Method and apparatus for protecting clutch in vehicle driving process

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11085384-B2
Application number	US-201816301450-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 26, 2018
Priority date	Apr 27, 2017
Publication date	Aug 10, 2021
Grant date	Aug 10, 2021

Abstract

Related are a method and an apparatus for protecting a clutch in a vehicle driving process. The method comprises: acquiring a current oil temperature of a space where the clutch is located and judging whether the current oil temperature is within a set temperature interval or not; in a case where the current oil temperature is within the set temperature interval, detecting whether a current wheel speed difference between front shaft and rear shaft reaches to a set wheel speed difference threshold or not; and in a case where the current wheel speed difference between the front shaft and rear shaft reaches to the set wheel speed difference threshold, triggering a first protective mode that is preset to protect the clutch; and in a case where the current oil temperature is higher than the set temperature interval, triggering a second protective mode that is preset to protect the clutch.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for protecting a clutch in a vehicle driving process, comprising:
acquiring a current oil temperature of a space where the clutch is located and judging whether the current oil temperature is within a set temperature interval or not;
in a case where the current oil temperature is within the set temperature interval, detecting whether a current wheel speed difference between front shaft and rear shaft reaches to a set wheel speed difference threshold or not; and in a case where the current wheel speed difference between the front shaft and rear shaft reaches to the set wheel speed difference threshold, triggering a first protective mode that is preset to protect the clutch, wherein under the first protective mode, a maximum output torque of an engine is not greater than a current output torque; and
in a case where the current oil temperature is higher than the set temperature interval, triggering a second protective mode that is preset to protect the clutch, wherein under the second protective mode, the maximum output torque of the engine is reduced to a torque threshold determined in advance, and the torque threshold is smaller than the maximum output torque of engine under the first protective mode;
in a case where the current wheel speed difference between the front shaft and rear shaft reaches to the set wheel speed difference threshold, triggering a first protective mode that is preset comprises:
when the wheel speed difference between the front shaft and rear shaft reaches to the wheel speed difference threshold, triggering a first request enable signal to be nonzero; and when detecting that the first request enable signal is nonzero, sending a first torque request signal to the engine, wherein first torque request signal is used for controlling the engine to adjust the maximum output torque as the current output torque; and
in a case where the current oil temperature is higher than the set temperature interval, triggering the second protective mode comprises:
in a case where the current oil temperature is higher than the set temperature interval, triggering a second request enable signal to be nonzero; and when detecting that the second request enable signal is nonzero, sending a second torque request signal to the engine, wherein the second torque request signal is used for controlling the engine to adjust the maximum output torque as the torque threshold determined in advance.

2. The method for protecting the clutch in the vehicle driving process as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising:
setting the torque threshold under the second protective mode in advance;
or, presetting a torque reduction proportion under the second protective mode; and
after the second protective mode is triggered, further comprising:
acquiring the preset torque threshold;
or, determining the torque threshold according to the torque reduction proportion as well as a current output torque of the engine.

3. The method for protecting the clutch in the vehicle driving process as claimed in claim 2 , further comprising:
after triggering the first protective mode, in a case where it is detected that the wheel speed difference between the front shaft and rear shaft is lower than the wheel speed difference threshold, or the oil temperature is lower than the set temperature interval, exiting the first protective mode; and
after triggering the second protective mode, in a case where it is detected that the oil temperature is reduced to a set first temperature threshold, exiting the second protective mode, wherein the first temperature threshold pertains to the set temperature interval.

4. The method for protecting the clutch in the vehicle driving process as claimed in claim 1 , wherein
exiting the first protective mode comprises: when detecting that the wheel speed difference between the front shaft and rear shaft is lower than the wheel speed difference threshold, or the oil temperature is lower than the set temperature interval, returning the first request enable signal to zero; and when detecting that the first request enable signal is zero, sending a first request cancelling signal to the engine, wherein the first request cancelling signal is used for controlling the engine to restore the maximum output torque as a default value; and
exiting the second protective mode comprises: when the oil temperature is lower than a set first temperature threshold, returning the second request enable signal to zero; and when detecting that the second request enable signal is zero, sending a second request cancelling signal to the engine, wherein the second request cancelling signal is used for controlling the engine to restore the maximum output torque as the default value, and the first temperature threshold pertains to the set temperature interval.

5. An apparatus for protecting a clutch in a vehicle driving process, comprising:
a temperature detection module, configured to acquire a current oil temperature of a space where the clutch is located and judge whether the current oil temperature is within a set temperature interval or not;
a first protective module, configured to detect, in a case where the current oil temperature is within the set temperature interval, whether a current wheel speed difference between front shaft and rear shaft reaches to a set wheel speed difference threshold or not, and trigger, in a case where the current wheel speed difference between the front shaft and rear shaft reaches to the set wheel speed difference threshold, a first protective mode that is preset to protect the clutch, wherein under the first protective mode, a maximum output torque of an engine is not greater than a current output torque; and
a second protective module, configured to trigger, in a case where the current oil temperature is higher than the set temperature interval, a second protective mode that is preset to protect the clutch, and reduce, under the second protective mode, the maximum output torque of the engine to a torque threshold determined in advance, wherein the torque threshold is smaller than the maximum output torque of engine under the first protective mode;
wherein the first protective module comprises:
a first enable signal trigger unit, configured to trigger, when the wheel speed difference between the front shaft and rear shaft reaches to the wheel speed difference threshold and when the oil temperature is within the set temperature interval, a first request enable signal to be nonzero; and
a first request sending unit, configured to send, when detecting that the first request enable signal is nonzero, a first torque request signal to the engine, wherein and the first torque request signal is used for controlling the engine to adjust the maximum output torque as the current output torque; and
wherein the second protective module comprises:
a second enable signal trigger unit, configured to trigger, in a case where the current oil temperature is higher than the set temperature interval, a second request enable signal to be nonzero; and
a second request sending unit, configured to send, when detecting that the second request enable signal is nonzero, a second torque request signal to the engine, wherein the second torque request signal is used for controlling the engine to adjust the maximum output torque as the torque threshold determined in advance.

6. The apparatus for protecting the clutch in the vehicle driving process as claimed in claim 5 , further comprising a setting module, configured to set the torque threshold under the second protective mode in advance, or preset a torque reduction proportion under the second protective mode; and
the second protective module may further comprises:
a torque threshold determination unit, configured to acquire, after

Assignees

• Guangzhou Automobile Group Co

Inventors

• Han Lingtao
• Ding Chao

Classifications

• F16D48/06 Primary

  Control by electric or electronic means, e.g. of fluid pressure · CPC title

• F16D2500/30803

  Oil temperature · CPC title

• B60K17/35

  including arrangements for suppressing or influencing the power transfer, e.g. viscous clutches · CPC title

• F16D48/10

  Preventing unintentional or unsafe engagement · CPC title

• F16D2300/02

  Overheat protection, i.e. means for protection against overheating · CPC title