic transmission range selection (ETRS) system A hydraulic servo assembly includes a piston slidably disposed within a housing and a pin extending from the piston. The pin is interconnected with a servo link rod of the ETRS system. A port enables inlet of hydraulic fluid to induce movement of the piston and the ... | 08/01/2006 |
| 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 |
| 7069807 | Adjustable shift detent assembly A vehicle transmission detent assembly is provided that includes a housing having a bore. A movable shift rail is supported by the housing and includes a recess at least partially aligned with the bore. A detent is at least partially arranged within the bore and eng... | 07/04/2006 |
| 7044015 | Control apparatus of automatic transmission with manual mode a mode change switch 3 which changes an automatic shift mode and a manual mode, an up-shift switch 4, and a down-shift switch 5 are provided. The mode change switch 3 outputs an output of the normal-open contact point P2 as a manua... | 05/16/2006 |
| 7028576 | Shift lever assembly A shift lever assembly (10) including a base member (14) and a shift lever (12); the shift lever (12) being pivotally mounted to the base member (14). The shift lever (12) is pivotally adjustable by an operator, relative to ... | 04/18/2006 |
| 7028575 | Transmission shifting mechanism Monostable shifting mechanism, in which two shifting channels are provided for the shift lever. “Monostable” means that the shifting element or the shift lever has only one stable position. As a function of the actual “operating condition” of the shifting me... | 04/18/2006 |
| 7013748 | Automatic transmission apparatus for vehicle An automatic transmission apparatus is provided with a compact shifting mechanism. The apparatus includes an automatic transmission, the shifting mechanism arranged inside the vehicle cabin to have a shift lever to be manipulated by a driver and also adapted to allo... | 03/21/2006 |
| 7001308 | Shift device for an automatic transmission of a vehicle A shift device for an automatic transmission of a vehicle, particularly of a motor vehicle, is proposed in which the request to change the current ratio of the automatic transmission upon reaching preset operating states of the vehicle can be automatically generated... | 02/21/2006 |
| 6993994 | Gear input unit A blocking and releasing of actuating elements especially used in a manually shifted automatic transmission in vehicles for a manual gear input unit with a plurality of actuating elements, e.g., a selector lever and a button. A manual gear input unit (1) is s... | 02/07/2006 |
| 6948399 | Manual gearshift device for automotive automatic transmission A manual gearshift device for an automotive automatic transmission operative in an automatic shift mode in which a gear ratio is automatically varied according to driving conditions and a manual mode in which a gear ratio is manually changed is disclosed. The manual... | 09/27/2005 |