GB2196912A

GB2196912A - Mixed driving system for vehicles

Info

Publication number: GB2196912A
Application number: GB08702861A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Mercedes Martin Gonzalez; Vicente Scrimieri Martin
Original assignee: SCRIMIERI MARTIN VICENTE
Current assignee: SCRIMIERI MARTIN VICENTE
Priority date: 1986-10-31
Filing date: 1987-02-09
Publication date: 1988-05-11
Anticipated expiration: 2007-02-09
Also published as: GB2196912B; FR2605946A1; FR2605946B1; GB8702861D0; ES2003909A6

Abstract

The invention relates to a vehicle which may be operated alternatively with an internal combustion engine or with an electric engine. For that purpose, a conventional combustion-driven vehicle (1) is coupled to an electric engine (7) via a mechanical decoupler (8) comprising two pinions (16, 17) and a crown gear (20), one of which pinions (16) is fixed to the shaft (18) of the internal combustion engine (2) and the other of which pinions (17) is fixed to the shaft (19) of the electric engine (7), so that the crown gear (20) may mesh simultaneously with both pinions and thereby cause the vehicle to operate with the internal combustion engine, or the crown gear (20) may be disengaged from the pinion (17) fixed to the shaft of the electric engine, whereby the vehicle will operate with the electric engine. The shaft of the electric engine always rotates and is placed behind the internal combustion engine and the decoupler, either behind or in front of the clutch, or even unaligned relative to the axis of the vehicle. In the same way, it may be coupled to auxiliary devices such as tippers. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Mixed driving system for vehicles The present invention relates to a mixed driving system for vehicles, of which the main objective is to allow a vehicle to be driven alternatively by an internal combustion engine or by an electric engine, in accordance with the needs and wishes of the user.

In view of the problems and inconveniences associated with vehicles provided with internal combustion engines, such as noise, contamination and the high price of fuel, investigations were begun some years ago into electric vehicles, which logically are neither noisy nor contaminating and use a form of energy which is cheaper than that derived from petroleum.

The energy required by a vehicle with an electric engine is provided by a group of batteries. It is evident that such electric vehicles may be given an increased range simply by increasing the number of batteries; however that results in a reduction in the transport capacity and of course reduction in the useful surface of the vehicle.

There are presently available vehicles which are primarily electric but which, in view of their limited range, are provided with a small complementary or accessory internal combustion engine in order to avoid the vehicle becoming unusable if the batteries become exhausted. By means of the small internal combustion engine, the vehicle may in such event be moved as far as a source of supply of electric energy.

The mixed driving system for vehicles according to the present invention is based on a different principle: the vehicle can operate at full output and capacity not only when working with its internal combustion engine but also when working with its electric engine.

It can be said that internal combustion engines show both inconveniences and also advantages and the same applies to electric engines. It would be highly desirable if an engine could be devised which possesses the advantages of both types of engines and to a greater or lesser extent eliminates their disadvantages. It is an object of the present invention to provide such an engine, as will be described in greater detail hereinafter.

As is known, a vehicle driven by a Diesel or petrol or butane engine, in view of the great ease and speed with which it may be refueled, allows the use of powerful engines which guarantee optimum performance and a long range on the road, while in the city its energy yield is greatly reduced, thereby increasing transport costs. To this must be added the adverse environmental effects arising from contaminating gases and noise, especially in the centres of cities with their traffic jams and traffic lights.

fln the rotor hnnol sn alantrir rhiele rlis- plays the opposite characteristics, in that its range varies normally between 60 and 80 kms and its maximum speed around 60 km/hour, having to store its energy in batteries or in very heavy and large accumulators, for which refueling or charging may require 8 to 10 hours.

These characteristics cause electric vehicles not to be used on highways and long journeys, whilst they are ideal for driving in the city, where routes for delivering packages or bottles or for collecting mail or waste or the like do not normally exceed 60 to 80 km and the maximum reasonable speed used must not exceed, say, 60 km/hour.

It is also evident that an electric vehicle.

does not contaminate the air or create excessive noise and, while it is stationary in traffic jams, at traffic lights or when delivering packages, it does not expend energy such as is the case with vehicles driven by internal combustion engines. Each braking affords a recovery of the former engine as it automatically converts the traction engine into a generator of energy. This latter delivers power to the batteries, as a result of which, as opposed to vehicles driven by internal combustion engines, an electric vehicle consumes less energy in the city than on the road, remarkably improving operating costs.

Besides, an electric engine does not consume oil and does not require any maintenance in brakes, clutch, etc., which are the elements that mostly suffer in the city.

Thus, given the respective inconveniences and advantages associated with internal combustion vehicles and electric vehicles, a need immediately emerges to create a vehicle showing in one the advantages of both types.

From this need has come the mixed driving system of the present invention, which, as applied to a vehicle, may be said to result in a "hybrid" vehicle.

The system entails coupling to a vehicle driven by an internal combustion engine, without altering its characteristics and features, all the elements which allow it to be transformed, by simple rotation of a contact key, into an electric vehicle and to be used as such in appropriate places and at appropriate times, at the choice of the driver. That is, a vehicle having the mixed driving system envisaged may be driven alternatively and at will be internal combustion or electric energy, thereby saving fuel, reducing noise and contamination in areas where they are particularly annoying or harmful, all without any problem of restricted range of travel.

Thus a vehicle provided with the mixed driving system will have all the features of a vehicle driven by internal combustion for its preferred use outside the city and will have the advantages of an electric vehicle for its use in the city. That is, because of the fact that rinn or)oration on an urban circuit the provision of speed is a secondary consideration, the choice of the power of an electric engine is adapted to the starting torque, as because the power necessary to drive a vehicle is proportional to the cube of the speed, at small values of the latter that factor, though not negligible is close to zero, and the value of the starting torque of an electric engine is several times higher than that of an internal combustion engine with the same power.On the other hand, having a high starting torque at the beginning of movement means that the value of the power of the electric engine may be significantly lower than that of the internal combustion engine. On tests carried out, the combination of an internal combustion engine of 57 kw with an electric engine of 13.5 kw gave satisfactory results, the work of the latter being limited to speeds of 40 km/hour with an average speed of 20 km/hour, which valuers were considered as ideal for use of a vehicle in cities and were indicated by the user.

The speed of the vehicle is definitely subject to the use desired to be made of the enery stored in the batteries, that is, the higher the speed the lower the range and vice versa.

Basically, the mixed driving system consists in having available a decoupler between the internal combustion engine and the electric engine, through which decoupier the vehicle may operate either with the internal combustion engine or with the electric engine.

When the vehicle operates with the electric engine, the latter will be provided with an electro-electronic device which is made up of an acceleration unit and which is linked to the accelerator pedal. Through such an acceleration unit it is possible to give a voltage variation which is practicaliy linear between 0 and 10 volts, which will be the signal to be sent to an electronic voltage regulator for the total operation of the engine. This electronic voltage regulator is capable of varying the voltage applied to the induction of the engine, allowing in this way a continuous regulation of the speed of the vehicle from 0 to 2000 rpm.

The regulation above this speed will be made gradually by varying the voltage applied to the excitation circuit or inductor.

Electric braking will be produced as soon as the foot is raised from the accelerator pedal, the engine changing to become a generator, the braking being intensified if the pedal of the hydraulic brake is activated by a signal sent to the regulator by an auxiliary switch that moves this pedal.

When the regulator is connected, it will also start a fan which cools the traction engine.

The system is further complemented by a battery loader, which is preferably made up by a static converter of AC to DC.

To assist in understanding the nature and characteristic features of the invention, the latter will now be further described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: Figure 1 is a schematic view of a vehicle provided with one preferred embodiment of the mixed driving system according to the present invention; Figure 2 is a view similar to that of Fig. 1, showing an alternative method of mounting certain elements of the mixed driving system; and Figure 3 is a sectional view of a decoupler which is a feature of the driving system, and which is provided to allow the vehicle to operate with either an internal combustion engine or an electric engine.

As shown in the drawings, the mixed driving system according to the invention may be applied to any type of conventional vehicle, designated generally by the reference numeral 1, which incorporates an internal combustion engine 2, a clutch 3, gearbox 4, transmission 5 and differential 6.

To the vehicle described, the system according to the present invention is applied, so that the vehicle may operate alternatively as a vehicle with an internal combustion engine and as a vehicle with an electric engine. Thus an electric engine 7 is provided, between which and the engine 2 a decoupler 8 is interconnected, driven manually by means of an exter nai lever 9 to allow coupling and decoupling between the relevant parts and so to select at will operation of the vehicle by the internal combustion engine 2 or by the electric engine 7.

The vehicle 1 is provided with batteries 10 to supply the electric engine 7, which is also adjustable by means of a voltage regulator 14, and also with a battery charger 11 and with an acceleration unit 15. Activation of the latter will simultaneously activate the internal combustion 2 and/or the electric engine 7, for which purpose is provided the drive cable 12 interlinked between the acceleration unit 15 and the electric engine 7, with a branch or detour 13 towards said internal combustion engine 2.

The method of incorporating the electric engine 7 may vary; thus in Fig. 1 the electric engine is mounted immediately behind the clutch 3, while in Fig. 2 it is mounted in front of the clutch. In either case, the shaft of the electric engine 7 constitutes an eiement which will rotate not only if operation is with the electric engine itself but also when operation is with the internal combustion engine 2. Similarly, the electric engine 7 may be mounted in a displaced mode relative to the linear axis of the vehicle, that is, without being aligned between the axis of the internal combustion engine 2 and the transmission shaft 5.

When the electric engine 7 is mounted in front of the clutch 3 as shown in Fig. 2, then the different speed changes can be made in the usual manner, that is, exactly as when operating the vehicle by the internal combustion engine. When the electric engine is mounted behind the clutch 3, then speed variation may be made only by means of the regulator 14, when operated by the cable 12 of the pedal of the accelerator 15.

The decoupler 8, in the case of a mechanical drive, consists simply of a mechanism of pinions which allows, by activation of the lever 9, coupling and decoupling between the shaft of the internal combustion engine 2 and the shaft of the electric engine 7. The mechanism comprises two pinions 16 and 17, the former fixed to the shaft 18 of the internal combustion engine 2 and the latter fixed to the shaft 19 of the electric engine 7; both pinions 16 and 17 are aligned, as shown in Fig. 3, so that they may be meshed simultaneously with an external crown gear 20, from which extends the operating lever 9.In this way, when the crown gear 20 is disposed betwen the two pinions 16 and 17, that is simultaneously meshed with both, then the vehicle will operate with the internal combustion engine 2, whilst when the crown gear 20 is moved towards the left, as indicated by markings on the upper part of the pinion 16, then decoupling between pinions 16 and 1 7 occurs and the vehicle is operated by the electric engine 7.

When the vehicle operates on the internal combustion engine, its behaviour will be as normal, and charging of the batteries 10 may take place as the shaft 19 of the electric engine always rotates.

Likewise, on descending slopes and when braking, charging of the batteries will also take place, as the energy generated in such braking will be used for that purpose.

When the vehicle operates on the electric engine 3 after switching off of the internal combustion engine by means of a simple key (not shown) placed within easy reach of the driver, then firstly one of the speeds of the gearbox 4 will be selected, chosen to permit the vehicle to accelerate from stationary to the speed advised or most appropriate to the journey to be made. The pedal of the accelerator 15 is now pressed and the vehicle will begin to move off; when pressure is removed from the accelerator pedal, the vehicle stops and at a simple foot command, the vehicle responds to the accelerator. When acceleration is stopped, self-braking is produced and gives rise to a regeneration of energy, as the engine now becomes a generator, the effect being enhanced if the brake pedal is operated.

When the vehicle is stationary, no energy will be consumed or converted. That is, at traffic lights or in traffic jams, no running costs of any kind arise, as the vehicle only consumes power when running.

Thus there is attained in this way what has been described above as a "hybrid" vehicle, which is achieved by coupling to a vehicle operated by an internal combustion engine, without altering its characteristics or features, all the elements which permit it to be transformed, by simple rotation of a contact key, into an electrically-driven vehicle and to use it as such in appropriate places and occasions at the option of the driver.

The extra cost added to the combustiondriven vehicle is more than justified by the environmental and practical advantages it gains, as well as by its low cost of operation when used in the electric version, which latter allows the cost of conversion to be written off over a reasonable period of time.

It is not essential that a vehicle provided with the mixed driving system according to the invention should be operated on the highway as a combustion-driven vehicle (with its advantages of range and high speeds) and in the cities as an electric vehicle (with its advantages of low running costs and lack of noise and contamination).

Finally, it should be mentioned that the system is provided with a changeover switch (not shown), by means of which the mode of operation is reliably selected; and also that the decoupler (8) constitutes a possible means for inputting power to auxiliary functions, for example for tipping.

Claims

1. Mixed driving system for a vehicle, for fitting to a vehicle already provided with a conventional internal combustion engine so that said vehicle may operate alternatively with said internal combustion engine or with an electric engine incorporated in the vehicle and supplied by batteries or accumulators, characterised in that it comprises a mechanism which by manual or automatic operation on the part of the driver selects operation of the vehicle with said internal combustion engine or with said electric engine, said mechanism preferably comprising a decoupler in the form of two pinions, one of them fixed to the shaft of the internal combustion engine and the other to the shaft of the electric engine, both pinions being axially aligned for engagement with an external crown gear, linked to an external lever for manual operation, whereby said crown gear may be moved axially to mesh with both pinions so as to drive the vehicle by the internal combustion engine or to disconnect said pinions from each other so as to drive the vehicle by the electric engine, the shaft of said latter engine being mounted to rotate not only when the electric engine is operating but also when the internal combustion engine is operating.

2. Mixed driving system as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the electric engine is mounted immediately behind the clutch and said decoupler, which clutch is in turn disposed immediately behind the internal combustion engine.

3. Mixed driving system as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the electric engine is mounted immediately in front of the clutch and behind the internal combustion engine and the decoupler.

4. Mixed driving system as claimed in any of claims 1 to 3, characterised in that the electric and internal combustion engines are not coaxial and are linked to the gearbox through a decoupler.

5. Mixed driving system as claimed in any of the preceding claims, characterised in that between the electronic engine and the batteries there is disposed an electronic voltage regulator, by means of which the speed of the vehicle may be adjusted, the regulator being operated by the cable of the accelerator unit, said operation being simultaneous for both engines.

6. Mixed driving system for a vehicle, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as illustrated in, Figs. 1 and 3 or Figs. 2 and 3 of the accompanying drawings.