JP2002188712A - Transmission mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To determine a transmission ratio by making a determination not affected by a speed change and performed in a significant time, and to improve the accuracy of the determination without requiring a stable state. SOLUTION: In a method for determining the transmission ratio of a transmission mechanism including a plurality of speed gear ratio type gear boxes 12, a pulse-shaped input signal is formed by a sensor 42 assigned to an input shaft 15 of the transmission mechanism, the number of pulses of the input signal is proportional to the number of revolutions of the input shaft 15, a pulse-shaped output signal is formed by a second sensor 43 assigned to an output shaft 44 of the transmission mechanism, the number of pulses of the output signal is proportional to the number of revolutions of the output shaft 44, and the number of pulses of the input signal generated within the same time as time generating the number of pre-determined pulses of the output signal is counted to determine the transmission ratio.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a transmission mechanism including a gearbox with a plurality of transmission ratios, and more particularly to a method for determining the transmission ratio of an automatic transmission mechanism.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An automatic transmission mechanism including a plurality of gear ratio type gearboxes, for example, a manual automatic transmission mechanism or an automatic or semi-automatic transmission mechanism (the above-mentioned multiple speed ratio gearbox is, for example, WO97 / 05410).
Or the specification of WO 97/40300, the description of which is useful for clarifying the present invention), the gear change mechanism has a plurality of shift rails. Each shift rail is assigned to the two gear ratios of the gearbox via a selector fork and a synchromesh unit, so that the axial movement of each shift rail in one direction is assigned to one of the gearboxes.
It connects two gear ratios.

[0003] A selector member is moved in a select direction transverse to the shift rail to engage a selected one of the shift rails and to move the selected one of the shift rails in the shift direction, ie, axially. One axial direction or another axial direction connects the selected gear ratios.

[0004] WO 97/05410 or WO 97/40300
In the means described in the specification, the selector member is moved in a first direction and a second direction by a hydraulic actuator. German Patent Application No. 197 34 023, the contents of which serve to elucidate the invention, teaches the movement of a selector member in a first direction or in a second direction. It discloses the use of an electric motor.

In such a system, means for controlling the actuator are calibrated so that the selector member can be moved to a position corresponding to the connection of the gear ratio in the gearbox. This means
Related to the structure (design) of the gearbox. Since the system is used with gearboxes of various constructions, the type of gearbox must be determined.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a method for determining a gear ratio of a transmission mechanism including a multi-ratio gearbox is as follows: Form a pulsed input signal,
The number of pulses of the input signal is proportional to the number of revolutions of the input shaft to the transmission mechanism, forming a pulse-like output signal, and the number of pulses of the output signal is proportional to the number of revolutions of the output shaft of the transmission mechanism; The number of pulses of the input signal or the output signal is counted, and the number of pulses is generated within the same time as the occurrence of the reverse output signal or the predetermined number of pulses of the input signal.

[0007] An accurate transmission ratio determination is thus obtained by the ratio between the predefined number of pulses of the input signal and the number of pulses of the output signal in the same time.

In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the input signal is obtained by the rotation of an input shaft of a gearbox, the input shaft being arranged between the gearbox and a friction clutch connecting the gearbox to the engine. I have. Alternatively, however, the input signal may be obtained by rotation of a shaft or a component of the engine arranged on the engine side of the clutch, which clutch remains fully engaged during the gear ratio determination.

[0009] The output signal may be obtained from the direct output shaft of the gearbox, where the defined transmission ratio is the gear ratio. Alternatively, the output signal is obtained from one or more driven wheels, wherein the transmission ratio determination is made by a combination of the gear ratio and the differential ratio.

As described above, based on defining the transmission ratio on the basis of the rotation speeds of the input shaft and the output shaft over a predetermined time, the definition is not affected by the speed change, and therefore is performed in a meaningful time, and is stable. No state is required and the accuracy of the decision is improved.

The present invention is directed to detecting the type of gearbox mounted on the vehicle, or to the actual indication of the selected gear, eg, gear select or another indication of the position of the gearshift actuator. It may be used for gear inspection.

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings: FIG. 1 shows a semi-automatic transmission mechanism, and FIG. 2 shows a transmission mechanism for the transmission mechanism shown in FIG. 3 shows a gear select mechanism and a select gate.

FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawings shows an engine 10.
The engine comprises a starter and an associated starter circuit 10a, and the engine is provided by a main drive friction clutch 14 via a gearbox input shaft 15 with a layshaft type synchromesh gearbox having a plurality of speed ratios. 12. Fuel is supplied to the engine via a throttle 16, the throttle including a throttle valve 18,
The throttle valve is operated by the accelerator pedal 19. The invention is equally applicable to electric or mechanical fuel-injected gasoline or diesel engines.

The clutch 14 can be operated by a release fork 20, and the release fork is controlled by a hydraulic connecting cylinder 22 under the control of a clutch actuator control means 38.

The gear selector lever 24 operates within the gate 50, and the gate has two legs 5.
1 and 52, the legs being connected to each other by a cross track 53,
From the ends of the legs 51 to the center between the ends of the legs 51. Gate 50 defines five locations; "R" at the end of leg 52, "N" at the center between the ends of cross track 53,
"S" at the connection between the leg 51 and the cross track 53, and "+" and "-" at the end of the leg 51. Lever 24 is biased to a central position "S" within leg 51.
The “N” position of the selector lever 24 corresponds to neutral, the “R” position corresponds to switching to the reverse gear, and the “S” position corresponds to switching to the forward drive mode. A short movement of the lever to the "+" position issues a command and shifts up one gear ratio by the gearbox, and a short movement of the gear lever 24 to the "-" position issues a command and one gear by the gearbox. Shift down gear ratio.

The position of the lever 24 is detected by a series of sensors, for example, a microswitch or an optical sensor located around the gate 50. The signals from the sensors are supplied to an electronic control unit 36. An output of the control unit 36 controls the gear switching mechanism 25, which switches the gear ratio of the gearbox 12 according to the movement of the selector lever 24 by the vehicle operator.

In addition to the signal from the selector lever 24, the control unit 36 receives a signal; a sensor 19a indicates the amount of operation of the accelerator pedal 19;
A sensor 30 indicates the opening of the throttle control valve 18, a sensor 26 indicates the engine speed, a sensor 42 indicates the speed of the clutch drive plate, a sensor 34 indicates the position of the clutch actuating cylinder, and a sensor 43 indicates Displays the speed of the gearbox output shaft.

A control unit 36 uses the signals from the sensors to control the clutch 14 when starting from a standstill and during a gear change.
No. 13, European Patent 0043660, European Patent 0059035, European Patent 0102120 and WO92 / 13208, and the contents of these specifications describe the present invention. It helps to clarify.

In addition to the aforementioned sensors, the control unit 36 includes a vehicle speed sensor 52, an ignition switch 54, a main brake mechanism, for example, a brake switch 56 disposed on a foot brake 58 of the vehicle, and ABS.
A signal from the wheel sensor 62 is also received.

A buzzer 50 is connected to the control unit 36. The buzzer gives a warning / instruction to a vehicle operator when a predetermined driving condition occurs. In addition to or instead of the buzzer 50, a luminous warning light or other display means may be used. Similarly, a gear display 60 is provided to display the selected gear ratio.

As shown in FIG. 2, the gear switching mechanism 2
5 has three shift rails 111, 112, 113, which are mounted parallel to one another so as to be movable in the axial direction. Each shift rail 111, 11
2,113 are connected to the gearbox 12 via a conventional type selector fork and synchromesh unit.
Gear ratio, so that movement of the shift rails 111, 112, 113 in one of the axial directions switches the gear ratio to one gear ratio and shift rail 1
The axial movement of 11, 112, 113 in the other direction switches to another gear ratio of the assignment.

Normally, the first and second gear ratios are assigned to the shift rail 111, and therefore the shift rail 1
The first gear is connected during the axial movement of the shift rail 111 in the first direction, or the second gear is connected during the axial movement of the shift rail 111 in the second direction;
And a fourth gear ratio is assigned to the shift rail 112, so that a third gear is engaged upon axial movement of the shift rail 112 in the first direction, or in the second direction of the shift rail 112. The fourth gear is connected during the axial movement of the shift rail 113; the fifth gear ratio and the reverse gear ratio are assigned to the shift rail 113, and thus the fifth gear ratio is determined during the axial movement of the shift rail 113 in the first direction. Is connected to the shift rail 113
The reverse gear is engaged during the axial movement of the second gear in the second direction.

The select member 110 is connected to the shift rail 11
1, 112, 113 for movement in the select direction X perpendicular to the axis and in the shift direction Y
11, 112, 113 are incorporated for axial movement. To this end, the select member 110 is moved in the X direction along the neutral plane AB, so that it is engaged in a selected one of the shift rails 111, 112, 113. The select member 110 is then moved in the Y direction, so that the engaged shift rails 111, 112, 113 are moved in one axial direction and the associated gear ratio is connected. .

The select member 110 is typically controlled by a pneumatic, hydraulic or electric pair of actuators, such as, for example, WO
No. 97/05410, WO 97/40300 or German Patent Application 197 34 023, one in which the select member 110 is moved in the X direction and the other is One is to move the select member 110 in the Y direction. A sensor means 32 is assigned to the select member 110 or the actuator, and the position of the select member 110 is detected in relation to the X direction and the Y direction, and is used for indicating the connected gear ratio, and The ratio is displayed on the display 60.

The vehicle may include a plurality of gearboxes of various types and a plurality of differential units. Automatic transmission mechanisms of the type described above are calibrated in relation to the characteristics of the gearbox / differential unit used. This may of course be done by visually checking the gearbox type used and examining the characteristics of the gearbox type. However, by means provided by the present invention, the gearbox type can be ascertained by measuring the gear ratio and distinguished from another gearbox type. Since the gear ratios of the different gearbox types are only distinguished by slight differences, the method for defining the gear ratio must be accurate. Furthermore, the method according to the invention can be used for checking whether the connected gear has been confirmed by the sensor means 32, and in some cases the sensor means 32 can be re-scaled,
The detected position of the select member 110 is corrected.

In accordance with the present invention, sensors 42 and 43 have inductive pickups that are mounted near the periphery of the gear, and that the gear is either gearbox input shaft 25 or gearbox. Incorporated for rotation with output shaft 44. In this case, the sensors 42 and 43 form a pulsed signal, the number of pulses being proportional to the number of revolutions of the shaft 15 or 44. Other sensor means for generating a pulse signal indicative of the number of revolutions of the shaft may optionally be used.

The number of pulses of the signal formed by the sensors 42 and 43 are counted and the sensor 42 is used to form a predetermined number of pulses (eg, 100).
Defines the number of pulses of the signal generated by the sensor 43 in the required time, and thereby calculates the transmission ratio of the currently connected gear. That is, the gear ratio is the number of pulses generated by the sensor 43 in the same amount of time as the predefined number of pulses generated by the sensor 42.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the number of pulses generated from sensor 43 is the same as sensor 26
The number of pulses generated from the clutch 14
Remain fully engaged during gear ratio detection.

Furthermore, the pulse generated from the sensor 42 or 24 is compared with the pulse generated from the wheel sensor 62, the pulse corresponding to the wheel speed. The transmission ratio defined and obtained in this way is the total transmission ratio of the selected gear and the differential unit. With the wheel sensor 62, both driven wheels are advantageously monitored, so that over a given period of time the counts can be averaged in order to compensate for differences occurring between the rotational speeds of each wheel.

Various changes can be made without departing from the invention. For example, as mentioned earlier, the number of pulses of the output signal is counted at the time required for the predetermined number of pulses of the input signal, whereas the number of pulses of the input signal is selectively changed to the predetermined number of pulses of the output signal. It may be counted in the time required for the number.

The claims submitted by this specification are:
This is an open-ended proposal for obtaining a broad patent right, and does not waive a claim of a further combination of other features disclosed only in the present specification and / or drawings.

References to the independent claim and / or dependent claim in the dependent claim (s) of this specification refer to the features recited in the preceding independent and / or dependent claim (s) of this specification. It is intended to show that further improvement is achieved by the features described in the claims, and that the combination of the features described in the respective dependent claims does not give rise to the acquisition of a patent right for an independent invention.

Since the features described in the dependent claims of the present specification can form individual independent inventions with respect to the prior art up to the priority date, the rights of independent claims and the divisional application are reserved. I have. Furthermore, an independent invention having a configuration independent of the configuration described in the preceding dependent claim is also included.

The embodiments of the present invention are not limited to the embodiments described herein, but rather the invention can be embodied in many different forms within the spirit of the invention. In particular, by combining and modifying individual components or components or method steps described in the entire specification and claims and illustrated in the drawings, novelty and high level of the invention for solving the problems are solved. It is possible to obtain different embodiments, manufacturing, testing and working processes with the following.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a semi-automatic transmission mechanism.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a gear select mechanism and a select gate for the transmission mechanism shown in FIG. 1;

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Andrew David Milson Staffordshire Tarmuirs Kettlebrook Tamworth Road 165 F-term (Reference) 3J552 MA04 MA13 NA01 NB01 PA51 QC06 QC07 VA32W VA37W VA41W VA74W VC01W

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A method for determining a transmission ratio of a transmission mechanism including a multi-speed ratio gearbox, wherein a pulsed input signal is formed, and the number of pulses of the input signal is such that the rotation of the input shaft to the transmission mechanism. The number of pulses of the output signal is proportional to the number, and the number of pulses of the output signal is proportional to the number of rotations of the output shaft of the transmission mechanism. A method for determining the gear ratio of a transmission mechanism, characterized in that the number is generated within the same time as the time of the predetermined number of pulses of the opposite output or input signal. . 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the input shaft is a gearbox input shaft. 3. The input shaft of a friction clutch arranged between a component of the engine or the engine and the gearbox, the clutch being kept engaged during the determination of the gear ratio. Item 7. The method according to Item 1. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the output shaft is a gearbox output shaft. 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the output shaft is an output shaft of a differential unit. 6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the gear ratio is a combined gear ratio of the connected gear and the differential unit. 7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the sensor is an inductive pickup incorporated near the periphery of the gear, wherein the gear is incorporated for rotation with an associated shaft. Method. 8. A method substantially as described in connection with the accompanying drawings.