Patent Application
20130145898
This application claims priority to and the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2011-0132231 filed in the Korean Intellectual Property Office on Dec. 9, 2011, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a power delivery device for a vehicle. More particularly, the present invention relates to a power delivery device for a vehicle that improves power delivery efficiency.
(b) Description of the Related Art
Electric vehicles are defined as any vehicle that is driven by at least one electric motor as a power source. One type of electric vehicle is a hybrid vehicle. Some hybrid vehicles are powered by both a gas combustion engine and an electric motor to provide a more fuel efficient alternative to a purely internal combustion and a purely electric powered vehicle.
As described above, the hybrid vehicle includes a motor and an engine. Hybrid vehicles which have a starting motor include a power train in which a starting motor, a drive motor, and an engine are connected to at least one planetary gear set and a plurality of friction members. Also, a plurality of shifting modes are realized depending on the structural connections of the planetary gear set and the friction members. More specifically, the starting motor is configured to rotate a crankshaft and start the engine, and the drive motor is configured to generate a torque and rotate a drive wheel of a vehicle. The starting motor and the drive motor receive electrical power from a battery to be operated and a drive shaft is rotated by the operation of the drive motor and the engine.
However, in the typical configuration, a starting motor is connected to an engine through a belt in a power delivery device which often leads to deteriorated power delivery efficiency. Also, the capacity of the starting motor is increased thus increasing the fuel consumption efficiency. Finally, the speed of the hybrid vehicle is often limited to a low speed when a hybrid vehicle is in the electric motor driving mode.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.
The present invention has been made in an effort to provide a power delivery device for a vehicle having advantages of being able to improve power delivery efficiency. More specifically, a power delivery device of a vehicle that includes an engine, a motor, and a gearbox shifting gears according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention may include a first motor having a first drive shaft connected to an output shaft of the engine, a second motor having a second drive shaft connected to an input shaft of the gearbox, and a clutch configured to selectively connect the output shaft of the engine with the input shaft of the gearbox. In particular, the clutch may be disposed within a drive-train between the first motor and the second motor.
The power delivery device of a vehicle may further include a damping device that is configured to absorb rotational impact that is formed when torque is transferred from the engine to the gearbox. The damping device may be disposed in an output shaft direction of the first motor, and the clutch may be disposed within the drive train between the damping device and the second motor. The drive shaft of the first motor may cover an external circumference of the damping device to be engaged thereto. Furthermore, the damping device may be disposed in an interior area of a space forming the first motor.
As described above, a starting motor in the illustrative embodiment of the present invention is directly connected to an output shaft of an engine to improve the startability of the engine and the charging characteristics of the battery in an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Further, the first motor that is connected to the output shaft of an engine and the second motor that is connected to the input shaft of a gearbox are simultaneously operated in an electric motor drive mode to improve power delivery efficiency thereof.
An exemplary embodiment of the present invention will hereinafter be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
It is understood that the term “vehicle” or “vehicular” or other similar term as used herein is inclusive of motor vehicles in general such as passenger automobiles including sports utility vehicles (SUV), buses, trucks, various commercial vehicles, watercraft including a variety of boats and ships, aircraft, and the like, and includes hybrid vehicles, electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, hydrogen-powered vehicles and other alternative fuel vehicles (e.g. fuels derived from resources other than petroleum). As referred to herein, a hybrid vehicle is a vehicle that has two or more sources of power, for example both gasoline-powered and electric-powered vehicles.
The first motor 20 and the engine 10 in the illustrative embodiment of the present invention may be coaxially disposed with each other. Also, a rotor of the first motor 20 may be fixedly or directly connected to the output shaft of the engine 10.
Here, the rotor is a part that is connected to the drive shaft of the motors 20 and 30 and is rotated by the motors 20 and 30 accordingly. Further, the rotor can be widely varied into various shapes so that the power delivery is effectively executed. Meanwhile, the rotor of the first motor 20 is directly connected to the output shaft of the engine 10 to improve the starting and operating efficiency of the engine 10. Also, when the first motor 20 operates as a generator by the engine 10, the generating efficiency is improved. The second motor 30 and the gearbox 40 may also be coaxially disposed with each other. Also, the rotor of the second motor 30 may be fixedly connected to the input shaft of the gearbox 40.
The clutch 50 is preferably disposed on the power delivery line between the first motor 20 and the second motor 30. The clutch 50 may include an inner ring and an outer ring. Further, the inner ring and the outer ring may be selectively engaged so that a constituent element that is connected to the inner ring and a constituent element that is connected to the outer ring executed effectively the power delivery.
Either the inner ring or the outer ring of the clutch may be directly connected to the rotor of the first motor 20. Also, the other one of the inner ring or the outer ring of the clutch 50 may be directly connected to the rotor of the second motor 30. That is, the clutch 50 selectively connects the first motor 20 with the second motor 30. In detail, the first motor 20 and the second motor 30 can be independently or simultaneously operated. Here, the first motor 20 can be operated to start the engine or can be operated as a drive motor to move the vehicle.
The damping device 60 is preferably disposed on a power delivery line between the first motor 20 and the clutch 50. Also, the damping device 60 may be connected to the rotor of the first motor 20. The differential apparatus 70 may be connected to the output shaft of the gearbox 40. Also, at least one planetary gear set (not shown) and a plurality of friction element (not shown) may be disposed in the gearbox 40.
As described above, the first motor 20 is directly connected to the engine 10 and the two motors 20 and 30 are simultaneously operated in the electric motor operation mode, and therefore the operating efficiency and the fuel efficiency can be improved according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
While this invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be practical exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-2011-0132231 | Dec 2011 | KR | national |
