Robert M Abramson, 711766 Old Briar Rd, Highland Park, IL 60035

4573348, Mar 4, 1986

May 14, 1984

6/610217

Robert D. Abramson - Livonia MI
David A. Donovan - Chelsea MI
Nathaniel L. Field - Northville MI

Ford Motor Company - Dearborn MI

G01M 1500

73118

A shift lever and throttle lever coaxially mounted on the casing of an automatic transmission are engaged, respectively, by a lever mounted on each of two concentric shafts whose axes are aligned with the axis of the transmission levers. The shafts have torque sensors located between the levers carried by the shafts and bearings that support the shafts in rotation. The outer shaft has a radial positioning actuator which is hydraulically driven from a source of hydraulic pressure through a servo controlled valve that selectively opens and closes hydraulic passages. The actuator includes a vane fixed to the shaft and a stator that divides a cavity into two halves, each of which is pressurized selectively by operation of the servo. The angular position of the shaft from a reference position is produced by a variable impedance transducer whose sensor is held at a fixed distance from the axis of the shaft and which produces an output voltage that is proportional to the distance between the face of the sensor and a cam surface, whose distance from the axis of the shaft varies linearly with its rotation from a reference position.