JP4612929B2 - Vehicle parking mechanism - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a parking mechanism for a vehicle, and more particularly to a parking mechanism configured to lock the rotation of a wheel by lever operation.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, if a vehicle parking mechanism is a vehicle equipped with an automatic transmission, for example, a parking lock is provided via a control shaft that controls operation of a manual valve spool by operating a shift lever to a P range (parking range). The cam (or parking lever) is moved, thereby swinging the parking lock pole and engaging the pawl portion with the parking gear.
[0003]
In the parking mechanism having such a configuration, when the shift lever is operated from a state where the vehicle is parked on an inclined surface (hereinafter referred to as parking when the shift lever is in the P range), Frictional force caused by the force of the vehicle's own wheel turning due to the weight of the vehicle is generated between the parking lock pole and the parking lock cam (or parking lever), so a larger operating force is required than when parking on flat ground. It becomes. In response to such a problem, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-137555 discloses a configuration in which an auxiliary actuator is provided to assist the operation of the parking lock cam when the shift lever is operated from the P range.
[0004]
Further, when the shift lever is accidentally operated to the P range during traveling, the pawl portion of the parking lock pole comes into contact with the parking gear and a large impact is generated along with an abnormal noise. For this reason, the parking mechanism needs to have sufficient strength in advance, and the parking mechanism becomes large. However, in response to such a problem, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 61-7461 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-20866 disclose. A configuration is shown in which an operation to the P range cannot be performed during traveling using a hydraulic actuator.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the former configuration, the force that assists the operation of the parking lock cam is constant and does not correspond to the inclination angle of the road surface. On the other hand, there is a risk that the assist force may cause an erroneous operation of the shift lever. In the latter configuration, although effective against the problem that the P range is accidentally operated during traveling, the former problem, that is, the effect of preventing the parking mechanism from being enlarged. Was not obtained.
[0006]
The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and can facilitate the unlocking operation of the wheel performed from a state where the vehicle is parked on an inclined surface. An object of the present invention is to provide a parking mechanism for a vehicle that can be miniaturized.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
  In order to achieve such an object, in the present invention, a parking gear fixed to an output shaft of a transmission or a drive shaft that is interposed between the output shaft and a wheel and transmits power to the wheel, and a shift lever are provided. In a parking mechanism for a vehicle, which includes a lock operation that engages with a parking gear to inhibit the rotation of a wheel in response to a lever operation, and a lock means that performs an unlocking operation to release the engagement and free the rotation of the wheel. The locking means is connected to a parking lock pawl that engages with the parking gear and prohibits the rotation of the wheel, and a shift lever that operates according to the operation of the lever, and engages the parking lock pawl with the parking gear. And unlocking by releasing the engagement of the parking lock pole with the parking gear. Are composed of a chromatography King lever, the vehicle inclination angle detection means for detecting a longitudinal direction inclination angle of the vehicle (for example, the inclination angle sensor 40 in the embodiment),A hydraulic cylinder fixed in the vicinity of the parking lever, a piston rod that can be extended and contracted to the hydraulic cylinder, and a pressure control valve that supplies pressure oil to the hydraulic cylinder, and the hydraulic oil controlled by the pressure control valve is hydraulic cylinder And assist means for pressing the piston rod in a direction to cause the parking lever to perform the unlocking operation.Force according to the vehicle front-rear tilt angle detected by the vehicle tilt angle detection meansBy pressing the piston rod against the parking lever,Supporting the unlocking operation with the parking leverDo.
[0008]
In this parking mechanism, the assist means performs the unlocking operation by the lock means with the assist force according to the vehicle front-rear inclination angle detected by the vehicle inclination angle detection means, that is, the inclination angle of the road surface on which the vehicle is parked. Because it is configured to assist, when the vehicle is parked on an inclined surface, the frictional force generated by the force that the wheel tries to rotate due to the weight of the vehicle acts on the locking means, and the wheel is unlocked. Even if the lever operating force required for the vehicle increases, the lever operating force can be leveled, and the wheel unlocking operation can be facilitated from the state where the vehicle is parked on an inclined surface. Can do.
[0009]
  Furthermore, a travel detection means (for example, the speedometer 45 in the embodiment) for detecting whether or not the vehicle is in a travel state is provided, and the assist means is in the travel state based on detection information from the travel detection means. If you detect thatParking leverIt is preferable to perform an operation for preventing the above-described locking operation. With such a configuration, even when a lever operation is mistakenly performed in the unlocking operation direction during traveling, the locking means does not mesh with (contact with) the parking gear, and both members collide with each other. Since no impact occurs, it is not necessary to adopt a strong structure for such an impact, and the entire parking mechanism can be reduced in size.
[0010]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a specific configuration example of a vehicle parking mechanism according to the present invention. This parking mechanism is provided adjacent to the vehicle automatic transmission, and includes a parking gear 10, a parking lock pole 20 and a parking lever 30 as locking means, an inclination angle sensor 40 as vehicle inclination angle detecting means, A speedometer 45 that is a travel detection unit, a control unit 50 that is an assist unit, a pressure control valve 60, and a hydraulic cylinder 70 are included. In FIG. 1, the transmission itself is not shown (only the output shaft 80 is shown).
[0011]
The parking gear 10 has a plurality of teeth 11 on the outer periphery, and is attached to the output shaft 80 of the transmission by a spline. A support shaft 90 is provided in the vicinity of the parking gear 10 so as to be substantially parallel to the output shaft 80. The support shaft 90 has a claw portion 21 (see FIG. 2) that protrudes toward the parking gear 10 side. A parking lock pole 20 is attached. The parking lock pole 20 is swingably attached to the support shaft 90. However, the claw portion 21 is separated from the parking gear 10 by a coil spring 91 attached to the support shaft 90 (A in FIG. 1). Direction). The pawl portion 21 is engaged with the teeth 11 of the parking gear 10 by swinging the parking lock pole 20 in the direction close to the parking gear 10 (direction B in FIG. 1) against the urging force of the coil spring 91. It is possible.
[0012]
At a position substantially parallel to the output shaft 80 of the transmission, the control shaft 100 is supported by left and right bearings 101 (only one side is shown in FIG. 1) and is rotatably attached to a transmission case (not shown). A control lever 130 connected to the shift lever 110 provided in the driver's seat via a wire 120 is attached to the left end side (right side in the figure) of the control shaft 100. When the shift lever 110 is operated forward (C direction in FIG. 1), the control lever 130 is pushed out by the wire 120 and swings forward, and the shift lever 110 is operated backward (D direction in FIG. 1). Sometimes it is pulled by the wire 120 and swings backward.
[0013]
By such an operation of the control lever 130, the control shaft 100 rotates in the direction E in FIG. 1 according to the forward operation of the shift lever 110, and in FIG. 1 according to the backward operation of the shift lever 110. Since the rotation amount is determined in accordance with the operation amount of the shift lever 110, when an arbitrary shift range is selected by the operation of the shift lever 110, the control shaft 100 has a predetermined value corresponding to the shift range. Located at the rotational position. The P range is set when the shift lever 110 is positioned at the forefront, and the R, N, D,.
[0014]
A bracket 140 is fixed to an intermediate portion of the control shaft 100, and a lower end portion of the manual valve spool 150 is attached to the bracket 140 via a pin 141. The manual valve spool 150 slides in the valve body (not shown) in the direction E or F in FIG. 1 according to the rotation operation of the control shaft 100, that is, the operation of the shift lever 110, and the shift range selected by the shift lever 110 is selected. Switch the oil passage of the line pressure at the position corresponding to.
[0015]
In the manual valve spool 150, when the shift lever 110 is operated forward (C direction in FIG. 1), the control shaft 100 rotates in the E direction and slides in the G direction in FIG. When operated in the D direction in FIG. 1, the control shaft 100 rotates in the F direction and slides in the H direction in FIG. In the state where the P range is set by the shift lever 110, the control shaft 100 is located at the position most rotated in the E direction, and therefore the manual valve spool 150 is located at the position most moved in the G direction.
[0016]
The parking lever 30 is swingably attached to the right end side (left side in FIG. 1) of the control shaft 100, and includes an arm portion 31 and a roller 32 rotatably supported by the arm portion 31. It is configured. The parking lever 30 is restricted from swinging in the E direction by a stopper (not shown) formed on the control shaft 100 and is always urged in the E direction by a coil spring 102 attached to the control shaft 100. Therefore, when the control shaft 100 rotates, it rotates integrally therewith. However, when the control shaft 100 rotates in the E direction, a large resistance force in the F direction (that is, a force that prevents the parking lever 30 from rotating in the E direction) acts on the parking lever 30 itself. Only rotates in the E direction, and the parking lever 30 is unable to follow this, and is in a state of waiting while being biased in the E direction by the coil spring 102. As will be described later, this resistance force acts when the pawl portion 21 of the parking lock pole 20 rides on the teeth 11 of the parking gear 10 or when the parking lever 30 is pressed in the F direction by the hydraulic cylinder 70. This is the case.
[0017]
When the shift lever 110 is operated in the C direction, the parking lever 30 rotates in the E direction together with the control shaft 100. When the shift lever 110 is operated to the P range, the control shaft 100 and the parking lever 30 are in the E direction. The roller 32 presses the parking lock pole 20 in the B direction against the urging force of the coil spring 91 to lock the parking lock (this position is hereinafter referred to as an E direction maximum rotation position). The pawl portion 21 of the pole 20 and the teeth 11 of the parking gear 10 are in mesh with each other (see FIG. 2A). In this state, the rotation of the output shaft 80 of the transmission, that is, the rotation of the wheels is prohibited. Hereinafter, the operation of prohibiting the rotation of the wheel by the parking lever 30 and the parking lock pole 20 is referred to as a lock operation.
[0018]
When the shift lever 110 is operated to the P range, the claw portion 21 of the parking lock pole 20 and the tooth 11 of the parking gear 10 cannot be engaged with each other, and the claw portion 21 rides on the tooth 11. In this case, only the control shaft 100 is positioned at the E direction maximum rotation position, and the parking lever 30 is in a standby state while being biased in the E direction by the coil spring 102 at a rotation position slightly before that. Thereafter, when the wheel, that is, the output shaft 80 slightly moves and the parking gear 10 rotates, the parking lever 30 is biased by the coil spring 102 and moves to the maximum rotation position in the E direction. Oscillates in the direction B and meshes with the parking gear 10.
[0019]
On the other hand, when the shift lever 110 is operated in the D direction, the parking lever 30 rotates in the F direction. However, when the shift lever 110 is operated from the P range to another range, the control shaft 100 and the parking lever 30 are in the E direction. Since it comes to be located on the F direction side from the maximum rotation position, the pressing force from the roller 32 acting on the parking lock pole 20 is removed, and the parking lock pole 20 is urged in the A direction by the coil spring 91 and parked. The engagement between the claw portion 21 of the lock pole 20 and the teeth 11 of the parking gear 10 is released (see FIG. 2B). In this state, the rotation of the output shaft 80 of the transmission, that is, the rotation of the wheels is free. Hereinafter, an operation for freely rotating the wheel by the parking lever 30 and the parking lock pole 20 is referred to as a lock releasing operation.
[0020]
The hydraulic cylinder 70 is fixed to the transmission case in the vicinity of the parking lever 30 and presses the parking lever 30 with the piston rod 71 to assist the operation of the parking lever 30 rotating in the F direction (that is, the unlocking direction). . The magnitude of the assist force can be adjusted as desired by controlling the hydraulic pressure supplied to the hydraulic cylinder 70, and the control is performed by the control unit 50 having a calculation function in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle provided on the vehicle body. This is performed by controlling the operation of the pressure control valve 60 (for example, a linear solenoid valve) based on information from the tilt angle sensor 40 that detects the tilt angle of the pressure.
[0021]
Here, when the vehicle is parked on the uphill slope (the shift lever 110 is in the P range), the rotational force in the direction indicated by the arrow J in FIG. It acts on the output shaft 80 of the transmission (in FIG. 2, the left side of the paper corresponds to the front of the vehicle), and the parking lock pole 20 is brought into contact with the engaging claw portion 21 and the teeth 11a of the parking gear 10. A pressing force having a magnitude corresponding to the inclination angle of the road surface acts through the surface. This pressing force acts in a direction (A direction) for swinging the parking lock pole 20 downward, and the parking lock pole 20 is pressed against the roller 32. From this state, the parking lever 30 is operated by operating the shift lever 110. When swinging in the F direction, that is, in the unlocking direction of the wheel, a frictional force is generated between the members 20 and 32 so as to prevent the operation of the parking lever 30, and the shift lever 110 is operated from the P range. Requires a larger operating force than when the vehicle is parked on a flat surface without inclination.
[0022]
When the vehicle is parked on the down slope (the shift lever 110 is in the P range), the rotational force in the direction opposite to the arrow J generated by the force that the wheel tries to rotate forward is applied to the output shaft 80 of the transmission. The parking lock pole 20 is acted on by a pressing force having a magnitude corresponding to the inclination angle of the road surface via the contact surface between the meshed claw portion 21 and the teeth 11b of the parking gear 10. Since this pressing force works in the direction of swinging the parking lock pole 20 downward, the shift lever 110 can be operated from the P range in the same manner as when the vehicle is parked on the uphill slope, compared with the case of the flat ground. Operating force is required.
[0023]
As described above, the operation of the shift lever 110 performed from a state where the vehicle is parked on an inclined surface requires a larger operating force than in the case of flat ground. In other words, the operating force of the shift lever 110 is on a level ground.
[0024]
When the control unit 50 detects that the vehicle is parked and the shift lever 110 is in the P range (for example, from a select position detector that detects the select position of the shift lever 110). Based on the detection information from the inclination angle sensor 40 that detects the inclination angle of the road surface on which the vehicle is parked as the inclination angle in the front-rear direction of the vehicle. The amount of the assist force to be output by the hydraulic cylinder 70, that is, the amount by which the operating force becomes larger than that in the case of flat ground, that is, the magnitude of the assist force is calculated.
[0025]
Next, the control unit 50 obtains the output of the hydraulic cylinder 70 corresponding to the assist force, and calculates the required amount of operation of the pressure control valve 60 from the hydraulic pressure supplied to the hydraulic cylinder 70 that can obtain such an output. To do. When the driver's intention to shift the shift lever 110 from the P range can be confirmed (this can be done, for example, by stepping on the brake), the calculated pressure control valve 60 The pressure control valve 60 is driven using a control signal corresponding to the operation amount. As a result, a predetermined hydraulic pressure is supplied to the hydraulic cylinder 70, and the piston rod 71 extends to rotate the parking lever 30 in the direction F (see FIG. 2B). An assist force according to the inclination angle of the parked road surface acts, and the operation of rotating in the F direction, that is, the unlocking direction is assisted.
[0026]
Here, the stroke in the extending direction of the piston rod 71 can swing the parking lever 30 to a position where the engagement between the claw portion 21 of the parking lock pole 20 and the teeth 11 of the parking gear 10 is released, The lever 30 is sized so as not to swing further in the F direction than the range adjacent to the P range (here, the R range). In addition, a table describing the driving amount of the pressure control valve 60 corresponding to the vehicle inclination angle is stored in advance in the storage unit of the control unit 50, and the inclination angle sensor 40 outputs the information without going through the above calculation process. You may make it obtain | require the drive amount of the pressure control valve 60 directly from detection information.
[0027]
As described above, in the present invention, when the vehicle is parked on the inclined surface, the frictional force generated by the force that the wheel tries to rotate due to the weight of the vehicle acts between the parking lock pole 20 and the parking lever 30. Thus, even when the operation force of the shift lever 110 required for unlocking the wheel increases, the lever operation force can be leveled regardless of the inclination angle of the road surface. Can be made easier.
[0028]
When the vehicle is in a traveling state (forward and reverse), the parking lever 30 is positioned on the F direction side with respect to the maximum rotation position in the E direction, and the parking lock pole 20 is in the unlocked state. When the unit 50 detects that the vehicle is in a traveling state based on information from the speedometer 45 provided on the vehicle body, the unit 50 supplies the maximum hydraulic pressure to the hydraulic cylinder 70 and causes the piston rod 71 to fully stroke. The parking lever 30 is prevented from being positioned at the maximum rotation position in the E direction (that is, the position corresponding to the P range). For this reason, even if the shift lever 110 is mistakenly put in the P range during traveling, the control shaft 100 is only positioned at the maximum rotation position in the E direction, and the parking lever 30 contacts the piston rod 71 and E The parking lever 30 presses the parking lock pole 20 in the A direction in order to prevent the parking lever 30 from receiving the biasing force in the E direction by the coil spring 102 at this time. No, so the wheel is not locked.
[0029]
Thus, in the present invention, even if the shift lever 110 is accidentally operated to the P range during traveling, the parking lock pole 20 does not mesh with (contact with) the parking gear 10, Since the two members 20 and 10 do not collide with each other and an impact does not occur, it is not necessary to adopt a strong structure for such an impact, and the entire parking mechanism can be downsized.
[0030]
The present invention can be implemented in such a form, but only to obtain the first effect, that is, the effect of facilitating the operation of the shift lever 110 performed while parked on an inclined surface, It is also possible to omit the hydraulic cylinder 70 itself by providing the manual valve spool 150 with a function. That is, in releasing the locked state of the wheels, instead of pressing the parking lever 30 in the F direction with the hydraulic cylinder 70, the end of the manual valve spool 150 on the inner side of the valve body, that is, the side opposite to the bracket 140 is used. The control shaft 100 may be configured to rotate in the F direction by supplying the hydraulic pressure adjusted by the pressure control valve 60 to the end and urging the manual valve spool 150 in the H direction.
[0031]
Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 3, the manual valve spool 150 may be urged in the H direction by another hydraulic cylinder 200 provided in the valve body to rotate the control shaft 100 in the F direction. In this hydraulic cylinder 200, the piston rod 201 is operated in the longitudinal direction of the manual valve spool 150, and the operation control is performed based on information from the inclination angle sensor 40 and the speedometer 45 as in the case of the hydraulic cylinder 70. Based on this, the control unit 50 controls the supply of hydraulic oil via the pressure control valve 60. The manual valve spool 150 has a right end that is in contact with a left end of the piston rod 201 when the shift lever 110 is in the P range (FIG. 3 shows a state in which the shift lever 110 is in the N range). Touch. Even in these configurations, since the parking lever 30 is swung in the unlocking direction (F direction), the same effect as the first effect in the above embodiment can be obtained.
[0032]
Although the embodiments of the vehicle parking mechanism according to the present invention have been described so far, the scope of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments. For example, although the parking gear is fixed to the output shaft of the transmission in the above embodiment, the parking gear is not limited to the output shaft of the transmission, and the wheel is interposed between the output shaft and the wheel. It may be fixed to a drive shaft (for example, a propeller shaft) that transmits power to the motor. Further, the assist means is not limited to the hydraulic cylinder that presses the parking lever as described above, and may be a hydraulic motor or the like that applies rotational torque to the parking lever. These actuators are not limited to hydraulic ones, and may be electric ones.
[0033]
Further, the traveling state detection means for detecting whether or not the vehicle is in a traveling state is not limited to the speedometer as described above, and may be one that detects rotation of a wheel, an axle shaft, or the like. Furthermore, the locking means for locking the parking gear is not limited to the structure in which the parking lock pawl is swung by the parking lever as described above, and the parking lock pawl is moved along the conical parking lock cam on the conical shaft. It may be configured to rock by moving. In this case, the assist force by the assist means is applied in the axial direction of the cone.
[0034]
Moreover, although the said embodiment demonstrated to the example the vehicle provided with the automatic transmission, the vehicle used as the application object of this invention does not necessarily need to be provided with the automatic transmission. In this case, a lever for locking and releasing the wheel is provided in place of the shift lever. Further, in the above embodiment, the assist force is determined so that the lever operation force required for unlocking is level with the flat ground. However, if the assist force according to the inclination angle is applied on the inclined surface, the lever operation is performed accordingly. Since the force is reduced, it is not always necessary to act at the same level as the flat ground.
[0035]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, in the vehicle parking mechanism according to the present invention, the assist means responds to the vehicle front-rear inclination angle detected by the vehicle inclination angle detection means, that is, the inclination angle of the road surface on which the vehicle is parked. It is configured to assist the unlocking operation by the locking means with the assist force, so that when the vehicle is parked on the inclined surface, the frictional force generated by the force of the wheels trying to rotate due to the vehicle's own weight is generated. Even when the lever operating force required to unlock the wheel increases by acting on the locking means, the lever operating force can be leveled with a flat ground, and the vehicle is parked on an inclined surface. The wheel unlocking operation to be performed can be facilitated.
[0036]
Further, it is preferable that the assist means is configured to perform an operation for preventing the lock operation by the lock means when detecting that the vehicle is in a running state based on the detection information from the travel detection means. In such a configuration, even when the lever is operated in the unlocking operation direction by mistake during traveling, the locking means does not mesh with (contact with) the parking gear, and both members collide with each other. Therefore, it is not necessary to have a strong structure for such an impact, and the entire parking mechanism can be reduced in size.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a vehicle parking mechanism according to the present invention.
FIGS. 2A and 2B are diagrams for explaining a locking operation and an unlocking operation in the parking mechanism, in which FIG. 2A shows a state in which a parking lock pole and a parking gear are engaged, and FIG. 2B shows a parking lock pole; This shows a state where the meshing between the parking gear and the parking gear is released.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a configuration for applying a biasing force to a manual valve spool.
[Explanation of symbols]
10 Parking gear
20 Parking lock pole (locking means)
30 Parking lever (locking means)
40 Tilt angle sensor (vehicle tilt angle detecting means)
45 Speedometer (travel detection means)
50 Control unit (assist means)
60 Pressure control valve (assist means)
70 Hydraulic cylinder (assist means)
100 Control shaft
110 Shift lever (lever)
150 Manual valve spool

Claims (2)

A parking gear fixed to an output shaft of the transmission or a drive shaft that is interposed between the output shaft and the wheels and transmits power to the wheels;
Lock means that engages with the parking gear and prohibits rotation of the wheel according to a lever operation on the shift lever, and unlocking operation that releases the engagement and allows the wheel to freely rotate. In the parking mechanism of
The locking means is
A parking lock pole that meshes with the parking gear and prohibits rotation of the wheel;
It is connected to the shift lever so as to operate according to the lever operation, and engages the parking lock pawl with the parking gear to perform the locking operation, and also engages the parking lock pawl with the parking gear. A parking lever that releases and performs the unlocking operation,
Vehicle inclination angle detection means for detecting an inclination angle in the front-rear direction of the vehicle;
A hydraulic cylinder fixed in the vicinity of the parking lever; a piston rod provided in the hydraulic cylinder so as to be extendable; and a pressure control valve that supplies pressure oil to the hydraulic cylinder, and the pressure controlled by the pressure control valve. An assist means that presses the piston rod in a direction in which the unlocking operation is performed on the parking lever by supplying oil to the hydraulic cylinder;
The assist means pushes the piston rod against the parking lever with a force corresponding to the vehicle front-rear inclination angle detected by the vehicle inclination angle detection means, thereby releasing the lock by the parking lever. A parking mechanism for a vehicle, which performs an operation to assist the operation. Travel detection means for detecting whether or not the vehicle is in a traveling state;
When the assist means detects that the vehicle is in a running state based on detection information from the running detection means, the assist means performs an operation to block the locking operation by the parking lever. The vehicle parking mechanism according to claim 1.

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