This application is a U.S. National Phase application under 35 U.S.C. ยง371 of International Application No. PCT/DE2011/000016, filed on Jan. 7, 2011, and claims benefit to German Patent Application No. DE 10 2010 004 228.5, filed on Jan. 9, 2010. The International Application was published in German on Jul. 14, 2011 as WO 2011/082707 under PCT Article 21(2).
The present invention relates to a device for driving a vehicle.
A drive axle of a vehicle comprising an electric motor, a differential gear unit and a planetary gear unit is described in DE102004026039A1. The electric motor can be brought into a drive connection with the differential gear unit by means of a coupling apparatus which is operatively connected to the planetary gear unit. The planetary gear unit comprises an input-side sun gear which is connected to a drive shaft of the electric motor, a ring gear, and planetary gears which are disposed radially between the sun gear and the ring gear, mounted on a planet carrier and engaged with the sun gear and an inner tooth system of the ring gear, the planet carrier being coupled to the differential gear unit and it being possible, by means of the coupling apparatus, to fix or release the ring gear relative to a component which is fixed to the housing. When the ring gear is stationary in relation to the component which is fixed to the housing, the differential gear unit and thus the vehicle are driven, the rotational speed of the electric motor being reduced by the reduction gear unit. If the ring gear is released, the rotating drive shaft of the electric motor sets the ring gear in rotation and the differential gear unit and thus the vehicle are not driven. Thus, only one gear ratio is available for driving the vehicle. It is also disadvantageous that this device requires a lot of space owing to the arrangement of the electric motor, the planetary gear unit and the differential gear unit in series in the axial direction, and thus is not very compact.
In an embodiment, the present invention provides a device for driving a vehicle. The device includes a housing, an electric motor, a differential gear unit, and a planetary gear unit. The planetary gear unit includes a sun gear connected to the electric motor, a ring gear coupleable via a first clutch to the housing, a plurality of planetary gears disposed between the ring gear and the sun gear and mounted on a planet carrier coupled to the differential gear unit, the planet carrier coupleable to the ring gear by a second clutch, the second clutch being disposed in a plane with the first clutch parallel to the electric motor.
The present invention will be described in even greater detail below based on the exemplary figures. The invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiments. Other features and advantages of various embodiments of the present invention will become apparent by reading the following detailed description with reference to the attached drawings which illustrate the following:
In an embodiment, the present invention provides for optimising the gear ratios and dimensions of this device for driving a vehicle.
According to an embodiment of the invention, this device comprises a housing, an electric motor, a differential gear unit and a planetary gear unit, wherein the sun gear of the planetary gear unit is connected to the electric motor, wherein the ring gear may or may not be connected via a first clutch to the housing, wherein planetary gears are disposed between the ring gear and the sun gear, wherein the planetary gears are mounted on a planet carrier, wherein the planet carrier is coupled to the differential gear unit, and wherein the planet carrier may or may not be connected by a second clutch to the ring gear. According to the invention, an additional gear ratio for driving a vehicle is advantageously provided by means of the second clutch. According to the invention, this second clutch is preferably disposed in a compact manner in a plane with the first clutch, parallel to the electric motor. Another advantage according to the invention is that it is possible to switch between the two gear ratios almost without interrupting the tensile force, by opening one clutch and closing the other. In an advantageous configuration of the present invention, the differential gear unit is disposed coaxially with the electric motor in such a way that the electric motor spatially encompasses the differential gear unit. In other words, in this configuration the differential gear unit is disposed inside the electric motor.
Devices for driving vehicles may be assigned to one axle or to a plurality of axles of the vehicle. In particular, electric motors for driving the vehicle may be assigned to one axle. For example, an internal combustion engine for driving the vehicle may be assigned to the remaining axle, such that the vehicle can be driven mutually independently by one axle or by the two axles together. According to
While the invention has been described with reference to particular embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those having ordinary skill the art that various changes may be made therein without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Further, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described herein; reference should be had to the appended claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
10 2010 004 228 | Jan 2010 | DE | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
---|---|---|---|---|
PCT/DE2011/000016 | 1/7/2011 | WO | 00 | 6/27/2012 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
WO2011/082707 | 7/14/2011 | WO | A |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
4418777 | Stockton | Dec 1983 | A |
4702125 | Kalns | Oct 1987 | A |
4799158 | Patil | Jan 1989 | A |
5620387 | Janiszewski | Apr 1997 | A |
5751081 | Morikawa | May 1998 | A |
7247117 | Forster | Jul 2007 | B2 |
8475311 | Ren et al. | Jul 2013 | B2 |
20050124451 | Morikawa | Jun 2005 | A1 |
20060223670 | Nishikawa et al. | Oct 2006 | A1 |
20070023211 | Keller et al. | Feb 2007 | A1 |
20080167153 | Bachmann | Jul 2008 | A1 |
20090211824 | Knoblauch et al. | Aug 2009 | A1 |
20140129067 | Furukawa et al. | May 2014 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
4300445 | Jul 1994 | DE |
10211193 | Sep 2003 | DE |
102004026039 | Dec 2005 | DE |
0760549 | Mar 1997 | EP |
1448507 | Sep 1976 | GB |
2000035092 | Feb 2000 | JP |
2007110204 | Oct 2007 | WO |
2008034520 | Mar 2008 | WO |
Entry |
---|
European Patent Office, International Search Report in International Patent Application No. PCT/DE2011/000016 (May 16, 2011). |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20120295750 A1 | Nov 2012 | US |