Shift rail transmission position sensing

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9523429-B2
Application number	US-201313974159-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 23, 2013
Priority date	Aug 4, 2009
Publication date	Dec 20, 2016
Grant date	Dec 20, 2016

Abstract

Receiving sensor data related to position of a gear in a transmission, the sensor data including data from a first sensor and data from a second sensor; determining a first indicated position of the gear from the data from the first sensor; determining a second indicated position of the gear from the data from the second sensor; comparing the first indicated position to the second indicated position; and determining based on the comparison a gear engagement status of the gear.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A device for monitoring a transmission, comprising:
a first sensor;
a second sensor, the first sensor and the second sensor attached to a first shift rail in a shift rail transmission;
at least one additional sensor attached to a second shift rail in the shift rail transmission; and
a control unit, wherein the control unit is configured to:
receive sensor data related to position of a first gear in the transmission, the sensor data including data from the first sensor, data from the second sensor, and data from the at least one additional sensor;
determine a first indicated position of the first gear from the data from the first sensor;
determine a second indicated position of the first gear from the data from the second sensor;
compare the first indicated position to the second indicated position;
determine based on the comparison a gear engagement status of the first gear,
determine if the first shift rail and the second shift rail are in or are transitioning to one of multiple positions using the sensor data.

2. The device of claim 1 , wherein the first sensor and the second sensor are Hall Effect sensors that generate an output when passing through a magnetic field and wherein the output is indicative of field strength and varies according to proximity of the sensors to magnets attached to the transmission.

3. The device of claim 2 , wherein each of said magnets is attached to a steel plate.

4. The device of claim 2 , wherein said magnets include two magnets attached to the transmission with opposite orientations of their respective poles.

5. The device of claim 1 , wherein the first sensor and the second sensor are associated with a bi-directional moveable member in the transmission, the transmission including a plurality of gears including the first gear, and wherein the moveable member moves a gear engagement element to selectively engage the first gear at a first end of a travel path or to engage a second gear of the plurality of gears at a second end of the travel path.

6. The device of claim 5 , wherein the first sensor is situated to indicate engagement of the first gear and the second sensor is situated to indicate engagement of the second gear.

7. The device of claim 6 , wherein the control unit is further configured to:
detect engagement of the first gear by using data from the second sensor as cross-check information for cross-checking the first indicated position determined from the data from the first sensor; and
detect engagement of the second gear by using the data from the first sensor as cross-check information for cross-checking the second indicated position determined from the data from the second sensor.

8. The device of claim 7 , wherein the first sensor and the second sensor each provide an indication that the moveable member is entering or is in a neutral position, and the information from each sensor is used to cross-check the information from the other sensor.

9. The device of claim 5 , wherein the transmission is a double-clutch transmission and wherein the first gear is disengaged at substantially the same time as the second gear is engaged.

10. The device of claim 5 , wherein the the moveable member is a first shift rail of a plurality of shift rails in a double-clutch transmission, and wherein a second shift rail of the plurality of shift rails selectively engages a third or a fourth gear, and wherein the first shift rail moves to disengage the first gear at substantially the same time as the second shift rail moves to engage the fourth gear.

11. A device for monitoring a transmission, comprising:
a first sensor;
a second sensor;
a control unit, wherein the control unit is configured to:
receive sensor data related to position of a first gear in the transmission, the sensor data including data from the first sensor and data from the second sensor;
determine a first indicated position of the first gear from the data from the first sensor; determine a second indicated position of the first gear from the data from the second sensor;
compare the first indicated position to the second indicated position; determine based on the comparison a gear engagement status of the first gear; and
a plurality of primary sensors, including the first sensor, in a shift rail transmission including a plurality of shift rails;
wherein each of the plurality of primary sensors is attached to a separate one of the plurality of shift rails in a one-to-one correspondence; and
wherein each of the plurality of primary sensors is configured to provide data indicating that the corresponding shift rail is in or is transitioning to one of multiple positions.

12. The device of claim 11 , wherein there are three positions of a shift rail and the positions represent: engagement of a first gear in mechanical communication with the shift rail; engagement of a second gear in mechanical communication with the shift rail; and a neutral position in which the first gear and the second gear are disengaged.

13. The device of claim 11 , wherein the second sensor is a transmission speed sensor.

14. A transmission control assembly including a non-transitory computer readable medium, having instructions tangibly embodied thereon, the instructions being executable by a processor to cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
receiving sensor data related to position of a gear in a transmission, the sensor data including data from a first sensor, data from a second sensor, and data from at least one additional sensor;
determining a first indicated position of the gear from the data from the first sensor;
determining a second indicated position of the gear from the data from the second sensor;
comparing the first indicated position to the second indicated position;
determining based on the comparison a gear engagement status of the gear;
determining a first shift rail and a second shift rail are in or are transitioning to one of multiple positions using the sensor data.

15. The transmission control assembly of claim 14 , wherein the first sensor and the second sensor are Hall Effect sensors that generate an output when passing through a magnetic field and wherein the output is indicative of field strength and varies according to proximity of the sensors to magnets attached to the transmission.

16. The transmission control assembly of claim 15 , wherein each of said magnets is attached to a steel plate, and wherein said magnets include two magnets attached to the transmission with opposite orientations of their respective poles.

17. The transmission control assembly of claim 14 , wherein the gear is a first gear of a plurality of gears in the transmission, and wherein a moveable member moves a gear engagement element to selectively engage the first gear at a first end of a travel path or to engage a second gear of the plurality of gears at a second end of the travel path.

18. The transmission control assembly of claim 17 , wherein the transmission is a double-clutch transmission and the gear is a first gear of a plurality of gears, wherein the first gear is disengaged via the shift rail at substantially the same time as a second gear of the plurality of gears is engaged.

19. The transmission control assembly of claim 18 , wherein the shift rail is a first rail of a plurality of shift rails in the double-clutch transmission, and wherein a second shift rail of the plurality of shift rails selectively engages a third or a fourth gear, and wherein the first shift rail moves to disengage the first ge

Assignees

• Eaton Corp

Inventors

• Katrak Kerfegar Khurshed
• Kodela Naresh Kumar
• Zuppann Richard Earl
• Pollack Christopher
• Manyala John
• Fritz Todd William
• Anderson Ken R
• Mckenzie Ian Daniel

Classifications

• F16H59/70 Primary

  dependent on the ratio established · CPC title

• G01B7/30

  for measuring angles or tapers; for testing the alignment of axes · CPC title

• F16H61/68 Primary

  specially adapted for stepped gearings · CPC title

• Y10T74/19251

  Control mechanism · CPC title