WO2022126606A1

WO2022126606A1 - A parking lock system and a motor vehicle and/or an electric vehicle including such parking lock system

Info

Publication number: WO2022126606A1
Application number: PCT/CN2020/137634
Authority: WO
Inventors: Furen LIU; Jianyang NI; Andreas SCHWIPP; Sebastian Wagner; Stefan Gebert
Original assignee: Fte Automotive (Taicang) Co., Ltd.
Priority date: 2020-12-18
Filing date: 2020-12-18
Publication date: 2022-06-23

Abstract

A parking lock system (100) comprises an actuator and a hydraulic valve (2). The actuator comprises a housing (1), in which a piston chamber (5) is provided, and a piston (4) arranged in the piston chamber (5) and being able to move in the locking direction and the unlocking direction in the piston chamber (5). The hydraulic valve (2) is used for controlling flow of a working fluid into or out of the piston chamber (5), and the hydraulic valve (2) is directly mounted to the housing (1) of the actuator. A motor vehicle and/or an electric vehicle having such parking lock system (100) is also provided.

Description

A Parking Lock System and a Motor Vehicle and/or an Electric Vehicle Including Such Parking Lock System

Technical field

Embodiments of the present disclosure relates to generally a parking lock system and a motor vehicle and/or an electric vehicle including such parking lock system.

Background

Vehicles usually include a parking lock system to prevent the vehicle from sliding when the vehicle is parked. Conventional parking lock system generally includes a parking actuator, which is usually a hydraulic cylinder with a locking piston. The hydraulic system can control the flow of working fluid into or out of the hydraulic cylinder, thereby driving the locking piston to move between a locked position and an unlocked position. In the locked position, the locking member of the parking lock system locks the output shaft of the transmission in a form-fitting manner, while in the unlocked position, the locking member pivots away from the locked position to unlock.

It is known that the hydraulic system and the hydraulic cylinder of the parking actuator are arranged separately. The hydraulic system and the hydraulic cylinder are typically fluidly connected together by fluid pipes respectively connecting to the hydraulic system and the hydraulic cylinder. The working fluid may leak at the connections of the fluid pipe. In addition, this separate structure of the hydraulic system and the hydraulic cylinder complicates the design of the parking lock system, increases the space required for installing the parking lock system, and makes the assembly of the parking lock system difficult.

Summary

Accordingly, the present disclosure aims to solve the above-mentioned problems existing in the conventional parking lock system. An object of the present disclosure is to provide a parking lock system that has a compact structure, reducing the risk of working fluid leakage and reducing the space required to install the parking lock system. The parking lock system can also be assembled in a simple and cost-effective manner.

The object is achieved by a parking lock system according to one embodiment of the present disclosure, which comprises an actuator and a hydraulic valve. The actuator comprises a housing, in which a piston chamber is provided, and a piston arranged in the piston chamber and being able to move in the locking direction and the unlocking direction in the piston chamber. The hydraulic valve is used for controlling flow of a working fluid into or out of the piston chamber, and the hydraulic valve is directly mounted to the housing of the actuator.

Since the hydraulic valve is directly mounted to the housing of the actuator, and the piston chamber is also provided inside the housing, there is no need to provide an additional fluid pipe between the hydraulic valve and the piston chamber. Therefore, this design reduces the risk of leakage of the working fluid, reduces the size of the parking lock system, and simplifies the assembly of the parking lock system.

The parking lock system according to the present disclosure may also have one or more of the following features separately or in combination.

According to an optional embodiment of the present disclosure, a hydraulic valve chamber for accommodating the valve body of the hydraulic valve is provided inside the housing. That is, when the hydraulic valve is mounted to the housing of the actuator, the valve body of the hydraulic valve is accommodated in the hydraulic valve chamber. According to this technical solution, the hydraulic valve no longer includes a hydraulic valve housing for accommodating the valve body. The hydraulic valve can thus have a reduced size, and its cost is also reduced. In addition, the overall structure of the parking lock system is more stable and reliable.

According to an optional embodiment of the present disclosure, the hydraulic valve is a two-position three-way valve. Thus, the different states of the hydraulic valve can respectively allow working fluid to flow into the piston chamber, prevent working fluid from flowing into the piston chamber, or allow working fluid to be discharged from the parking lock system.

According to an optional embodiment of the present disclosure, a connecting channel is provided inside the housing, and the connecting channel fluidly communicates the hydraulic valve chamber and the piston chamber. Thus, the working fluid flows between the hydraulic valve chamber and the piston chamber through the connecting channel.

According to an optional embodiment of the present disclosure, the housing is further provided with an inflow port for inletting the working fluid into the hydraulic valve. In other words, the working fluid entering the hydraulic valve needs to pass through the inflow port provided on the housing first.

According to an optional embodiment of the present disclosure, the housing is further provided with a discharge port for discharging the working fluid from the hydraulic valve. In other words, the working fluid discharged from the hydraulic valve needs to pass through the discharge port provided on the housing. Optionally, the discharge port is provided at a mounting surface of the housing for mounting the hydraulic valve.

According to an optional embodiment of the present disclosure, the hydraulic valve is a ball valve or a slide valve. Preferably, the ball valve or the slide valve is a two-position three-way valve.

According to an optional embodiment of the present disclosure, the hydraulic valve has at least one seal members, such as two sealing rings, arranged between the valve body and the hydraulic valve chamber. By means of the two sealing rings, the sealing between the valve body and the hydraulic valve chamber is ensured.

According to an optional embodiment of the present disclosure, a return spring for urging the piston in the locking direction is provided in the housing. That is, the return spring biases the piston in the locking direction. When the actuator is in the locked state, the piston of the actuator is maintained in the locked position by the biasing force of the return spring. When the actuator is unlocked, the hydraulic valve controls the working fluid to flow into the piston chamber, and the piston moves in the unlocking direction under the hydraulic pressure of the working fluid against the biasing force of the return spring.

According to an optional embodiment of the present disclosure, the parking lock system further includes an inflow pipe inserted into the inflow port. The inflow pipe is used to introduce working fluid into the parking lock system. Optionally, the inflow pipe has two seals, such as seal rings, respectively provided at its two ends. The two ends of the inflow pipe can take the form of a male connection end or a female connection end.

According to an optional embodiment of the present disclosure, the inflow pipe is integrated with the housing as a whole. Therefore, the parking lock system can have a more compact structure.

According to an optional embodiment of the present disclosure, at least a part of the housing is made of plastic material.

The present disclosure also provides a motor vehicle including the parking lock system as described above.

The present disclosure also provides an electric vehicle including the parking lock system as described above.

Description of the drawings

The above and other features and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent through the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, and the description and accompanying drawings are only for exemplary purposes and not to limit the present invention in any way. In which:

Figure. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a parking lock system in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure.

Figures. 2A and 2B respectively show the flow path of the working fluid when the parking lock system is unlocked and locked.

Detailed description

Unless otherwise defined, the technical terms or scientific terms used herein should be of ordinary meaning to those of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention pertains. The words "one" , "a" or "the" do not represent a quantity limit, but rather that there is at least one. The words “comprising” or “comprise” and the like mean that the elements or objects preceding the word including the elements or objects listed after the word, without excluding other elements or objects. "Up" , "down" , "left" , "right" and so on are used only to represent the relative positional relationship and are only for the purpose of description without limitation to the present invention, and when the absolute position of the object to be described changes, the relative position relation may change accordingly. If there is no special interpretation, the words of “first” and “second” and the like used in the specification and claims do not denote any order, quantity or importance, but are merely intended to distinguish between different components. Without departing from the scope of the present disclosure, the terms “first component” can be written as “second Part” . The terms "unlocking direction" , "locking direction" , etc. are all described with respect to the drawings of the present invention.

FIG. 1 shows a cross-sectional view of a parking lock system 100 according to a one embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 1, the parking lock system 100 includes a housing 1, a hydraulic valve 2, a hydraulic valve chamber 3, a piston 4, a piston chamber 5, a return spring 6 and an inflow pipe 7. The hydraulic valve chamber 3 and the piston chamber 5 are both located inside the housing 1 and surrounded by the housing 1. At least a part of he housing 1 is made of plastic material. For example, the housing 1 can be manufactured by injection molding, or by machining. Except for the hydraulic valve 2, the various components shown in FIG. 1 constitute the actuator of the parking lock system 100.

As shown in FIG. 1, the piston 4 is arranged in the piston chamber 5 and can move in the piston chamber 3 in the locking direction and the unlocking direction. For example, the unlocking direction is the upward direction along the axis A in FIG. 1, and the locking direction is the downward direction along the axis A. A rod 8 is connected to the lower end of the piston 4 for actuating a locking member (not shown) of the parking lock system. When the piston 4 moves in the locking direction, the rod 8 actuates the locking member to lock the output shaft of the transmission in a form-fitting manner, putting the parking lock system 100 in a locked state. When the piston 4 moves in the unlocking direction, the rod 8 actuates the locking member to pivot away from the position where the output shaft of the transmission is locked, putting the parking lock system 100 in an unlocked state. Optionally, the parking lock system 100 may further include a stopper (not shown in the figure) , which moves to a lock position in the unlocked state of the parking lock system 100 to lock the rod 8, maintaining the parking lock system 100 in the unlocked state.

The piston chamber 5 is also provided with a return spring 6, the first end of which is fixed on the end wall of the piston chamber 5, and the second end applies an elastic bias force to the piston 4 in the locking direction (downward direction in Figure 1) . When the parking lock system 100 is in the locked state, the piston 4 is kept in the locked position under the action of the elastic biasing force.

The hydraulic valve 2 is directly mounted on the housing 1 of the actuator. For example, the hydraulic valve 2 may be fixed to the housing 1 by screws. As shown in FIG. 1, the hydraulic valve 2 includes a driver 21 (for example, an electric driver) and a valve body 22. The valve body 22 is accommodated in the hydraulic valve chamber 3, and for example two sealing members 9 are arranged between the valve body 22 and hydraulic, forming a liquid-tight seal. The outer surface of the housing 1 above the hydraulic valve chamber 3 constitutes the mounting surface S1 for the hydraulic valve 2. The hydraulic valve chamber 3 is in fluid communication with the piston chamber 5 through a connecting channel 11 provided inside the housing 1. To this end, the hydraulic valve chamber 3 is provided with a first valve port 3a opening to the connecting channel 11.

As shown in FIG. 1, the housing 1 is further provided with an inflow port 12 and a discharge port 13 for inletting working fluid into the hydraulic valve 2 and discharging the working fluid from the hydraulic valve 2 respectively. The working fluid is, for example, oil in the transmission of a vehicle.

The inflow pipe 7 is inserted into the inflow port 12. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, both ends of the inflow pipe 7 are male connection ends, and for example two sealing members 9’ are respectively provided at both ends to achieve a liquid-tight seal. It is also conceivable that the ends of the inflow pipe 7 may also be both female connection ends, or male connection ends or female connection ends respectively. Correspondingly, the inflow port 12 can also have different forms. Optionally, the inflow pipe 7 may also be integrated with the housing 1, so that it may have only one end in the form of a male connection end or a female connection end. The inflow port 12 is fluidly connected to the hydraulic valve chamber 3 through an inflow channel 14. To this end, the hydraulic valve chamber 3 is provided with a second valve port 3b opening to the inflow channel 14. It is conceivable that the inflow port 12 can also directly open to the second valve port 3b of the hydraulic valve chamber 3, and the working fluid enters the hydraulic valve chamber 3 directly from the inflow port 12, so that the inflow pipe 7 and the inflow channel 14 can be omitted.

The discharge port 13 is preferably arranged at the mounting surface S1 of the hydraulic valve 2. To this end, the hydraulic valve chamber 3 is provided with a third valve port 3c opening to the discharge port 13.

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 1, the hydraulic valve 2 is a two-position three-way ball valve or a slide valve. Specifically, the valve body 22 of the hydraulic valve 2 has a first working position P1 and a second working position P2. When the valve body 22 is in the first working position P1, the first valve port 3a and the second valve port 3b are in fluid communication, while the third valve port 3c is not in communication with the first valve port 3a and the second valve port 3b. The working fluid enters the inflow channel 14 from the inflow pipe 7 and flows into the hydraulic valve chamber 3 through the second valve port 3b. Then, the working fluid enters the piston chamber 5 from the hydraulic valve chamber 3 through the first valve port 3a and the connecting channel 11. When the valve body 22 is in the second working position P2, the first valve port 3a and the third valve port 3c are in fluid communication, while the second valve port 3b is not in communication with the first valve port 3a and the third valve port 3c. The working fluid in the piston chamber 5 returns to the hydraulic valve chamber 3 through the connecting channel 11 and the first valve port 3a under the action of the return spring 6. Then, the working fluid is discharged from the hydraulic valve chamber 3 through the third valve port 3c and the discharge port 13. It is conceivable that the hydraulic valve 2 may also have other forms that meet the requirements of the present disclosure.

Hereinafter, the operation of the parking lock system 100 will be described in detail with reference to accompanying drawings.

When the vehicle is parked, the parking lock system 100 is in a parking state, i.e. locked state. The valve body 22 of the hydraulic valve 2 is located at the second working position P2, and the piston chamber 5 is not filled with working fluid. Under the action of the elastic biasing force of the return spring 6 in the locking direction, the piston 4 is in its locked position, and the rod 8 actuates the locking member of the parking lock system in its locked position, so that it locks the output shaft of the transmission.

When the parking lock system 100 is unlocked from the parking state, the valve body 22 of the hydraulic valve 2 is driven to the first working position P1, the first valve port 3a and the second valve port 3b are in fluid communication. The arrows in Fig. 2A show the flow path of the working fluid when the parking lock system 100 is unlocked. As shown in the figure, the working fluid enters the inflow channel 14 from the inflow pipe 7, and enters the hydraulic valve chamber 3 through the second valve port 3b. Then, the working fluid enters the connecting passage 11 from the hydraulic valve chamber 3 through the first valve port 3a, and finally fills the piston chamber 5. Under the hydraulic action of the working fluid, the piston 4 moves in the unlocking direction (the upward direction along the axis A in the figure) against the elastic biasing force of the return spring 6, and at the same time drives the rod 8 to follow the moving of the piston 4. The rod 8 thus actuates the locking member, causing it to pivot away from the locking position. The piston 4 ultimately moves to the unlocked position, and the parking lock system 100 is switched to the unlocked state. The stopper is moved to the lock position to lock the rod 8 so that the parking lock system 100 is maintained in the unlocked state. At this time, the valve body 22 of the hydraulic valve 2 can return to its second working position P2.

When the parking lock system 100 performs the parking function, the stopper moves away from the lock position, and the piston 4 moves in the locking direction (the downward direction along the axis A in the figure) under the action of the elastic biasing force of the return spring 6, pushing the working fluid away from the piston chamber 5. The arrows in Fig. 2B show the flow path of the working fluid when the parking lock system 100 is locked. As shown in the figure, the working fluid enters the connecting passage 11 from the piston chamber 5 and flows into the hydraulic valve chamber 3 through the first valve port 3a. Then, the working fluid inside the hydraulic valve chamber 3 is discharged from the discharge port 13 through the third valve port 3c. When the piston 4 reaches its locked position, the rod 8 drives the locking member of the parking lock system 100 to lock the output shaft of the transmission, and the vehicle is parked.

As described above, the parking lock system 100 according to the present disclosure is provided with a hydraulic valve chamber 3 in the housing 1 of the actuator, and the hydraulic valve 2 can be directly mounted to the housing 1, thereby omitting the connecting pipe between the hydraulic valve 2 and the actuator. Therefore, the parking lock system 100 according to the present disclosure has a compact structure, reduces the risk of working fluid leakage, facilitate the assembly, and reduces the required installation space. In addition, by omitting multiple parts, the parking lock system 100 according to the present disclosure also saves production costs.

The present disclosure also provides a motor vehicle or electric vehicle having the parking lock system according to the foregoing.

It is to be understood that the structures described above and shown in the drawings are merely examples of the invention which may be replaced by other structures which exhibit the same or similar functions for obtaining the desired final result. In addition, it is to be understood that the embodiments described above and shown in the drawings are to be construed as constituting only non-limiting examples of the invention and may be modified in numerous ways within the scope of the patent claims.

Claims

A parking lock system (100) , characterized in that the parking lock system (100) comprises:

an actuator, comprising

a housing (1) , in which a piston chamber (5) is provided;

a piston (4) arranged in the piston chamber (5) and being able to move in a locking direction and an unlocking direction in the piston chamber (5) ;

a hydraulic valve (2) configured for controlling flow of a working fluid into or out of the piston chamber (5) ,

wherein the hydraulic valve (2) is directly mounted to the housing (1) of the actuator.
The parking lock system (100) according to claim 1, wherein

a hydraulic valve chamber (3) configured for accommodating a valve body (22) of the hydraulic valve (2) is provided inside the housing (1) .
The parking lock system (100) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein

the hydraulic valve (2) is a two-position three-way ball valve or slide valve.
The parking lock system (100) according to claim 2, wherein

a connecting channel (11) is provided inside the housing (1) , and the connecting channel (11) fluidly communicates the hydraulic valve chamber (3) with the piston chamber (5) .
The parking lock system (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein

the housing (1) is further provided with an inflow port (12) configured for inletting the working fluid into the hydraulic valve (2) .
The parking lock system (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein

the housing (1) is further provided with a discharge port (13) configured for discharging the working fluid from the hydraulic valve (2) .
The parking lock system (100) according to claim 2 or 4, wherein

the hydraulic valve (2) comprises at least one sealing members (9) arranged between the valve body (22) and the hydraulic valve chamber (3) .
The parking lock system (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein

the actuator further comprises a return spring (6) arranged in the housing (1) , the return spring (6) urges the piston (4) in the locking direction.
The parking lock system (100) according to claim 5, wherein

the parking lock system (100) further comprise an inflow pipe (7) inserted into the inflow port (12) .
The parking lock system (100) according to claim 9, wherein

the inflow pipe (7) is integrated with the housing (1) as a whole.
The parking lock system (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein

at least a part of the housing (1) is made of plastic material.
A motor vehicle, characterized in that it comprises a parking lock system (100) according to any one of the preceding claims.
An electric vehicle, characterized in that it comprises a parking lock system (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 11.