Shift apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016102761-A1
Application number	US-201514876991-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Oct 7, 2015
Priority date	Oct 8, 2014
Publication date	Apr 14, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A shift apparatus mounted on a vehicle includes: a shift switching member including valley sections according to a shift position; a positioning member provided to establish the shift position in a state of being fitted into any of the valley sections; an actuator for driving the shift switching member; and a driving force transmission mechanism including a driving-side member on an actuator side and a driven-side member on a shift switching member side, and rotating the shift switching member, wherein the driving-side and driven-side members are able to relatively rotate in an engaged state by a predetermined amount of backlash, and a position of a valley bottom of the valley section is configured to be learned, based on a difference between rotational angles on the actuator side and the shift switching member side.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A shift apparatus mounted on a vehicle, the shift apparatus comprising:
a shift switching member that includes a plurality of valley sections according to a shift position; a positioning member that is provided to establish the shift position in a state of being fitted into any one of the plurality of valley sections of the shift switching member; an actuator for driving the shift switching member; and a driving force transmission mechanism that includes a driving-side member that is provided on an actuator side and a driven-side member that is provided on a shift switching member side and is rotated according to rotation of the driving-side member, and rotates the shift switching member by transmitting a driving force from the actuator side, wherein the driving-side member and the driven-side member are configured to be able to relatively rotate in an engaged state by a predetermined amount of backlash by providing the predetermined amount of backlash between the driving-side member and the driven-side member, and a position of a valley bottom of the valley section into which the positioning member is fitted is configured to be learned, based on a difference between a rotational angle on the actuator side which is generated due to the predetermined amount of backlash and a rotational angle on the shift switching member side.

2 . The shift apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the driving-side member has a first engagement section, wherein the driven-side member has a second engagement section that engages with the first engagement section with the predetermined amount of backlash and transmits a driving force from the driving-side member, wherein when the positioning member goes from an upper portion of the valley section to the valley bottom, the shift switching member and the driven-side member are swung by a force operating to drop the positioning member into the valley bottom of the valley section, and thereby the driven-side member is configured to be swung by the predetermined amount of backlash prior to rotation of the driving-side member, and wherein the position of the valley bottom of the valley section is configured to be learned based on a difference between a rotational angle on the shift switching member side in a state where the positioning member is dropped into the valley bottom of the valley section and swing of the shift switching member is stopped, and a rotational angle on the actuator side when the driving-side member is following-up rotated by the predetermined amount of backlash.

3 . The shift apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the actuator is a motor including a rotor and a stator, wherein the actuator further includes a rotor rotational angle sensor detecting a rotational angle of the rotor and an output shaft rotational angle sensor detecting a rotational angle of the shift switching member, and wherein the position of the valley bottom of the valley section is configured to be learned based on a difference between the rotational angle of the rotor detected by the rotor rotational angle sensor, which is generated due to the predetermined amount of backlash and the rotational angle of the shift switching member detected by the output shaft rotational angle sensor.

4 . The shift apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the actuator is a motor including a rotor in which N-pole magnets and S-pole magnets are alternately disposed around a rotation shaft and a stator that is disposed so as to face the rotor through a gap, wherein in the motor, the rotor is rotated such that arrangement of the N-pole magnets and the S-pole magnets around the rotation shaft becomes the same phase state for every predetermined number of driving steps, wherein the predetermined amount of backlash is set to be equal to or greater than the rotational angle on the motor side corresponding to the predetermined number of driving steps and less than the rotational angle on the shift switching member side corresponding to the valley section having the minimum rotation distance from the valley bottom of the valley section in the plurality of valley sections to a top portion of a mountain section separating the valley sections adjacent to each other, and wherein the positioning member is configured to determine whether or not it is a state of being fitted into the valley bottom of the valley section by using the predetermined amount of backlash, based on a result of comparing between the rotational angles on the shift switching member side respectively corresponding to the rotational angles of the rotor separated from each other by the predetermined number of driving steps.

5 . The shift apparatus according to claim 4 ,
wherein the motor is a three-phase motor that is configured such that the rotor is rotated by an angle increment corresponding to a single driving step by sequentially switching a one-phase conduction state corresponding to the single driving step with respect to an excitation coil provided in the stator.

Assignees

• Aisin Seiki

Inventors

• Kuwahara Shinya
• Uchida Yutaka
• Horii Shinya

Classifications

• F16H2061/2853

  Electromagnetic solenoids · CPC title

• F16H2061/326

  Actuators for range selection, i.e. actuators for controlling the range selector or the manual range valve in the transmission · CPC title

• F16H2061/247

  Detents for range selectors · CPC title

• F16H61/28

  with at least one movement of the final actuating mechanism being caused by a non-mechanical force, e.g. power-assisted · CPC title

• F16H61/32 Primary

  Electric motors  {, actuators or related electrical control means}  therefor · CPC title