FORM 2
THE PATENTS ACT, 1970
(39 of 1970)
AND
The Patents Rules, 2003
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
(See section 10 and rule l3)
1. TITLE OF THE INVENTION:
"ARTICULATED JOINT ASSEMBLY FOR FLEXIBLE POSITION ADJUSTMENT OF A SHIFT LEVER"
2. APPLICANT:
(a) NAME: MAHINDRA & MAHINDRA LTD.
(b)NATIONALITY: Indian Company incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956
(c) ADDRESS: Gateway Building, Apollo Bender, Mumbai - 400001, Maharashtra, India.
3. PREAMBLE TO THE DESCRIPTION:
The following specification describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION:
The present invention generally relates to a shift lever assembly, and particularly, relates to an plurality of articulated joint assembly having incorporated with the plurality of shift lever sections for position adjustment of the lever in all six degrees of freedom with respect to operator comfort zone by adjusting angular position of the joint assembly with respect to the shift lever central axis, and more particularly, concerned with ergonomic positioning of a shift lever for actuating electronic control system used with automobiles.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION:
Typically shift levers are used with automobiles such as in on road vehicles for incorporating with transmission system to change gear ratios, and in off-road vehicles such as trucks, tractors and construction vehicles, additionally for control of various other functions like hydraulic controls and other implements. In automobiles, the shift lever is positioned within operator console so as to comfortably and conveniently operate the lever as and when it is required to be operated. The paramount criterion to be considered while positioning the shift lever in the operator console is ergonomic position of the lever with respect to the operator convenience. And it is also to be ensured that while operating the shift lever, it should not get disturbed by the surrounding things thereof. Generally, the operator console of any auto mobile is packed with many other controls such as hand accelerator lever, parking brake lever, steering column and wheel, gear shifting lever and other operating levers in the case of off-road vehicles and construction vehicles.
The present invention is mainly intended to adapt with off-road vehicles such as tractors. Unlike passenger vehicles, off-road vehicles generally have more number of control levers to operate different functions / operations. Especially in tractors, to perform field operations, additional operating shift levers need to be provided for operating earth moving implements with the help of hydraulic system. Conventionally, there are two levers namely Position Control (PC) lever and Draft Control (DC) lever for actuating hydraulic system thereby to operate the implements. Apart from PC & DC levers, tractor has some more control levers unlike passenger vehicles, such as High-Low gear shifting lever, Power Take Off (PTO) lever, differential lock pedal, hand accelerator lever, seat position adjusting lever, parking brake lever, etc. Space available for accommodating all

these control levers is generally limited. There have been quite a few inventions in the field of operator work space / console in tractor applications to take care of operator comfort and convenience. Positioning aforesaid control levers within the comfort zone of operator and making all the levers operable without getting into the surroundings is a cumbersome process.
In conventional tractor applications, gear shifting lever and high-low gear shifting lever are positioned at the center of the chassis just in front of the operator, and PC & DC lever and parking brake lever at the right side of the operator. In this case, the position of the gear shifting lever and range of space required for operating the same requires to be properly designed in such a way that it should not foul with scuttle of the front panel, steering column and extreme front position of seat. Another disadvantage of this position is it may obstruct entry and exit of operator to and from the tractor through this limited space, and also affect comfortable seating. To overcome this problem, both gear shifter lever and high-low lever are taken to the right side of the tractor. In such case, right side of the operator gets cluttered with gear shifting levers and PC & DC levers. Since these levers are frequently operated during field operation, utmost care needs to be taken to ensure that these levers do not foul with each other while operating. Also, positioning all these levers in the constrained work space is a tedious design process.
Generally, agricultural vehicles such as tractors are provided with hydraulic system for operating earth moving implements, in which, two parameters require to be set before starting field operation, that is, position of the implement with respect to soil surface, and draft for smooth and equal depth of soil preparation. Conventionally, separate control levers are provided in a single quadrant for setting these parameters. According to the present invention, a single shift lever is developed for combining operation of both PC and DC lever into a single lever and also intended to adapt the present invention in tractor where it does incorporate electro-hydraulic system for operating implements.
There have been quite a few inventions in the field of shifting lever for adjusting the position thereof in accordance with various requirements. Some of them are described hereunder as reference for present invention.

US patent 1301475 discloses an adjustable gear-shift lever for automobiles and the like which comprises a first corrugated clamping jaw and a second corrugated clamping jaw connected together via a bolt and provided with an expansion and torsion spring in-between two jaws, a 45 degree elbow, means forming a clutch and a ring handle. Even though this lever is adjustable in all three directions, it has drawbacks such as requirement of more number of parts and different joint means in a single lever. This may further lead to complex design, high manufacturing cost and time consuming assembly process.
US patent 5328285 discloses articulated gear shift lever joint assembly for incorporating with new or existing gear shift lever so as to adapt an upper section of the shift lever to be interconnected with and pivoted relative to a lower section of the shift lever from an erected condition to a folded condition for decreasing the height and thereby the space occupied by the shift lever when the shift lever is not in use. The articulated joint assembly described herein does not help to adjust the lever position in all three directions. Also, this invention is intended only to fold the lever when lever is not in use, hence it does not possess enough rigidity to hold the lever in firm position during operation.
US patent 1283852 discloses adjustable gear shift lever for automobiles and the like which comprises a ring having internal teeth and a peripheral slot, a clamping plate fitted against the teeth, a head fitted on the periphery of the ring, a lever arm inserted through the head and the clamping plate, means for holding the clamping plate against the arm and a nut upon the arm against the head. Thus by loosening the nut, the lever may be adjusted to have desired position. However, according to this invention, shifting of lever is limited only in one direction which does not suffice the requirement with which the present invention is developed.
US patent 6029535 discloses a gear shift lever which includes upper and lower lever portions that are relatively telescopically and rotatably connected. The upper portion defines an L-shaped slot having a leg and a foot and the lower portions carries a pin that slidably engages and is guided by the L-shaped slot which in turn guides a relative movement of the lever portions. Since, the articulated joint described herein is intended for folding the gear shifter lever; it may not be suitable to be adapted with a gear shift lever for adjusting the operating position thereof.

US patent 6029535 discloses a gear shift lever comprising a lower lever section having a member of the universal joint and an upper lever section pivoted at its lower end to lower section, a bolt-casing on one lever section, a spring actuated bolt, a lug on other iever section and means for operating bolt. The joint assembly described herein is also made in such a way to adjust the position of the lever in one direction. Since it is operated only to make a way for entry and egress of operator, this joint assembly may not be suitably adapted with any gear shift lever for adjusting the operating position.
All the aforesaid prior inventions might have worked satisfactorily in accordance with the intention with which they were developed; however, they have their own drawbacks such as complexity of the system in terms of design, number of parts and manufacturing process. Hence, there has been a need to develop a shift lever which can be selectively adjusted for different operating positions within the comfort zone of operator at low cost and without affecting reliability, durability, rigidity and flexibility of the lever.
With a view of overcoming the shortcomings associated with the prior art and achieve other advantages not realized by the previous art, the main object of invention is to propose a novel shift lever assembly which is cost effective and less complex in terms of design and manufacturing.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION:
Accordingly, the present invention provides a shift lever construction and assembly thereof for providing flexibility in positioning the shift lever by changing the mounting position, changing profile of the lever sections and by increasing length of the joint assemblies.
In an aspect, the present invention provides an operating position adjustable shift lever having incorporated with simple position adjusting means thereby to ensure easy and quick adjustment by the operator.
In an aspect, the shift lever assembly of invention is incorporated with plurality of articulated joint assemblies for achieving required degrees of freedom to move the lever

and maintain the desired operating position without affecting reliability / rigidity of the system.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS:
FIG.l is perspective view of shift lever according to the present invention.
FIG.2 is side view of shift lever with reference to FIG. 1 showing preferred embodiment of articulated joint assembly in accordance with the present invention.
FIG.3 is another side view of with reference to FIG.l.
FFG.4 is section view along the line A-A with reference to FIG.3 showing construction of adjustment means of joint assembly according to the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION:
While this invention is susceptible of embodiments in many different forms, the drawings shown here and description of preferred embodiments are to be considered as an example of the principles of the invention and not intended to limit the invention to the specific embodiments shown and described. In the description below, reference numerals are used to describe the parts in the several views of FIG 1-4.
The present invention describes a shift lever construction and assembly for providing flexibility in positioning the shift lever by changing the mounting position, changing profile of the lever sections and by increasing length of the joint assemblies.
An embodiment of the present invention provides a shift lever having a plurality of lever sections which are operatively incorporated with a plurality of joint assembly to achieve desired degrees of freedom to adjust the shift lever at desired operating position.
A further embodiment of invention provides a shift lever assembly whereby, the shift tever can be folded in a stowed position when not in use so as to vacate operator work space to enable additional free space for operating other shift levers comfortably.

In a preferred embodiment, the joint assemblies incorporated with an adjusting means for selectively adjusting the shift lever within the comfort zone of operator for convenient operation of the lever and both ends thereof are being designed for adaptably receiving flat ends of lever sections. The adjusting means further comprises a locating spacer, an adjusting knob, a friction washer and a dowel pin for positively locking the adjusting knob with the locating spacer.
In further embodiment, the lever sections and the joint assemblies are made of hollow tubes, specifically, to be adaptable for use with actuation of electronic control system where electronic actuation controls / buttons are provided on the handle and related electrical cable / wire means need to be routed through the shift lever for actuating the system. The adjusting means on both ends of joint assemblies and position of flattened ends on both ends of the lever section are designed in such a way to allow electrical cables there through without undesirably exposing the cables to open outside and enable comfortably adjusting position of the shift lever without disturbing or' damaging the electrical cable means.
In a preferred embodiment, the shift lever assembly is provided with 6 degrees of freedom to position the lever economically.
Further features and advantages of the present invention, as well as the structure and operation of various embodiments of the present invention, are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Referring to FIG.l & FIG.2, shift lever of the present invention is designated as 30 and illustrated in detail with reference to corresponding numerals of different and similar parts. The shift lever 30 comprises a first lever section, a second lever section 2, a third lever section 3 and a fourth lever section 4 and a first joint assembly 5, a second joint assembly 6 and a third joint assembly 7. The lever sections could be made of solid rod or hollow tube as per the requirement. However, according to the present invention, the lever sections are being made of hollow tube for the purpose of using with electro hydraulic system of tractor and adapted to receive electrical wires there through for actuating electronic control system. A handle 46 is also provided upon the shift lever 30

for disposing electronic control buttons thereby to actuate Position and Draft control of implement.
Referring to FIG.1 to FIG.3, first end 9 of the first lever section 1 is operatively connected with the system to be actuated and second end 10 thereof is adaptably designed as a flattened end 15. The plane of surface of the flattened end 15 is made parallel to the central axis of the first lever section 1. The second lever section 2 consists of a 90° elbow 16 and, first end 11 and second end 12 which are extended substantially for getting sufficient leverage for positioning the shift lever 30. The first end 11 of the second lever section 2 is provided with a flattened end 32 and the second end 12 is also provided with a flattened end 33. Similar to the second lever section 2, the third lever section is also provided with a 90° elbow 28 and a flattened end 34 at first end 13 and another flattened end 35 atsecond end 14. The fourth lever section 4 is also provided with a flattened end 36 at one end and other end is adapted to receive the handle 46.
The plane of surface of flattened end 32 is being designed in such a way that while assembling the shift lever 30 the plane of surface of flattened ends 15 and 32 should come in parallel position. Similarly, the plane of surface of flattened ends 33 & 34 and 35 & 36 should be in parallel position while assembling the shift lever 30. These particular combinations of parallelism of surface of flattened ends are being designed to operably connect with the joint assemblies 5, 6 & 7 thereby to adjust the shift lever operating position in three linear directions as well as in corresponding angular directions.
According to the present invention, with reference to FIG.l and corresponding coordinates, the joint assembly 5 will ensure linear adjustment of the shift lever 30 in Y direction and angular adjustment about X-axis, the joint assembly 6 will ensure linear adjustment of the shift lever 30 in Z direction and angular adjustment about Y-axis and the joint assembly 7 will ensure linear adjustment of the shift lever 30 in X direction and angular adjustment about Z-axis. Thus, the shift lever according to the present invention is being designed to have 6 degrees of freedom to give flexibility in position adjustment with respect to the comfort zone of operator. Above described configuration is purely exemplary and is not intended to limit to the specified configuration. It is to be understood that a person skilled in the art may change aforesaid configuration of shift

lever position adjustment as per the requirement by changing the mounting position of the shift iever 30, combinations of flattened ends and profile of the lever sections.
According to the present invention, number of joint assemblies is also not intended to limit up to three, may be at least one or more than three joint assemblies used for desired position adjustment. However, according to the preferred embodiment of the joint assemblies, for achieving 6 degrees of freedom, at least three joint assemblies are required.
Referring to FIG.2 to FIG.4, the construction details of joint assembly is described below with referring to the joint assembly 6, since all three joint assemblies mentioned in the present invention are of same construction. The joint assembly 6 comprises a hollow tube 31 having designed with outer diameter substantially larger than lever sections outer diameter to provide rigidity and robust construction to the shift lever 30. Both ends of the hollow tube 31 is formed with hemispherical end 8 and therein provided with a slot 25 as shown in FIG.4 adapted to incorporate a locating spacer 26 and receive flattened ends of lever sections. Conjoined portion of the hollow tube 31 and the hemispherical end 8 is made with large diameter 17 sufficiently to strengthen the joint assembly 6 as well as for providing rigidity to dispose an adjusting means 18 as shown in FIG.4. A hole 23 is provided through the slot 25 laterally and pass entirely through first half 37 of the spherical end 8 and partially through second half 38 of the spherical end 8. An internal screw threading 24 is provided on the hole of the first half 37 of the spherical end 8.
The adjusting means 18 comprising an adjusting knob 7, a dowel pin 20, a friction washer 27 and said locating spacer 26. Said adjusting knob comprises a circular head 39 provided with knurling 29 on peripheral surface thereof for better gripping, a first shank portion 21 formed with screw threading for operably engaging with internal screw threading 24 of the hole 23 and a second shank portion 22 with plane peripheral surface. A through hole 40 is provided on the second shank portion 22 perpendicular to central axis thereof for adaptably receiving the dowel pin 20. The, locating spacer 26 is provided with a hole 41 at center thereof and flattened ends are also provided with holes 42 for adaptably receiving said second shank portion 22 of the adjusting knob 7. The locating spacer 26 is also provided with a hole 43, shown in FIG.2, for adaptably receiving the dowel pin 20.

In further embodiment the invention provides a method for adjusting the position of the shift lever 30. Initially, the locating spacer 26 and the flattened ends are disposed in the slot 25 such that the central axis of holes 41 & 42, respectively, are coaxial with each other. The locating spacer 26is positioned adjacent to internal surface 44 of the first half 37 of hemispherical end 8. The friction washer 27 is disposed either between the locating spacer 26 and flattened ends of lever sections or between the internal surface 45 of the second half 38 of hemispherical end 8 and flattened ends of lever sections. Thereafter, the adjusting knob 7 is inserted through the hole 23 and further inserted through holes 41 & 42 of the locating spacer 26 and flattened ends, respectively. And also axis of the through hole 40 of the second shank portion 22 and axis of the hole 43 of the locating spacer 26 made aligned to be coaxial with each other so as to insert the dowel pin there through for locking the locating spacer 26 with the adjusting knob 7.
When the adjusting knob 7 rotates in clockwise direction, the locating spacer 26 moves forward and tightens the position of the flattened ends along with the friction washer 27. When the operator wants to change the position of the shift lever 30 to another operating position, he just needs to rotate the adjusting knob 7in anticlockwise direction which will move the locating spacer 26 backward. Thus the flattened ends getting loosened and allows the operator to change the shift lever position.

We Claim,
1. A shift lever assembly 30 comprising a plurality of articulated joint assembly incorporated with a plurality of shift lever section for achieving required degrees of freedom to move the shift lever and maintain position thereof at desired operating positions without affecting its reliability / rigidity.
2. The shift lever assembly as claimed in claim 1, comprises:
a first lever section 1 operatively connected with a system that is to be actuated through a first end 9, a second end 10 of said lever section 1 having a flattened end 15, wherein plane of surface of said flattened end 15 is made parallel to the central axis of the first lever section 1, the said flattened end 15 is operatively connected to a first articulated joint assembly 5;
a second lever section 2 operatively connected to the first articulated joint assembly 5 through a flattened end 32 at first end 11 and to a second articulated joint assembly 6 through second flattened end 33 at second end 12, wherein the said section 2 is formed with a 90° elbow 16;
a third lever section 3 operatively connected to the second articulated joint assembly 6 through a flattened end 34 at first end 13 and to a third articulated assembly 7 through the second flattened end 35 at second end 14, wherein the said third lever section 3 is formed with a 90° elbow 28; and
a fourth lever section 4 operatively connected to the third articulated joint assembly 7 through a first flattened end 36 at first end and second end is adapted to receive a handle 46.
3. The shift lever assembly as claimed in claim 1 and 2, wherein the articulated joint
assembly 6 comprises:
a hollow tube 31 having formed with a hemispherical end 8 at both ends thereof, wherein outer diameter of said tube 31 is substantially larger than outer diameter of the lever section 2 and conjoined portion of the hollow tube 31 and a hemispherical

end 8 is made with sufficiently large diameter 17 to provide rigidity to the joint assembly and to dispose an adjusting means 18 therein;
the hemispherical end 8 is formed with a slot 25 and provided with a hole 23 through the slot 25 laterally and passing entirely through a first half 37 of the hemispherical end 8 and partially through a second half 38 of the hemispherical end 8, wherein the whole 23 passing through the first half 37 of the hemispherical end 8 is provided with internal screw threading 24 adapted to receive an adjusting knob 7 for tightening the position of lever sections.
4. The shift lever assembly as claimed in claim 3, wherein the adjusting means 18 comprises:
said adjusting knob 7 comprising a circular head 39 provided with knurling 29 on peripheral surface thereof, a first shank portion 21 formed with screw threading for operably engaging with internal screw threading 24 of the hole 23 and a second shank portion 22 with plane peripheral surface;
the second shank portion 22 with plane peripheral surface comprises a through hole 40 disposed perpendicular to central axis of said sank portion 22 for receiving a dowel pin 20;
a locating spacer 26 is provided with a hole 41 at its center, and flattened ends of lever sections are also provided with a hole 42 for adaptably receiving said second shank portion 22 of the adjusting knob 7, a hole 43 is provided in the locating spacer radially to receive the dowel pin 20; and
a friction washer 27 is disposed in the slot 25 to maintain the position of the lever after tightening with the adjusting knob 7.
5. The shift lever assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein position of the lever can be adjusted in linear direction.
6. The shift lever assembly as claimed in claim 5, wherein, further the lever position can be adjusted at particular angular position.

7. The shift lever assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the lever is provided by at least 6 (six) degrees of freedom.
8. The shift lever assembly as claimed in claim ], wherein the lever sections are optionally, solid.
9. The shift lever assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the method of adjusting the position of the shift lever comprises;
a. Disposing the locating spacer 26 and the flattened ends in the slot 25 in such a
way to maintain central axis of holes 41 & 42, respectively, coaxial with each other;
b. positioning the locating spacer 26 adjacent to internal surface 44 of the first half
37 of the hemispherical end 8;
c. disposing the friction washer 27 either between the locating spacer 26 and
flattened ends of lever sections or between the internal surface 45 of the second half 38 of hemispherical end 8 arid flattened ends of lever sections;
d. inserting the adjusting knob 7 through the hole 23 and further through holes 41 &
42 of the locating spacer 26 and flattened ends, respectively;
e. coaxially aligning the through hole 40 of the second shank portion 22 and axis of
the hole 43 of the locating spacer 26 to insert the dowel pin 20 there through for
locking the locating spacer 26 with the adjusting knob 7 and
f. rotating the adjusting knob 7 in clockwise direction to tighten the position of
flattened ends.