Clutchless shifting of a manual transmission

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10315659-B2
Application number	US-201815880366-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 25, 2018
Priority date	Jul 31, 2015
Publication date	Jun 11, 2019
Grant date	Jun 11, 2019

Abstract

An apparatus for a clutchless manual transmission includes a transmission, a drive shaft, and a motor shaft. The transmission includes an input shaft, an output shaft, and an intermediate gear. The input shaft is coupled to an engine shaft to receive power and the output shaft is coupled to the drive shaft to transmit power to a wheel of a vehicle. The input shaft and output shaft are coupled by a plurality of input and output shaft gears. A first synchronizer is coupled to the output shaft to selectively engage a particular output shaft gear, adjusting the speed of the output shaft relative to the input shaft. The motor shaft receives power from a motor and includes a second synchronizer to selectively engage the engine shaft to the drive shaft via the motor shaft. The apparatus can be used to reduce acceleration and turbo lag in hybrid and high-performance vehicles.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An apparatus, comprising:
a drive shaft including a drive gear, the drive shaft configured to transmit power to a wheel of a vehicle;
a transmission including an input shaft, an output shaft and an intermediate gear, the input shaft including a transmission input gear and a plurality of input shaft gears, the output shaft including a transmission output gear and a plurality of output shaft gears, the input shaft and the output shaft being aligned such that the input shaft gears mesh with the output shaft gears, the output shaft including a first shifting element to selectively engage an output shaft gear from the plurality of output shaft gears to adjust a ratio between an input shaft speed and an output shaft speed, the transmission output gear operably coupled to the drive gear such that power is transmitted between the transmission output gear and the drive gear when the output shaft gear is engaged, the transmission input gear operably coupled to an engine shaft such that a rotation speed of the input shaft is dependent on a rotation speed of the engine shaft when the first shifting element is being shifted; and
a motor shaft configured to be coupled to a motor, the motor shaft having a first motor gear and a second motor gear, the first motor gear operably coupled to the drive gear, the second motor gear operably coupled to the intermediate gear, the motor shaft including a second shifting element to selectively engage the first motor gear and the second motor gear, the first motor gear configured to transmit power between the motor shaft and the drive shaft when the second shifting element engages the first motor gear, the intermediate gear configured to transmit power between the motor shaft and the engine shaft when the second shifting element engages the second motor gear;
wherein:
the first shifting element is a first synchronizer; and
the second shifting element is a second synchronizer.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first motor gear is configured to transmit power between the motor shaft and the drive shaft when the first shifting element is being shifted.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the transmission input gear is operably coupled to the engine shaft by a linkage devoid of a friction clutch.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein:
the transmission is a manual transmission; and
the transmission input gear is operably coupled to the engine shaft by a linkage devoid of any one of a friction clutch or a torque converter.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the transmission input gear is operably coupled to the engine shaft by a linkage devoid of a clutch, the apparatus further comprising:
a controller including a speed matching module including circuitry to produce an engine control signal to adjust a speed of the engine shaft such that a speed of the output shaft gear is matched to a speed of a corresponding input shaft gear from the plurality of input shaft gears when the first shifting element is being shifted.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the transmission input gear is operably coupled to the engine shaft by a linkage devoid of a clutch, the apparatus further comprising:
a controller including a speed matching module including circuitry to produce a motor control signal to adjust a speed of the motor shaft such that a speed of the output shaft gear is matched to a speed of a corresponding input shaft gear from the plurality of input shaft gears when the first shifting element is being shifted.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the transmission input gear is operably coupled to the engine shaft by a linkage devoid of a clutch, the engine shaft including a third shifting element to selectively disengage the transmission input gear to interrupt power transmission between the engine output shaft and the input shaft of the transmission, the apparatus further comprising:
a controller including a synchronizer module including first circuitry to produce a synchronizer control signal associated with a motor drive configuration, the third shifting element disengaged from the transmission input gear and the first motor gear transmitting power from the motor shaft to the drive shaft when in the motor drive configuration,
wherein the third shifting element is a third synchronizer.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the controller includes a feedback module including second circuitry to receive a vehicle speed signal associated with a wheel speed, wherein the synchronizer module produces the synchronizer control signal when the wheel speed is zero.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:
the engine shaft including an engine gear and a third shifting element, the engine gear operably coupled to the intermediate gear, the third shifting element to selectively engage the engine gear and the transmission input gear, the engine gear configured to transmit power between the engine shaft and the motor shaft via the intermediate gear when the third shifting element engages the engine gear and when the second shifting element engages the second motor gear, the engine shaft configured to transmit power to the input shaft of the transmission when the third shifting element engages the transmission input gear,
wherein the third shifting element is a third synchronizer.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 , further comprising:
a controller including a speed matching module including circuitry to produce a speed control signal to adjust at least one of a speed of the engine shaft or a speed of the motor shaft when the third shifting element is being shifted to engage the engine gear.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the motor is a first motor, the motor shaft is a first motor shaft, the intermediate gear is a first intermediate gear of an intermediate gear set, the apparatus further comprising:
a second motor shaft configured to be coupled to a second motor, the second motor shaft having a third motor gear operably coupled to a second intermediate gear of the intermediate gear set.

12. An apparatus, comprising:
a drive shaft including a drive gear, the drive shaft configured to transmit power to a wheel of a vehicle;
a transmission including an input shaft, an output shaft and an intermediate gear, the input shaft including a transmission input gear and a plurality of input shaft gears, the output shaft including a transmission output gear and a plurality of output shaft gears, the input shaft and the output shaft being aligned such that the input shaft gears mesh with the output shaft gears, the output shaft including a first shifting element to selectively engage an output shaft gear from the plurality of output shaft gears to adjust a ratio between an input shaft speed and an output shaft speed, the transmission output gear operably coupled to the drive gear such that power is transmitted between the transmission output gear and the drive gear when the output shaft gear is engaged, the transmission input gear operably coupled to an engine shaft by a linkage devoid of a friction clutch; and
a motor shaft configured to be coupled to a motor, the motor shaft having a first motor gear and a second motor gear, the first motor gear operably coupled to the drive gear, the second motor gear operably coupled to the intermediate gear, the motor shaft including a second shifting element to selectively engage the first motor gear and the second motor gear, the first motor gear configured to transmit power between the motor shaft and the drive shaft when the second shifting element engages the first motor gear, the intermediate gear configured to transmit power between the motor shaft and the engine shaft when the

Assignees

• Massachusetts Inst Technology

Inventors

• Jacoby Chad L
• Jurewicz Jacob M
• Siegel Joshua E
• Winter V Amos G
• Jo Young Suk
• Yen Patricia
• Castillo Guillermo Pamanes
• Dorsch Daniel Scott

Classifications

• B60K6/44

  Series-parallel type · CPC title

• B60W2710/0644

  Engine speed · CPC title

• B60W20/15

  Control strategies specially adapted for achieving a particular effect · CPC title

• B60W20/00

  Control systems specially adapted for hybrid vehicles {(hybrid vehicle design, B60K6/00; electric vehicles B60L)} · CPC title

• B60K6/547

  the transmission being a stepped gearing · CPC title