JP2021127811A - Shift bi-wire type range switching device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide high reliability by narrowing an intermediate range, in which a detent roller is easily stopped.SOLUTION: A detent mechanism 1 has a manual plate 2, which is fixed to a manual shaft 7 and in which plural range grooves 8 are continuously formed at outer edge parts 5a, 6a across a crest part 9, and a detent spring 3 for energizing a detent roller 4 so that it is sucked into the range groove 8. The outer edge parts 5a, 6a of the manual plate 2 are formed into a V-shaped cross section, and the range grooves 8 is symmetrically formed at the outer edge parts 5a, 6a. The detent roller 4 is formed into an abacus shape, and a tapered face 4a thereof is made into contact with the range groove 8 formed at each of the outer edge parts 5a, 6a. The tapered face 4a of the detent roller 4 has a minimum diameter d1 near the crescent part 9, so that an intermediate range, in which the detent roller 4 is easily stopped, can be made narrow.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

The present invention relates to a shift-by-wire type range switching device capable of reliably sucking a detent roller provided in a detent spring into a range groove formed in a manual plate.

In a shift-by-wire automatic transmission, when the driver operates a range selector such as a select lever or a select switch to select a desired range (P range, R range, N range, D range, etc.), the control unit However, the actuator represented by the motor is driven to operate the parking mechanism or the range position of the automatic transmission is switched according to the range selected by the driver.

In the shift-by-wire mechanism, for example, as disclosed in Patent Document 1 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2019-95012), the manual shaft is rotationally driven by an actuator, and the manual valve connected to the manual shaft is moved for parking. Switch the mechanism and range position. This shift-by-wire mechanism is equipped with a detent mechanism to improve the positioning accuracy of the manual valve.

The detent mechanism has a manual plate (sometimes referred to as a "detent plate") that is fixed to a manual shaft and rotates integrally, and a detent spring. A range groove (positioning recess) is provided on the outer periphery of the manual plate. Are formed at intervals corresponding to each range of the manual valve. Further, a roller (detent roller) that engages with the range groove is provided at the free end of the detent spring, and the manual shaft has a range groove corresponding to the range (target range) selected by the driver. The rotation angle corresponding to the target range can be obtained by being sucked into and engaged with. This determines the range position of the manual valve.

JP-A-2019-95012

By the way, the torque required to suck the detent roller into the range groove (suction torque) is the urging force of the detent spring against the detent roller and the driven torque of the actuator (torque that drives the actuator by the elasticity of the detent spring). Determined by the difference. That is, if the suction torque is less than the driven torque of the actuator, the manual plate 101 will stop in the intermediate range (the range where the urging force of the detent spring <the driven torque of the actuator) to reach the range groove α or β, and the target. It becomes difficult to switch to the range.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6, in order to engage the detent roller 102 formed in a cylindrical shape with the range groove α or β corresponding to the target range and maintain the rotation angle of the manual shaft, at least the detent It is necessary to stop the actuator within a rotation angle at which the torque (suction torque) when the roller 102 is sucked into the range groove α or β is equal to or greater than the driven torque of the actuator. Note that FIG. 6 is described so that the detent roller 102 moves as a relative operation for ease of explanation.

In order to make it difficult for the detent roller 102 to stop in the intermediate range, it is preferable to expand the suction range of the detent roller 102 (the range in which the detent roller slides down into the range groove when the actuator is de-energized), and the following measures can be considered. ..
(1) The radius of the mountain portion 101a is reduced to narrow the intermediate range in which the manual plate is likely to stop.
(2) By increasing the radius of the contact point between the manual plate 101 and the detent roller 102 (distance from the center of rotation of the manual plate to the contact point), the rotational movement distance near the apex of the manual plate per rotation angle is lengthened. However, the intermediate range is relatively narrowed.

However, in the measure (1), the followability of the detent roller 102 to the mountain shape formed on the manual plate 101 is lowered, and the detent roller 102 is likely to bounce and cause an abnormal noise.
With the measure (2), the shape of the manual plate 101 becomes large, it becomes difficult to install it in an existing automatic transmission, and there is a disadvantage that it lacks versatility.

In view of the above circumstances, the present invention can prevent the generation of abnormal noise without lowering the followability of the detent roller, suppress the increase in size of the manual plate, and easily stop the detent roller in an intermediate range. It is an object of the present invention to provide a shift-by-wire type range switching device capable of obtaining a high degree of certainty by narrowing.

The present invention includes a manual shaft that operates a manual valve, an actuator that rotates the manual shaft by a set angle, a control unit that outputs a range drive signal corresponding to a range selected by the driver to the actuator, and the manual shaft. A shift-by-wire provided with a manual plate which is fixedly formed and a plurality of range grooves are continuously formed on the outer edge portion across a mountain portion, and a detent mechanism having a detent spring for urging the detent roller so as to be sucked into the range groove. In the type range switching device, the outer edge portion of the manual plate is formed in a V-shaped cross section when viewed from the plate thickness direction, and the range groove is formed symmetrically with the opposite outer edge portion, and the detent roller is formed on a calculator. A tapered surface that is bead-shaped and line-symmetrically formed with the apex portion interposed therebetween is brought into contact with the range groove formed on each outer edge portion.

According to the present invention, the outer edge portion of the manual plate is formed in a V-shaped cross section, and a range groove is formed symmetrically on the opposite outer edge portion, and the detent roller is formed into an arithmetic bead shape, and a line is sandwiched between the apex portions. Since the symmetrically formed tapered surface is brought into contact with the range groove formed at each outer edge portion, the diameter of the contact portion is the minimum diameter when the detent roller moves from the mountain portion to the valley portion with respect to the range groove. It changes continuously from to the maximum diameter. Therefore, the intermediate range near the mountain portion where the detent roller is likely to stop is narrowed, and the suction range is relatively widened, so that high certainty can be obtained.

Further, since it is not necessary to increase the radius of the contact point between the manual plate and the detent roller, it is possible to suppress the increase in size of the manual plate. Further, since it is not necessary to reduce the shape of the vicinity of the mountain portion of the range groove, the followability of the detent roller is not impaired, and thus the generation of abnormal noise can be suppressed.

Side view of the main part of the detent mechanism showing the state in which the detent roller is in contact with the mountain portion between the range grooves formed on the manual plate. Side view of the main part of the detent mechanism showing the state where the detent roller is in contact with the range groove. (A) is a view from arrow A in FIG. 1, and (b) is a view from arrow B in FIG. (A) is a characteristic diagram showing the suction range of the range groove set from the difference between the suction torque of the detent mechanism and the driven torque of the actuator, and (b) is a schematic diagram showing the operation of the detent roller with the rotation of the manual plate. Enlarged view showing the state where the detent roller is in contact with the mountain side Conventional examples are shown, (a) is a characteristic diagram showing the suction range of the range groove set from the difference between the suction torque of the detent mechanism and the driven torque of the actuator, and (b) is the operation of the detent roller with the rotation of the manual plate. Schematic diagram showing

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The shift-by-wire type range switching device is provided with a detent mechanism 1 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. This detent mechanism is for improving the position accuracy of the manual valve V for operating the parking mechanism and the switching of the range position in the advancing / retreating direction, and includes a manual plate 2, a detent spring 3, and a detent roller 4. As shown in FIG. 3, the manual plate 2 is formed by joining two steel plates 5 and 6 as plate materials having a plate thickness of about 1/2 that of a conventional manual plate by means such as welding. ..

The manual plate 2 has a substantially fan-shaped outer shape, and the manual shaft 7 is pivotally attached to the lower rotation center and is integrally rotated with the manual shaft 7. Further, a hole 2a is bored on one side of the manual plate 2, and a base end of the manual valve V is continuously provided in the hole 2a. The manual valve V moves forward and backward according to the rotation angle of the manual shaft 7 to switch the parking mechanism and the range position. The manual valve V may be connected to the manual shaft 7 via a lever.

Further, the manual shaft 7 is rotationally driven by an actuator 11 represented by a motor, and the actuator 11 is operated based on a range drive signal from a control unit 12 as a control unit. Further, the control unit 12 has a drive signal (range drive signal) corresponding to a range (P range, R range, N range, D range, etc.) selected by the range selector (select lever, select switch, etc.) 13 operated by the driver. ) Is output to the actuator 11.

Further, range grooves 8p, 8r, 8n, 8d are formed on the upper outer edge of the manual plate 2 at positions of rotation angles corresponding to the range positions (P, R, N, D, etc.) of the manual valve V. Further, the range grooves 8p, 8r, 8n, and 8d are continuously formed with the mountain portions 9a to 9c interposed therebetween. In the following, the range grooves 8p, 8r, 8n, and 8d may be collectively referred to as a range groove 8, and the mountain portions 9a to 9c may be collectively referred to as a mountain portion 9.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the upper outer edge of the manual plate 2 is formed in a V-shaped cross section when viewed from the plate thickness direction. More specifically, the V-shaped cross section of the upper outer edge is a line in a direction in which the outer edge portions 5a, 6a of the two joined steel plates 5 and 6 are separated from each other from the main body portion on which the manual shaft 7 is axially attached. It is formed by bending symmetrically, and a range groove 8 (8p, 8r, 8n, 8d) and a mountain portion 9 (9a to 9c) are formed at line-symmetrical positions of the opposite outer edge portions 5a and 6a, respectively. Has been done. Further, the outer edge portions 5a and 6a are subjected to R processing on the inner peripheral edges 5b and 6b of the edge portions 5a and 6a to prevent damage to the detent roller 4 when it comes into contact with the tapered surface 4a described later.

On the other hand, the detent spring 3 is an elongated plate-shaped cantilever spring whose base end is fixed to a case 10 such as an automatic transmission (not shown) by bolting or the like. Further, the free end side of the detent spring 3 faces the upper side of the manual plate 2 from a direction orthogonal to the axis of the manual shaft 7. A bifurcated arm 3a is formed on the free end side of the detent spring 3, and the detent roller 4 is rotatably supported between the arms 3a.

Further, the spring pressure of the detent spring 3 is such that the suction torque of the detent roller 4 is covered by the actuator 11 in the suction range with respect to the range groove 8 (the range in which the detent roller 4 slides down into the range groove 8 when the actuator 11 is de-energized). It is set to be larger than the driving torque (the torque that drives the actuator 11 by the elasticity of the detent spring 3).

The detent roller 4 has an abacus bead shape (a shape in which a truncated cone is joined at the bottom surface), and the left and right tapered surfaces 4a are formed line-symmetrically with the apex portion 4b in between, and the apex portion 4b is a steel plate. It faces on the joint surfaces of 5 and 6.

As shown in FIG. 1, for example, when the detent roller 4 is in contact with the mountain portion 9c between the range groove 8n corresponding to the N range position and the range groove 8d corresponding to the D range position, FIG. As shown in a), the tapered surface 4a of the detent roller 4 comes into contact with the widened mountain portion 9 (9c) of the upper outer edge of the manual plate 2. In this state, since the opening between the outer edge portions 5a and 6a is maximum, the tapered surface 4a of the detent roller 4 comes into contact with the mountain portion 9 with the reduced diameter portion on the arm 3a side as the minimum diameter d1.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2, for example, when the detent roller 4 is sucked into the range groove 8n corresponding to the N range position, as shown in FIG. 3B, the opening between the outer edge portions 5a and 6a Is gradually reduced, and the contact portion of the detent roller 4 with the tapered surface 4a moves relatively toward the apex portion 4b. Then, when the tapered surface 4a of the detent roller 4 is hooked at a position close to the valley portion 8a of the range groove 8, the contact position of the tapered surface 4a becomes the maximum diameter d2.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4B, the tapered surface 4a of the detent roller 4 has a portion in contact with the range groove 8 from the minimum diameter d1 to the maximum as the range groove 8 moves from the peak portion 9 to the valley portion 8a. It changes continuously between the diameters d2.

Next, the operation of the detent mechanism with such a configuration will be described. When the driver operates the range selector 13 to select a desired range (any of P range, R range, N range, D range, etc.), the control unit 12 actuators a range drive signal corresponding to the selected range. Output to 11. As a result, the actuator 11 rotates the manual shaft 7 by an angle corresponding to the selected range.

For example, the D range is selected as the current range, and therefore, when the driver selects the N range from the state where the detent roller 4 is engaged with the range groove 8d corresponding to the D range, the actuator 11 is manually operated. The shaft 7 is rotated by a predetermined angle in the counterclockwise direction of FIG. Then, the detent roller 4 moves in the direction of the mountain portion 9c along the range groove 8d against the urging force of the detent spring 3.

Then, the detent roller 4 reaches the mountain portion 9c (see FIG. 1), and after that, when it exceeds the intermediate range shown in FIG. 2, it is sucked into the range groove 8d corresponding to the N range. As shown in FIG. 3, the upper outer edge of the manual plate 2 of the present embodiment is formed in a V-shaped cross section, and the range groove 8 (8p, 8r, 8n, 8d) and the mountain portion 9 (9a to 9a) are formed on the upper outer edge. 9c) are each formed, and the detent roller 4 is formed in the shape of an abacus bead.

Therefore, in the mountain portion 9, the tapered surface 4a of the detent roller 4 is in contact with the minimum diameter d1, and in the state of being sucked into the range groove 8, the tapered surface 4a is in contact with the maximum diameter d2. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, when the conventional detent roller 102 and the tapered surface 4a of the detent roller 4 of the present embodiment are in contact with each other at the same position of the mountain portion 9, the diameter of the detent roller 4 of the present embodiment is contacted. Is smaller than the diameter of the conventional detent 102.

Therefore, when the rotation center O of the manual plate 2 and the rotation centers of the detent rollers 102 and 4 are connected, the tapered surface 4a of the detent roller 4 of the present embodiment has a suction angle of Δθ (as compared with the conventional detent roller 102). Increase angle) only. Therefore, as shown by the solid line in FIG. 4A, the intermediate range in which the detent roller 4 is likely to stop (the range in which the urging force of the detent spring 3 <the driven torque of the actuator 11) is shown by the alternate long and short dash line. It becomes narrower than the intermediate range, and the suction range of the detent roller 4 can be relatively widened.

As a result, it is not necessary to increase the outer diameter of the manual plate 2, and it is possible to suppress the increase in size of the manual plate. Further, since it is not necessary to reduce the shape of the mountain portion 9, the generation of abnormal noise due to the jumping of the detent roller 4 is prevented, the followability of the detent roller 4 is not hindered, and high certainty can be obtained. ..

Further, since the manual plate 2 according to the present embodiment has two steel plates 5 and 6 joined to have the same thickness as the conventional manual plate, the outer edge portions 5a and 6a can be combined with the conventional manual plate. It is easier to bend. Therefore, when the detent roller 4 is pressed against the valley portion 8a of the range groove 8, the outer edge portions 5a and 6a bend in the width direction of the detent roller 4 to absorb the impact, so that an abnormal noise is generated. Can be reduced.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and for example, the friction coefficient of the portion of the detent roller 4 in contact with the range groove 8 is adjusted by attaching a sheet having a surface roughness or a predetermined friction coefficient. By doing so, the suction torque characteristic may be adjusted.

1 ... Detent mechanism,
2 ... Manual plate,
2a ... hole,
3 ... Detent spring,
3a ... arm,
4 ... Detent Roller,
4a ... Tapered surface,
4b ... apex,
5, 6 ... Steel plate,
5a, 6a ... outer edge,
5b, 6b ... Inner circumference of edge,
7 ... Manual shaft,
8 (8p, 8r, 8n, 8d) ... Range groove,
8a ... Tanibe,
9 (9a-9c) ... Yamabe,
10 ... Case,
11 ... Actuator,
12 ... Control unit,
13 ... Range selector,
d1 ... Minimum diameter,
d2 ... Maximum diameter,
O ... Center of rotation,
V ... Manual valve,
Δθ… Increasing angle

Claims (3)

The manual shaft that operates the manual valve and
An actuator that rotates the manual shaft by a set angle and
A control unit that outputs a range drive signal corresponding to the range selected by the driver to the actuator, and
A detent mechanism having a manual plate fixed to the manual shaft and having a plurality of range grooves continuously formed on the outer edge portion across a mountain portion and a detent spring for urging the detent roller so as to be sucked into the range groove. In a shift-by-wire range switching device equipped with
The outer edge portion of the manual plate is formed in a V-shaped cross section when viewed from the plate thickness direction, and the range groove is formed symmetrically with the opposite outer edge portion.
A shift-by-wire range switching device in which the detent roller is shaped like an abacus and a tapered surface formed line-symmetrically with a vertex portion in between is brought into contact with the range groove formed on each outer edge portion. .. The shift-by-wire range switching device according to claim 1, wherein the thickness of the outer edge portion of the manual plate formed in the V-shaped cross section is formed to be substantially half the thickness of the main body portion. .. The manual plate is formed by joining two plate materials.
The shift-by-wire type range switching device according to claim 2, wherein the outer edge portion is formed in a V-shaped cross section by bending each of the plate members in a direction away from the main body portion.

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