Self-contained electric axle for all-wheel drive

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9656541-B2
Application number	US-201514848796-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 9, 2015
Priority date	Sep 10, 2014
Publication date	May 23, 2017
Grant date	May 23, 2017

Abstract

A driveline ( 12 ) of a motor vehicle having an internal combustion engine ( 10 ) for propelling the vehicle and method of assembly can include a self-contained drive axle assembly ( 35 ). The self-contained drive axle assembly ( 35 ) can include an electric motor ( 18 ) for propelling the motor vehicle mounted coaxial with and sheathing a first portion of the drive axle assembly ( 35 ) and a disconnect clutch ( 20 ) mounted coaxial with and sheathing a second portion of the drive axle assembly ( 35 ) for selectively connecting powered rotation between the electric motor ( 18 ) and a gear box ( 14 ). The drive axle assembly ( 35 ) can include the gear box ( 14 ) having at least one of a transmission ( 15 ) and a power take off unit ( 40 ) mounted coaxial with and sheathing a third portion of the drive axle assembly ( 35 ) for transferring powered rotation to a pair of wheels ( 16 a, 16 b ) through the drive axle assembly ( 35 ).

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. In a motor vehicle having an internal combustion engine ( 10 ) for propelling the motor vehicle while dissipating waste energy during operation and a driveline ( 12 ) for transferring torque between at least one pair of wheels ( 16 a , 16 b ), the improvement of the driveline ( 12 ) comprising:
a self-contained drive axle assembly ( 35 ) extending between a first pair of wheels ( 16 a , 16 b ) including:
an electric motor ( 18 ) for propelling the motor vehicle mounted coaxial with and sheathing a first portion of the drive axle assembly ( 35 );
a disconnect clutch ( 20 ) mounted coaxial with and sheathing a second portion of the drive axle assembly ( 35 ) and connected to the electric motor ( 18 ) for selectively connecting powered rotation of the electric motor ( 18 ) for transferring torque to the first pair of wheels ( 16 a , 16 b ); and
a gear box ( 14 ) connected to the disconnect clutch ( 20 ) and including at least one of: a transmission ( 15 ) and a power take off unit ( 40 ), the gear box mounted coaxial with and sheathing a third portion of the drive axle assembly ( 35 ) for selectively transferring powered rotation from the internal combustion engine ( 10 ), the electric motor ( 18 ), and a combination of the internal combustion engine ( 10 ) and the electric motor ( 18 ) to the first pair of wheels ( 16 a , 16 b ) through the drive axle assembly ( 35 ).

2. The improvement of claim 1 further comprising:
a power supply system ( 22 ) for recovering waste energy discharged by the internal combustion engine ( 10 ), converting the waste energy to electrical energy for rotating the electric motor ( 18 ), and storing the electrical energy.

3. The improvement of claim 2 further comprising:
the power supply system ( 22 ) having a thermoelectric generator ( 29 ) recovering waste exhaust heat energy from an exhaust line ( 30 ) of the internal combustion engine ( 10 ) and converting the waste exhaust heat energy to electrical energy.

4. The improvement of claim 2 further comprising:
a control system ( 24 ) having at least one vehicle sensor ( 26 a , 26 b ) for detecting operating characteristics of the motor vehicle and an electronic control unit ( 28 ) controlling actuation of the electric motor ( 18 ), actuation of the disconnect clutch ( 20 ), and operation of the power supply system ( 22 ) based on a control program stored in memory in response to the vehicle sensors ( 26 a , 26 b ).

5. The improvement of claim 4 , wherein the at least one vehicle sensor ( 26 a , 26 b ) further comprises:
a vehicle sensor ( 26 a ) for detecting a rotary speed of the electric motor ( 18 ); and
wherein the electronic control unit ( 28 ) disengages the disconnect clutch ( 20 ) when the rotary speed detected by the first vehicle sensor ( 26 a ) exceeds a threshold speed, the electric motor ( 18 ) and the gear box ( 14 ) rotatable independently with respect to one another when the disconnect clutch ( 20 ) is disengaged.

6. The improvement of claim 2 , wherein the power supply system ( 22 ) further comprises:
a power store ( 32 ) having at least one of a battery pack ( 32 a ) and a capacitor ( 32 b ).

7. The improvement of claim 6 further comprising:
a switch ( 42 ) connecting the electric motor ( 18 ) and the at least one of a battery pack ( 32 a ) and a capacitor ( 32 b );
a vehicle sensor ( 26 b ) in electronic communication with the switch ( 42 ); and
a control system ( 24 ) having at least one vehicle sensor ( 26 a , 26 b ) for detecting operating characteristics of the motor vehicle and an electronic control unit ( 28 ) controlling actuation of the electric motor ( 18 ), actuation of the disconnect clutch ( 20 ), and operation of the power supply system ( 22 ) based on a control program stored in memory in response to the vehicle sensors ( 26 a , 26 b ), wherein the electronic control unit ( 28 ) switches the switch ( 42 ) between a charging position, a discharging position, and an isolation position in response to the vehicle sensor ( 26 b ), the charging position defined by the power supply system ( 22 ) recovering energy from the electric motor ( 18 ), the discharging position defined by the power supply system ( 22 ) delivering electrical power to the electric motor ( 18 ), and the isolation position defined by the power supply system isolated with respect to the electric motor ( 18 ).

8. The improvement of claim 1 , wherein the motor vehicle is operable in one of an electric mode, a hybrid mode, and an internal combustion engine mode, the electric mode defined by the electric motor ( 18 ) solely propelling the motor vehicle, the hybrid mode defined by a combination of the electric motor ( 18 ) and internal combustion engine propelling the motor vehicle, the internal combustion engine mode defined by the internal combustion engine ( 10 ) solely propelling the motor vehicle.

9. The improvement of claim 1 , wherein the motor vehicle further comprises:
a first driveline ( 12 ) driving a first pair of wheels ( 16 a , 16 b ) and having a first axle assembly ( 34 ) connecting the first pair of wheels ( 16 a , 16 b );
a second driveline ( 36 ) driving a second pair of wheels ( 38 a , 38 b ) and having a second axle assembly ( 44 ) connecting the second pair of wheels ( 38 a , 38 b ); and
wherein the gear box ( 14 ) includes the power take-off unit ( 40 ) for transferring rotary power from the first driveline ( 12 ) to the second driveline ( 36 ) when the motor vehicle is in an all-wheel drive mode.

10. An all-wheel drive motor vehicle having an internal combustion engine ( 10 ) for propelling the motor vehicle while dissipating waste energy during operation, the all-wheel drive motor vehicle comprising:
a first driveline ( 12 ) for transferring torque between a first pair of wheels ( 16 a , 16 b ), the first driveline ( 12 ) including a self-contained drive axle assembly ( 35 ) including an electric motor ( 18 ) for propelling the motor vehicle mounted coaxial with and sheathing a first portion of the drive axle assembly ( 35 ), a disconnect clutch ( 20 ) mounted coaxial with and sheathing a second portion of the drive axle assembly ( 35 ) for selectively connecting powered rotation of the electric motor ( 18 ), and a gear box ( 14 ) connected to the disconnect clutch ( 20 ), the gear box including a transmission ( 15 ) and a power take off unit ( 40 ), the gear box mounted coaxial with and sheathing a third portion of the drive axle assembly ( 35 ), the transmission for selectively transferring powered rotation from the internal combustion engine ( 10 ), the electric motor ( 18 ), and a combination of the internal combustion engine ( 10 ) and the electric motor ( 18 ) through the drive axle assembly ( 35 ), the power take off unit ( 40 ) for transferring powered rotation from the drive axle assembly ( 35 );
a second driveline ( 36 ) for transferring torque between a second pair of wheels ( 38 a , 38 b ), the power take off unit ( 40 ) transferring rotary power from the first driveline ( 12 ) to the second driveline ( 36 );
a power supply system ( 22 ) for recovering waste energy dissipated by the motor vehicle during normal operation, converting the waste energy to electrical energy for rotating the electric motor ( 18 ), and storing the electrical energy; and
a control system ( 24 ) having at least a first and second vehicle sensor ( 26 a , 26 b ) and an electronic control unit ( 28 ), the first vehicle sensor ( 26 a ) for detecting a rotary speed of the electric motor ( 18 ) and the electronic control unit ( 28 ) for selectively controlling the disconnect clutch ( 20 ) when the rotary speed de

Assignees

• Borgwarner Inc

Inventors

• True Ryan M
• Kowalsky Christopher J

Classifications

• Y02T10/62

  Hybrid vehicles · CPC title

• Y10S903/946

  Characterized by control of driveline clutch · CPC title

• B60Y2400/303

  Speed sensors · CPC title

• B60K17/34

  for driving both front and rear wheels, e.g. four wheel drive vehicles · CPC title

• Y02T10/6234

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic