FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to the field of automobiles. More specifically, the present invention
relates to automation of gear shift lever assembly design.
BACKGROUND
Early automotive vehicle design had, as a goal, the object of providing a transportation
alternative to a horse-and-buggy, with passenger comfort as a secondary consideration, at best.
Now vehicle design has advanced to a state in which occupant comfort and convenience,
sometimes called ergonomics or human factors, is on at least an even par with the transportive
aspects of a vehicle. This evolution has been driven by the availability of new technologies,
including instrument panel clusters, adjustable steering wheels and columns, vehicle electronics,
and movable seats, to mention only a few. With the addition of each new technology to the
automotive vehicle environment, however, has come additional complexity in packaging the
various occupant appurtenances to best achieve both design and ergonomic functionality.
One of the crucial parts of the vehicle design is gear shifting lever assembly. The gear shifting
lever assembly is an integral part of the transmission and its design is crucial. One aspect of the
gear shift lever assembly design is to provide an occupant, particularly a vehicle driver, with
sufficient space between adjacent vehicle systems. That is, a gear shift lever assembly design
goal is to locate a manual gear shift, a knee bolster, a steering column and steering wheel, a seat,
a hand brake, a door trim armrest, the inner roof, and the like, so that an occupant has adequate
appendage clearance for system operation or for a comfortable environment. A good design will
result in lesser effort while changing gear and also in better aesthetic appeal.
In a conventional method of gear shift lever assembly design, firstly the design layout is frozen.
Then various mounting points such as Hip point, Knob point and Steering point are frozen. Knob
point and mounting points are the beginning points for the design. Based on performance
requirement, benchmarked data, and general design rule considerations, design parameters are
decided like the lever ratio, shift and select angle, swivel angles, set lengths, etc. CAD
(Computer aided design) data is generated.
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All the design groups thus generate first draft CAD data. All the data is then put into virtual
vehicle integration mode. There are space constraints governed by the various clearances as from
seat, instrument panel, parking brake lever, console etc. Hence, the gear shift lever assembly
design is then checked for proper clearances with IP, seat, etc.
Usually the clearances thus so arrived are not within the acceptable limits in the first few vehicle
integration studies. Then the design parameters are tried to change and again CAD data is
generated for the next study. Hence it is an iterative process involving much iteration before the
final data gets freeze. Sometimes even after possible design parameters change, the clearances
does not come in acceptable limits. Then layout of the knob point is tried to change. Again the
CAD data is generated and studies are taken up. Sometimes even after knob point change,
required clearances are not met. Then negotiations are tried out with seats or with the floor team
to change their position. Hence, it is an iterative process.
The design & development of the gear shift lever assembly can be crystalized as:
a. Finalizing the hard points (knob point, mount points etc…) based on the vehicle
ergonomics.
b. Layout of the shift lever mechanism within the defined hard points.
c. Simulation of the mechanism with the possible extreme stroke positions during gear
shifting.
d. Modification of peripheral parts or the layout of shift lever mechanism itself to meet the
clearance standards.
e. Layout iteration during the entire virtual vehicle integration time to arrive at the
optimized layout package of vehicle interior.
Hence, the process of the gear shift lever assembly is iterative and time consuming. Hence, there
exists a need of a method and system for automation of designing of the gear shift lever
assembly which requires less time and effort and gives better result.
OBJECT OF THE INVENTION
Primary objective of the present invention is to provide a platform/system for automatically
creating gear shift lever assembly design.
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Another objective of the present invention is to provide a method for automatically creating gear
shift lever assembly design.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a platform/system for automatically
creating gear shift lever assembly design in a desirably less time.
Further objective of the present invention is to provide a platform/system for automatically
creating gear shift lever assembly design in a user friendly manner.
Furthermore objective of the present invention is to provide a platform/system for automatically
creating gear shift lever assembly design to enable to generate any combination of gear
instances.
One more objective of the present invention is to provide a platform/system for automatically
creating gear shift lever assembly design to enable to generate corresponding bell crank arm and
select finger assembly.
SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
Accordingly the present invention relates to a system for automatically creating gear shift
assembly design, said system comprising: a memory unit including input data, design
parameters, bitmaps, knob module, mounting module, ball module, shift module, select module,
point module and geometry module; a processing unit comprising at least one processor coupled
to the memory; and one or more image constructing units coupled to the said processor for
utilizing the said modules and configured for: obtaining input data representative of hip (H)
point, knob point, ball point, shift parameters, select parameters, point P1 parameters, lever
angles, select finger, bell crank arm, steering points, mounting points and spacing parameters;
inputting the obtained data in the knob module, mounting module, ball module, shift module and
point module; forming a first data set indicative of knob and mounting output values determined
based upon the values inputted in the said knob and mounting modules; forming a second data
set indicative of ball, shift and select output values determined based upon the values inputted in
the said ball, shift and select modules; populating the geometry module with the above formed
data sets; and based on the data sets, automatically constructing an image representing gear shift
assembly design.
5
According to another aspect of the present invention, wherein the one or more image
constructing units are configured to determine knob center with respect to the vehicle coordinate
center point based on the coordinates of the knob point.
According to yet another aspect of the present invention, wherein the one or more image
constructing units are configured to compute the distance between H point and knob center along
the three axes of the coordinate system.
According to further aspect of the present invention, wherein the knob and mounting modules
comprises one or more predetermined equations inputting values representing mounting points,
hip point, knob center and distance between hip point and knob center along the three axes, and
wherein said one or more image constructing units implements the one or more predetermined
equations to form the first data set indicative of knob and mounting output values.
According to furthermore aspect of the present invention, wherein: the ball point represents ball
center; the shift parameters represents shift lever ratio, shift stroke and shift set length; and the
select parameters represents select lever ratio, select stroke and select set length.
According to one more aspect of the present invention, wherein the ball, shift and select modules
comprises one or more predetermined equations inputting values representing mounting points,
knob center, ball center, shift lever ratio, shift stroke, shift set length, select lever ratio, select
stroke, select set length, point P1 parameters, lever angles, select finger and bell crank arm, and
wherein said one or more image constructing units implements the one or more predetermined
equations to form the second data set indicative of ball, shift and select output values.
According to another aspect of the present invention, wherein the one or more image
constructing units are further configured to form a third data set by combining the first and
second data sets in the point module.
According to yet another aspect of the present invention, wherein the one or more image
constructing units are further configured to add additional inputs on the fly in the point module.
6
According to further aspect of the present invention, wherein the one or more image constructing
units are further configured to add additional inputs on the fly in the point module.
According to furthermore aspect of the present invention, the present invention relates to a
method for automatically creating gear shift assembly design, said method comprising the steps
of: obtaining input data representative of hip (H) point, knob point, ball point, shift parameters,
select parameters, point P1 parameters, lever angles, select finger, bell crank arm, steering
points, mounting points and spacing parameters; inputting the obtained data in a knob module,
mounting module, ball module, shift module and point module; forming a first data set indicative
of knob and mounting output values determined based upon the values inputted in the said knob
and mounting modules; forming a second data set indicative of ball, shift and select output
values determined based upon the values inputted in the said ball, shift and select modules;
populating the geometry module with the above formed data sets; and based on the data sets,
automatically constructing an image representing gear shift assembly design.
According to one more aspect of the present invention, the present invention relates to an image
constructing unit within a computer aided system having a memory and processor, comprising:
one or more user accessible interfaces for providing user inputs; and an image generation unit;
wherein each user accessible interface being supported by a module stored in the memory; the
modules comprises equations inputting values provided by the user to generate one or more data
sets using the processor; and the image generation unit creates one or more images automatically
based on the data sets computed.
In the above paragraphs the more important features of the invention has been outlined, in order
that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood and in order that the
present contribution to the art may be better understood and in order that the present contribution
to the art may be better appreciated. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that
will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject of the claims appended hereto.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception upon which this disclosure is based
may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures for carrying out the several
7
purposes of the invention. It is important therefore that the claims be regarded as including such
equivalent constructions as do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention.
The following paragraphs are provided in order to describe the best mode of working the
invention and nothing in this section should be taken as a limitation of the claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
Further aspects and advantages of the present invention will be readily understood from the
following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings. Reference numerals
have been used to refer to identical or similar functionally similar elements. The figures together
with a detailed description below, are incorporated in and form part of the specification, and
serve to further illustrate the embodiments or aspects and explain various principles and
advantages, in accordance with the present invention wherein:
FIG. 1 is a schematic view of embodiments of the present invention
FIG 2A-2D represents images illustrating displays for steps in the designing process
FIG 3 shows various gear instances that can be generated according to an aspect of the present
invention.
FIG 4 represents block diagram illustrating various functional aspects of the present invention as
used in the system performing the method of the present embodiment of the present invention.
FIG 5 represents block diagram illustrating the geometric module/elements computed in a
session in accordance with the present invention.
FIG 6 represents graph illustrating the time saving achieved using the present invention as
compared to the conventional techniques.
FIG 7 represents applications of the present invention in the industry.
FIG 8 represents schematic view of an architecture of a computing device adapted for carrying
out the present invention.
8
FIG 9 represents block diagram of a design control unit in accordance with one embodiment of
the present invention.
FIG 10 is a schematic view of a computer network in accordance with one embodiment of the
present invention.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the drawings are illustrated for simplicity and
have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements
in the drawings may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding
of embodiments of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
In order that the invention may be readily understood and put into practical effect, reference will
now be made to exemplary embodiments as illustrated with reference to the accompanying
drawings, where like reference numerals refer to identical or functionally similar elements
throughout the separate views. The figures together with a detailed description below, are
incorporated in and form part of the specification, and serve to further illustrate the embodiments
and explain various principles and advantages, in accordance with the present invention where:
The terms “comprises”, “comprising”, or any other variations thereof, are intended to cover a
non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method that comprises a list of steps does not
include only those steps but may include other steps not expressly listed or inherent to such
process, method. Similarly, one or more elements in a system or apparatus proceeded by
“comprises… a” does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of other elements or
additional elements in the system or apparatus.
The present invention relates to a system/method for automatically creating gear shift assembly
design, said system comprising: a memory unit including input data, design parameters, bitmaps,
knob module, mounting module, ball module, shift module, select module, point module and
geometry module; a processing unit comprising at least one processor coupled to the memory;
and one or more image constructing units coupled to the said processor for utilizing the said
9
modules and configured for: obtaining input data representative of hip (H) point, knob point, ball
point, shift parameters, select parameters, point P1 parameters, lever angles, select finger, bell
crank arm, steering points, mounting points and spacing parameters; inputting the obtained data
in the knob module, mounting module, ball module, shift module and point module; forming a
first data set indicative of knob and mounting output values determined based upon the values
inputted in the said knob and mounting modules; forming a second data set indicative of ball,
shift and select output values determined based upon the values inputted in the said ball, shift
and select modules; populating the geometry module with the above formed data sets; and based
on the data sets, automatically constructing an image representing gear shift assembly design.
In reference to Figures 2A-2D, the exemplified graphical user interface may be a typical CADlike
interface, having standard menu bars 110, 120, as well as bottom and side toolbars 140, 150.
Such menu and toolbars contain a set of user-selectable icons, each icon being associated with
one or more operations or functions, as known in the art. The GUI may be as the one depicted in
FIG. 2A-2D.
Some of these icons are associated with tools, adapted for editing and/or working on a modeled
product or objects (or parts) of product such as that displayed in the GUI. In the following
description, "product", "part", "assembly" and the like may be referred to as "part" for the sake of
simplicity. Note that the concept of "part" can in fact be generalized to that of "object", wherein
an object can be only a "physical" part of the designed product or, more generally, any software
tool participating in the design process (but not necessarily "in" the final product).
The modeling tool can enable designer to customize and create sessions within the modeling tool
to suit the requirement of a particular products. The sessions can contain predetermined set of
rules/instructions to reduce the time for constructing desired images of a particular product.
A user/designer interacts with an initial modeled object within a session in a GUI. Interacting
with an initial modeled object means that designing operations are performed on the object upon
user action. A designing operation may consist in selecting a part of an object, editing
geometrical constraints, editing geometrical feature, changing the viewpoint of the modeled
object, and so on. In fact, a designing operation is carried out each time a modification occurs on
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the initial modeled object, and more generally on a modeled object. Interacting with the initial
modeled object can also mean that a modification of the session is performed on upon user
action: indeed, a modification of the session has an impact on the initial modeled object; for
instance, the spatial position of an object may be determined by the session.
A session is a delimited period during which a user interacts with a system. A session is set up or
established at a certain point in time, and stops at a later point in time; in general, the session
starts after a user's login and stops after a user's logout. A session keeps track of operations
performed by the user on the system in order to store a user context. By this way, the state of the
system can be restored when the user logs in again. The user context comprises a set of
information about user's relations with the system; the interactions between the user and the
system can advantageously be personalized so that the system is adapted to the user's needs. A
session can comprise a set of properties. For example, a profile of the user can be a property of
the session. The profile consists in a collection of personal data associated to the user, such as its
identity (e.g. first name, family name, nickname . . . ) and characteristics (e.g. access rights on
the system, on the database, on objects . . . ). A session may also keep track of the spatial
position of the object, as well as the loading of a specific workbench and/or of tool. The spatial
position of the objects and the loading of a specific workbench and/or of tool can be properties of
the session.
Accordingly, Figures 2A-2D illustrates various sessions within a modeling tool. Wherein each
session contains specific instructions/rules/process/formula loaded within the session so that the
analyzer can populate image based on the preloaded rules along with user inputs. The designer
need not start designing the image from the scratch.
A modeled object may be a three-dimensional (3D) modeled object. A three-dimensional (3D)
modeled object is a description of an object in a three dimensional (3D) space. A 3D space is a
geometric model of a physical universe, which may be mathematically represented by a
geometry which describes every point in three-dimensional space by means of coordinates.
Incidentally, other ways of describing three-dimensional space exist. A 3D modeled object refers
essentially to specifications, from which geometry is generated. A 3D modeled object is thus a
mathematical description depicting of a 3D object, that is, a collection of points in 3D space,
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connected by various geometric entities such as triangles, lines, curved surfaces, etc. A 3D
modeled object is represented by a 3D representation of the 3D modeled object. In general, the
3D representation is displayed in a GUI, and therefore, may be displayed in the scene—which is
therefore a 3D scene. An object displayed in 3D allows its viewing from all angles. For instance,
the object may be handled and turned around any of its axes, or around any axis in the screen.
Illustrated in FIG. 1 is a non-limiting example embodiment (100) of the present invention. A 3D
CAD modeling tool/analyzer (101) which receives input from user through module 1. The
module 1 (101) includes techniques analyzing the received input from user and developing first
set of images/data set. The analyzer generating first images based on the first input to the first
module. The first image is formed of multiple objects and taking into consideration
predetermined parameters. Thereafter receiving user inputs in second module for further
constructing images over the first generated images. The analyzer outputs second set of
images/data set after the inputs are provided to the second module. The third module receives
third set of inputs from user. The analyzer generates the complete image of gear shift lever along
with many alternatives. The user can easily choose amongst the different variants to best suit the
design parameters for a particular vehicle.
The tools may be grouped into workbenches. Each workbench comprises a subset of tools. In
particular, such workbenches can be suitable for editing geometrical features of the modeled
product. In operation, a designer may for example pre-select a part of the object and then initiate
an operation (e.g. change the dimension, color, etc.) or edit geometrical constraints by selecting
an appropriate icon. For example, typical CAD operations are the modeling of the punching or
the folding of a 3D modeled object displayed on the screen.
We here below illustrate invention stage by stage using figures 2-4. Before describing th
invention, we here below enlist the different parameters which are required for automation of
designing of gear shift lever are given in the below table:
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Table 1
Fig 2A illustrates session 1 relating to Knob and Mounting Points tab. Firstly, the knob center of the
gear shift device is first decided w.r.t the vehicle coordinate center point. Every point considered has 3
coordinates X(BL), Y(TL), & Z(WL). The user first inputs the values of H-Point, Knob center and the
mounting points point1, point2, point3 and point4. Based on the H-point and the knob center the distance
between the H-Point and the knob center along Tl, BL and WL is calculated by the program. The
distances D1 and D2 are also calculated by the application based on the mounting points. D1 is the
distance between point3 and point4 or point1 and point2. D2 is the distance between point1 and point3 or
point2 and point4. Based on the above, first level of the image is created as outputted (410) from session
1 (408) as depicted in Figure 4.
Secondly, Fig 2B illustrates session 2 relating to Ball, Shift and Select parameters tab. The user inputs
the values of the ball center, shift lever ratio, shift stroke, shift set length, select lever ratio, select stroke,
select set length, lever angles (a1, a2, a3, a4), point P1 parameters in this tab. The values input for the
knob center in the earlier tab are used to calculate the relation between the knob center and the ball center
(A1, B1, C1) and the values input for the mounting point 4 are used to calculate the relation between the
ball center and the mounting point(A2, B2, C2). The shift lever ratio (LRshf) is the ratio of the distance
between the top of the lever to the center of the ball and the distance between the tip of the lever and the
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center of the ball. This input is used to calculate the Lever radius R1 given by the formula La/LRshf,
where La is the lever length given by SQRT(A1A2+B1A2+C1A2). The select lever ratio (LRsel) is used to
calculate the lever radius R2 given by (La/B3)*(C3/LRsel) where B3 is the Select Finger and C3 is the
Bell crank arm. The point P1 is calculated using the inputs L1 and the bend radius. The image outputted
(410) from session 2 (407) is depicted in figure 4.
All the values calculated above in the above mentioned two tabs are used in the next tab/session (Points
tab) as illustrated in Figure 2C. There are more inputs taken from the user and the design is continuously
updated as and when the user clicks on Update geometry button. The points that were collected in the
previous tabs are displayed in a list in this tab. The user can design the gear shift according to his
requirements by adding points between the ball center and point p1 as well as ball center and eye point.
The user can update the geometry and modify the same based on the required output.
After completion of sessions 1-3, the designer can go to the final level of generating the final modeled
image using Geometry tab as illustrated in figure 2D. The inputs given by the user are used to calculate
the different parameters required to design the gear shift lever. On clicking the update geometry button
given at the end of each tab the design is updated in the NX window. In the geometry tab the different
gear positions are shown as illustrated in Figure 3 and figure 4. The user can select the gear shift in the
required gear position. The diameter of the gear shift tube is also given by the user. On clicking Update
geometry the geometry of the gear shift lever is updated at the different positions selected.
Figure 6 is a graphical representation of the time saving analysis. The invention was carried out by 10
different users/designers. The data of the time take by the different users are mentioned in the table here
below:
S.NO User Time taken - without application
(in mins)
Time taken - with application
(in mins)
% Time saving achieved
1 User 1 20 2 90.00
2 User 2 30 2 93.33
3 User 3 25 2 92.00
4 User 4 30 5 83.33
5 User 5 56 5 91.07
6 User 6 15 1 93.33
7 User 7 10 1 90.00
8 User 8 35 4 88.57
9 User 9 20 2 90.00
10 User 10 30 4 86.67
11 User 11 35 3 91.43
12 User 12 25 2 92.00
Average time saving achieved: 90.14
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As it can be noticed from the table that the amount of average time taken to generate gear shift
lever images using the methodology of the present invention is less than 1.5 mins. Whereas,
conventionally, for generation of the same images, the time taken was minimum 10 mins. Hence,
by carrying out the present invention approximately 90% time is saved when compared to the
conventional techniques. The present automation technique really enhances efficiency.
Figure 7 illustrates the application of the present invention, wherein, the database is updated
using technical specification, product details/portfolio and standards parts library. Further, the
modeling tool is updated based on the technical knowhow, handbooks and other parameters. The
Modeling interface uses the database and the tool to efficiently automate designing of desired
products.
Fig. 9 represents a system for automatically creating gear shift assembly design according to an
embodiment of the present invention. The system comprises of a memory unit, a processor and a
controller coupled to each other.
The memory unit comprises of various modules to store necessary data required for
automatically creating gear shift assembly design. The memory comprises an input data module,
a design parameters module, a ball module, a shift module, a select module, a point module and a
geometry module. A skilled person in the art can easily appreciate that the memory unit may
comprise less or more modules according to the requirement.
The input data module receives the input data required for designing the gear shift assembly
through the one or more user accessible interfaces from the user and stores the input data. The
input data may be related to various parameters of a gear shift assembly for example hip point,
ball point, mounting point, knob point, steering points, shift parameters, select parameters, point
P1 parameters, lever angles, select finger, bell crank arm and spacing parameters etc.
The controller obtains input data from the input data module and inputs the obtained input data
into the ball module, shift module, select module and point module. As shown in table 1 and
Figs. 2A – 2D, different values of various input parameters can be inputted in the various
modules. These values can easily be changed, if the design of the gear shift assembly is not
satisfactory.
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After inputting the input data in input various modules, the processor forms a first data set
indicative of knob and mounting output values determined based upon the values inputted in the
said knob and mounting modules. After determining the first data set, the processor further
determines a second data set indicative of ball, shift and select output values determined based
upon the values inputted in the said ball, shift and select modules.
The controller then inputs the first data set and second data set into the geometry module. The
controller further executes geometry module and computes the data and inputs the data into the
image generation unit. As shown in Fig. 2(D) and 3, the geometry module generates a
geometrical view of the gear shift assembly based on the computed data sets. Precisely, the
constructs/generates one or more gear shift assembly designs automatically based on the data
sets computed. As shown in Fig. 2A-2D, various gear shift assembly designs can be
constructed/generated based on the input data.
FIG. 8 shows a computing system/device. The device comprises a central processing unit
(CPU) (810) connected to an internal communication BUS (809), a random access memory
(RAM) 807 also connected to the BUS. The device is further provided with a graphical
processing unit (GPU) (802) which is associated with a video random access
memory (803) connected to the BUS.
Video RAM (803) is also known in the art as frame buffer. A mass storage device
controller (811) manages accesses to a mass memory device, such as hard drive (812). Mass
memory devices suitable for tangibly embodying computer program instructions and data
include all forms of nonvolatile memory, including by way of example semiconductor memory
devices, such as EPROM, EEPROM, and flash memory devices; magnetic disks such as internal
hard disks and removable disks; magneto-optical disks; and CD-ROM disks (813). Any of the
foregoing may be supplemented by, or incorporated in, specially designed ASICs (applicationspecific
integrated circuits). A network adapter (814) manages accesses to a network (815). The
client computer may also include a haptic device (804) such as cursor control device, a keyboard
or the like. A cursor control device is used in the client computer to permit the user to selectively
position a cursor at any desired location on display (806). In addition, the cursor control device
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allows the user to select various commands, and input control signals. The cursor control device
includes a number of signal generation devices for input control signals to system. Typically, a
cursor control device may be a mouse, the button of the mouse being used to generate the
signals.
As per Fig 10, the interactions with the initial modeled object are preferably performed on a
device. The device may be a CAD system (e.g. a computer system or workstation running a
CAD application) on which the user performs designing operations. The device interacts with the
database (1003); one could also say that the host client is in relation or connected to a server
(1001) on which the database is hosted. For instance, when the user selects the initial modeled
object on the user system, the initial modeled object is searched in the database on the server,
sent to the user system and displayed thereon. It is to be understood that the user system and the
server may be located on a same system, or located on distinct systems, as known in the art.
Figure 11 is a flow chart representing methodology according to an aspect of the present
invention. Accordingly, the flow chart describes the steps of the present invention, comprising
of: obtaining input data representative of hip (H) point, knob point, ball point, shift parameters,
select parameters, point P1 parameters, lever angles, select finger, bell crank arm, steering
points, mounting points and spacing parameters; inputting the obtained data in a knob module,
mounting module, ball module, shift module and point module; forming a first data set indicative
of knob and mounting output values determined based upon the values inputted in the said knob
and mounting modules; forming a second data set indicative of ball, shift and select output
values determined based upon the values inputted in the said ball, shift and select modules;
populating the geometry module with the above formed data sets; and based on the data sets,
automatically constructing an image representing gear shift assembly design.
It is to be understood that the foregoing technique can be applied to any object in any
configuration capable of being defined by a CAD/CAM/CAE system, or any system used to
display views of an object. The invention may be implemented in digital electronic circuitry, or
in computer hardware, firmware, software, or in combinations of them. Apparatus of the
invention may be implemented in a computer program product tangibly embodied in a machinereadable
storage device for execution by a programmable processor; and method steps of the
17
invention may be performed by a programmable processor executing a program of instructions to
perform functions of the invention by operating on input data and generating output.
The invention may advantageously be implemented in one or more computer programs that are
executable on a programmable system including at least one programmable processor coupled to
receive data and instructions from, and to transmit data and instructions to, a data storage system,
at least one input device, and at least one output device. The application program may be
implemented in a high-level procedural or object-oriented programming language, or in
assembly or machine language if desired; and in any case, the language may be a compiled or
interpreted language.
Generally, a processor will receive instructions and data from a read-only memory and/or a
random access memory. Storage devices suitable for tangibly embodying computer program
instructions and data include all forms of nonvolatile memory, including by way of example
semiconductor memory devices, such as EPROM, EEPROM, and flash memory devices;
magnetic disks such as internal hard disks and removable disks; magneto-optical disks; and CDROM
disks. Any of the foregoing may be supplemented by, or incorporated in, specially
designed ASICs (application-specific integrated circuits).
The preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described. It will be understood that
various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
Therefore, other implementations are within the scope of the following claims. For instance, the
representations of the selected modeled objects may be 3D representations of 3D modeled
objects which may be manipulated by the user.
While this invention has been particularly shown and described with references to example
embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in
form and details may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention
encompassed by the appended claims.
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We Claim:
1. A system for automatically creating gear shift assembly design, said system comprising:
a memory unit including input data, design parameters, bitmaps, knob module,
mounting module, ball module, shift module, select module, point module and geometry
module;
a processing unit comprising at least one processor coupled to the memory; and
one or more image constructing units coupled to the said processor for utilizing the said
modules and configured for:
obtaining input data representative of hip (H) point, knob point, ball point,
shift parameters, select parameters, point P1 parameters, lever angles, select
finger, bell crank arm, steering points, mounting points and spacing parameters;
inputting the obtained data in the knob module, mounting module, ball
module, shift module and point module;
forming a first data set indicative of knob and mounting output values
determined based upon the values inputted in the said knob and mounting
modules;
forming a second data set indicative of ball, shift and select output values
determined
based upon the values inputted in the said ball, shift and select modules;
populating the geometry module with the above formed data sets; and
based on the data sets, automatically constructing an image representing
gear shift assembly design.
2. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the one or more image constructing units are
configured to determine knob center with respect to the vehicle coordinate center point
based on the coordinates of the knob point.
3. The system as claimed in claims 1 and 2, wherein the one or more image constructing
units are configured to compute the distance between H point and knob center along the
three axes of the coordinate system.
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4. The system as claimed in claims 1-3, wherein the knob and mounting modules comprises
one or more predetermined equations inputting values representing mounting points, hip
point, knob center and distance between hip point and knob center along the three axes,
and
wherein said one or more image constructing units implements the one or more
predetermined equations to form the first data set indicative of knob and mounting output
values.
5. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein:
the ball point represents ball center;
the shift parameters represents shift lever ratio, shift stroke and shift set length; and
the select parameters represents select lever ratio, select stroke and select set length.
6. The system as claimed in claims 1, 2 and 5, wherein the ball, shift and select modules
comprises one or more predetermined equations inputting values representing mounting
points, knob center, ball center, shift lever ratio, shift stroke, shift set length, select lever
ratio, select stroke, select set length, point P1 parameters, lever angles, select finger and
bell crank arm, and
wherein said one or more image constructing units implements the one or more
predetermined equations to form the second data set indicative of ball, shift and select
output values.
7. The system as claimed in 1, wherein the one or more image constructing units are further
configured to form a third data set by combining the first and second data sets in the point
module.
8. The system as claimed in 1, wherein the one or more image constructing units are further
configured to add additional inputs on the fly in the point module.
9. The system as claimed in 1, wherein the one or more image constructing units are further
configured to add additional inputs on the fly in the point module.
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10. A method for automatically creating gear shift assembly design, said method comprising
the steps of:
obtaining input data representative of hip (H) point, knob point, ball point, shift
parameters, select parameters, point P1 parameters, lever angles, select finger, bell crank
arm, steering points, mounting points and spacing parameters;
inputting the obtained data in a knob module, mounting module, ball module,
shift module and point module;
forming a first data set indicative of knob and mounting output values determined
based upon the values inputted in the said knob and mounting modules;
forming a second data set indicative of ball, shift and select output values
determined based upon the values inputted in the said ball, shift and select modules;
populating the geometry module with the above formed data sets; and
based on the data sets, automatically constructing an image representing gear shift
assembly design.
11. An image constructing unit within a computer aided system having a memory and
processor, comprising:
one or more user accessible interfaces for providing user inputs; and
an image generation unit;
wherein
each user accessible interface being supported by a module stored in the memory;
the modules comprises equations inputting values provided by the user to
generate one or more data sets using the processor; and
the image generation unit creates one or more images automatically based on the
data sets computed.