JP2001182807A - Gear noise reducing device for vehicular automatic transmission - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a noise reducing device, which is simple, low-cost, and general-purpose applicably for various types of automatic transmissions. SOLUTION: The noise reducing device cancels noise by cancellation sound to reduce noise generating at a meshing portion of gears disposed in a vehicular automatic transmission T. In the device, a cancellation sound generating device B for generating the cancellation sound of which phase is shifted from the phase of noise by a half phase is disposed at a position: on/around a line connecting a noise generating source O and a vehicular occupant A, or on/ around a line connecting the noise generating source and a portion C through which the noise is susceptible to passing through in a vehicular body partitioning a vehicle compartment; and as close an possible to the noise generating source. Therefore, the gear noise is reduced in a wide range by composing the noise and cancellation sound.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a gear noise reduction device for an automatic transmission mounted on a vehicle, and more particularly to a device for reducing noise generated at a meshing portion of a gear built in an automatic transmission by canceling the noise with a canceling sound. To a device that

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an automatic transmission for an automobile, gear noise generated at a meshing portion of a gear built therein is always a serious problem. And to reduce that,
Various measures are taken from the design and manufacturing perspectives, for example, to increase the processing accuracy and rigidity of the gears and their supporting members, to eliminate gears with large noise, and to select and assemble gear combinations with small noise. Various measures have been taken, such as applying soundproofing measures to the vehicle side, but in reality there is no fundamental measure. In addition, when such a countermeasure is adopted, cost increases, weight increases, and a large number of man-hours in development and manufacture are required regardless of which measure is adopted.

As a general method for noise reduction, an active control method has been proposed in which sound is generated by shifting the phase of the noise by half a phase, and the sound is actively controlled. Have been. Proposals on active control methods include automotive technology, Vo
l. 50, no. 10, 1996, p22-28, "Control of aerodynamic noise by active control".
No. 27994 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-159483. However, the system according to the above disclosure generally requires advanced technology and advanced system, and is an expensive device.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION By the way, automatic transmissions
The gear noise has a characteristic. FIG. 16 shows an automatic transmission.
Shows the noise measurement results of the machine. The horizontal axis in the figure is the output rotation speed N
_OAnd the number of meshing teeth N of the gear _GThe vertical axis indicates the noise circumference.
The wave number F is shown. The size of the circle in the figure indicates the size of the noise.
Represents. This automatic transmission makes you feel uncomfortable
The noise is indicated by a point P, and its frequency is 3,200.
Hz, the output rotational speed is about 929 RPM, and the number of meshing teeth is
3,200 teeth / second. Therefore, this frequency is
Exactly matches the number of matching teeth. Connect P point and origin O
Line PO is F = N_O= N_GAnd on this line,
Loud noise is plotted, but this automatic transmission
In the case of, only the P point actually matters
You.

The following is a summary of the characteristic points based on the above results. (1) Gear noise poses a problem at a frequency unique to each type of automatic transmission. This is considered to be a result of the intertwining of resonance, sound transmission, and the like due to the structure of the automatic transmission, the specifications of meshing gears, the vehicle structure, and the like. (2) The noise at point P is considered to be annoying because it has a high frequency and a large sound volume while other noises are present at the same time. (3) The frequency directly corresponds to the number of gear meshing teeth, and the phase necessarily corresponds to the gear meshing position. (4) Noise is a problem only in a specific torque (throttle opening) output state and a specific vehicle speed (output shaft rotation speed). (5) This noise is a monotonous tuning fork sound. (6) This noise is not loud enough to cause noise pollution, but rather quiet, relaxed, and anxious during steady driving. Things. (7) In order to solve the problem, it is sufficient to reduce by several decibels only on the occupant side or only in a specific direction on the passenger compartment side. (8) The relationship between the factor and the result is ambiguous, and it may be necessary to take different measures for each model.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a noise reduction apparatus which is simple, inexpensive, and versatile for each model, focusing on the characteristics of gear noise as described above.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention relates to an apparatus for reducing noise generated at a meshing portion of a gear built in an automatic transmission for a vehicle by canceling the noise with a canceling sound. The basic configuration is that an audible noise transmitting device is arranged near and including a line connecting a noise source and a vehicle occupant.

The present invention also relates to an apparatus for reducing noise generated at a meshing portion of a gear built in an automatic transmission for a vehicle by canceling the noise with a canceling sound. The basic configuration is that an erasing sound transmitting device is arranged in the vicinity thereof, including on a line connecting a portion through which the sound is easily transmitted.

In the above configuration, it is effective that the transmission device of the cancellation sound is arranged as close as possible to a noise transmission source.

In the above configuration, the noise reduction device comprises:
It is effective that the noise collecting means is provided, and the transmitting device is a device for transmitting the noise collected by the sound collecting means electronically with a half-phase shift.

In the above configuration, the noise reduction device includes a storage device for the noise data, and the transmission device transmits the cancellation sound using the noise data in the storage device in accordance with the phase of the rotation signal of the gear. It is also effective to use a device.

In the above configuration, it is effective that the transmitting device transmits a canceling sound when the throttle opening is within a predetermined value.

Alternatively, in the above configuration, the noise reduction device includes noise collecting means, and the transmission device includes:
This is a device for transmitting the noise collected by the sound collecting means from a speaker as it is, and the speaker may be configured to be movable with respect to a noise transmission source.

In the above arrangement, the sound collecting means and / or
Alternatively, it is effective that the speaker can be moved with respect to the noise source in accordance with at least one of gear rotation and temperature.

[0015] Specifically, it is effective that the transmitting device has a configuration directly attached to the automatic transmission.

[0016] It is also effective that the transmitting device has a configuration arranged near an automatic transmission.

[0017]

According to the structure of the first aspect,
By arranging the noise canceling device near and including the line connecting the noise source and the occupant, the noise radiated from the source and directly reaching the occupant can be reduced. The noise can be reduced as effectively as possible.

Further, in the case of the configuration according to the second aspect, the noise canceling sound transmitting device is arranged near and including a line connecting the noise transmitting source and a portion of the vehicle body defining the vehicle compartment through which noise is easily transmitted. The noise that propagates in the vehicle interior can be reduced as effectively as possible with a very simple and small device.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, by arranging the transmitting device as close to the noise transmitting source as possible, it is possible to widen the range in which the noise reduction effect is generated.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the noise collected by the sound collecting means is transmitted electronically with a half-phase shift by the transmitting device, thereby greatly simplifying the structure of the sound collecting means and the transmitting device. Can be.

Next, in the configuration according to the fifth aspect, since the canceling sound is transmitted in accordance with the phase of the rotation signal of the gear based on the noise data of the storage device, the sound collecting means whose installation portion is restricted is not used. An erasing sound can be transmitted. In addition, it is possible to produce a cancellation sound without being affected by a difference in environmental conditions or noise other than gear noise.

Further, according to the configuration of the sixth aspect, the transmission of the canceling sound can be effectively performed in accordance with the generation of the gear noise which needs to be reduced within a predetermined throttle opening.

Further, in the configuration according to the seventh aspect, the position of the loudspeaker and / or the sound collecting means as the transmitting device can be precisely adjusted in accordance with the installation state and environmental conditions, so that the noise reduction effect is improved. Can be done.

In the configuration of the eighth aspect, the position of the speaker and / or the sound collecting means as the transmitting device can be precisely adjusted in accordance with the gear rotation and the temperature condition, so that the noise reduction effect can be further improved. It can be further improved.

Further, according to the configuration of the ninth aspect, since the transmitting device can be arranged as close to the noise transmitting source as possible, the range in which the noise reduction effect is generated can be widened.

Further, according to the configuration of the tenth aspect, the transmitting device can be installed without being restricted by the structure of the automatic transmission.

[0027]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a system configuration of a gear noise reduction device according to the present invention in a layout view on a vehicle. This example shows the arrangement of the automatic transmission T in the front wheel drive vehicle M and the positional relationship between the occupant (the driver in the figure) and the noise reduction device. The transmitting device of the noise reduction device (hereinafter referred to as a muffling device) is mounted on an automatic transmission T surface B close to a sound source center O on a line OA connecting a sound source position O and an occupant's head A. However, this is based on the assumption that noise is transmitted to the occupant along the OA line. Depending on the vehicle structure, it is conceivable that noise is transmitted from the easily transmitted portion C of the vehicle body and transmitted to the occupant. In this case, on the automatic transmission T along the OC line or at a point B ′ near the automatic transmission T. Attach. Although not shown, noise may be reflected and transmitted to the occupant. As a matter of course, depending on the vehicle, there may be a case where a plurality of silencers are installed at a plurality of positions.

FIG. 2 shows the relationship between the sound emitted from the silencer placed at the center O and the point B of the sound source. The figure shows a state in which the sound of wavelength λ (the interval between the solid lines indicates the wavelength and represents the peak of the wave) diverges from the sound source center O, and is separated by 3λ from the sound source center O. This shows a state in which the silencer is arranged at the position B, and a half-phase shifted sound (the interval between dashed circles indicates its wavelength and represents a wave trough). This time the noise reduction effect can be expected, the solid and dashed lines, i.e., crests from the sound source (or troughs), shaded valleys from muffler (or crests) is substantially overlap L ₁₀ It can be seen that the area is a narrow limited area near the line indicated by L ₁₁ , L _{12, and the} like and very near the line. In reality, since both the sound source center O and the silencer have a certain size rather than a point, they are not ideal as shown in the figure and are considered to be limited to a narrower range.

FIG. 3 illustrates the principle of silencing, which is shown in FIG.
7 shows a waveform along the line B. As shown in the figure, by transmitting a sound wave (indicated by a broken line in the figure) that is shifted in phase by half from the silencer, in principle, the sound emitted from the sound source center O and the sound emitted from the silencer are canceled out and synthesized. The sound becomes zero.

FIG. 4 shows the relationship between the sound source center O and the muffler in the same manner as in FIG. 2 when the muffler is brought closer to the center O of the sound source. The example in the figure is a case where the positions O and B are shifted by half a wavelength. In this case, it can be seen that the width of the reduced area L ₂₀ of sound along the O-B line becomes wider. Compared to the case of FIG. 2, it can be seen that the angle width region where the noise reduction effect occurs is greatly expanded by bringing the noise reduction device closer to the sound source center O. This point is one of the points aimed at by the present invention. As shown in the arrangement in FIG. 1, by installing a silencer on or near the surface of the automatic transmission T as close as possible to the center O of the noise source, the necessary minimum is achieved. The aim is to reduce the noise to a degree that the occupants do not feel uncomfortable with a minimal silencer.

Next, a specific embodiment of the muffler will be described. FIG. 5 shows the system configuration of the first embodiment of the silencer. This is an example in which the simplest method is used, in which sound is detected at the installation location and transmitted with a half-phase shift as it is. To this end, the silencer comprises a microphone 10 as a sound collecting means, an amplifier 20 for amplifying the collected sound, a phase converter 30 for shifting the phase of the collected sound, and a speaker 40 as an output means. . The phase converter 30 analyzes the sound collected by the microphone 10 in detail, and creates a signal delayed by a half phase only in the frequency region of interest.

The microphone 10 is attached to a position which can be attached and which is closest to the noise generating portion. As a specific method of attachment, there are a method of attaching to the inner surface of the automatic transmission case 50 and a method of attaching to the vicinity of the noise generating part in the automatic transmission in addition to the method of attaching to the outer surface of the automatic transmission case 50 as shown in the figure. . The sound collecting means may be a piezoelectric element. In this case, a method of directly attaching the piezoelectric element to the above-described portion or the surface of the component can be employed.

The speaker 40 is mounted on the outer surface of the transmission case 50. The position of the speaker 40 is on the line connecting the sound source center O and the vicinity of the occupant's head A or the sound transmitting portion C to the passenger compartment as described above. Or its vicinity. Note that the sound source center O does not always coincide with the noise generation site. It is considered that the actual noise passes through various parts and parts of the automatic transmission from the generated part and finally leaks outside from the surface of the automatic transmission case 50. Therefore, the virtual sound center of the sound heading toward the head A of the occupant or the direction of the sound transmission port C to the passenger compartment is eventually set as the sound source center. Since it is difficult to theoretically determine the sound source center O, it may be determined experimentally.

The amplifier 20 and the phase converter 30 are connected to the microphone 1
0, it may be installed in a place away from the speaker 40,
It may be integrated with either the microphone 10 or the speaker 40. Also, the microphone 10 may be provided integrally with the speaker 40 at the speaker position as shown in FIG. However, due to its mechanism, the microphone 10 needs to be attached to the surface of the case 50 from the speaker 40 with the sound source centered.

FIG. 7 shows a processing flow of the present system.
In step S1-1, sound is collected from the microphone, frequency analysis is performed in step S1-2, and if the frequency f is equal to or less than the reference value in step S1-3, the process returns. Step S
When 1-3 is established, a process of delaying the phase by a half phase is performed in step S1-4, and the signal is transmitted from the speaker in step S1-4. Strictly speaking, since the phase to be delayed is not always the same between the microphone position and the speaker mounting position, the phase of the canceling sound is shifted by half a phase with the noise propagating to the occupant side at the speaker position. It means.
The processing of steps S1-2 to S4 is performed by the phase converter.

FIG. 8 shows a second embodiment of the gear noise reduction system. This system basically has an erasing sound in a memory and transmits the erasing sound in correspondence with a gear rotation signal, an air temperature, and a torque signal. The muffling device in this case includes a gear rotation speed sensor 60, a temperature sensor 70, a torque sensor (not shown), a muffling sound calculation device 80, a data memory 90, and a speaker 40.

In the system in this example, a pulse signal corresponding to the gear teeth is detected by an electromagnetic pickup type gear rotation sensor 60 facing the teeth of the counter driven gear 51. The detection target of the gear rotation sensor 60 is:
The same applies to the teeth of the counter drive gear 52. The gear rotation is detected by using a pulse signal detected by an input rotation sensor or an output rotation sensor which is usually installed for speed change control in an automatic transmission, and calculating the number of meshing teeth of the counter gear by calculation. There is also. However, in such a case, it should be noted that the relationship between the counter drive 52 and the position of the meshing teeth of the driven gear 51 must be strictly matched.

As shown in FIG. 9, the counter gears 51, 5
Between the gear noise waveform in the rotation signal pulses and the speaker position of the two necessarily present a unique phase difference h _1. This is a constant determined by the position where the rotation sensor 60 and the speaker 40 are attached to the automatic transmission, and is theoretically or experimentally obtained. Thus, cancellation sound originating from the speaker 40, it is necessary to shift further half phase difference h _2. Further, if there is a delay in the electronic circuit of the device, it is necessary to set the delay in consideration of the delay. This time delay on the electronic circuit is treated as 0 for convenience in this description.

The torque signal used in this system is the engine torque or the input torque of the automatic transmission, but may be replaced by a throttle signal. Since the noise that causes a problem is noticed at a specific vehicle speed and a specific throttle opening, the noise is used to specify a situation in which the reduction control is performed in accordance with the noise. Since the center of the sound source and the position of the speaker 40 are distant from each other, the temperature signal is used to correct a phase difference deviation corresponding to the temperature.

FIG. 10 shows a flow of control by this system.
Shown in In this flow, first, a signal such as a rotation signal, a torque signal, and an air temperature is captured in step S2-1, and then, the frequency f is determined in step S2-2. Then, the determination at step S2-3 that the frequency f is within the reference value and the throttle opening at step S2-4 or the data writing at step S2-5 are performed on condition that the torque output is within the reference value as described above. Then, in step S2-6, the signal is transmitted with a phase difference.

FIG. 11 shows a third embodiment of the gear noise reduction system. In this system, microphone 1
0, the sound is collected, the sound is transmitted as it is by the speaker 40,
As a result, the speaker position or the microphone position is set so that the two sounds are shifted by a half phase. Further, by adjusting the position according to the gear rotation and the air temperature, it is possible to make the position more effective. In this case, the system configuration includes a microphone 10, an amplifier 20 for amplifying the picked-up sound, a rotation sensor 60 for detecting rotation of the canter gear, and a temperature sensor 7
0, an arithmetic device 110 for calculating the speaker position from the detection results of both sensors, a speaker moving device 100 for moving and setting the speaker based on the calculation result, and a speaker 40. The same is true even when the microphone is set to move.

The speaker reference position in the figure is OA on the line connecting the center of the virtual sound source and the direction of the noise transmitting portion to the driver's head or the passenger compartment, and the phase of the noise is the noise of the noise collected by the microphone. This is the position that matches the phase. Here, the meaning of coincidence means that the waves do not simultaneously transmit the center of the sound source,
You may look at the waves shifted by an integer number. Noise is a problem when the vehicle speed is in a steady state or changes slowly, and is a wave on the order of 1000 Hz. This depends on the position of the rotation sensor and speaker on the automatic transmission.
The constant that is determined is determined theoretically or experimentally.

The loudspeaker 40 in this system is shifted from the reference position on the OA line by λ / 2 (λ represents a wavelength) on the assumption that there is no delay in the electronic circuit. A similar silencing effect can be obtained. It is known that sound waves in the air change depending on the temperature as follows. Strictly speaking, there are other effects such as density and humidity, but usually there is no problem. V = 334 + 0.2T + 0.007T ² V: sound velocity m / sec T: temperature ° C λ = 100 × V / f λ: wavelength cm f: frequency 1 / sec Therefore, the wavelength λ corresponds to the temperature T and the frequency f. , As an example. Temperature T: ° C 0 20 40 Sound velocity V: m / sec 334 340.8 353.2 Frequency f; 3000 11.1 11.4 11.8 3200 10.4 10.7 11.0 3400 9.8 10. 1 10.4 As described above, since the wavelength λ varies depending on the frequency f and the temperature T, the required moving amount of the speaker 40 is calculated based on the signals of the rotation sensor 60 and the temperature sensor 70, and the speaker moving device 100 40 is moved on the OA line so as to obtain a silencing effect. By the way, speaker 4
In the case where the mounting reference position of 0 is set so as to produce a sound deadening effect at 20 ° C. and 3200 HZ, the movement amount S _X of the speaker 40 is expressed as follows: S _X = λ (T, f) −λ (0,3200) Asked to do so. Therefore, the following table summarizes the movement amounts S _X corresponding to the above table. Temperature T: ° C 0 20 40 Sound velocity V: m / sec 334 340.8 353.2 Frequency f; 3000 0. 40. 7 1. 13200-0. 30. 0 0. 3 3400-0. 9-0. 7-0. Three

FIG. 12 shows a processing flow of this system. In this flow, data is read in step S3-1, and the frequency f is determined in step S3-2. When it is determined that the frequency f is within the reference value in step S2-3, the speaker movement amount S _X is calculated in step S3-4, and the speaker is actually moved in step S3-5. The call is transmitted in step S3-6.

Finally, FIG. 13 shows the results of a model experiment for gear noise reduction. As shown in the drawing, in this experiment, a monotone tone of 1000 HZ and 53.9 dB is transmitted from the speaker, and a sound of 52.2 dB is transmitted from the speaker, while the speaker is moved L1 cm in the transmission direction.
At that time, the sound is collected by a microphone placed 1 m away.
The measurement environment is a normal room, not a special room such as an anechoic room. Therefore, it is a measurement result in a situation where reverberations from the surroundings are mixed. As a result, as shown in FIG.
A reduction effect of about 6.4 dB was obtained at L1 = 17 cm. The result is that if the speed of sound is 340 m / sec, the half wavelength is: 1 / 2λ = 340 m / 1000/2 = 0.17 m = 17
cm 2, which is a position in good agreement with the theory. Further, FIG.
5 shows the effect measured when the microphone is moved L2 cm in the right angle direction. In this case, as shown in FIG. 16, it can be seen that there is a 5 dB reduction effect up to 18 cm in the right angle direction.

As described above, the present invention has been described in detail with reference to three embodiments. However, the idea of the present invention is not limited to the illustrated embodiments, and is not limited to the scope of the claims.
The present invention can be implemented by variously changing the specific configuration.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a layout diagram schematically showing an embodiment of a gear noise reduction device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a sound deadening principle according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing waveforms in the direction of the line OB in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the effect of disposing the transmitting means according to the embodiment close to the center of the sound source.

FIG. 5 is a system configuration diagram schematically showing the configuration of the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a system configuration diagram showing a modification of the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating processing of the system according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a system configuration diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of a second embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a waveform chart showing a mutual relationship between waveforms related to the phase processing of the second embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating processing of the system according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a system configuration diagram schematically showing a configuration of a third embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating processing of the system according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram of a model experiment showing an effect of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a graph showing a change in sound pressure during vertical movement of a speaker according to a model experiment.

FIG. 15 is a graph showing a change in sound pressure during lateral movement of a speaker according to a model experiment.

FIG. 16 is a graph showing an example of noise data of the automatic transmission.

[Explanation of symbols]

 T automatic transmission O sound source center (noise transmission source) B silencer installation position C noise transmission part 20 microphone (sound collecting means) 30 phase converter 40 speaker (transmission device) 51 counter driven gear 52 counter drive gear 80 erasing sound calculation Device 90 Data memory (storage device) 100 Speaker moving device

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Takanori Ide 10 Takane, Fujii-machi, Anjo, Aichi Prefecture Inside Aisin AW Co., Ltd. 3D020 BA02 BB01 BC01 BD05 BE04 3J063 AA01 AA02 AB02 AC04 BA03 BA09 CA01 CB01 XB01 5D061 FF02

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. An apparatus for reducing noise generated at a meshing portion of a gear incorporated in an automatic transmission for a vehicle by canceling the noise with a canceling sound, the device including: a portion including a line connecting a noise source and a vehicle occupant; A gear noise reduction device for an automatic transmission for a vehicle, wherein a transmission device for a cancellation sound is arranged. 2. An apparatus for reducing noise generated at a meshing portion of a gear incorporated in an automatic transmission for a vehicle by canceling the noise with a canceling sound, wherein noise in a vehicle body defining a noise source and a vehicle compartment is easily transmitted. A noise reduction device for an automatic transmission for a vehicle, wherein a transmission device of a cancellation sound is arranged near and including a line connecting the parts. 3. The gear noise reduction device for an automatic transmission for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the transmission device of the cancellation sound is arranged as close to the noise transmission source as possible. 4. The vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising a noise collecting unit, wherein the transmitting device is configured to transmit the noise collected by the sound collecting unit electronically with a half-phase shift. Gear noise reduction device for automatic transmission. 5. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a noise data storage device, wherein the transmission device transmits an erasing sound using the noise data of the storage device in accordance with the phase of a gear rotation signal. 4. The gear noise reduction device for an automatic transmission for a vehicle according to claim 3. 6. The gear noise reduction device for an automatic transmission for a vehicle according to claim 5, wherein said transmission device is a device for transmitting a cancellation sound when the throttle opening is within a predetermined value. 7. A noise collecting device, wherein the transmitting device transmits the noise collected by the sound collecting device as it is from a speaker, and the sound collecting device and / or
4. The gear noise reduction device for an automatic transmission for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the speaker is installed at a position shifted by a half phase. 5. 8. The gear noise of an automatic transmission for a vehicle according to claim 7, wherein said sound collecting means and / or said speaker is movable with respect to a noise source according to at least one of gear rotation and temperature. Reduction device. 9. The gear noise reduction device for an automatic transmission for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the transmission device is directly attached to the automatic transmission. 10. The gear noise reduction device for an automatic transmission for a vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the transmission device is disposed near an automatic transmission.