The invention concerns a shift fork for a gear-change selector module of a gearshift, with a shift fork base body and a sensor emitter. The invention also relates to a method for production of a shift fork with a sensor emitter.

Gear-change selector modules are parts of a transmission mechanism. They serve to create the adjustment movement for shifting between different gears of the transmission. For example, the gear-change selector module may contain several actuator pistons which are actuated hydraulically or electro-mechanically when a gear is to be selected. The stroke of the pistons is transferred to different shift forks. The shift forks are connected to shift collars of the transmission so as to adjust these axially. In this way, different gear stages are activated or deactivated.

It is known to form the shift forks with a sensor emitter, for example to be able to determine the position of the shift fork by means of the sensor emitter.

The shift forks with sensor emitters known from the prior art are however very costly to produce.

The object of the invention is to provide a shift fork for a gear-change selector module with a sensor emitter which can be produced at low cost. Another object of the invention is to provide a method for low-cost production of a shift fork with a sensor emitter.

This object is achieved by shift fork for a gear-change selector module of a motor vehicle, with a shift fork base body and a sensor emitter which is moulded onto the shift fork base body. In the sense of the invention, a component is “moulded onto" another component when it is attached by means of an injectionmoulding process. If the sensor emitter is thus attached to the shift fork base body by means of an injection-moulding process, the shift fork may be produced at low cost. In particular, in this way, no separate fixing elements are required such as fixing caps, clips or screws, for attaching the sensor emitter to the shift fork base body.

Furthermore, in this way, the sensor emitter may be fixed so securely that it cannot be removed from the shift fork base body without destruction.

Furthermore, the sensor emitter may be a magnetic body or be made of a magnetisable material, whereby the sensor emitter can be integrated particularly effectively in an electronic control system.

In one embodiment, the shift fork has a holder by means of which the sensor emitter is fixed to the shift fork base body. The holder is formed by overmoulding of the sensor emitter and shift fork base body. Thus the sensor emitter may be fixed to the shift fork base body particularly reliably.

In an alternative embodiment, the shift fork base body has a holder into which the sensor emitter is moulded, so that the sensor emitter is fixed in the holder by form fit. In this way, the sensor emitter can be connected to the shift fork base body particularly efficiently.

In all embodiments, the sensor emitter may have an undercut in which the holder engages in order to fix the sensor emitter perpendicularly to the course of the undercut. Thus the sensor emitter is additionally secured by form fit.

It may furthermore be provided that the sensor emitter has a profile portion which extends in a longitudinal direction, and the holder has a corresponding receiver for the profile portion. In this way, the contact area between the sensor emitter and the holder may be particularly large, in order to promote a reliable fixing.

In one embodiment, the holder may have a holding contour which blocks the profile portion in a longitudinal direction of the profile portion. In this way, it may be ensured that the sensor emitter is reliably fixed even if large forces act on the sensor emitter in the longitudinal direction of the profile portion.

In addition or alternatively, the shift fork may have a closure which blocks the profile portion in the receiver in a longitudinal direction of the profile portion, in order to additionally secure the sensor emitter, in particular in the case of high load in the longitudinal direction of the profile portion. According to one embodiment, the sensor emitter is arranged on a shift fork arm of the shift fork, onto which it may be moulded at low cost because of the geometry of the shift fork. Furthermore, this design is favourable since in this way, the sensor emitter may be positioned particularly close to a sensor assigned to the sensor emitter, and thus an effective and precise detection of the sensor emitter or its position is guaranteed.

According to a further embodiment, the sensor emitter is produced by diecasting, whereby the sensor emitter may easily be designed such that its geometry promotes a reliable fixing and/or its property as a sensor emitter.

According to the invention, to achieve the above object, a method is also proposed for production of a shift fork for a gear-change selector module of a motor vehicle, in particular a shift fork according to the invention, with the step: a) moulding of a sensor emitter onto a shift fork base body of the shift fork.

In this way, the shift fork can be produced very easily and hence economically.

Further advantages and features will become apparent from the following description and from the appended drawings, in which:

- Figure 1 shows a perspective illustration of a gear-change selector module with a shift fork according to the invention,

- Figure 2 shows a top view of the shift fork from figure 1 ,

- Figure 3 shows a side view of the shift fork from figure 1 ,

- Figure 4 shows a sectional view of the shift fork along plane Z-Z from figure 3,

- Figure 5 shows a sectional view of a holder of the shift fork along plane N-N from figure 4, and

- Figure 6 shows a sectional view of a holder of the shift fork in a further embodiment, along plane N-N from figure 4.

Figure 1 shows a gear-change selector module 10 for a gearshift of a motor vehicle with several shift forks 20. In principle, the gear-change selector module 10 may have an arbitrary number of shift forks 20, in particular only one.

Furthermore, in an alternative embodiment, the gear-change selector module 10 may have further shift forks which differ from the shift forks 20 in their design.

With reference to figures 2 to 4, the structure of the shift forks 20 will now be explained using the example of a shift fork 20.

The shift fork 20 has a shift fork base body 22 with two shift fork arms 24 and an axial guide 26 which is configured for mounting the shift fork 20 on a shaft 28 (see figure 1) of the gear-change selector module 10 so as to be displaceable in the axial direction A.

Furthermore, the shift fork 20 has a sensor emitter 30 and a holder 32, by means of which the sensor emitter 30 is fixed to the shift fork base body 22.

The sensor emitter, together with a suitable sensor (not shown here), allows detection of the position of the shift fork, for example in order to establish whether a specific gear has been selected.

The sensor emitter 30 is here a magnetic body which was produced by diecasting.

In an alternative embodiment, the sensor emitter 30 may be an arbitrary magnetic body or be formed from an arbitrary material, in particular a magnetisable material.

In the embodiment shown, the sensor emitter 30 is arranged on one of the shift fork arms 24.

In principle, the sensor emitter 30 may be arranged at an arbitrary location on the shift fork 20.

The shift fork 20 may be formed by overmoulding of the shift fork base body 22 together with the sensor emitter 30, for example with a plastic.

During overmoulding of the shift fork base body 22 and sensor emitter 30, the holder 32 is formed, which surrounds the shift fork base body 22 and sensor emitter 30 at least in portions and in this way reliably connects them. In addition or alternatively, the holder 32 may be formed integrally with a casing of the shift fork 20 which is formed at least in portions during overmoulding of the shift fork base body 22 and surrounds the shift fork base body 22 at least in portions.

In an alternative embodiment, the shift fork 20 is formed by moulding the sensor emitter 30 into the holder 32 which was already produced before moulding-in.

This means that the holder 32 forms part of the casting mould into which the material forming the sensor emitter 30 is injected.

Thus the holder 32 in portions defines the form of the sensor emitter 30, whereby this is received in the holder 32 by form fit.

Here, the sensor emitter 30 may be made of a magnetisable material which is magnetised accordingly during and/or after moulding-in, order to form the sensor emitter 30.

In principle, the sensor emitter 30 may be moulded onto the shift fork base body 22 in any fashion.

T o produce the shift fork 20, the sensor emitter 30 is moulded onto the shift fork base body 22, in particular in one of the above-mentioned ways.

As shown in figure 4, the sensor emitter 30 has two undercuts 34 which extend in the axial direction A.

The holder 32 is here configured such that it extends into the undercuts 34, whereby the sensor emitter 30 is reliably fixed in the holder 32 in a direction R perpendicular to the axial direction A.

Furthermore, the sensor emitter 30 has a head portion 36 and a profile portion 38 which is arranged in a receiver 40 of the holder 32.

The profile portion 38 and the receiver 40 here extend in the longitudinal direction L (see figure 5) of the profile portion 38, which here corresponds to the axial direction A. Furthermore, the receiver 40 is formed complementarity to the profile portion 38, which is imposed by the production process of the shift fork 20, in particular by the above-mentioned moulding-on of the sensor emitter 30.

In the embodiment shown in figure 5, the profile portion 38 is delimited at an axial end 42 by a holding contour 44 which is formed by two mutually opposing extensions 46 of the holder 32.

At the opposite axial end 48 of the profile portion 38, the holder 32 is closed in the sectional plane illustrated.

Thus the sensor emitter 30 is blocked in the receiver 40 by the holder 32 in and against the longitudinal direction L.

In an alternative embodiment (see figure 6), the profile portion 38 is blocked at the axial end 42 in the longitudinal direction L by a closure 50 of the shift fork 20, while the opposite axial end 48 is blocked in the longitudinal direction L by the holding contour 44.

The closure 50 is fixed in the holder 32 by force fit, form fit and/or substance bonding, and may for example be a plug.

In principle, the holder 32 and/or the sensor emitter 30 may be structured arbitrarily as long as the sensor emitter 30 is reliably fixed to the shift fork base body 22.

For example, in an alternative embodiment, the sensor emitter 30 may comprise contours and/or undercuts in which the holder 32 engages, so that the sensor emitter 30 is blocked in the longitudinal direction L by form fit.

In a further embodiment, the sensor emitter 30 may also be reliably fixed in the holder 32 without holding contours 44, closures 50, latching contours and/or undercuts, so these elements may be omitted. In other words, these elements are optional.

In this way, a shift fork 20 with a sensor emitter 30 is provided which can be produced at low cost.

Furthermore, a method is provided, by means of which a shift fork 20 with a sensor emitter 30 can be produced at low cost.