JP2008008351A - Automatic transmission device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a device which is automatically controlled in the direction of safety not to start a vehicle when there is such an event that a clutch to be originally in a disengaging condition is controlled into an engaging condition in the state that a transmission gear is set for forward or reverse travel. <P>SOLUTION: In the state that any gear is set in the transmission device and the clutch is controlled into the disengaging condition, when detecting that a clutch position signal coming from a clutch position detecting means is displaced to an engagement side beyond a preset value, an independent hardware means forcibly controls the transmission device into a neutral position in priority to other control commands. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention is used for a transmission of a vehicle whose main power is an internal combustion engine such as an automobile. In particular, the vehicle is equipped with a program control device, and without requiring a fine gear shift operation by the driver, the clutch is engaged and disengaged according to the control of the program control device, and the automatic change gear combination is automatically changed. The present invention relates to an improvement of a transmission. The present invention automatically activates regardless of the driver's operation to prevent unintentional sudden start, etc., when an unexpected and unexpected condition occurs in the program control device related to the clutch system or its control output system. Related to safety control. The present invention has been developed as a device suitable for a large vehicle, but can be widely used for an automatic transmission of a vehicle regardless of the large vehicle.

  The optimal gear is automatically selected and set according to the vehicle speed that is automatically measured and the amount of depression of the accelerator pedal operated by the driver, so that the driver does not need to perform detailed shifting operations while the vehicle is running Automatic transmissions controlled by a program control device have been widely used. There is a demand for further improving the performance of existing automatic transmissions so that the automatic transmissions can be installed in large vehicles with larger loads.

  In such an automatic transmission, a program control device for controlling the automatic transmission is highly utilized. In principle, the operation of the program control apparatus can be designed by the software to be implemented. When a vehicle equipped with the program control device is completed as a product, a predetermined test is executed to confirm that there is no abnormality in the operation of the program control device. However, since it is practically difficult for humans to recognize the details of the control mode or logic process in detail, even if the program control device is a device that has been designed very carefully and has been repeatedly tested, However, it cannot be practically guaranteed that no operation other than the operation intended by the designer is performed accidentally.

  Therefore, when an operation unintended by the driver is performed on the scale, and as a result, there is a risk that the vehicle will behave unnecessarily, the driver is designed to be able to override the control and execute the driving operation. It is demanded. However, there is no possibility that unnecessary behavior occurs and this is not recognized by the driver. In addition, due to a hardware failure, a driver's unintended behavior may occur in some cases, and it is required to prevent a sudden start in particular. It would be desirable to provide control means that automatically suppresses abnormal behavior for such specific control at an early stage.

JP 2002-192991 (Luke Ramellen) JP2003-139242 (Hino) JP 2003-254356 (Toyota)

  The present invention has been carried out against this background. The speed change operation is not based on the specific operation of the driver, but includes information including vehicle speed information and the amount of depression of the accelerator pedal. When a state that includes a specific contradiction in hardware operation is detected for an automatic transmission that is automatically operated and controlled, the program control is interrupted to force the transmission to be in a safe state. An object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus capable of setting and controlling. When the clutch system hardware has failed and the control is controlled to disengage the clutch, the transmission is safe when it is detected that the clutch is moving in the contact direction. The purpose is to control the state. More specifically, when an event that detects that the clutch that should originally be in the open state is moving in the direction of the engaged state with the transmission gear set to forward or reverse, the vehicle An object of the present invention is to provide a device that is automatically controlled in a safe direction so as not to start.

  The present invention provides an automatic transmission including means for controlling opening / closing of a clutch and setting of an effective gear of a transmission based on an output signal of a program control device, wherein the program control device has any gear in the transmission. When it is detected that the clutch position signal arriving from the clutch position detecting means is moving to the contact side from a predetermined value set in a state where the clutch is controlled to be disengaged, other control is performed. Means is provided for forcibly controlling the transmission to a neutral position in preference to the command.

  It is desirable that the clutch position detection means and the signal path from the clutch position detection means to the program control device are provided by independent hardware means that do not depend on the program control device.

  Even if the hardware of the clutch system becomes abnormal, according to the present invention, it is possible to suppress the vehicle start in a state that the driver is not aware of or cannot cope with by driving operation.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The transmission 1 is a transmission that is inserted into a drive system of a large vehicle. Rotational power is input from the clutch 2 shown at the left end of the figure, and the transmission 1 converts the rotational speed of the rotational power and transmits it to a propeller shaft (not shown) that is connected to the right side of the figure. . The clutch 2 is mechanically connected and disconnected by a clutch lever 4 controlled by a clutch booster 3. The clutch booster 3 is controlled by a fluid pressure (hydraulic pressure or atmospheric pressure) supplied from a clutch control device 5 or supplied from a clutch pedal installed in a driver seat (not shown). That is, the fluid pressure generated by the driving force of the two electric motors 6 and 7 or the fluid pressure generated from the clutch pedal provided in the driver's seat is supplied to the clutch control device 5, and the fluid pressure “Contact” or “Disconnect” is controlled. A drive current is supplied from the motor drive circuit 8 to the two electric motors 6 and 7. The motor drive circuit 8 is controlled by a program control circuit 9.

  Although this structure is a well-known structure, its operation will be briefly described. The output rotary shafts of the two electric motors 6 and 7 are directly connected. The rotational output of the electric motors 6 and 7 generates fluid pressure using the fluid taken from the reservoir tank 12 and supplies the fluid pressure to the clutch booster 3. This fluid pressure generates a mechanical stroke in the left-right direction of the figure in the clutch booster 3, thereby driving the clutch lever 4. The movement of the clutch lever 4 causes the clutch 2 to be engaged or disengaged, and the disengagement control is performed. On the other hand, when the clutch pedal provided in the driver's seat is depressed by the driver, fluid pressure is also supplied to the clutch booster 3 and the clutch 2 is controlled to be connected and disconnected. That is, interrupt control can be performed with respect to the normal connection / disconnection control of the clutch 2 by the clutch pedal.

  The reason why two electric motors 6 and 7 are used with their rotation shafts directly connected is that the electric device is duplicated because its reliability is inferior to other mechanical parts. In this apparatus, when one of the electric motors 6 or 7 loses its output, the program control circuit 9 detects the current imbalance, generates an alarm, and prompts maintenance. In other words, it is designed so that a failure of the electric motor does not immediately cause a failure of the system.

  The transmission apparatus 1 is provided with mechanical control inputs in the shift direction and the select direction. FIG. 1 shows only the shift control apparatus 10. The shift direction control device 10 mechanically controls the shift lever 11 to move in the left-right direction in the figure in accordance with the output of the program control circuit 9. Since this structure is also a well-known structure, detailed description is omitted here. In FIG. 1, four control lines are connected from the program control circuit 9 to the motor drive circuit 8, which are signal paths for controlling contact or disconnection of the two electric motors 6 and 7, respectively.

  Here, the feature of the present invention is the operation of this apparatus. This will be explained with reference to FIG. 2. FIG. 2 shows (1) the stroke of the clutch control device (5 in FIG. 1), (2) the clutch booster (3 in the drawing), and (3) the transmission ( It is a figure which displays the operation | movement state of drawing code | symbol 1) on a common time-axis. That is, as shown in FIG. 2 (3), when the transmission is in the “gear-in” state, the fluid pressure supplied by the clutch control device 5 is “completely connected” as shown in FIG. 2 (1). ”(Indicated in the drawing as“ completely connected ”) is controlled and changed from the pressure corresponding to“ completely interrupted ”(also indicated as“ completely closed ”). Then, as shown in FIG. 2 (2), the clutch stroke is switched from the complete connection to the complete disconnection. Up to this point, the operation is normal.

  Thereafter, it is assumed that due to some inconvenience, the stroke of the clutch booster 3 leaves the normal state of complete disconnection from the time axis X and is displaced in the connection direction. This is based on the assumption that the device is not normal and the clutch booster 3 is in a failed state and has floated. For example, it may be considered that the fluid pressure has been lowered due to the breakage of the hydraulic system. Then, in the device of the present invention, when the stroke of the clutch booster 3 reaches the level a indicated by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. 2 (2), that is, when it reaches the Y point on the time axis, Force the operation to change to the “neutral” position. Level a is selected so that the vehicle has not yet started. As a result, it is possible to avoid a serious inconvenience that the vehicle starts suddenly without being noticed by the driver due to some malfunction.

  In the above example, the large vehicle manufactured and sold by the applicant has been described, but the means for ensuring safety against this abnormal operation can be implemented regardless of the size of the vehicle.

The block block diagram of this invention Example apparatus. The operation | movement time chart of this invention Example apparatus. The principal part flowchart explaining operation | movement of this invention Example apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Transmission device 2 Clutch 3 Clutch booster 4 Clutch lever 5 Clutch control device 6 Electric motor 7 Electric motor 8 Motor drive circuit 9 Program control circuit 10 Shift control device 11 Shift lever 12 Reservoir tank

Claims (2)

In an automatic transmission having means for controlling opening / closing of a clutch and setting of an effective gear of the transmission based on an output signal of a program control device,
In the program control device, the clutch position signal coming from the clutch position detection means is set closer to the contact side than a predetermined value in a state where some gear is set in the transmission and the clutch is controlled to be disengaged. An automatic transmission comprising: means for forcibly controlling the transmission to a neutral position in preference to another control command when it is detected that the vehicle has moved.   2. The automatic transmission according to claim 1, wherein the clutch position detecting means and a signal path from the clutch position detecting means to the program control device are provided by independent hardware means.

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