GEAR SHIFT CONTROL DEVICE WITH A CONTROL LEVER SUPPORTED BY MEANS OF A UNIVERSAL JOINT AND WITH A POSITION DETECTION SYSTEM FOR DETECTING THE POSITION OF THE CONTROL LEVER

摘要

The gear shift control device (10) comprises a control lever (12), a support body (14) arranged to be rigidly connected to the vehicle passenger compartment, a universal joint (16) by means of which the control lever (12) is supported by the support body (14) so as to be rotatable about a first axis of rotation (x) and a second axis of rotation (y) perpendicular to the first one, and a position detection system (22, 24) arranged to detect the position of the control lever (12). The position detection system (22, 24, 36, 38, 40) comprises one single permanent magnet (22), which is connected to the control lever (12) so as to move as a result of tilting of the control lever (12) about the first and the second axis of rotation (x, y), and a Hall effect magnetic field sensor (24), which is mounted on a sensor-carrying plate (26) attached to the support body (14) so as to be operatively exposed to the magnetic flux generated by the permanent magnet (22) and is arranged to output signals indicative of the components of such a magnetic flux. The permanent magnet (22) is forced to move on a plane (P) extending parallel to and at a distance from the sensor-carrying plate (26). The position detection system (22, 24, 36, 38, 40) further comprises connection means (36, 38, 40) which connect the permanent magnet (22) to the control lever (12) and are configured to convert the tilting movement of the control lever (12) about the first and the second axis of rotation (x, y) into a movement of the permanent magnet (22) on said plane (P).