JPH04307125A - Clutch system for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To ensure a half-clutch state automatically by inserting a piston type valve, with a one-way valve and an orifice, into a body filled up with a liquid free of slide motion, while connecting a clutch pedal and a clutch release lever to this valve via each rod. CONSTITUTION:When the outside temperature is high and car speed is low, a plunger 6 of a solenoid reinforcer 4 is projected out and a body 1 is clamped to the inner part of a housing 2, while a plunger 25 of a solenoid valve 24 is projected out as well, thereby having a valve element 26 seated on a valve seat 23. Here a clutch pedal is operated, and when such force as heading for the left is added to a rod 9, a valve 15 moves to the left, whereby oil 21 in a left chamber 19 is compressed, opening a one-way valve 17, and it gets into a right chamber 20. In consequence, the valve 15 and the rod 10 both are moved to the left, having a clutch release lever rotated to the right, and a clutch is thus disengaged. Accordingly, when operation of the clutch pedal is released, each of rods 9, 10 and the valve 15 are all gradually reset, thus half-clutch operation is automatically performed in this way.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a clutch device for a vehicle, which is applied to an automobile equipped with a so-called manual transmission (MT) type clutch in which gear shifting operations are performed manually.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art The proportion of passenger cars equipped with automatic transmission (AT) type clutches is increasing. This automatic clutch is easier to operate than a manual clutch, so it causes less fatigue to the driver.
This is particularly effective on congested roads, but since fluid couplings are usually used (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 56-135322 for fluid couplings), fuel efficiency is lower than that of manual clutches. The problem is that it's bad.

With manual clutches, when starting a vehicle, a so-called half-clutch is used to transmit power while sliding a friction plate, but this is quite difficult, especially for inexperienced drivers, who first The engine may stall or start suddenly. If it were possible to operate this half-clutch as desired without requiring any skill, it is expected that the number of vehicles with manual clutches, which have excellent fuel efficiency, would increase.

0004

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] The present invention has been made in view of this point, and it is an object of the present invention to prevent the clutch from engaging even if the driver immediately releases the clutch pedal without being particularly conscious of half-clutching. It is an object of the present invention to provide a clutch device for a vehicle that can be operated smoothly.

[0005]

[Means for Solving the Problems] As a means for solving the above problems, the present invention includes a piston-type valve having a one-way valve and an orifice that is slidably inserted into a body filled with liquid. The valve is provided with rods protruding from both ends of the body, and the rods are connected between a clutch pedal and a clutch release lever.

[0006]

[Function] With this configuration, when the driver depresses the clutch pedal to disengage the clutch and then releases the foot to engage the clutch, after the driver releases the foot, the liquid in the body and the piston-shaped Due to the action with the valve, the clutch will be engaged over a certain period of time. therefore,
Since the clutch can be operated automatically, troubles such as engine stalling do not occur.

[0007]

[Embodiment] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. 1 is a body, and 2 is a housing into which the body 1 is slidably inserted in the left-right direction in the figure. A compressed spring 3 is interposed between the body 1 and the housing 2, and presses the body 1 to one side (right side) of the housing 2. A solenoid mechanism 4 is attached to a part of the housing 2, and a plunger 6 that protrudes when current is applied to the coil 5 (or may protrude when the current is turned off) moves the body 1 into the housing 2. It is made so that it cannot move to the right from the position shown in the figure. The housing 2 is provided with holes 7 and 8 at both ends thereof, so that rods 9 and 10, which will be described later, protrude and can move freely.

[0008] The body 1 has oil seals 11 at both ends thereof.
, 12 are provided to allow the aforementioned rods 9, 10 to enter and exit while maintaining liquid tightness. A piston-type (plate-shaped) valve 15 is integrally provided at opposing portions of the rods 9 and 10, and is adapted to slide on an inner wall 16 of the body 1. Valve 1
5 has one-way valve (umbrella valve) 17 and orifice 1
8 is provided. The interior of the body 1 is defined by the valve 15 into two chambers (referred to as a left chamber 19 and a right chamber 20 for convenience). Inside these left ventricle 19 and right ventricle 20 is oil 21 as a liquid.
is filled.

A bypass passage 22 is formed inside the body 1, and a valve body 26 formed at the tip of a plunger 25 of a solenoid valve 24 is formed on a valve seat 23, which is a part of the bypass passage 22.
is seated so that the bypass passage 22 is normally closed. The plunger 25 is configured so that the bypass passage 22 is closed when the coil 27 of the solenoid valve 24 is energized, but when the plunger 25 is pressed by a spring or the like and the energization to the coil 27 is cut off. The valve body 26 may be seated on the valve seat 23.

FIG. 2 shows the rods 9, 10 shown in FIG.
This shows the connection between the clutch pedal and the clutch release lever. That is, one rod 9 is connected to the upper end of a clutch pedal 29 via a wire 28, and the other rod 10 is connected to a clutch release lever 31 via a wire 30. The wires 28 and 30 may be rods or link mechanisms, or the rod 10 and the clutch release lever 31 may be directly connected without using the wire 30. 32 is a rotating shaft of the clutch pedal 29, and 33 is a dash panel. Reference numeral 34 denotes a transmission housing, which accommodates gears that are engaged and switched by a shift lever 35 and a clutch mechanism that is engaged and released by rotation of a clutch release shaft 36 that is a rotation axis of the clutch release lever 31.

In FIG. 2, the solenoid mechanism 4 and the solenoid valve 24 are connected to the output side of a controller 39 by electric wires 37 and 38. The controller 39 is
Inputs from an outside temperature sensor 42 and a vehicle speed sensor 43 connected by electric wires 40 and 41 are compared with preset temperature and speed values. 44 is a battery mounted on the vehicle, and 45 is an ignition switch.

The vehicle clutch device according to the present invention configured as described above is activated by a command from the controller 39 when the outside temperature is above a certain temperature and the vehicle speed is below a certain speed. The fact that the outside temperature is above a certain temperature is a condition for the viscosity of the oil 21 filled in the body 1 to be low to a certain degree and for good operation, and the need for the vehicle speed to be below a certain speed is a condition for Since heavy use of the clutch will accelerate clutch wear, the condition was set for when a half-clutch is truly required. Therefore, when the above conditions are met, the plunger 6 of the solenoid mechanism 4 is made to protrude so that the body 1 is fixed at a fixed position within the housing 2, and the plunger 25 of the solenoid valve 24 is made to protrude so that the valve body 26 is fixed to the valve seat. Make sure to sit at 23.

In this state, when the clutch pedal 29 is depressed and force is applied to the rod 9 to the left in the figure via the wire 28, the valve 15 moves to the left together with the rod 9, so that the left ventricle 19 The oil inside is compressed, opens the one-way valve 17, and enters the right ventricle 20 from there. As a result, there is no force preventing the valve 15 from moving leftward, so the valve 15 moves leftward, and the rod 10 integrally connected to the valve 15 moves leftward, rotating the clutch release lever 31 rightward. This causes the clutch in the transmission housing 34 to be disengaged. This allows the number of gears to be changed by operating the shift lever 35. After changing the number of gears, in a conventional vehicle, the clutch pedal 29 would be gradually loosened to obtain a half-clutch state, but in this device, instead of doing so, the foot is released from the clutch pedal 29 all at once by the action described later. It's okay to let go.

When the clutch pedal 29 is released, a return spring (not shown) of the clutch release shaft 36 and a return spring (not shown) of the clutch pedal 29 are attached to the integral body of the rods 9, 10 and the valve 15. The return force causes a force to be pulled to the right in the figure. However, in order for these to move to the right, the oil 21 in the right ventricle 20 must return to the left ventricle 19. The left ventricle 19 and the right ventricle 20 are connected to the valve 15
Since the oil 21 in the right chamber 20 can only gradually move into the left chamber 19, the rods 9, 10 and the valve 15 are in communication with each other only gradually. Since the clutch returns, the same result as a half-clutch operation can be obtained for the clutch.

[0014] When the outside temperature is high and the vehicle speed is high, frequent use of the partially engaged clutch will accelerate clutch wear. Therefore, in this case, the plunger 25 of the solenoid valve 24 is retracted, and the valve body 26 is removed from the valve seat 23. As a result, the bypass passage 22 becomes functional, and the left chamber 19 and the right chamber 20 communicate with each other regardless of the valve 15, so that the oil 21 can freely flow, and the clutch pedal 29
This means that there will be no delay in the movement of the clutch release lever 31 in response to the operation.

[0015] When the outside temperature is low, the viscosity of the oil 21 is high, making it impossible to obtain the effects aimed at by the present invention. Therefore, in this case, the solenoid mechanism 4 is operated to retract the plunger 6. As a result, the body 1 can move freely relative to the housing 2, so regardless of the viscosity of the oil 21, the clutch pedal 2 can move freely.
9 is transmitted to the clutch release lever 31 without delay.

FIG. 3 shows the flow of operation. After starting in step 50, the outside temperature and the set temperature T are compared in step 51. If the outside temperature is equal to or greater than the set temperature T, the solenoid mechanism 4 is turned on in step 52, and if it is lower than the set temperature T, the process proceeds to step 53. As shown, the solenoid mechanism 4 will remain in the OFF state. After the solenoid mechanism 4 is turned on, the vehicle speed value is compared with the set speed V in step 54, and if the vehicle speed value is equal to or smaller than the set speed V, the solenoid valve 24 is turned on in the next step 55, and the valve shown in FIG. The body 26 seats on the valve seat 23 and the bypass passage 22 is closed (step 57). However, if the speed is higher than the set speed V, the solenoid valve 24 is turned off in step 56, and the valve body 2
6 is removed from the valve seat 23, and the bypass passage 22 becomes functional (step 58).

[0017]

[Effects of the Invention] Since the present invention is a clutch device for a vehicle configured as described above, even if the driver quickly releases his or her foot from the clutch pedal during a gear shift operation, a half-clutch state is automatically obtained. As a result, there is no possibility of engine stalling, etc., and the operation becomes easier.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a system diagram showing a state in which the device shown in FIG. 1 is connected to a clutch pedal and a clutch release lever.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart diagram for explaining the operation.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Body 9 Rod 10 Rod 15 Valve 17 One-way valve 18 Orifice 19 Left ventricle 20 Right ventricle 21 Oil 29 Clutch pedal 31 Clutch release lever

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A piston-type valve having a one-way valve and an orifice is slidably inserted into a body filled with liquid, and a rod protruding from both ends of the body is attached to the valve. A clutch device for a vehicle, characterized in that the clutch is connected between a clutch pedal and a clutch release lever.