Patent Application
20190063951
The present disclosure relates to a gear absolute position sensor (GAPS) for manual transmissions and more particularly to a gear absolute position sensor for manual transmissions using dual magnets with opposite polarity.
There is a trend of automatic motor vehicle transmissions for passenger cars, sport utility vehicles, pickup trucks and other consumer vehicles to transition from substantially full hydraulic operation to operation under the control of an electronic transmission control module (TCM) and hydraulic actuators. This trend has been influenced by both the desire and necessity of providing electronic linear position sensors to provide real time data to the transmission control module regarding the current positions of the actuators, the associated shift linkages and the clutches, brakes and gears acted upon. Such data is utilized by a transmission control module to confirm, for example, the commencement and completion of a shift and thus the overall state of the transmission. Such data is also useful for self-diagnosis of impending or actual component failure.
Application of this approach to manual transmission engines has challenges, however. Since shift timing and gear selection are left to the vehicle operator, the incorporation of various sensors in a manual transmission has been viewed as unnecessary and/or as an invasion of the operator's freedom. Furthermore, current GAPS based on magnet technology offers poor resolution if rotational separation between gears is small for a smaller sized transmission package.
In view of the foregoing, what is needed is a GAPS utilizing a magnetic field profile from opposite polarity dual magnets, thus allowing large separation of signals representing gear positions at the end of forward and reverse movement of a transmission shaft. Signal(s) obtained using this approach may be more than double as compared with the signal(s) from the current GAPS based on magnet technology. As a result, smaller angular separation of gear positions can be better resolved.
One approach according to embodiments of the disclosure may include a gear position sensor system having a transmission shaft of a transmission, and a pair of magnets coupled to the transmission shaft. A first magnet of the pair of magnets has a first magnetization direction, and a second magnet of the pair of magnets has a second magnetization direction, and wherein the first magnetization direction is different than the second magnetization direction. The gear position sensor system further includes at least one magnetic sensor proximate to the pair of magnets, the magnetic sensor capable of sensing three-dimensional motion of the pair of magnets and providing an output indicating rotation and translation of the transmission shaft.
Another approach according to embodiments of the disclosure may include a magnetic sensor assembly for determining movement of a transmission shaft, the assembly having a pair of cuboid-shaped magnets coupled to a transmission shaft, wherein a first magnet of the pair of magnets has a first magnetization direction, and a second magnet of the pair of magnets has a second magnetization direction, and wherein the first magnetization direction is opposite to the second magnetization direction. The magnetic sensor assembly may further include at least one magnetic sensor proximate to the pair of magnets, the magnetic sensor capable of sensing three-dimensional motion of the pair of magnets and providing an output indicating rotation and translation of the transmission shaft.
Yet another approach according to embodiments of the disclosure may include a method for determining movement of a transmission shaft, the method including providing a pair of cuboid-shaped magnets coupled to a transmission shaft, wherein a first magnet of the pair of magnets has a first magnetization direction, and a second magnet of the pair of magnets has a second magnetization direction, and wherein the first magnetization direction is opposite to the second magnetization direction. The method may further include providing at least one magnetic sensor proximate the pair of magnets, wherein the magnetic sensor senses three-dimensional motion of the pair of magnets and provides an output indicating rotation and translation of the transmission shaft.
The accompanying drawings illustrate exemplary approaches of the disclosed a GAPS so far devised for the practical application of the principles thereof, and in which:
The drawings are not necessarily to scale. The drawings are merely representations, not intended to portray specific parameters of the disclosure. Furthermore, the drawings are intended to depict exemplary embodiments of the disclosure, and therefore is not considered as limiting in scope.
Furthermore, certain elements in some of the figures may be omitted, or illustrated not-to-scale, for illustrative clarity. The cross-sectional views may be in the form of “slices”, or “near-sighted” cross-sectional views, omitting certain background lines otherwise visible in a “true” cross-sectional view, for illustrative clarity. Furthermore, for clarity, some reference numbers may be omitted in certain drawings.
The present disclosure will now proceed with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which various approaches are shown. It will be appreciated, however, that the unipolar sensor may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the approaches set forth herein. Rather, these approaches are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the disclosure to those skilled in the art. In the drawings, like numbers refer to like elements throughout.
As used herein, an element or operation recited in the singular and proceeded with the word “a” or “an” should be understood as not excluding plural elements or operations, unless such exclusion is explicitly recited. Furthermore, references to “one approach” or “one embodiment” of the present disclosure are not intended to be interpreted as excluding the existence of additional approaches and embodiments that also incorporate the recited features.
Furthermore, spatially relative terms, such as “beneath,” “below,” “lower,” “central,” “above,” “upper,” “proximal,” “distal,” and the like, may be used herein for ease of describing one element's relationship to another element(s) as illustrated in the figures. It will be understood that the spatially relative terms may encompass different orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures.
As described above, embodiments herein provide a gear absolute position sensor (GAPS) assembly. In some embodiments, the assembly includes a transmission shaft of a transmission, and a pair of magnets coupled to the transmission shaft. A first magnet of the pair of magnets may have a first magnetization direction, and a second magnet of the pair of magnets may have a second magnetization direction different (e.g., opposite) than the first magnetization direction. The assembly may further include at least one magnetic sensor disposed adjacent the pair of magnets, the magnetic sensor capable of sensing three-dimensional motion of the pair of magnets and providing an output indicating movement, such as translation and rotation, of the transmission shaft. In some embodiments, each of the magnets is cuboid-shaped.
As a result, embodiments of the disclosure provide a sensor arrangement for manual transmission using dual magnets with opposite polarity. Current GAPS based on magnet technology offers poor resolution if rotational separation between gears is small as a result of the small size of the transmission package. In response, embodiments herein utilize a unique magnetic field profile from opposite polarity of dual magnets, thus allowing large separation of signals representing gear positions at the end of forward and reverse movement of the transmission shaft. In some embodiments, each of the magnets has a rectangular shape with opposite polarity depending on a required displacement between the forward and reverse translation. The pair of magnets and the transmission shaft may be coupled together such that together they translate and rotate along an axial direction of the transmission shaft when gear position changes. The sensor senses the variation of the magnetic flux densities as the transmission shaft moves.
Various parameters may characterize the performance of the sensor. These parameters include sensitivity, which is a change in an output signal of a magnetic field sensing element in response to a change of magnetic field experienced by the magnetic sensing element, and linearity, which is a degree to which the output signal of the magnetic field sensing element varies in direct proportion to the magnetic field. These parameters may also include an offset, which is characterized by an output signal from the magnetic field sensing element not representative of a zero magnetic field when the magnetic field sensing element experiences a zero magnetic field.
According to embodiments of the present disclosure, signals at forward translation and reverse translation are well separated to avoid overlapping, and a neutral position is at the center between the positive and negative rotations, which also helps avoid overlapping between gear positions. The neutral position also can be positioned slightly off from the center between the positive and negative rotations. A signal obtained from the design is advantageously more than 2× than current GAPS approaches. Thus, a technical advantage of the present disclosure is that smaller angular separation of gear positions can be better resolved.
Embodiments herein may provide a GAPS assembly that senses the absolute, current shift lever position or chosen/engaged gear of a manual transmission. The sensors may provide data to an associated electronic controller such as a sensor detector module. The sensor may comprises a 3-D Hall effect or other type of magnetic field (proximity) sensors in combination with an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) which is supplied with data from the sensor, decodes the output of the sensors, and provides an output identifying a specific engaged gear or neutral for use by vehicle or engine management processors. The sensor is mounted proximate or directly to the transmission shaft at a location where the sensors can sense both rotation and translation.
The sensor may be utilized with four, five, six or more speed and gear ratio manual transmissions. Use of the sensor enables engine and transmission speed matching, which reduces clutch wear and provides improved shift quality. The sensor also enables engine start-stop capability as well as remote start for a manual transmission by, inter alia, detecting when the transmission is in neutral. The sensor and the application specific integrated circuit also provide full diagnostic capability.
Referring now to
Although not intended to as limiting, the manual transmission may be conventional, including a housing as well as shafts, gears and synchronizer clutches (all not illustrated), which cooperatively provide, for example, four, five, six or more forward speeds or gear ratios and reverse. The transmission may include an output shaft (e.g., the transmission shaft 102), which is coupled to a final drive assembly, and which may include, for example, a prop shaft, a differential assembly and a pair of drive axles.
As further shown, the system includes at least one magnetic sensor (hereinafter “sensor”) 108 disposed adjacent the pair of magnets 104A-B. The sensor(s) 108 may be capable of sensing three-dimensional (3-D) motion of the pair of magnets 104A-B and providing an output 110 indicating, for example, rotation and/or translation of the transmission shaft 102. For example, magnets 104A-B include selected characteristics such that the two or more magnetic field signals have different respective magnetic field signal values when the gear shift lever selects different ones of the plurality of gears. In some embodiments, the sensor 108 may be a 3-D sensor for sensing a density variation in a magnetic flux 105 from the pair of magnets as the transmission shaft moves in response to gear position changes. It will be appreciated that the pair of magnets 104A-B and the sensor 108 may be mounted within a transmission housing (not shown), through the transmission housing, or at any convenient location where the magnets 104A-B may be attached to the transmission shaft 102 and the sensor 108 mounted proximately thereto.
In some embodiments, the output is received by a sensor detector module 112, which may include an integrated circuit (IC) 114. For example, the output 110 may include a first output indicating the transmission shaft 102 is in a first axially displaced position, and second output indicating the transmission shaft 102 is in a second axially displaced position. More specifically, the sensor detector module 112 may receive the output 110, and the IC 114 may provide a signal indicating an end of a forward movement or an end of a reverse movement of the transmission shaft 102. The sensor detector module 112 may then determine a gear position based on the signal from the IC 114 indicating the end of forward/reverse movement of the transmission shaft 102. In some embodiments, the sensor detector module 112 delivers a control signal 118, which may be an indication of gear position, to an associated electronic controller such as an engine control module (ECM).
In various embodiments, the sensor(s) 108 may include one or more 3-D Hall effect sensors. As an alternative to Hall effect sensors, anisotropic magneto resistance (AMR), giant magneto resistance (GMR), permanent magnet linear contactless displacement (PLOD), linear variable displacement transformer (LVDT), magneto elastic (ME) or magneto inductive (MI) sensors may be utilized. In some embodiments, the sensor 108 may be part of a sensor assembly including any number of application or component specific sensors, such as an electronic sensor (tachometer), which provides a signal representing the current speed of the output shaft, or a transmission input speed sensor (TISS), which senses the instantaneous speed of the input shaft of the manual transmission. The sensor assembly may also include a transmission output speed sensor (TOSS), which senses the instantaneous speed of the output shaft of the manual transmission, and/or a gear absolute shift position sensor assembly, which may include the IC 114, the data output (e.g., the control signal 118) of which indicates the current position of a shift lever. In yet other embodiments, the sensor assembly may include a brake pedal position sensor, which senses the position of a brake pedal (also not illustrated).
In other embodiments, the sensor detector module 112 may be or include a processing unit, which refers, generally, to any apparatus for performing logic operations, computational tasks, control functions, etc. A processor may include one or more subsystems, components, and/or other processors. A processor may include various logic components operable using a clock signal to latch data, advance logic states, synchronize computations and logic operations, and/or provide other timing functions. During operation, the sensor detector module 112 may receive signals transmitted over a LAN and/or a WAN (e.g., T1, T3, 56 kb, X.25), broadband connections (ISDN, Frame Relay, ATM), wireless links (802.11, Bluetooth, etc.), and so on.
Referring now to
The pair of magnets 104A-B may be directly coupled to the transmission shaft 102 by respective linkages 124A-B, which may include any component capable of fixing the pair of magnets 104A-B to an exterior surface 128 of the transmission shaft 102 so that the magnets 104A-B and the transmission shaft 102 move (e.g., rotate or translate) together when gear position changes. In other embodiments, no linking component is present and, instead, each magnet 104A-B is directly coupled to the transmission shaft 102. As shown, the pair of magnets 104A-B extend only partially along a circumference of the exterior surface 128 of the transmission shaft 102.
As best shown in
Turning now to
Turning now to
At block 203, the method 200 may include providing at least one magnetic sensor proximate the pair of magnets, wherein the magnetic sensor senses 3-D motion of the pair of magnets and provides an output indicating rotation and translation of the transmission shaft. At block 205, the method 200 may include sensing a density variation of a magnetic flux from the pair of magnets as the transmission shaft moves. In some embodiments, the magnetic flux density changes as the transmission shaft rotates and/or translates. At block 207, the method may include providing, based on the density variation of the magnetic flux, a control signal indicating an end of a forward movement or an end of a reverse movement of the transmission shaft. At block 209, the method 200 may include determining a gear position based on the control signal.
It should be appreciated that embodiments of the disclosure described herein provide and enable several benefits and advantages. For example, the system 100 and method 200 support engine start-stop applications inasmuch as they require neutral position detection. The system 100 and method 200 improves shift quality and reduces driveline clunk by facilitating the pre-synchronization of the driveline. Additionally, matching of the speed of the engine output and transmission input, which requires absolute gear position and the anticipated gear, is possible. Torque management, which may reduce transmission mass and complexity is also possible. Remote, i.e., unattended, starting is also facilitated since it, too, requires neutral position detection. Furthermore, the system 100 and method 200 may be utilized to reduce or substantially eliminate abuse of the transmission as it may be utilized to sense and prevent a potentially abusive operational event. Finally, the system 100 and method 200 provide full diagnostic capability, for example, short to power, short to ground and open circuit.
While the present disclosure has been described with reference to certain approaches, numerous modifications, alterations and changes to the described approaches are possible without departing from the sphere and scope of the present disclosure, as defined in the appended claims. Accordingly, it is intended that the present disclosure not be limited to the described approaches, but that it has the full scope defined by the language of the following claims, and equivalents thereof. While the disclosure has been described with reference to certain approaches, numerous modifications, alterations and changes to the described approaches are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure, as defined in the appended claims. Accordingly, it is intended that the present disclosure not be limited to the described approaches, but that it has the full scope defined by the language of the following claims, and equivalents thereof.
