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EP-4739931-A1 - VEHICLE TRANSMISSION AND A METHOD FOR CONTROLLING TRANSMISSION ACTUATORS IN A VEHICLE TRANSMISSION

EP4739931A1EP 4739931 A1EP4739931 A1EP 4739931A1EP-4739931-A1

Abstract

A vehicle transmission for commercial vehicles comprises at least one transmission actuator (110) with a shift rod (112) which can be operated by a first actuator (114), and an actuator unit (120) with a second actuator (124). The vehicle transmission further comprises a manual transmission (200) which is designed to engage different gears in a drivetrain of the commercial vehicles by means of the shift rod (112); and a control unit (300) which is designed to control the first actuator (114) and the second actuator (124).

Inventors

  • Trencséni, Balázs
  • KÖVES, Hugó
  • Schaller, Sebastian

Assignees

  • KNORR-BREMSE Systeme für Nutzfahrzeuge GmbH

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20240613

Claims (14)

  1. 1. Vehicle transmission for commercial vehicles, characterized by: at least one transmission controller (110) comprising a shift rod (112) which can be operated by a first actuator (114); an actuator unit (120) with a second actuator (124); a manual transmission (200) which is designed to switch different gears in a drive train of the commercial vehicle by means of the shift rod (112); and a control unit (300) which is designed to control the first actuator (114) and the second actuator (124).
  2. 2. Vehicle transmission according to claim 1, characterized in that the actuator unit (120) is one of the following or comprises at least one of the following components: - a second transmission actuator with a second shift rod (122), - a power transmission unit designed to direct a power flow away from the gearbox (200), - a valve, - a differential lock, - a pump, - a reduction gear, - a hydraulic auxiliary unit.
  3. 3. A vehicle transmission according to claim 1 or claim 2, further comprising one or more actuator applications (410, 420, 430) coupled to the manual transmission (200), characterized in that the control unit (300) is further configured to selectively control the one or more actuator applications (410, 420,430).
  4. 4. Vehicle transmission according to claim 3, characterized in that the one or more actuator applications (410, 420, 430) comprise at least one of the following units: a pump, a lubricant pump, a differential lock, a reduction gear, a hydraulic auxiliary unit, a hydraulic pump.
  5. 5. Vehicle transmission according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the control unit (300) is an integrated control unit of the transmission actuator (110) or is directly attached to the transmission actuator (110).
  6. 6. Vehicle transmission according to claim 5, characterized in that the actuator unit (120) can only be controlled by the control unit (300).
  7. 7. Vehicle transmission according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the transmission actuator (110) is a high-power actuator with a power consumption above a predetermined power and the actuator unit (120) is a low-power actuator with a power consumption of less than the predetermined power, wherein the predetermined power consumption is 200 W or 500 W or 1000 W.
  8. 8. Vehicle transmission according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the transmission actuator (110) and/or the actuator unit (120) each have a sensor unit (116, 126), wherein the respective sensor unit (116, 126) is designed to measure at least one of the following variables: a rotation angle of the shift rod (112), a rotation angle of the second shift rod (122), an axial position of the shift rod (112), an axial position of the second shift rod (122), a state of the first actuator (114) and/or a state of the second actuator (124), wherein the control unit (300) is designed to detect sensor signals of the respective sensor unit (116, 126) and, based thereon, to control the transmission actuator (110) and the actuator unit (120).
  9. 9. Vehicle transmission according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the first actuator (114) and/or the second actuator (124) is one of the following actuators: an electro-mechanical actuator, an electro-pneumatic actuator, hydraulic actuator, linear magnetic actuator.
  10. 10. Commercial vehicle, characterized by a vehicle transmission according to one of the preceding claims.
  11. 11. Commercial vehicle according to claim 10, which is a truck and has a drive axle and an electric motor for driving, characterized in that the gearbox (200) is mounted on the drive axle or between the electric motor and the drive axle.
  12. 12. Method for controlling at least one transmission actuator (110) and an actuator unit (120) in a vehicle transmission, wherein the at least one transmission actuator (110) has a shift rod (112) which can be operated by a first actuator (114), and the actuator unit (120) comprises a second actuator (124), wherein the first shift rod (110) is coupled to a manual transmission (200), characterized by Controlling (S110) the first actuator (114) and the second actuator (124) by only one control unit (300) in order to switch different gears in a drive train of a commercial vehicle by means of the shift rod (112).
  13. 13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that the only one control unit (300) carries out at least one of the following steps: - Deactivation (S120) of an electronics in the transmission actuator (110) or in the actuator unit (120), - detecting (S130) sensor signals from the transmission actuator (110) and/or from the actuator unit (120) in order to control the transmission actuator (110) and/or the actuator unit (120) based on the detected sensor signals, - Controlling (S140) of actuator applications (410, 420, 430) coupled to the manual transmission (200), - Activating (S150) a pump or a gear reduction or a differential lock or a valve or a hydraulic unit or a pneumatic unit or another actuator, - Deactivation (S160) of a pump or a gear reduction or a differential lock or a valve or a hydraulic unit or a pneumatic unit or another actuator.
  14. 14. Computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions which, when the method is carried out by a data processing unit, cause the Data processing unit carries out the method according to claim 12 or claim 13.

Description

DESCRIPTION Vehicle transmission and a method for controlling transmission actuators in a vehicle transmission The present invention relates to a vehicle transmission with a network of transmission actuators, a method for controlling transmission actuators and in particular to a network of transmission actuators. Conventional manual transmissions typically use transmission actuators of the same type, each of which has integrated electronics or an electronic unit attached to it to control the transmission actuators. However, in vehicle construction and in particular in commercial vehicles, manual transmissions with different types of transmission actuators are increasingly being used, which, for example, provide different sizes and different power levels or use different actuators. For example, electro-mechanical, hydraulic or pneumatic transmission actuators can be used in parallel. Since commercial vehicles themselves are increasingly powered electrically, there is also a need for electric motor drives. A compressed air supply is no longer mandatory. This results in a need for manual transmissions that are as small as possible so that they can be installed on a vehicle axle, but at the same time allow for the greatest possible variety of transmission actuators. In particular, there is less and less space available in vehicles and the available space should be used as efficiently as possible. Conventional transmissions or transmission actuators are meeting these requirements less and less, as they can hardly be integrated into a limited installation space. At least some of the above-mentioned problems are solved by a vehicle transmission according to claim 1 and a method for controlling transmission actuators according to claim 12. The dependent claims relate to further advantageous embodiments of the subject matter of the independent claims. The present invention relates to a vehicle transmission for commercial vehicles. The vehicle transmission comprises at least one transmission actuator, an actuator unit, a manual transmission and a control unit. The at least one transmission actuator comprises a transmission actuator with a (first) shift rod that can be operated by a first actuator, and the actuator unit comprises a second actuator. The manual transmission is designed to switch different gears in a drive train of the commercial vehicle by means of the first shift rod. The control unit is designed to control the first actuator and the second actuator. The at least one transmission actuator may be a first transmission actuator and the actuator unit may comprise or be at least one of the following components: - a second gear actuator with a second shift rod, - a power transmission unit designed to direct a power flow away from the manual transmission, - a valve, - a differential lock, - a pump, - a reduction gear, - a hydraulic auxiliary unit. The term actuator unit should therefore be understood very broadly, ie it can be a second transmission actuator for changing gears in the manual transmission, but it does not have to be. It can also be any other unit. The actuator unit therefore does not need to be used for gear shifting (e.g. in the case of a 2-speed transmission), but can move other rods or shifting elements. The second actuator unit can thus implement other axial movements with the second actuator, for example in power transmission units (power take-off), oil valves, differential locks. This means that embodiments can also be used for vehicle transmissions that only have a shift rod or only a transmission actuator for changing gears, but also have other control units or auxiliary units around the transmission. Optionally, embodiments also include the case where the vehicle transmission has a network of transmission actuators. It is understood, however, that the network of transmission actuators does not have to have just two transmission actuators, but that additional transmission actuators can also be present. The control unit can therefore also be designed to control additional actuators or operate auxiliary units. For example, the vehicle transmission can comprise one or more actuator applications that are coupled to the manual transmission, with the control unit then optionally being further designed to selectively control or operate the one or more actuator applications. The one or more actuator applications can comprise an actuator unit. However, they can also be other components (which, for example, do not have actuators). Optionally, the one or more actuator applications comprise at least one of the following units: a pump, a lubricant pump, a differential lock, a reduction gear, a hydraulic auxiliary unit, a hydraulic pump. Optionally, the control unit is an integrated control unit of the transmission actuator. The control unit can also be attached directly to the transmission actuator. However, the control unit can also be arranged away from the transmission actuators and thus control