JPS6336208Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] (Industrial application field) The present invention is a method for controlling the lower oil of working oil, which is housed in the lower oil pan of an automatic transmission and is sucked into the oil pump and supplied to each part of the automatic transmission mechanism. The present invention relates to an oil level adjustment device for an automatic transmission that controls the oil level in a pan.

(Prior art) In the case of a hydraulically operated automatic transmission installed in an automobile, etc., an oil pan is arranged below the automatic transmission mechanism to form an oil tank, and the working oil stored in this oil tank is The oil is sucked up through a strainer by an oil pump and supplied to each part of the automatic transmission mechanism. In this case, the oil level of the working oil in the oil tank may be such that the working oil in the oil tank comes into direct contact with the rotating body of the automatic transmission mechanism, putting a load on the rotating body and causing so-called bubbling of the working oil. In addition, even if the oil level fluctuates due to various movements of automobiles, etc., the strainer will not be exposed from the working oil and air will not be sucked into the oil pump. It is hoped that this will be done. Further, since the oil level of the working oil also fluctuates with changes in the temperature of the working oil, it is desirable to prevent the above-mentioned inconvenience from occurring in such cases as well. For this reason, in the past, the oil pan was made deep to ensure a sufficient amount of working oil in the oil tank, and even if the level of working oil fluctuated, it was kept below the rotating body of the automatic transmission mechanism. and above the position of the strainer placed inside the oil tank.

However, for example, in the case of passenger cars, it is often desired that the vehicle height be set low due to driving performance and design aspects.
In order to meet such demands, the oil pan, which is located at the bottom of the vehicle body, must be made shallow so that there is no risk of its outer surface coming into contact with the road surface. As a result, the depth of the working oil stored in the oil tank in the oil pan becomes shallow and a sufficient amount is no longer secured, so when the oil level is stable, it is necessary to control the rotating parts of the automatic transmission mechanism. The strainer is set so that there is no contact and the strainer is not exposed from the oil level, and the oil level will drop even if the vehicle starts, turns, stops, or changes in temperature of the operating oil. It is necessary to control this so that it is small.

As a measure to reduce the level fluctuation of the working oil in the oil pan of the automatic transmission of a vehicle, for example, as described in Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 58-125759, the oil pan of the working oil in the oil pan has been proposed. In order to prevent oil from flowing out, it has been proposed to provide a plate-shaped deflector above the oil pan. In the case of such a measure, it is considered to be effective in reducing the drop in the level of working oil due to the working oil in the oil pan flowing out of the oil pan when the vehicle tilts. In order to constantly reduce fluctuations in the oil level of the hydraulic oil,
There is no active control. Therefore, even if the oil level of the working oil fluctuates due to, for example, a temperature change, the fluctuation cannot be reduced.

(Purpose of the invention) In view of the above, the present invention aims to prevent the oil level of the working oil stored in the oil tank formed in the oil pan at the bottom of the automatic transmission from falling below an appropriate level at all times. An object of the present invention is to provide an oil level adjustment device for an automatic transmission that performs control.

(Summary of the invention) The oil level adjustment device for an automatic transmission according to the invention is an oil level adjustment device for an automatic transmission in which operating oil is stored in an oil tank formed in an oil pan disposed at the bottom of an automatic transmission and sucked into an oil pump. an oil level detector that detects the oil level and sends a level detection signal; a storage oil tank that is installed above the oil tank in the oil pan and collects and stores working oil discharged from the oil pump; An oil passage connecting this storage oil tank and an oil tank in the oil pan, a control valve that opens and closes this oil passage, and a control valve that operates based on a level detection signal from an oil level detector. and a control section that controls the operation.

By doing this, when the oil level of the working oil in the oil tank in the oil pan drops from the appropriate level, the control valve immediately opens the oil passage and transfers the oil from the storage oil tank to the oil tank in the oil pan. As a result, the level of the working oil in the oil tank in the oil pan can be kept from dropping below an appropriate level at all times.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

The figure shows an example of an oil level adjustment device for an automatic transmission according to the present invention together with a part of an automatic transmission to which the device is applied. In this example, an oil pan 2 is attached by bolts or the like to the lower part of a transmission case 1 that houses an automatic transmission mechanism in an automatic transmission. is formed. In the oil tank 4, a strainer 5 for filtering the working oil 3 is submerged in the working oil 3 and is fixed to the transmission case 1. The strainer 5 is provided with an oil suction port 5a, and the working oil 3 is sucked up by an oil pump (not shown) through the oil suction port 5a, and is supplied to each part of the automatic transmission mechanism. Also, in the oil tank 4, there is operating oil 3.
An oil level detector 6 is arranged to detect the level of the oil surface 3a and send out a level detection signal. This oil level detector 6 is attached to a bracket 7.
It is fixed to the transmission case 1 via.

A valve body 8 in which various valves are installed is fixed to the transmission case 1, and a valve body cover 9 covers the valve body 8 and is fixed to the side of the transmission case 1. And this valve body 8
An oil reserve tank 10 is formed in a space surrounded by the transmission case 1 and the transmission case 1. The oil reserve tank 10 collects and stores the working oil 3 that has been sucked up from the oil tank 4 by an oil pump, discharged, and supplied to various parts of the automatic transmission mechanism. Further, the oil reserve tank 10 is installed above the position of the oil tank 4 formed in the oil pan 2, and the working oil 3 stored in the oil reserve tank 10 is distributed between the oil reserve tank 10 and the oil tank 4. When these are connected, the oil can flow into the oil tank 4.

An opening 10a is provided at the bottom of the oil reserve tank 10, and this opening 10a and an opening 4a provided in the oil tank 4 are connected via an oil passage 11. A control valve 12 for opening and closing the oil passage section 11 is disposed in the oil passage section 11, and an actuator 13 for driving the control valve 12 is also disposed. The actuator 13 is configured to operate in response to a control signal from a control circuit section 14, which will be described later.

The control circuit section 14 is provided so that its input end is connected to the output end of the above-mentioned oil level detector 6, and its output end is connected to the input end of the actuator 13. The control circuit section 14 receives a level detection signal Sa from the oil level detector 6, generates a valve control signal Sb based on this signal, and
is supplied to the actuator 13. At that time, for example, when receiving a level detection signal Sa indicating that the oil level 3a of the working oil 3 in the oil tank 4 is at an appropriate level, a low-level valve control signal Sb is supplied to the actuator 13. ,
Further, when receiving the level detection signal Sa indicating that the level of the oil surface 3a of the working oil 3 in the oil tank 4 has not reached the appropriate level,
The high level valve control signal Sb is sent to the actuator 13.
supply to. Here, the appropriate level of the oil level 3a of the working oil 3 in the oil tank 4 is such that it does not come into direct contact with each rotating body 20 of the automatic transmission mechanism, and
The level is selected such that the strainer 5 is completely submerged in the working oil 3. Actuator 1
3 is turned on when the valve control signal Sb takes a high level, and turned off when the valve control signal Sb takes a low level. The control valve 12 is biased by a spring 15 in the direction of arrow a shown in the figure, and therefore, when the actuator 13 is turned off, it is brought into a closed state, and the oil passage section 11 is brought into a closed state. However, when the actuator 13 is turned on, it is moved in the direction of arrow b shown in the figure to take an open state, thereby opening the oil passage section 11.

Furthermore, although not shown here, the oil reserve tank 10 and the oil tank 4 are connected to each other by an oil passage section (hereinafter referred to as a return oil passage section) provided separately from the oil passage section 11. is also connected, so that an amount of working oil 3 corresponding to the amount sucked up from the oil tank 4 by the oil pump and discharged into the reserve tank 10 is sequentially returned to the oil tank 4 through the return oil passage section. is being done.

In the oil level adjusting device for an automatic transmission according to the present invention configured as described above, the working oil 3 contained in the oil tank 4 is transferred to the strainer 5.
The oil is drawn up into the oil pump via the oil pump and supplied to each part of the automatic transmission mechanism through various valves installed in the valve body 8, and then from each part of the automatic transmission mechanism to the oil reserve tank 10 through the valves installed in the valve body 8. is discharged. Then, the amount of working oil 3 discharged into the oil reserve tank 10, that is, the amount of working oil 3 corresponding to the increased amount in the oil reserve tank 10 is returned to the oil tank 4 through the return oil passage.
will be returned to. Therefore, the level of the oil surface 3a detected by the oil level detector 6 is normally maintained at an appropriate level, but for example, when a car equipped with the above-mentioned automatic transmission is tilted, or when the car starts,
When turning, stopping, etc., the working oil 3 moves within the oil tank 4, or the level of the oil surface 3a fluctuates due to changes in the temperature of the working oil 3, causing oil level detection. vessel 6
When the level of the oil level 3a detected by the valve becomes lower than the appropriate level, the oil level detector 6 sends out a level detection signal Sa indicating this, and the valve control signal Sb from the control circuit section 14 takes a high level. Become something. As a result, the actuator 13
is turned on, the control valve 12 is moved in the direction of arrow b, and as shown by the dashed line,
It is assumed to be in an open state. As a result, the oil passage section 11 is turned on, and the working oil 3 in the oil reserve tank 10 is supplied to the oil tank 4 through the oil passage section 11. When the oil level 3a of the working oil 3 in the oil tank 4 reaches an appropriate level, the valve control signal Sb from the control circuit section 14 changes to a low level, and the control valve 12 closes again. The oil passage section 11 is turned off, and the supply of the working oil 3 from the oil reserve tank 10 to the oil tank 4 is stopped. By performing such control, the oil level 3a of the working oil 3 in the oil tank 4 is maintained at an appropriate level.

(Effects of the invention) As is clear from the above explanation, according to the oil level adjustment device for an automatic transmission according to the invention, the oil level adjustment device for an automatic transmission according to the invention can reduce When the oil level of the working oil that is stored in the oil tank formed in the oil pan and sucked into the oil pump becomes lower than the appropriate level, the oil in the oil pan is pumped from the oil reserve tank to immediately return it to the appropriate level. The tank is refilled with hydraulic oil, and control is performed to ensure that the level of hydraulic oil in the oil tank in the oil pan is always maintained at an appropriate level, so this problem occurs when the level of hydraulic oil is low. In addition, it is possible to prevent air from being sucked in by the oil pump, and it is also possible to avoid applying a load to the rotating body of the automatic transmission mechanism and preventing the working oil from foaming, which occurs when the oil level of the working oil is too high. In addition, the level of operating oil in the oil tank in the oil pan is maintained stably so that it does not fall below the appropriate level.
There is no problem even if the depth of the oil tank formed in the oil pan is made relatively shallow, and therefore, the oil pan can be made thinner, and therefore the oil level of the automatic transmission according to the present invention can be reduced. The adjustment device will contribute to reducing the vehicle height of the vehicle.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The figure is a schematic configuration diagram showing an example of an oil level adjusting device for an automatic transmission according to the present invention. In the figure, 1 is the transmission case, 2 is the oil pan, 4 is the oil tank, 5 is the strainer,
6 is an oil level detector, 10 is an oil reserve tank, 11 is an oil passage, 12 is a control valve, 1
3 is an actuator, and 14 is a control circuit section.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] Oil level detection that detects the level of working oil that is housed in the first oil tank formed in the oil pan located at the bottom of the automatic transmission and is sucked into the oil pump, and sends a level detection signal. a second oil tank that is installed above the first oil tank and collects and stores working oil after being discharged from the oil pump; the second oil tank and the first oil tank; an oil passage connecting the oil tank; a control valve disposed in the oil passage to open and close the oil passage; and a control valve configured to operate the control valve based on a level detection signal from the oil level detector An oil level adjustment device for an automatic transmission, comprising: a control section that controls the operation of the automatic transmission;