JP2000135940A - Clutch engaging/disengaging device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent a start of clutch automatic disengagement just after gear-in by erroneous shift operation by stopping a start of the clutch automatic disengagement even if specific conditions are realized when judging that a clutch exists on the disengaging side more than a half clutch region by detecting a clutch stroke. SOLUTION: Whether or not a clutch exists on the engaging side more than a half clutch region is judged from output of a clutch stroke sensor (132). When output voltage is larger than a neutral learning value, it is judged as the disengaging side, and is regarded as erroneous operation. While, when it is not ON by the knob switch rear side in a front gear position in the case of the engaging side, it is regarded as existing no shift intension (133, 134, 137). And, when it is ON by the knob switch rear side in a rear gear position, it is regarded as erroneous operation, so that a start of clutch automatic disengagement is stopped in both cases (133, 135, 137). Even if two conditions of gear-in and ON of a knob switch on the gear-out side are realized, a start of the clutch automatic disengagement by erroneous operation can be prevented.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a clutch connecting / disconnecting device, and more particularly to a clutch connecting / disconnecting device capable of automating a vehicle clutch.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A so-called automatic clutch device capable of automatically connecting and disconnecting a friction clutch is known. In this case, when shifting the transmission, it is necessary to automatically connect and disconnect the clutch in accordance with the driver's intention to shift, and a knob switch is used as a means for detecting the intention to shift. This is a switch built in a shift knob that can swing in the shift direction (front-back direction). When the shift knob is swung by a certain or more operating force, the mechanism is switched on / off. Different electrodes come into contact with the knob switch at the time of front operation and at the time of rear operation. This makes it possible to determine whether the shift knob has been operated to the gear-in side or the gear-release side in relation to the current gear position. The shift knob can swing forward or backward around the neutral position, and is usually returned to the neutral position by a spring force. The knob switch is normally switched from OFF to ON when swinging back and forth.

On the other hand, when the knob switch is switched to the gear-disengaged side, if the transmission is in-gear, it is considered that there is a shift intention and automatic clutch disconnection is started. A shift stroke sensor is used as means for detecting this gear-in state.

As described above, conventionally, when the above two conditions are satisfied, the automatic clutch disconnection is started.
This control is interrupted from any phase during shifting. This is because a mode in which the gear is disengaged during automatic clutch connection after the driver makes a gear shift due to a misshift is expected. After the clutch is disconnected, when it is determined from the output of the shift stroke sensor that the transmission has been engaged, automatic clutch connection is started.

[0005]

However, according to this conventional control method, immediately after the driver has normally engaged the gear,
There has been a problem in that the clutch switch is started in spite of the situation where the clutch switch is required due to an erroneous operation or the like and the knob switch is switched to the gear disengagement side.

One of the causes of this problem is that the wrist is turned back when the gear is engaged, one is that the shift knob moves beyond the neutral position to the gear disengagement side due to the reaction of the gear in, When the shift assist device is combined, the lever force exceeds the movement of the shift knob due to the assist force, the gear shifts into the gear as if the shift lever is retracted, and the shift knob falls to the gear release side with respect to the lever, etc. Can be considered.

[0007] The operation time of the gear release side switch is instantaneous, and is experimentally about 0.2 sec.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a clutch connecting / disconnecting device which starts automatic clutch disconnection when two conditions are satisfied, that is, when a transmission is in gear and a knob switch is switched to a gear release side. Automatic clutch start detecting means for stopping automatic clutch disconnection even if the above two conditions are satisfied, when it is determined based on the output of the clutch stroke detecting means that the clutch is on the disengaged side from the half clutch area. Is provided.

Here, it is preferable that the automatic disconnection start / stop means determines whether or not the clutch is disengaged from the half clutch area based on a neutral learned value of the clutch stroke.

[0010]

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing a clutch connecting / disconnecting device according to the present invention. Here, the clutch connection / disconnection device 1 is applied to a large vehicle, and is a so-called semi-automatic clutch device capable of manual connection / disconnection of the clutch 8 and automatic connection / disconnection. As shown in the figure, the clutch connecting / disconnecting device 1
It has pneumatic supply means 2 for supplying pneumatic pressure. The pneumatic supply means 2 is driven by the engine 91 and receives pneumatic pressure (pneumatic pressure).
From the compressor 3, an air dryer 4 for drying the air from the compressor 3, an air tank 5 for storing the air sent from the air dryer 4, and a check valve 6 provided on the inlet side of the air tank 5. It is composed of The air pressure from the air pressure supply means 2 is sent to a booster (clutch booster, clutch actuator) 7, and the booster 7 operates the friction clutch 8 to the separation side A by supplying the air pressure. ing. In addition, the booster 7
Although described in detail later, the hydraulic pressure is also supplied from the master cylinder 10.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view showing details of the booster 7. The booster 7 has a cylinder shell 12 connected to its body 11, and a piston plate (power piston, booster piston) 13 in the cylinder shell 12.
Is urged by the return spring 14 toward the pneumatic pressure introduction side (left side in the figure). Cylinder shell 12
At one end, a pneumatic nipple 15 is attached, which forms a pneumatic introduction port to introduce pneumatic pressure from the air tank 5 through a pneumatic pipe 35 (FIG. 1). When the air pressure is introduced, the piston plate 13 is pushed rightward, and when this occurs, the piston plate 13 is moved to the piston rod 16,
Hydraulic piston 17 and push rod 18 are pushed to disengage clutch lever 8a (FIG. 1) on split side A.
And the clutch 8 is disconnected.

On the other hand, a hydraulic path 20 is formed inside the body 11, and a hydraulic pressure inlet of the hydraulic path 20 is formed by a hydraulic nipple 19. One end of a hydraulic pipe 54 is connected to the hydraulic nipple 19. The hydraulic passage 20 includes a hole 21 formed at one end (lower end) of the body flange portion 11a, a hydraulic cylinder (hydraulic cylinder) 22 that accommodates the hydraulic piston 17 (formed on the body cylinder portion 11b), and a hydraulic cylinder. It is mainly formed by the control hole 23 on the other end (upper end) side communicating with the lick cylinder 22 via the small hole 23a. When the hydraulic pressure is introduced from the hydraulic nipple 19, the hydraulic pressure reaches the control hole 23 through the above passage, and pushes the control piston 24 rightward along the control cylinder 25. As described in detail later, the control valve portion 7a (hydraulic valve) for controlling the pneumatic supply to the booster 7 is provided on the upper end side of the body flange portion 11a.
Is formed.

The control valve portion 7a is defined by a control body portion 26 protruding rightward. A control chamber 27 and a pneumatic port 28 are formed in the control body 26 so as to communicate coaxially with the control cylinder 25 described above. The control section 27 of the control piston 24 is provided in the control chamber 27.
However, a poppet valve 30 is slidably accommodated in the pneumatic port 28. Nipple 3 in pneumatic port 28
The nipple 31 is provided with a pneumatic piping 67.
(FIG. 1) is connected and air pressure is always supplied.

Normally, the poppet valve 30 is urged to the left by pneumatic pressure and a poppet spring 32, and closes a communication port 33 that connects the control chamber 27 and the pneumatic port 28. Therefore, the air pressure from the nipple 31 is cut off at the position of the poppet valve 30. However, when hydraulic pressure is supplied from the hydraulic piping 54, the control unit 29 of the control piston 24 pushes the poppet valve 30 to the right to open the communication port 33. When this happens, the air pressure that has entered the control chamber 27 from the communication port 33 is
As will be described in detail later, the cylinder shell 12 enters the above-described cylinder shell 12 through pneumatic pipes 34 and 35 (FIG. 1) communicating with the control chamber 27, and acts on the pneumatic action surface 13a on the left side of the piston plate 13 to move it to the right side. The clutch 8 is pushed and the clutch 8 is operated to the separation side A.

Here, the booster 7 can operate the clutch 8 for a predetermined stroke according to the magnitude of the supplied hydraulic pressure. That is, for example, when the hydraulic pressure is increased by a relatively small value, the piston plate 13 is pushed rightward by the above-described pneumatic action, and in conjunction with this, the hydraulic piston 17 is pushed rightward by a predetermined stroke. . Then, the volume of the hydraulic passage 20 increases and the hydraulic pressure in the control hole 23 decreases, and when this happens, a balance state occurs in which the poppet valve 30 closes the communication port 33 while the control unit 29 of the control piston 24 presses the poppet valve 30. The control room 27 and the pneumatic piping 3
4, 35, and the pneumatic surface 13 of the piston plate 13
A predetermined air pressure is held in the air pressure introduction chamber 12b on the a side, and the piston plate 13 and the clutch 8 are held at predetermined stroke positions.

When the hydraulic pressure is completely released, the control hole 2
3, the control piston 24 is returned to the leftmost home position as shown. In this case, the control unit 29 is separated from the poppet valve 30, and the open port 36 provided inside the control unit 29 communicates with the control room 27 and the like. Then, the held air pressure is partially released from the open port 36 through the atmospheric pressure port 39 to the atmosphere chamber 12 on the opposite side of the air pressure introduction chamber 12b.
a, which in turn pushed the piston plate 13 to the right, which in turn cooperated with the return spring 14 to push it to the opposite left and actuated the clutch 8 to the connecting side B. The remaining air pressure is released to the atmosphere through the breather 37.

In particular, since the breather 37 has a built-in check valve capable of exhausting only, when the clutch is connected, the atmospheric chamber 12a becomes a negative pressure, and a connection failure of the clutch 8 occurs. To prevent this, a part of the air pressure is released to the atmosphere chamber 12a.
And the rest must be discharged from the breather 37.

In the booster 7, reference numeral 38 denotes a seal member for partitioning the cylinder chamber 12a and the hydraulic cylinder 22 in an oil-tight manner, reference numeral 40 denotes an atmospheric pressure port, and reference numeral 41 denotes air bleeding of hydraulic oil when loosened. Breeder.

As described above, the control valve section 7a constitutes a hydraulically operated valve that switches to a supply side or a discharge side based on a signal oil pressure (master cylinder oil pressure) from the master cylinder 10 that is interlocked with the operation of the clutch pedal 9.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view showing details of the master cylinder 10. As shown in FIG. As shown, the master cylinder 10
Has a cylinder body 45 extending in the longitudinal direction. The cylinder body 45 has a cylinder bore 46 having a predetermined diameter inside the cylinder body 45. In the cylinder bore 46, in particular, two pistons 47 and 48 are independently slidably mounted. The distal end of a push rod 49 that is inserted and withdrawn when the clutch pedal 9 is depressed or returned is inserted into one end (left end) of the cylinder bore 46, and the opening is closed by a dust boot 50. The first and second pistons 47, 4 are provided on the other end side (right side) in the cylinder bore 46.
A return spring 52 is provided for urging the piston 8 toward one end via the piston cup 51. The other end of the cylinder bore 46 communicates with a hydraulic supply port 53 formed in the cylinder body 45, and a hydraulic pipe 54 shown in FIG. 1 is connected to the hydraulic supply port 53. 53a is a check valve.

In the illustrated state, the clutch pedal 9 is not depressed and the first and second pistons 47,
48 is located at the original position on one end side. In particular, the cylinder body 45 is provided with a pneumatic pressure introduction port 55 located between the pistons 47 and 48 at this time. In the master cylinder 10, when the clutch pedal 9 is operated manually, both pistons 47 and 48 are pushed to supply hydraulic pressure. On the other hand, in the case of automatic operation, as will be described in detail later, air pressure is supplied from the air pressure introduction port 55, and only the second piston 48 is appropriately pushed. At this time, the movement of the first piston 47 is restricted by the snap ring 56. At this time, the clutch piston 9 does not move because the first piston 47 does not move. 57 is a hydraulic oil reservoir tank 58
An oil supply nipple connected to an oil supply pipe 59 from FIG.
Reference numerals 60 and 61 denote small- and large-diameter ports for refueling the right side of the piston cup 51 and the position of the second piston 48, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 1, a pneumatic pipe 62 extends from the air tank 5, and a pneumatic pipe 67 branches from a branch 63 of the pneumatic pipe 62. The pneumatic pipe 67 is a booster. 7 is connected to the nipple 31. On the other hand, pneumatic piping 6
2 is finally connected to a shuttle valve 69. In particular, two 3-way solenoid valves 78 and 79 of a two-way type are provided in series on the upstream and downstream sides in the middle thereof. Here the pneumatic piping 6
Reference numeral 2 denotes an upstream portion 62a connecting the air tank 5 and the upstream three-way solenoid valve 78, and an intermediate portion 6 connecting the three-way solenoid valves 78 and 79.
2b and a downstream portion 62c connecting the downstream three-way solenoid valve 79 and the shuttle valve 69. Upstream three-way solenoid valve 78
A pneumatic pipe 64 is connected to the exhaust side of the
4 is connected to the breather 37 of the booster 7. A pneumatic pipe 68 is connected to the exhaust side of the downstream three-way solenoid valve 79, and the pneumatic pipe 68 is connected to the intermediate portion 62b.

The three-way solenoid valves 78 and 79 are controlled to be switched based on an ON / OFF signal (control signal) from a controller built in a computer or a controller 72. When the three-way solenoid valve 78 on the upstream side is ON, the upstream portion 62a and the intermediate portion 62
b and the pneumatic piping 64 is closed, and when OFF, the intermediate part 62b and the pneumatic piping 64 are connected to form the upstream part 62a.
Is closed. The downstream three-way solenoid valve 79 connects the intermediate portion 62b and the downstream portion 62c to close the pneumatic piping 68 when ON, and connects the downstream portion 62c and the pneumatic piping 68 when OFF to connect the intermediate portion 62b to the pneumatic piping 68. The part 62b is closed.

Shuttle valve (double check valve) 69
Is a mechanical three-way valve, and connects only one of the pneumatic pipes 62 or 34 to the pneumatic pipe 35 based on a difference in pneumatic pressure between them.

The pneumatic piping 68 is provided with a restricting portion 66 for restricting the flow path and a check valve 75 for restricting the moving direction of the pneumatic pressure in one direction. Aperture part 6
6 is provided on the intermediate portion 62b side with respect to the check valve 75. The check valve 75 allows only pneumatic movement in the pneumatic piping 68 from the intermediate portion 62b toward the exhaust side of the downstream three-way solenoid valve 79, and restricts or prohibits movement in the reverse direction.

On the other hand, in the upstream portion 62a of the pneumatic pipe 62, the pneumatic pipe 70 is branched on the upstream side of the three-way solenoid valve 78, and this pneumatic pipe 70 is connected to the master cylinder 10 and is connected to the master cylinder 10. Of air pressure supply.

More specifically, the pneumatic pipe 70 is connected to the pneumatic introduction port 55 of the master cylinder 10 to supply or discharge pneumatic pressure to the rear side of the second piston 48. A branch portion 42 is provided downstream of the pipe 70, and check valves 43 a and 43 b for restricting the moving direction of the air pressure to one direction are provided in parallel in the branch pipes 42 a and 42 b of the branch portion 42. Have been.

One check valve 43a regulates or inhibits pneumatic movement toward the master cylinder 10, and the other check valve 43b regulates or inhibits pneumatic movement that is discharged from the master cylinder 10. For example, in the case of one check valve 43a, the air pressure on the master cylinder 10 side is reduced by the action of the internal spring.
The air pressure is allowed to move only when the air pressure becomes larger than the air pressure on the second side.

Further, in the pneumatic piping 70, the branch portion 4
A pneumatic pipe 73 is branched on the upstream side of 2, and a two-way solenoid valve 80 is provided on the upstream side of the branch position. The end of the pneumatic pipe 73 is connected to a downstream portion 62 c of the pneumatic pipe 62. Unlike the solenoid valves 78 and 79, the two-way solenoid valve 80 is a two-way valve that opens simply when turned on and closes when turned off.

Here, as will be described in detail later, pneumatic pipes 62 and 3 connecting the air tank 5 to the three-way solenoid valves 78 and 79, the shuttle valve 69 and the pneumatic nipple 15 of the booster 7 in this order.
5 and the pneumatic pipes 70 and 73 which bypass and connect the upstream section 62a and the downstream section 62c of the pneumatic pipe 62
A first air pressure supply path a for supplying air pressure to the booster 7 at the time of the automatic dividing operation of the first embodiment is formed. In particular, the former pneumatic pipes 62 and 35 form a main pneumatic supply path d, and the latter pneumatic pipes 70 and 73 form a bypass pneumatic supply path e.

Pneumatic pipes 62, 67, 34, which connect the air tank 5 to the branch 63, the control valve section 7a, the shuttle valve 69, and the pneumatic nipple 15 of the booster 7 in this order.
35 forms a second pneumatic supply path b for supplying pneumatic pressure to the booster 7 when the clutch 8 is manually disconnected.

Further, the entire pneumatic pipe 70 connecting the upstream section 62a and the master cylinder 10 is provided with a third pneumatic supply path c for supplying pneumatic pressure to the master cylinder 10 when the clutch 8 is automatically disconnected. To form

The clutch connecting / disconnecting device 1 is also provided with a manual transmission 76. The manual transmission 76 is a normal manual transmission, and is mechanically connected to a shift lever 95 via a link or the like, so that a manual shift can be performed in conjunction with a driver's operation of the shift lever. However, since it is for a large vehicle, the shift lever 95 is extremely heavy unless there is a shift assist force described later, and the gear cannot be engaged or disengaged with normal force. However, the gear can be changed by forcibly operating it. The shift pattern of the shift lever 95 is as shown in FIG. The first, third and fifth gears are forward, the neutral is central, the second, fourth and reverse are rear.

The shift lever 95 has a structure as shown in FIG. That is, the shift knob 111 is provided at the top of the lever 110 mechanically connected to the transmission 76.
12 and is rotatably mounted via its pivot shaft 11.
It is possible to swing in two directions in the shift direction or the front-back direction. The right side of the figure is the front, and the left side is the back.
(b) is a state where the shift knob 111 is in the neutral position, (a) is a state where the shift knob 111 is pushed from behind and swings forward, and (c) is a figure where the shift knob 111 is pushed from the front and is behind. Shows the state when swinging.

The shift knob 111 has a built-in knob switch 77, which comprises a knob electrode 112 fixed to the shift knob 111, and a front electrode 113 and a rear electrode 114 provided before and after the lever portion 110. Each electrode is connected to the controller 72. The knob electrode 112 is provided with a ball hole 115 having a V-shaped cross section.
The ball 116 is pressed against the lever 5 from the lever 110 side by a spring 117. As a result, the shift knob 111
(b) Return to the neutral position as shown. At this time, knob electrode 112 is not in contact with either front electrode 113 or rear electrode 114, and knob switch 77 is OFF.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG.
When the ball 11 is pushed from behind, the ball 116 is released from the neutral state, and the shift knob 111 swings forward with respect to the lever 110 against the force of the spring 117, and the knob electrode 11
2 contacts the front electrode 113. By turning the knob switch 77 to the front operation side in this manner, the controller 72 can recognize that the shift lever 95 has been operated forward. The spring 117 determines the switch reaction load. When a force exceeding the load is applied to the shift knob 111, the shift knob 111 swings and the knob switch 77 is switched from OFF to ON.

Thereafter, although not shown, the shift knob 11
1 comes into contact with the lever 110, and the force applied to the shift knob 111 is directly transmitted to the lever 110, and the lever 1
10 operates to shift the transmission 76. (c) As shown in the figure, when the shift knob 111 is pressed from the front, the reverse movement is performed, and the knob electrode 112 contacts the rear electrode 114,
The controller 72 can recognize that the shift lever 95 has been operated backward.

The transmission operating section of the transmission 76 has a structure as shown in FIG. That is, a shifter lever 100 for performing a substantial gear shifting operation of the transmission 76 is provided, which is connected to the lever portion 110 of the shift lever 95,
The lever portion 110 is rotated around the shaft 101 in conjunction with the operation in the shift direction. Neutral position of shift lever 95, forward gear-in position (first speed, third speed, fifth speed),
The shifter lever 100 is positioned at positions indicated by N, F, and R in the figure corresponding to the rear gear-in positions (second speed, fourth speed, reverse), respectively.

The amount of rotation of shifter lever 100, that is, the shift stroke of transmission 76 is determined by shift stroke sensor 1
02 is detected. The shift stroke sensor 102 outputs a voltage V proportional to the shift stroke S as shown in FIG. The output voltage corresponding to the entire stroke ΔS is ΔV. When the transmission 76 is in the neutral position, the shift stroke is within the range of _SN and the shift stroke sensor 1
The output voltage of 02 is in the range of V _N. Similarly, the transmission 76 if the gear-position of the front shift stroke is in the range of S _F, the shift stroke sensor output voltage V _F. Further, if the transmission 76 is in gear engagement position behind the shift stroke is in the range of S _R, the shift stroke sensor output voltage V _R. Therefore, the controller 7
2 can determine whether the transmission 76 is in the neutral, front gear-in position, or rear gear-in position based on these voltage values.

Similarly, the select stroke of the transmission 76 corresponding to the movement of the shift lever 95 in the select direction (left-right direction) is also detected by a select stroke sensor (not shown). However, since the transmission 76 is always neutral, the description is omitted here irrespective of the present invention.

On the other hand, the neutral state of the transmission 76 is detected by the neutral switch 103. That is, when the shifter lever 100 is in the neutral position, the detent ball 104 of the neutral switch 103 fits into the V-shaped detent groove 105 of the shifter lever 100,
The neutral switch 103 is turned on. This also allows the controller 72 to determine that the transmission 76 is neutral. Conversely, when the shift lever 95 is operated to shift and the shifter lever 100 rotates and the detent ball 104 comes out of the detent groove 105, the detent ball 104 retracts, the neutral switch 103 is turned off, and the controller 72 operates as a transmission. 76
Is determined to be out of neutral.

Returning to FIG. 1, a pneumatic assister 71 as a shift assist device is interposed between the shift lever 95 and the transmission 76. This operates when air pressure is introduced, and generates a shift assist force proportional to the air pressure, thereby reducing the shift lever operating force. A pneumatic pipe 65 branched from a pneumatic pipe 67 is connected to the pneumatic assister 71 to introduce pneumatic pressure. The pneumatic pipe 65 has a three-way solenoid valve 90 that is ON / OFF controlled by a controller 72. Is provided.

As the three-way solenoid valve 90, a so-called normally closed one is adopted, and when it is ON, it switches to the supply side.
The upstream side (the air tank 5 side) and the downstream side (the pneumatic assister 71 side) of the pneumatic piping 67 communicate with each other.
Pneumatic supply to the system. On the other hand, when it is OFF, it switches to the discharge side, shuts off the air pressure from the air tank 5 and communicates the downstream side of the air pressure pipe 65 with the air pressure pipe 81 connected to the exhaust port of the three-way solenoid valve 90, The air pressure of the pressure assister 71 is released from the breather 37 to the atmosphere.

On the other hand, the clutch connecting / disconnecting device 1 also has engine control means for executing engine control of the diesel engine 91. The engine control means comprises a controller 72. The controller 72 determines a fuel injection amount based on various signals received from each sensor, and outputs a control signal corresponding to the fuel injection amount to the fuel injection pump 92.
Output to the electronic governor. In particular, the accelerator pedal 99 is provided with an accelerator pedal stroke sensor 82, and the controller 72 reads the accelerator pedal opening from the output signal of the sensor 82, and increases or decreases the engine speed based on this. More specifically, the controller 72 normally replaces the actual accelerator pedal opening with the control accelerator opening which is a pseudo accelerator pedal opening, and executes engine control based on this.
It should be noted that the controller 72 determines an optimal control accelerator opening degree independently of the accelerator pedal opening degree at the time of the automatic connection and disconnection of the clutch 8, and executes the engine control based on this alone.

The controller 72 includes an idle switch 83 provided on an accelerator pedal 99, an emergency switch 84 provided near a shift lever 95, and a transmission 76.
, A pressure switch 86 provided on the air tank 5, a pedal switch 87 and a clutch pedal stroke sensor 89 provided on the clutch pedal 9, and a clutch stroke sensor 88 provided on the clutch 8. Etc. are connected. In particular, the clutch stroke sensor 88 outputs a voltage signal proportional to the clutch stroke.

The controller 72 includes an engine speed sensor 93 for detecting the engine speed and a clutch speed sensor 94 for detecting the clutch speed.
Is also connected. The engine speed sensor 93 is the engine 9
1 is provided near the output shaft or the input shaft of the clutch 8,
The clutch speed sensor 94 is provided near the output shaft of the clutch 8 or the input shaft of the transmission 76. These sensors 9
Reference numerals 3 and 94 also serve to detect the input-side rotational speed and the output-side rotational speed of the clutch 8, respectively. The controller 72 may be composed of a plurality of controllers (ECU, CPU, etc.) for respective functions such as clutch control and engine control.

Next, the operation of the above device will be described.

First, the manual disconnection operation of the clutch 8 is performed as follows. When the clutch pedal 9 is depressed, hydraulic pressure is supplied from the master cylinder 10, and this hydraulic pressure switches the control valve section 7a to the supply side to connect or communicate the pneumatic pipes 67 and 34 as described above. In this case, the pneumatic pressure of the pipe 34 switches the shuttle valve 69 to reach the pipe 35, and the pneumatic pressure introduction chamber 12 of the booster 7
Move to b. Then, the piston plate 13 is pushed and the clutch 8 is disconnected. At this time, the clutch 8 is disconnected by an amount corresponding to the operation amount of the clutch pedal 9.

On the other hand, when the clutch 8 is manually connected and the oil pressure is released by returning the clutch pedal 9, the control valve portion 7a is switched to the discharge side as described above, and the pneumatic piping 34 and the atmospheric pressure port 39 are connected. Will be communicated. In this case, most of the air pressure in the air pressure introduction chamber 12b is introduced into the atmosphere chamber 12a via the pipes 35 and 34, and the remaining air is released from the breather 37 to the atmosphere, whereby connection of the clutch 8 is achieved. You.

As can be seen, the control valve section 7a
Functions as a three-way valve that receives a hydraulic pressure signal (pilot hydraulic pressure) from the master cylinder 10 and connects the pneumatic pipe 34 to either the pneumatic pipe 67 or the atmospheric pressure port 39. Pneumatic supply means 2, a second pneumatic supply path b,
Booster 7, control valve section 7a, master cylinder 10,
The hydraulic pipe 54 and the hydraulic path 20 constitute a manual connecting / disconnecting means for manually connecting / disconnecting the clutch based on operation of the clutch pedal.

In particular, in the present apparatus, the clutch 8 is connected only by manual operation when the vehicle starts moving. This greatly simplifies the control and eliminates the need for complicated clutch control at the start.

Here, the state of the manual connection / disconnection described above is illustrated in FIG. First, the clutch pedal 9 is slightly depressed within the range of the play, and the pedal switch 87
Is turned on, the controller 72 knows that the driver intends to manually connect and disconnect, and the solenoid valves 78, 7
9, and 80 are maintained in a normal OFF state (not shown), and the solenoid valve (M / V) 90 is turned ON. When the solenoid valve 90 is turned on, the pneumatic assister 71 operates to generate a shift assist force, and the transmission 76 can be shifted.

Slightly after the pedal switch 87 is turned on, the clutch 8 starts to stroke toward the disconnected side. When the clutch pedal 9 is fully depressed, the clutch 8 is completely disconnected. At this time, the driver operates the shift lever 95 to change the speed. Thereafter, when the clutch pedal 9 is returned, the clutch 8 is connected. Immediately before the clutch pedal 9 is completely returned, the pedal switch 87 is turned off, and in response to this, the controller 72 turns off the solenoid valve 90,
The pneumatic assister 71 is deactivated and the shift assist force is released. As a result, the shift lever 95 becomes extremely heavy, and the shift of the transmission 76 is substantially prohibited. This achieves shift lock.

Next, the operation of automatically connecting and disconnecting the clutch 8 will be described. In this device, automatic clutch connection / disconnection is performed only during gear shifting while the vehicle is running. However, if the complexity of the control is tolerated, control at the time of starting the vehicle may be added.

FIG. 5 shows a state of automatic clutch connection / disconnection at the time of shifting. The controller 72 previously stores the clutch stroke control values CS _{1 to} CS ₄ shown in the drawing. Note that the clutch stroke value is actually replaced by a voltage value by the clutch stroke sensor 88. The values of these clutch strokes or sensor voltages take larger values on the clutch separation side.

As shown in the figure, it is assumed that the driver operates the shift lever 95 at time T ₀ to start shifting. At this time, the solenoid valve (M / V) 90 is OFF and the pneumatic assistor 71
Is not activated. Therefore, since there is no assist force, even if the shift lever 95 is operated with a normal operating force, the lever itself does not move, the shift knob swings, and the knob switch 77 is turned on.
It only becomes

When the knob switch 77 is turned on,
In response to this, the controller 72 starts the automatic disconnection of the clutch 8. The automatic cutting start condition will be described later. Automatic disconnection of clutch turns on solenoid valves 78, 79, 80
This is done by

Then, the air pressure is supplied to the air pressure introduction chamber 12b of the booster 7 through the first air pressure supply path a, and the automatic clutch disconnection is started. In particular, the separation at this time is performed by pneumatic pressure supply paths, namely, a main pneumatic supply path (pipes 62 and 35) and a bypass pneumatic supply path (pipes 70 and 7).
3), the operation is performed at the fastest speed (fastest clutch disengagement).

On the other hand, at this time, air pressure is also supplied to the master cylinder 10, whereby the second piston 48 is pushed to pressurize the inside of the hydraulic passage appropriately. Here, the hydraulic passage means all parts filled with hydraulic oil, and the hydraulic piping 54,
It includes a hydraulic path 20 and a hydraulic cylinder 22. Referring to FIG. 2, when the clutch is automatically disengaged, the hydraulic piston 17 moves to the right side, and the volume of the hydraulic cylinder 22 filled with the hydraulic oil increases, whereby negative pressure is generated in the hydraulic passage. As a result, air bubbles may be mixed into the hydraulic oil. Therefore, in the present apparatus 1, when the clutch 8 is automatically disconnected, the master cylinder 10 is operated by air pressure to pressurize the inside of the hydraulic passage. In this case, the negative pressure in the hydraulic passage can be prevented from occurring. At this time, the check valve 43b is opened to allow air pressure supply.

Next, during the clutch disconnection, the clutch 8
There immediately before the contact side boundary position of the half-clutch area, when specifically became small assist threshold CS ₁ than the minimum clutch stroke defines a half-clutch region (time T _1), the controller 72 is solenoid valve 90 is turned ON, and the operation of the pneumatic assister 71 is started. The assist threshold CS ₁ is a value determined based on experiments or the like. In such a case, since the operation is actually delayed, the pneumatic assistor 7
1 generates a sufficient assisting force after a lapse of a certain time, specifically, after the clutch 8 is disconnected after passing through the half-clutch region. The assist threshold CS ₁ as so reversed is set.

When the assist force is generated in this manner, the shift lever is lightened, and can be operated with a normal operation force, and the gear of the transmission 76 can be disengaged. Therefore, the driver will release the gear of the transmission 76 at the same time when the assist force is generated. The reason for this is to make the operation feeling of the shift lever 95 heavy as long as the clutch 8 is connected, thereby achieving the shift lock. Thereby, for example, gear disengagement due to a forced operation during clutch engagement can be prevented.

By the way, the clutch stroke value corresponding to the disengaged side boundary position of the half clutch area in the clutch 8
CS _2, the controller 72 is stored as the learning value by neutral learning described later. During clutch cutting, when the clutch stroke has reached the learning value CS _2, the controller 72 makes the solenoid valve 79 to OFF. In this case, the booster 7 is provided only from the side of the bypass air pressure supply path (the pipes 70 and 73).
The clutch is separated at a high speed, but not the fastest (clutch high-speed disconnection).
That is, at this point, the clutch disconnection speed is slightly switched to the low speed side.

The reason why the clutch disconnection speed is reduced in this way is that if the clutch is disengaged at the highest speed, the piston plate 13 of the booster 7 will hit the piston stopper at a high speed when stopped, which is a problem in terms of durability. Is caused.

When the clutch 8 is completely disengaged, this state is maintained. During this time, the driver will select and shift the shift lever 95 to engage the next gear. At this time, the solenoid valve 79 is OFF and the air pressure is
9 flows in the discharge direction, but the solenoid valve 78 is turned on, and the air pressure in the supply direction passing through the valve closes the check valve 75.
The discharge of pneumatic pressure from the booster 7 is prevented.

Next, when the transmission 76 is gear-voltage signal from the shift stroke sensor 102 V _F or V _R is sent to the controller 72 (time T _2). In response to this, the controller 72 starts to connect the clutch 8,
At the same time, the solenoid valve 78 is turned off and the solenoid valve 79 is turned on. Then, the pneumatic pressure of the booster 7 is discharged through the path of the pipe 35, the shuttle valve 69, the downstream part 62c, the solenoid valve 79, the intermediate part 62b, the solenoid valve 78, the pipe 64, and the breather 37, and the clutch 8 is rapidly connected (high speed Contact). At the same time, the air pressure is also discharged from the master cylinder 10, and after the check valve 43 a is opened, the air pressure merges with the air pressure discharged from the booster 7 through the air pressure pipe 73 and is discharged. To go.

Since the pneumatic pressure is discharged from the booster 7 and the master cylinder 10 while being synchronized with each other, it is not necessary to adjust the discharge speed of each other, so that the negative pressure in the hydraulic passage can be prevented and the setting is easy. Become Further, since the air pressure on the master cylinder 10 side is always increased by the check valve 43a, it is possible to completely prevent the negative pressure in the hydraulic passage from being reduced.

[0068] In connection procedure of the clutch 8, the clutch stroke reaches the contact speed switch value CS _3, the controller 72 is a solenoid valve 79 to OFF, switches the clutch connecting speed to the low speed side. Here, the contact speed switching value CS ₃ is the previous learning value
It is obtained by adding a predetermined value ΔCS in CS _2. The reason for switching before the clutch stroke reaches CS ₂ is to take into account the operation delay. At this timing, the solenoid valve 7
When the 9 to OFF, the clutch connecting speed is switched either simultaneously least it than the cross-sectional side when the clutch stroke is learned value CS _2. Therefore, when the half-clutch is engaged, a low-speed connection can always be established, and the clutch engagement shock can be reliably prevented.
The value of ΔCS is changed in accordance with the state of wear of the clutch and the like, and an optimum one is selected from a plurality of stored values.

When the solenoid valve 79 is turned off, the air pressure is discharged along the route of the solenoid valve 79, the check valve 75, the throttle section 66, the solenoid valve 78, and the breather 37. Therefore, since the air passes through the throttle portion 66, the moving speed of the air becomes low, and the clutch 8 is slowly connected (low speed connection).

Next, based on the output of the engine speed sensor 93 and the output of the clutch speed sensor 94, if the controller 72 determines that the speeds match and the clutch is synchronized,
The solenoid valve 79 is turned on again, and the clutch 8 is brought into rapid contact. As a result, the connection time can be reduced.

[0071] After this, the clutch stroke is OFF the solenoid valve 90 Once you become an assist threshold CS _1. Then, the air pressure supplied to the air pressure assister 71 is changed to the breather 37.
, The shift assist force is released, the shift operation becomes substantially impossible, and the shift lock is achieved.

The value immediately before the clutch stroke is completed
When CS ₄ is reached, the solenoid valve 79 is turned off and the original standby state is restored. Thus, a series of automatic clutch connection / disconnection and manual shift are completed.

As can be seen from the above description, in the above configuration, the pneumatic supply means 2 and the first pneumatic supply path a (d,
e), the booster 7, the solenoid valves 78, 79, 80, the pneumatic pipes 35, 62, 64, 68, 70, 73, and the controller 72 execute automatic connection and disconnection of the clutch 8 based on a predetermined control signal. Construct automatic disconnection means.

[0074] Here, since in the present apparatus for determining the learning value CS _2, is performed neutral learning in the following manner.
FIG. 6 shows how the clutch is connected at this time.

First, when the controller 72 determines that the predetermined learning start condition is satisfied, the clutch 8 is disengaged at the highest speed and then continuously disengaged. And the clutch rotation speed sensor 9
On the basis of the output of 4, the control waits until the rotation on the clutch output side stops, and when the rotation stops, the clutch 8 is automatically connected at a low speed. When the clutch is engaged and starts to rotate, the clutch output side rotation speed increases and reaches a predetermined threshold value, and the clutch stroke value CS ₂ at that time is regarded as a disengagement boundary value (rotary rotation point) of the half-clutch region. learn. Thereafter, the clutch is automatically engaged at a high speed to complete the learning. The learning start conditions are as follows.

System Switch ON This is a case where the ignition key is turned ON and battery power is supplied to the controller 72.

This is a case where the controller 72 determines that the vehicle speed is zero based on the output of the vehicle speed sensor 85.

The engine is not stopped. This is the case where the controller 72 determines from the output of the engine speed sensor 93 that the engine is running.

The clutch 72 is not depressed. The controller 72 determines that the pedal switch 87 is OFF.

This is a case where the diagnostic switch OFF controller 72 determines that the system is normal based on its own failure diagnosis function.

The clutch 72 is not automatically controlled. The controller 72 sets the solenoid valves 78, 79, and 80 to all OF.
In the case of F, the clutch stroke is determined to be CS ₄ or less.

Gear Position = Neutral This is a case where the output voltage of the shift stroke sensor 102 is V _N , the neutral switch 103 is ON, and the controller 72 determines that the transmission 76 is neutral.

Shift target gear = neutral The case where the controller 72 determines that the knob switch 77 is OFF and the gear is not currently being shifted.

The condition in which the learning permission flag is set is satisfied, and the controller 72 sets the learning permission flag.

By the way, conventionally, in the process of the automatic connection and disconnection of the clutch with the shift as shown in FIG. 5, immediately after the transmission 76 is engaged with the next gear, the knob switch 77 on the gear-disengaged side is momentarily turned on due to an erroneous operation. Thus, there is a problem that automatic disconnection is started even though the clutch 8 must be connected. Therefore, the present device solves this as follows.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the contents of the clutch automatic disconnection start control in the present apparatus. This flow is started at the same time when the knob switch 77 is turned ON. Here, the knob switch 77 is turned ON as shown in FIG.
9 (c) when the shift knob 111 is pushed forward and the knob electrode 112 contacts the front electrode 113 as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 7, the shift knob 111 is pushed backward, and the knob electrode 112 contacts the rear electrode 114. Therefore, the switch that is turned ON in the former is called "knob switch front side",
The switches which are turned ON in the latter are distinguished as "the rear side of the knob switch", and are determined by the controller 72. The flow shown in FIG. 10 is started in both cases.

The controller 72 executes the first step 13
In step 1, the transmission 7 is determined based on the output of the shift stroke sensor 102.
It is determined whether or not 6 is in a gear-in state. If the output voltage of the shift stroke sensor 102 is in the range of V _F or V _R (see FIG. 8), the transmission 76 is determined to be in gear state, the flow proceeds to the next step 132. If the output voltage is not within these ranges, the control ends.

At step 132, it is determined from the output of the clutch stroke sensor 88 whether or not the clutch 8 is closer to the half-clutch area. Specifically, the output voltage is when the cross-sectional side larger than a value corresponding to the learning value CS ₂ of the clutch stroke sensor 88, it is determined that the contact side when that value below. If it is on the contact side, the process proceeds to step 133, and if it is on the disconnected side, this control ends. In particular, when the vehicle is on the disconnected side, as described in the section of the prior art, immediately after the gear-in,
Since it can be considered that the knob switch 77 is turned on, in this case, the start of the automatic clutch disconnection is stopped.

In step 133, the current gear position is set to the first speed based on the output of the shift stroke sensor 102.
It is determined whether the gear is the third gear or the fifth gear. If the output voltage of the shift stroke sensor 102 is in the range of V _F is determined to be in their gear position, the process proceeds to step 134. V
If it is within the range of _R , it is determined that it is not in those gear positions, and the routine proceeds to step 135.

At step 134, the rear side of the knob switch is ON.
It is determined whether or not. That is, it is determined whether or not the ON of the knob switch 77, which triggered the start of this control, has been turned ON by shifting the shift knob 111 backward, or not. The gear position in this step is the first gear position, the third gear position, or the fifth gear position, and is the forward gear position. Therefore, the fact that the rear side of the knob switch is turned ON means that the knob switch 77
Means that the gear has been shifted to the gear disengagement side, and the gear disengagement operation has been normally started by the driver's intention to change gears. Therefore, in this case, the process proceeds to step 136, and the automatic clutch disconnection is immediately started.

Conversely, when the switch is not turned on by the rear side of the knob switch, it means that the front side, that is, the gear-in side has been turned on, and it can be considered that the switch is turned on due to an erroneous operation. Therefore,
In this case, the process proceeds to step 137, in which it is assumed that there is no gear shift intention, and the start of automatic clutch disconnection is stopped.

Similarly, when it is determined in step 133 that the gear position is not the first, third, or fifth gear, that is, in the rear gear position, and it is determined in step 135 that the front side of the knob switch has been turned on, the normal driver Since the shift operation can be regarded as a shift operation based on a shift intention, the process proceeds to step 136 to start automatic clutch disconnection. Conversely, if it is determined in step 135 that the knob switch is turned on by the rear side, it can be regarded as an erroneous operation of the driver, so the process proceeds to step 137 and the start of automatic clutch disconnection is stopped.

In the above control, step 1
There is a feature in that 32 is provided. This is a period of time required for the clutch stroke to change from the complete value to the learning value CS ₂ in the clutch connection process after the end of the shift, specifically, 0.2 s.
Since about ec is required, this is used to determine the driver's intention to shift. That is, as described in the section of the prior art, the time during which the knob switch 77 is ON due to an erroneous operation immediately after the gear-in is 0.2 seconds or less, which is shorter than the previous time. Therefore, by not accepting the signal of the knob switch 77 until the previous time elapses, the start of the automatic clutch disconnection based on the erroneous operation can be prevented.

[0094] Thus, in the present control, the transmission is in-gear, even if the two conditions are satisfied that the knob switch is turned ON to the gear vent side, when the clutch stroke is a neutral learned value CS ₂ is greater than the cross-sectional side Since the start of the automatic clutch disconnection is stopped, the automatic clutch disconnection start immediately after the gear-in due to an erroneous operation or the like can be prevented.

[0095] In the present control, corresponding when the clutch stroke is a neutral learned value CS ₂ or less, that engagement state, since accepting a clutch cutting request, without also, as a problem the conventional case where the gear vent after gear engagement in misshift etc. it can.

As described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, the present invention can be applied to a case where a manual transmission is automatically shifted by an actuator based on a signal of a knob switch.

[0097]

In summary, according to the present invention, an excellent effect of preventing the automatic clutch disconnection start immediately after the gear-in due to an erroneous shift operation or the like can be prevented.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing a clutch connecting / disconnecting device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a booster.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a master cylinder.

FIG. 4 is a time chart showing a state of manual connection and disconnection of a clutch.

FIG. 5 is a time chart showing a state of automatic connection and disconnection of a clutch.

FIG. 6 is a time chart showing a state of automatic clutch connection / disconnection at the time of neutral learning.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a shift operation section of the transmission.

FIG. 8 is a graph showing a relationship between a shift stroke and a shift stroke sensor output voltage.

FIG. 9 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a structure of a shift lever.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the content of clutch automatic disconnection start control according to the present invention.

[Description of Signs] 1 clutch connection / disconnection device 2 pneumatic pressure supply means 7 booster device 7a control valve unit 8 clutch 9 clutch pedal 10 master cylinder 20 hydraulic path 34, 35, 62, 64, 65, 67, 68, 70, 7
3 Pneumatic piping 54 Hydraulic piping 72 Controller 76 Manual transmission 77 Knob switch 78, 79, 80, 90 Solenoid valve 88 Clutch stroke sensor 95 Shift lever 102 Shift stroke sensor CS ₂ Neutral learning value V ₂ , V ₃ Voltage in gear-in range a first pneumatic supply path b second pneumatic supply path d main pneumatic supply path e bypass pneumatic supply path

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F-term (reference) GB18 GC09 GE11 HH01 JJ01

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A clutch connecting / disconnecting device which starts automatic clutch disconnection when two conditions are satisfied that a transmission is in gear and a knob switch is switched to a gear release side, wherein a clutch stroke detecting means for detecting a clutch stroke is provided. When it is determined based on the output that the clutch is on the disengaged side from the half-clutch region, an automatic disconnection start stop means for stopping the start of the automatic clutch disconnection even if the above two conditions are satisfied is provided. Clutch connection / disconnection device. 2. The automatic disconnection start / stop means determines whether or not the clutch is disengaged from the half-clutch region based on a neutral learning value of a clutch stroke.
The clutch connecting / disconnecting device according to any one of the preceding claims.