JPH0534553B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a method for driving an actuator for an automatic transmission. The present invention relates to a method of driving a multi-position cylinder actuator.

BACKGROUND TECHNOLOGY For example, as an automatic transmission for a vehicle, a conventional gear type transmission is provided with a gear shift unit for operating the gear shift lever, and an actuator in the gear shift unit moves the gear shift lever in the shift direction or select direction. It has a movable structure,
As a result, automatic transmissions in which gear-type transmissions can be automatically changed gears are being put into practical use. By the way, this type of automatic transmission has one actuator for operating the gear shift lever.
A plurality of pistons are built into each cylinder, and the pistons can be positioned at the stroke end and at one or more desired predetermined positions between both stroke ends simply by operating a switching valve. Multi-position cylinders are commonly used. In this multi-position cylinder, the pistons installed in the cylinders have different outer diameters, and the resulting differences in pressure receiving area are used to position the pistons at a plurality of positions.
Therefore, when positioning the piston at a required position other than the stroke end, pressure is applied to the piston in the cylinder from both sides at the same time, giving the piston a thrust due to the difference in the pressure-receiving area of each side. Accordingly, a driving method is used to position the piston at a desired position.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention As can be seen from the above explanation, according to the conventional multi-position cylinder driving method described above, the thrust force of the piston is particularly small when positioning the piston at an intermediate position other than both stroke ends. give rise to a tendency. As a result, when the multi-position cylinder is used to position the gear shift lever, a problem arises in that the gear may not be able to be pulled out due to insufficient thrust of the actuator.

An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic transmission using a multi-position cylinder as an actuator.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for driving an actuator for an automatic transmission, which enables a shift lever to be operated with good responsiveness and reliably.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has a structure in which a plurality of pistons are incorporated in a single cylinder to operate and position a gear shift lever of a gear type transmission. at least one multi-position cylinder having a positioning position at both stroke ends and at least one intermediate position between these stroke ends depending on the difference in force exerted by fluid pressure on the end faces of these pistons; In the method for driving an actuator for an automatic transmission, when the multi-position cylinder positions the shift lever at a position corresponding to a desired intermediate position of the multi-position cylinder, A working fluid pressure for moving the required piston toward a required position is first supplied to one end of the piston, and after the required piston has moved, the required piston is supplied to the other end of the piston. The present invention is characterized in that the working fluid pressure for stopping the piston at the required position is supplied at the required timing.

The timing of supplying working fluid pressure to the other end of the piston is selected so that the time from supplying working fluid pressure to one end of the piston until the piston is positioned at the desired position is the shortest. is preferable.

Operation According to the above-described driving method, when positioning the piston of the multi-position cylinder to any positioning position between the stroke ends of the multi-position cylinder, first, the piston is directed to the desired position. Since pressure is applied to only one end of the piston required for movement, the piston can begin to move toward the desired position with sufficient force to move the shift lever. Then, after a predetermined period of time has elapsed, or when the piston reaches or near a predetermined position, pressure is applied to the other end of the piston, thereby applying pressure to both ends of the piston. The piston in the multi-position cylinder is formed so that the pressure receiving area at one end is different from the pressure receiving area at the other end. Therefore, after pressure is applied to the other end of the piston, the piston It is positioned at the desired position with a small thrust due to the difference in pressure applied to each end face of the .

Therefore, compared to the conventional method of applying pressure to both end surfaces of the piston at the same time and positioning the gear shift lever with a small thrust corresponding to the difference in the force acting on each end surface, operational responsiveness is improved. Along with
Since the shift lever can be started to move with a force that is sufficiently larger than the static frictional force acting on the stopped shift lever, the shift lever can be operated reliably.

EXAMPLES The method of the present invention will now be explained in detail with reference to illustrated examples.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of an automatic transmission device for a vehicle in which an actuator for operating a gear shift lever of a transmission is driven by the method of the present invention. The automatic transmission device 1 for a vehicle includes a parallel shaft gear type transmission 2 and a gear shift unit 4 configured to change gears of the transmission 2 using pressure fluid supplied from a pressure source 3. There is.

The gear shifting positions of the transmission 2 are as shown in FIG.
In addition to this, there is also a neutral position.
N ₁ to N ₄ are determined.

As an actuator for moving the shift lever 2a of the transmission 2 in the select direction and the shift direction perpendicular to this, the gear shift unit 4 includes a first fluid pressure cylinder 5 for select operation and a second fluid pressure cylinder 5 for shift operation. A pressure cylinder 6 is provided. 3 The first and second fluid pressure cylinders 5 and 6 are both configured as multi-position cylinders, and the main piston 5 of the first fluid pressure cylinder 5
The operating rod 5b is integrally formed with the main piston 6a of the second fluid pressure cylinder 6, and the operating rod 6b is integrally formed with the main piston 6a of the second fluid pressure cylinder 6.
and her husband are connected.

These fluid pressure cylinders are actuated alternately, and the gear shift lever 2a is moved within the operating range of the gear shift unit 4 shown by the solid line in FIG.
The shift lever 2a can be positioned at a desired shift position by moving the shift lever 2a along a path indicating the operating range of the shift lever 2a.

In each chamber 7, 8, 9 of the first fluid pressure cylinder 5,
Pressure fluid is supplied from the pressure source 3 through the normally closed solenoid valves C, D, and E, while the second fluid pressure cylinder 6
A fluid pressure circuit for each fluid pressure cylinder is configured such that pressure fluid from a pressure source 3 is supplied to each chamber 10, 11 through normally closed solenoid valves A, B.

In the first fluid pressure cylinder 5, when the electromagnetic valve D is open and the electromagnetic valves C and E are closed, the pressure fluid from the pressure source 3 is applied only to the end face of the main piston 5a on the chamber 8 side,
Therefore, the main piston 5a is positioned at a position where the sub-piston 5c is pushed fully toward the left in FIG. 1, and the shift lever 2a is placed in the select position. When the solenoid valves C and D are open and the solenoid valve E is closed, the pressures in the chambers 7 and 8 are equal, and the sub-piston 5c is pushed to the position shown in the figure.
Due to the difference in pressure receiving areas at both ends of the main piston 5a, the main piston 5a receives a thrust toward the left in FIG. 1, and is eventually positioned at the position shown in FIG.
As a result, the speed change lever 2a is positioned at the select position. When the solenoid valves C and E are open and the solenoid valve D is closed, the pressure inside the chamber 9 becomes high, so the sub-piston 5d is pushed hard toward the left in FIG. 1 and positioned at the position shown in FIG. , on the other hand, the main piston 5a and the sub-piston 5c receive thrust to the right in FIG. 1 due to the increased pressure in the chamber 7, and the sub-piston 5c is positioned at the position shown in FIG. The piston 5a moves until its right end surface abuts the sub-piston 5d. In this case, the pressures in chambers 7 and 9 are equal, but
Since the pressure receiving area on the left end side of the main piston 5a is smaller than the pressure receiving area on the right end side of the sub piston 5d, the thrust force acting on the main piston 5a in the right hand direction is smaller than the thrust force acting on the sub piston 5d in the left hand direction. Therefore, the main piston 5a is positioned in pressure contact with the left end surface of the sub-piston 5d located at the position shown in FIG. As a result, the shift lever 2a is positioned at the select position. Finally, when solenoid valve C is open and solenoid valves D and E are closed, pressure is applied only to the left end surface of the main piston 5a, so
The main piston 5a moves fully toward the right, and the speed change lever 2a is positioned at the select position.

As can be seen from the above description, in the first fluid pressure cylinder 5, when the main piston 5a is located at each stroke end, the speed change lever 2a is positioned at the select position. The first fluid pressure cylinder 5 is also capable of positioning the main piston 5a at two predetermined positions between its two stroke ends by utilizing the pressure difference acting on the main piston 5a. 2a is positioned at the select position.

Next, the operation of the second fluid pressure cylinder 6 will be explained. When the solenoid valve A is open and the solenoid valve B is closed, the second fluid pressure cylinder 6 receives thrust only in the left-hand direction in FIG. 6c, the secondary piston 6c further moves to the left, and is positioned such that the left end surface of the sub piston 6c is pressed against the inner surface of the left end wall of the cylinder case 6e of the second fluid pressure cylinder 6. As a result, the speed change lever 2a is positioned at the shift position. When the solenoid valve A is closed and the solenoid valve B is open, contrary to the above case, the main piston 6a and the sub piston 6d move fully toward the right in FIG. Positioned. When both the solenoid valves A and B are in the open state, each of the sub pistons 6c and 6d is pressed against a stopper 6f provided inside the cylinder case 6e, respectively.
Therefore, the main piston 6a is positioned at the position shown in FIG. As a result, the speed change lever 2a is positioned at the shift position.

As can be seen from the above description, in the second fluid pressure cylinder 6, the speed change lever 2a is positioned at the shift position when the main piston 6a is located at each stroke end. In addition, the main piston 6a,
A predetermined position between the two stroke ends can be positioned using the pressure difference acting on the main piston 6a, whereby the speed change lever 2a is positioned at the shift position.

As can be seen from the above description, the gear shift unit 4 is capable of arbitrarily changing the gears of the transmission 2 by selectively opening and closing these electromagnetic valves A to E.

A control unit 13 is provided to control gear change operations by the solenoid valves A to E.
A command signal _S1 indicating a desired gear change position is inputted to the control unit 13 from a gear change command signal generator 14, and a first position signal S1 indicating a select position selected by the first fluid pressure cylinder 5 is inputted to the control unit 13. ₂ and a second position signal _S3 indicating the shift position shifted by the second fluid pressure cylinder 6 are input from the select sensor 15 and the shift sensor 16, respectively.

The select sensor 15 includes four position switches P1 to _P1 operated by the gear shift lever 2a.
Equipped with _P4 . The position switch _P1 detects whether or not the shift lever 2a is in the path in the shift direction that belongs to the neutral position _N1 , and the operating rod 5b of the first fluid pressure cylinder 5 selects the shift lever 2a. The gear shift unit 4 is set so that it is turned on when the
It is placed in the frame inside. The other position switches _P2 to _P4 are similarly arranged on the frame within the gear shift unit 4, and are connected to the gear shift lever 2a.
The configuration is such that when the respective position switches are positioned at the select position, the corresponding position switches are turned on.

The operating ranges of these position switches P ₁ to P ₄ are shown by the widths SR ₁ to SR ₄ in FIG. range shown)
Therefore, the corresponding position switch is turned on only when the position of the shift lever 2a is within the operating range shown by this dotted line.

On the other hand, the shift sensor 16 includes three position switches _P5 operated by the gear shift lever 2a.
to _P7 . These position switches P ₅ to P ₇ are sensor elements provided to detect whether the gear change lever 2a is in a shift position or in which position, and have the same configuration as the select sensor 15 described above. . That is, the position switch _P5 is turned on when the gear shift lever 2a is within the predetermined operating range _SC1 including the shift position, and the other position switches _P6 and _P7 are also turned on when the gear shift lever 2a is within the predetermined operating range SC1 including the shift position. Turns on when entering range SC ₂ or SC ₃ .

The select sensor 15 is a position switch.
Detects which select position the gear shift lever 2a is in from each on and off state of P ₁ to P ₄ ,
A signal _S2 indicating the detection result is output. The shift sensor 16 detects which shift position the speed change lever 2a is in based on the ON and OFF states of the position switches _P5 to _P7 , and outputs a signal _S3 indicating the detection result. These signals S ₁ , S ₂ , S ₃
are processed in the control unit 13, and are controlled by control signals S _a to S e for selectively opening and closing the solenoid valves A to E so that the desired gear change instructed by the command signal S ₁ is performed _. unit 1
Output from 3. The control signals S _a to S _e are supplied to the respective excitation coils 22 to 26 of the solenoid valves A to E via correspondingly provided amplifiers 17 to 21, respectively.

FIG. 3 shows the configuration of the control unit 13 in a block diagram. A block designated by reference numeral 30 detects the current gear change position based on the first position signal _S2 and the second position signal _S3 , and changes the gear change position to the transmission 2.
This is a calculation unit that performs calculations for a series of solenoid valve opening/closing operations necessary to bring the gear change state to the desired gear change state indicated by the command signal _S1 , and the calculation unit 3
According to the calculation results at 0, control signals T _a , T _b and S _c to S _e for controlling the opening and closing of the solenoid valves A to E, respectively, are output. The control signals T _a and T _b are
The control signals S c to S e are input to one input terminal of each of the AND gates 31 and 32 provided corresponding to the solenoid valves A and B, and the control signals S _c to S _e are directly applied to the solenoid valves C to E, respectively. .

When the first or second hydraulic cylinders 5 or 6 are sequentially operated according to the control signals T _a , T _b and S _c to S _e , and the shift lever 2a is positioned at a desired shift position (including the neutral position), Gear shift lever 2
The control unit detects the start of execution of a required positioning operation in which the force applied by the second hydraulic actuator 6 to 13 is provided with a drive control section 36.

The drive control unit 36 responds to the third signal _S3 , and responds to the position determination unit 37 that determines the position of the gear shift lever 2a at that time, and the calculation data D from the calculation unit 30, and operates the second fluid pressure actuator 6. It includes a detection section 38 that detects the start of execution of an operation for positioning the speed change lever 2a to one of the neutral positions and outputs a detection signal K.

Detection signal K and position data output from the position determination unit 37 indicating the current position of the gear shift lever 2a
PD is input to the control signal generation section 39, where, based on the position data PD and the detection signal K,
A determination is made as to whether or not the positioning operation to the neutral position that is about to be performed is a positioning operation in which the operating force on the shift lever 2a becomes weaker. As can be seen from the above description, in this embodiment, the positioning operation in which the operating force on the shift lever 2a is weakened is the positioning operation to each neutral position N ₁ to N ₄ by the second fluid pressure actuator 6, in other words, the shift This is a positioning operation from or to a shift position. When the control signal generation unit 39 determines that the above-mentioned positioning operation is to be executed, one of the two solenoid valves that must be opened in order to execute the positioning operation is opened in the required fluid pressure cylinder. A solenoid valve that must be opened in order to move the piston toward a desired positioning position (hereinafter, in this specification, a solenoid valve that fulfills this role will be referred to as a "thrust solenoid valve").
and the remaining other solenoid valve (hereinafter, in this specification,
This type of solenoid valve is called a "stop solenoid valve." )
Identify and select.

The control signal generating section 39 has two output lines a and b corresponding to the solenoid valves A and B, and these output lines are connected to AND gates 31 and 32 provided corresponding to each solenoid valve. are connected to the other input terminals of the . The levels of the output lines a and b are normally at the "H" level, and therefore the output levels of the AND gates 31 and 32 correspond to the corresponding control signals.
The state corresponds to the levels of T _a and T _b . In the control signal generating unit 39, when a required pair of thrust solenoid valve and stop solenoid valve are identified and selected, the level of the output line corresponding to the stop solenoid valve immediately becomes "L", and the stop solenoid valve Close the AND gate provided in response to. At this time, the control signals output from the calculation unit 30 to the thrust solenoid valve and the stop solenoid valve are both at a high level, but as described above, the AND gate corresponding to the stop solenoid valve is Since it is closed, only the thrust solenoid valve will be open. Therefore, pressure is applied to the main piston within the fluid pressure cylinder only from one end, and the shift lever 2a can be moved in the desired positioning direction (desired neutral position direction) with a sufficiently large force. After a predetermined period of time has elapsed since the AND gate corresponding to the stop solenoid valve was closed, the level of the output line corresponding to the stop solenoid valve becomes "H", thereby opening the stop solenoid valve. The above-mentioned predetermined time is set to be shorter than the time required for the gear shift lever 2a to reach the desired position after the level of the output line corresponding to the stop solenoid valve becomes "L". , gear lever 2
When the position a approaches the desired position, the stop solenoid valve opens, and the shift lever 2a can be positioned at the desired position.

As a result, the shift lever 2a can be moved with a greater force than in the conventional driving method in which two required electromagnetic valves are simultaneously opened, and therefore, the desired positioning operation can be performed quickly and reliably.

FIG. 4 shows a flowchart of a control program when the functions of the drive control section 36 shown in FIG. 3 are realized by a microcomputer.

For example, this program can be configured to be executed every time the positioning calculation of the gear shift lever 2a is executed in the calculation unit 30. First, in step 41, it is determined whether or not the movement is in the shift direction. It will be done. If the movement is in the shift direction, it is determined in step 42 whether or not the position P of the speed change lever 2a is the shift position, and if the position P of the speed change lever 2a is the shift position, the output line a to “L” level (step
43). The other output line b is at the "H" level. In this case, in order to open the solenoid valves A and B, only the control signals T _a and T _b are at the "H" level, but only the output line a is at the "L" level. First, only solenoid valve B is opened (see FIG. 3). Thereafter, in step 44, a predetermined waiting time _t1 is taken, and the output line a is set to the "H" level (step 45). That is,
When it is detected that the gear shift lever 2a is moved from the shift position, only solenoid valve B, which is a thrust solenoid valve, is first opened, and after a predetermined time _t1 has elapsed, solenoid valve A, which is a stop solenoid valve, is opened. Open, this will cause
The shift lever 2a can be reliably moved from the shift position with a large force and with good responsiveness.

If the determination result in step 42 is NO, the process proceeds to step 46, where it is determined whether the shift lever 2a is in the shift position. If P=,
Since the movement is from the shift position, the output line b is set to the "L" level in step 48, and after a predetermined waiting time _t2 has elapsed, the output line b is set to the "H" level (steps 48, 49). Thereby, the gear change lever 2a can be moved from the shift position.

If the determination result in step 46 is NO, it is determined in step 50 whether or not position P of the gear shift lever 2a is the shift position, and the determination result is
If NO, in step 51 output lines a, b
Both are set to "H" level, and the determination result is YES.
If so, program execution ends.

Furthermore, when the execution of steps 45, 49, and 51 is completed,
Return to step 41.

If the result of the determination at step 41 is NO, the movement is in the select direction, and the program ends as is.

In the above-described embodiment, when a predetermined time period has elapsed since pressure was applied to one side of the piston, pressure is applied to the other side of the piston to position the piston. The timing of applying pressure to the other side may be determined in response to the operation of the position switches _P5 to _P7 . With this configuration, pressure can be applied to the other side of the piston at the timing when the piston reaches a predetermined position.

Effects According to the present invention, as described above, when positioning the piston of the multi-position cylinder at any positioning position between the respective stroke ends of the multi-position cylinder, first, the piston is moved to the desired position. Since pressure is applied only to one end of the piston in order to move it toward the
The piston can begin to move toward the desired position with sufficient force to move the gear lever;
Thereafter, pressure is applied to the other end of the piston at a predetermined timing, and the piston can be positioned at a desired position. As a result, pressure is applied to both end surfaces of the piston simultaneously, as in the past.
Compared to the method of positioning the shift lever using a small thrust corresponding to the difference in the forces acting on each end face, operational responsiveness is improved, and the force is sufficiently larger than the static friction force acting on the stopped shift lever. Since movement of the shift lever can be started at , the shift lever can be operated reliably, which is an excellent effect.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an embodiment of an automatic transmission for a vehicle in which a multi-position cylinder is driven by the driving method of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows the shift positions and speed changes of the transmission shown in FIG. Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the control unit shown in Fig. 1, and Fig. 4 shows the function of the drive control section shown in Fig. 3 using a microcomputer. 2 is a flowchart showing an example of a control program when realized in . 1...Automatic transmission device for vehicle, 2...Transmission, 2
a... Gear shift lever, 5... First fluid pressure cylinder,
5a...Main piston, 6...Second fluid pressure cylinder, 6a...Main piston, 13...Control unit, 30...Calculation section, 36...Drive control section, 37
...Position discrimination section, 38...Detection section, 39...Control signal generation section, A to E...Solenoid valve.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In order to operate and position the gear shift lever of a gear type transmission, multiple pistons are built into a single cylinder. at least one multi-position cylinder having a positioning position at both stroke ends and at least one intermediate position between these stroke ends;
In the method for driving an actuator for an automatic transmission, the method includes: when the multi-position cylinder positions the gear shift lever at a position corresponding to a desired intermediate position of the multi-position cylinder; A working fluid pressure for moving the desired piston toward a desired position is first supplied to one end of the desired piston, and after the desired piston has moved, the working fluid pressure is supplied to the other end of the desired piston. A method for driving an actuator for an automatic transmission, characterized in that a working fluid pressure for stopping a required piston at the required position is supplied at a required timing.