JP2023107299A - Controller for meshing type transmission mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

To prevent or suppress abnormal noise due to ratcheting and placement of an excessive load.SOLUTION: There is provided a controller for a meshing type engagement mechanism that comprises: fixed teeth fixed in an axial direction; movable teeth moving in the axial direction to mesh with the fixed teeth; and an actuator powered to generate a thrust for moving the movable teeth in the axial direction, has axial end parts of the fixed teeth and movable teeth chamfered, and performs engagement control to power the actuator for a predetermined engagement powering time in response to an engagement instruction to engage the movable teeth with the fixed teeth. The controller comprises condition violence determination means for determining the condition for engaging the movable teeth with the fixed teeth after the engagement instruction is not met (step S3), and powering-time shortening means for making the time for which the actuator is powered shorter than the engagement powering time when it is determined that the condition is not met (step S5).SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a meshing type transmission mechanism that transmits torque by meshing meshing teeth such as splines, and more particularly to a device that controls the meshing of meshing teeth.

As a transmission mechanism for transmitting and interrupting torque, spline teeth formed on the outer peripheral surface of a predetermined rotating member and spline teeth formed on the inner peripheral surface of a sleeve axially moving on the outer peripheral side of the rotating member are selectively used. A mesh type transmission mechanism that meshes with is known. In this type of transmission mechanism, when the sleeve is moved axially to engage the spline teeth, if the spline teeth are in phase and aligned axially, the ends of the spline teeth will be displaced. Sometimes they collide with each other and do not mesh. Such a state is sometimes referred to as vertex contact, and in order to avoid such a state, a synchronizer is provided or chamfers are formed at the ends of the spline teeth. It is

If a chamfer is provided, torque can be generated by the thrust force (pressing force in the axial direction) that moves the sleeve, so that the spline teeth can be brought into mesh with each other. On the other hand, if the rotation speed difference between the spline teeth to be meshed or the torque to be transmitted is large, the chamfer will generate a reaction force that pushes the sleeve back, and as a result, the spline teeth will rebound and re-contact repeatedly. As a result, an abnormal noise called gear noise is generated, and a large load is applied to a shift fork or the like for moving the sleeve, which may reduce the durability of the shift fork.

In order to solve such a problem, the device disclosed in Patent Document 1 eliminates switching. That is, in the device described in Patent Document 1, in a sub-transmission that can be switched between a high state with a small gear ratio and a low state with a large gear ratio, after the determination of switching is established, a predetermined torque or more is applied. When the allowable condition is no longer satisfied, the sub-transmission is configured to return to the state at the start of the switching operation.

On the other hand, Patent Document 2 describes a device configured to avoid damage to a shift fork or the like when so-called vertex contact occurs. The device described in Patent Document 2 is configured to use a single actuator for both control of pressing the clutch for torque distribution control and moving the sleeve for range switching. This transfer device is configured to reduce the output (thrust force) of the actuator when a vertex contact occurs due to the switching of the sleeve.

JP 2009-041637 A JP 2017-159763 A

As described above, even if the meshing teeth are chamfered, the meshing teeth collide with each other and the meshing does not proceed any further. By detecting such a state, the state before engagement control is started is restored. However, the state in which the meshing teeth collide with each other (the so-called vertex contact state) occurs when normal mesh control is executed, and the vertex contact state continues until the start of detection and return control. . Therefore, in the device described in Patent Document 1, there are problems such as abnormal noise such as so-called gear noise being generated while the vertex hit is occurring, and a large load being applied to related members such as the shift fork. .

In addition, in the device described in Patent Document 2, when a so-called vertex hit occurs, the driving current value for moving the sleeve is reduced. Ratcheting may continue until engagement. Therefore, although the device described in Patent Document 2 can avoid or suppress damage to the shift fork and the like, there is still room for improvement in terms of preventing or reducing abnormal noise such as gear noise.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned technical problems, and is a control of a meshing type transmission mechanism capable of reducing abnormal noise and load caused by chamfers of meshing teeth colliding with each other and meshing not progressing. The object is to provide an apparatus.

In order to achieve the above objects, the present invention provides a fixed tooth that is fixed in the axial direction, a movable tooth that moves in the axial direction and meshes with the fixed tooth, and an electric power that moves the movable tooth in the axial direction. a chamfer is formed at the end of the fixed tooth and the movable tooth in the axial direction, and there is an engagement instruction to engage the movable tooth with the fixed tooth. a control device for a meshing type engagement mechanism that performs engagement control to energize the actuator for a predetermined engagement energization time, wherein a condition for engaging the movable tooth with the fixed tooth is not established after the instruction to engage the engagement. a condition violation determining means for determining that the condition is not satisfied; and an energization shortening that shortens the time for energizing the actuator from the engagement energizing time when the condition violation determining means determines that the condition is not satisfied. and means.

In this invention, when there is an instruction to move the movable tooth in the axial direction to mesh with the fixed tooth, the actuator is energized so as to move the movable tooth toward the fixed tooth. If the condition for engaging the movable tooth with the fixed tooth is satisfied, the energization is continued for a predetermined engagement energization time. The load (thrust) pushing in the axial direction stops. On the other hand, if it is determined that the above conditions are not satisfied after the start of energization of the actuator, that is, if it is determined that the condition is violated, energization is started, but the time during which energization continues is longer than the normal engagement energization time. shortened. Therefore, if the chamfers collide with each other due to non-satisfaction of the condition and the meshing does not proceed any further, the energization is stopped when a time shorter than the normal engagement energization time elapses, and the movable teeth by the actuator are replaced by the fixed teeth. The thrust pushing to the side is eliminated or reduced. That is, even if so-called ratcheting occurs due to the chamfers colliding with each other when a torque exceeding a predetermined level is applied, the duration of the so-called ratcheting will be shortened. can. At the same time, since the state in which the reaction force is increased due to the chamfers colliding with each other can be eliminated at an early stage, the load applied to the member for moving the movable teeth in the axial direction can be quickly reduced, and the deterioration of the durability can be avoided. Or it can be suppressed.

It is a mimetic diagram showing an example of a power train in an embodiment of this invention. FIG. 2 is a skeleton diagram schematically showing an example of the interlocking transmission mechanism; FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the shapes and relative positions of fixed teeth and movable teeth; 4 is a flow chart for explaining an example of control in the embodiment of the invention; 4 is a time chart for explaining changes in current values when control is performed and when control is not performed in the embodiment of the present invention;

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. It should be noted that the embodiment described below is merely an example of implementing the present invention, and does not limit the present invention.

First, an example of a four-wheel drive transfer (hereinafter simply referred to as a transfer) 2 including a mesh type transmission mechanism 1 to which the present invention can be applied and a power train 3 including the transfer 2 will be described. In FIG. 1 , reference numeral 4 denotes an engine, which is an example of a driving force source, and a transmission 5 is connected to the output side of the engine 4 . The transmission 5 may be either a conventionally known general manual transmission or an automatic transmission, or may be either a stepped transmission or a continuously variable transmission. A transfer 2 is connected to the output side of the transmission 5 .

The transfer 2 includes an LH switching mechanism 6 for switching between a low state with a large gear ratio and a high state with a small gear ratio, and a two-wheel drive (2WD) state in which the rear wheels (not shown) are driven wheels, for example. A 2-4 switching mechanism 7 is provided for switching to a four-wheel drive state (4WD) with four-wheel drive wheels. These mechanisms 6 and 7 may have conventionally known configurations. and a drive sprocket 9, and a chain 11 as a transmission member wound around the drive sprocket 9 is wound around a driven sprocket 13 attached to a front wheel output shaft 12. It's okay.

In addition, the LH switching mechanism 6 may be a speed change mechanism capable of shifting between high and low speeds. For example, as shown in FIG. The planetary gear mechanism 14 includes a sun gear S integrated with an input shaft 15 connected to the transmission 5, a ring gear R fixed to a casing 16, and disposed between the sun gear S and the ring gear R. and a carrier C holding a pinion gear meshing with. The sun gear S and the carrier C are output elements, and the meshing type transmission mechanism 1 is configured to selectively connect the sun gear S and the carrier C to the rear wheel output shaft 8 described above. . Therefore, in the LH switching mechanism 6, when the carrier C is connected to the rear wheel output shaft 8, the carrier C rotates at a lower speed than the sun gear S, so the low state (Lo) is set and the sun gear S is connected to the rear wheels. When connected to the output shaft 8, the rotation speed of the input shaft 15 and the rotation speed of the rear wheel output shaft 8 are the same, and a high state (Hi) in which the gear ratio is "1" is set.

The transmission mechanism 1 is a mechanism in which splines are used as meshing teeth, and row fixed teeth 17, which are internal teeth and are integrated with the carrier C, serve as fixed teeth, which are engagement teeth fixed in the axial direction. and high fixed teeth 18 which are integrated with the sun gear S and which are external teeth. As movable teeth that are engaging teeth that move in the axial direction and selectively engage with the fixed teeth 17 and 18, a low movable tooth 19 that engages with the low fixed tooth 17 and a high fixed tooth 18 are engaged. and a movable tooth 20 for high. These movable teeth 19 and 20 are provided on the outer peripheral side and the inner peripheral side of a shift sleeve (hereinafter simply referred to as sleeve) 21 that moves back and forth in the axial direction.

An actuator 22 is provided to move the sleeve 21 back and forth in the axial direction. The actuator 22 is an electrically controlled actuator such as a motor or an electromagnetic solenoid, and is configured to operate when energized. Although the actuator 22 and the sleeve 21 may be directly connected, they are connected via a cam mechanism, a feed screw mechanism, or a shift fork (neither of which is shown) that converts rotation into linear motion. may be configured.

FIG. 3 schematically shows the shapes and relative positions of the fixed teeth 17, 18 and the movable teeth 19, 20 described above. 3 shows that one movable tooth 19 (or 20) is engaged with the low fixed tooth 17 and the high fixed tooth 18 for the sake of convenience, but in the mechanism shown in FIG. The movable tooth 19 for low is engaged and disengaged with the fixed tooth 17 for low, and the movable tooth 20 for high is engaged and disengaged with the fixed tooth 18 for high.

Each of the fixed teeth 17 and 18 is a spline tooth as described above, and each of the fixed teeth 17 and 18 is arranged in parallel with a predetermined pitch (vertical interval in FIG. 3) with a predetermined cylindrical body (not shown). ) is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the The fixed tooth 17 for low and the fixed tooth 18 for high are arranged at a predetermined interval in the axial direction (horizontal direction in FIG. 3) and have the same pitch. Chamfers Cf are formed at the ends of the fixed teeth 17 and 18 facing each other.

On the other hand, each movable tooth 19, 20 moves in the axial direction, enters between each fixed tooth 17, 18, engages with the fixed tooth 17, 18 in the rotational direction (vertical direction in FIG. 3), and is also fixed. It is constructed as a spline tooth having a relatively short length that slips out from between the teeth 17 and 18 and separates from the fixed teeth 17 and 18, and chamfers Cf are formed at the ends (both ends) of each in the axial direction. there is The axial distance between the low-use movable tooth 19 and the high-use movable tooth 20 is equal to or less than the distance between the fixed teeth 17 and 18 in the axial direction. That is, in a state where one movable tooth 19 (or 20) is engaged with one fixed tooth 17 (or 18), one movable tooth 20 (or 19) moves away from one fixed tooth 18 (or 17). Intervals are set so that the low state and the high state are not established at the same time.

Switching between the low state and the high state by moving the sleeve 21 in the axial direction is performed by an occupant of the vehicle equipped with the power train described above by operating a switch or lever (not shown). executed on the basis of In that case, the interlocking transmission mechanism 1 does not include a synchronizer for matching the rotational speeds of the driving side and the driven side (driven side), so that depending on the timing of switching (timing of engagement) Since the chamfers Cf collide with each other and ratcheting occurs due to this, different control is performed depending on whether the switching condition is established or not. Specifically, an electronic control unit (ECU) 23 is provided to control energization of the actuator 22 described above. The ECU 23 is mainly composed of a microcomputer and a memory element, performs calculation using input data and pre-stored data, and is configured to output the result of the calculation as a control signal. . This ECU 23 has a switching signal between a low state and a high state (L-H switching signal), a range signal indicating the range set in an automatic transmission, or an input clutch engagement/disengagement signal in the case of a manual transmission. A release (ON/OFF) clutch signal or the like is input, and based on those input signals (input data), it is determined whether the high/low switching condition is satisfied or not satisfied, and based on the result of the determination, It is configured to control the current of actuator 22 . An example of such control is shown in the flow chart of FIG.

The routine shown in FIG. 4 is executed by the ECU 23 described above. First, it is detected that an operation for switching between the high state and the low state (HL switching) has been performed (step S1). Along with this, energization of the actuator 22 is started for HL switching (step S2). That is, an engagement instruction is issued and engagement control is started. In HL switching, one movable tooth 19 (or 20) is separated from one fixed tooth 17 (or 18), and the other movable tooth 20 (or 19) is moved to the other fixed tooth 18 (or 17). It is achieved by moving (stroke) the sleeve 21 the distance until it engages. Therefore, the energization of the actuator 22 continues during the time required for such a stroke. This time is determined by design according to the configuration of the fixed teeth 17, 18 and the movable teeth 19, 20 in the transmission mechanism 1 and the moving speed of the sleeve 21, and this time is the engagement energization time in the embodiment of the present invention.

Subsequent to step S2, that is, after the start of energization, a violation of the switching condition is determined (step S3). The functional means for executing step S3 corresponds to the condition violation determination means in the embodiment of the present invention. As described above, since the transmission mechanism 1 does not have a synchronizer for automatically matching the rotational speeds of the fixed teeth 17, 18 and the movable teeth 19, 20, the movable teeth 19, 20 are moved in the axial direction. When engaging with the fixed teeth 17 and 18 by means of a force, there is a high possibility that the respective chamfers Cf will collide with each other and the engagement will not proceed any further, or that ratcheting will occur. The tooth 17 (or 18) and the movable tooth 19 (or 20) are disengaged (disengaged), and the other fixed tooth 18 (or 17) and the movable tooth 20 (or 19) are engaged. When the high/low switching is to be performed at the same time, the conditions for permitting (permitting) the switching are defined. The switching condition is, for example, that no torque is applied to the fixed teeth 17, 18 and the movable teeth 19, 20. This can be determined, for example, based on the operation state of the transmission 5 described above. . That is, if the transmission 5 is a manual transmission, the clutch (not shown) is turned OFF (released) to cut off the torque for shifting, and if the transmission 5 is an automatic transmission, For example, the switching condition can be that the N range (neutral range) is selected and torque is not being transmitted.

If the switching condition is no longer satisfied after the start of energization, that is, if the switching condition is violated, affirmative determination is made in step S3. is judged negatively. If the determination in step S3 is negative, energization is continued to complete switching (step S4), and the routine shown in FIG. 4 ends. Conversely, if the determination in step S3 is affirmative, control for shortening the energization time is executed (step S5). At the same time, the driver (not shown) is notified that the energization time for switching has been shortened and that the switching has not been completed. Means for notification may be means appealing to hearing such as ringing of a buzzer, means appealing to vision such as displaying an indicator, or means appealing to touch such as vibration. The functional means for executing step S5 corresponds to the energization shortening means in the embodiment of this invention.

The shortened energization time is required for the movable teeth 19 and 20 to move from the state in which the movable teeth 19 and 20 are separated (separated) from the fixed teeth 17 and 18, that is, the released state, to the position where they are slightly engaged with the fixed teeth 17 and 18. It is the required time and is a predetermined time. FIG. 3 shows a simulated movement amount (stroke amount) when one movable tooth (for example, 19) serves both as the high movable tooth 20 and the low movable tooth 19. state, the switching condition is violated after the start of energization, and the energization time is shortened. are shortened, they are in a slightly engaged state. The shortened engagement time is the time required for the movable teeth 19 and 20 to make such a stroke. The time is such that the fixed teeth 17 and 18 can be reached without moving. Therefore, even if ratcheting occurs due to violation of the switching conditions, the time during which ratcheting occurs is shortened because the energization time is shortened. Therefore, it is possible to quickly stop abnormal noise such as gear noise, and the time during which a large load is applied by the actuator 22 is shortened. can be prevented or suppressed.

After that, when it is detected that the switching condition is established again (step S6), power supply to the actuator 22 is resumed and switching control is performed (step S7). In this case, since the switching condition is satisfied, the energization of the actuator 22 is continued for the above-described engagement energization time, and as a result, one of the movable teeth 19 (or 20) is connected to one of the fixed teeth 17 (or 18), the movable teeth 19 (or 20) and the fixed teeth 17 (or 18) are engaged with each other, and switching is completed (step S4).

FIG. 5 schematically shows changes in the current value when the switching condition is not met and the energization time is shortened and when it is not shortened. When the switching switch (switching SW) for switching from the high state to the low state or vice versa is turned on (time t1), a current sufficient to move the movable tooth in the released state in the axial direction is generated. Applied to the actuator. The energization is maintained until the tip of the movable tooth reaches the end of the fixed tooth (until time t2). After that, guided by the chamfer, the phase (relative rotation angle) between the movable teeth and the fixed teeth changes, and the movable teeth move in the axial direction against the frictional force between the fixed teeth. The current value is gradually increased so as to provide sufficient thrust for

At time t3 until the state at time t2 is reached, for example, the range of the automatic transmission is switched from N range (neutral range) to D range (drive range) (i.e., the D range signal is turned ON). 3) If the switching condition is not satisfied, gear noise (abnormal noise) occurs due to ratcheting or the like at time t2 when the movable tooth reaches the end of the fixed tooth. In the embodiment of the present invention, since the energization time is shortened when the switching condition is not met, energization is stopped at time t4 immediately after time t2, as indicated by the solid line in FIG. Therefore, abnormal noise such as gear noise is limited to a short time from time t2 to time t4, and it is avoided that a load is applied to the shift fork or the like for a longer period of time. On the other hand, if the energization time is not shortened, as indicated by the dashed line in FIG. 5, the actuator will continue to be energized during the normal engagement energization time (until time t5 in FIG. 5). be. As a result, abnormal noise such as gear noise continues during that time, and a large load continues to be applied to members such as the shift fork.

As indicated by the dashed line in FIG. 5, when the switching condition is not satisfied, the current value can be maintained at a low value without increasing the current value. With this control, the load that generates abnormal noise such as gear noise is reduced, so the volume of the abnormal noise is reduced, and the load applied to the shift fork or the like can be reduced.

1 mesh type transmission mechanism 2 transfer 6 L-H switching mechanism 7 2-4 switching mechanism 8 rear wheel output shaft 9 drive sprocket 11 chain 12 front wheel output shaft 13 driven sprocket 17 low fixed tooth 18 high fixed tooth 19 low movable Tooth 20 High movable tooth 21 Sleeve 22 Actuator 23 Electronic control unit (ECU)
Cf Chamfer

Claims (1)

a fixed tooth fixed with respect to the axial direction; a movable tooth that moves in the axial direction and meshes with the fixed tooth; A chamfer is formed at an axial end portion of the tooth and the movable tooth, and when an instruction to engage the movable tooth with the fixed tooth is given, the actuator is energized for a predetermined engagement energization time. In a control device for a meshing type engagement mechanism that controls engagement to energize,
condition violation determination means for determining that a condition for engaging the movable tooth with the fixed tooth has become unsatisfied after the engagement instruction;
and energization shortening means for shortening the energization time of the actuator from the engagement energization time when the condition violation determination means determines that the condition is not satisfied. Control device for transmission mechanism.

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