Abstract:
A 7-speed transmission for a motor vehicle, in particular for a sports car, includes an input or primary shaft, an output or secondary shaft, a first, a second, a third, a fourth, a fifth, a sixth and a seventh forward speed, as well as a reverse speed. In order to obtain a compact constructional design with a small transversal size and allow a sporty drive mode in the upshift from the first to the sixth speed, in which the shift process occur in an overlapping manner and almost without any interruption of the drive force, the eight speeds are combined in pairs into four shift groups, two of the four shift groups are arranged on the input or primary shaft and two on the output or secondary shaft, respectively, and at least between the first speed and the sixth speed adjacent speeds are arranged in different shift groups.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is the U.S. National Stage of International Application No. PCT/IB2011/053632, filed Aug. 17, 2011, which designated the United States and has been published as International Publication No. WO 2012/023109 and which claims the priority of Italian Patent Application, Serial No. MI2010A001556, filed Aug. 17, 2010, pursuant to 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d). 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention relates to a 7-speed transmission for a motor vehicle, and in particular to an automated 7-speed transmission in which the engagement and the disengagement of the speeds are carried out electro-hydraulically. 
     A transmission of this kind is disclosed for example in DE 10 2006 016 059 B4. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     There are often two needs when transmissions of this kind are mounted on sports car: on the one hand the transmission, due to the limited available space, should have a relatively small constructional size. In particular, when the transmission is arranged in a two-seater sports car, in the forward direction, in front of a drive engine inserted in the tail of the sports car within a central tunnel extending forward between the seats of the sports car, the transversal size of the transmission should not be too big. On the other hand, during the upshift from the first to the sixth forward speed for the sporty drive, the disengagement of the already engaged speed and the engagement of the immediately higher speed should occur at the same time or with a certain overlap so that the speed change can be completed in a very fast way. 
     Starting from this, the problem at the base of the invention is to improve a transmission of the above mentioned prior art so that a compact constructional design with small transversal dimensions and a sporty drive mode in the upshift from the first to the sixth speed are made possible, in which the shift process occur in an overlapping manner and almost without any interruption of the drive force. 
     This problem is solved according to the invention so that the eight speeds are combined in pairs into four shift groups, that two of the four shift groups are arranged on the input or primary shaft and on the output or secondary shaft, respectively, and that at least between the first speed and the sixth speed adjacent speeds are arranged in different shift groups. 
     Within the frame of this patent application two speeds which are shifted by means of a common shift device are defined as a shift group, for which purpose its pairs of gears are arranged in a side-by-side position. Since two speeds share each a common shift device, the need of space of the transmission can be remarkably reduced. By means of the arrangement of all the eight speeds, i.e. of the seven forward speeds and of the reverse speed, on only two shafts, namely the input or primary shaft and the output or secondary shaft, especially the transversal dimensions of the transmission can be kept very small. Also the distribution in pairs of the four shift groups on the two shafts helps in minimizing the need of space of the shift devices needed for the shift, such as for example shift bars. On the other hand, by means of the arrangement of adjacent speeds into different shift groups, the shift devices of adjacent speeds can be driven at the same time or with a time intersection, since both shift processes, i.e. the disengagement of the already engaged speed and the engagement of the closest higher speed or the closest lower speed, due to the arrangement of the adjacent speeds into different shift groups are carried out with different shift devices which can be controlled separately. Thus, the speed change can be completed in a very fast manner and almost without any interruption of the driving force, which makes a very sporty drive mode possible between the first and the sixth speed. 
     In order to make it possible, with a need of space as low as possible, that in two shift groups adjacent speeds are arranged in different shift groups on the input or primary shaft and on the output or secondary shaft, respectively, a preferential embodiment of the invention provides that a first shift group comprises the reverse speed and the first speed, a second shift group comprises the second speed and the fourth speed, a third shift group comprises the third speed and the fifth speed, and a fourth shift group comprises the sixth speed and the seventh speed. 
     In this regard, the first and second shift groups are advantageously arranged on the output or secondary shaft, suitably on the half of the output or secondary shaft opposite to a drive engine of the motor vehicle, while the third and the fourth shift groups are arranged on the input or primary shaft, suitably of the other half, adjacent to the drive engine, of the input or primary shaft. 
     The sequence of the shift groups is advantageously chosen so that the second shift group is arranged on the engine side with respect to the first shift group on the output or secondary shaft, while the third shift group is arranged on the engine side with respect to the fourth shift group on the input or primary shaft. 
     A particularly compact and at the same time short constructional design of the transmission is obtained by means of the fact that each of the eight speeds comprises a driving gear and a driven gear, of which one is arranged on the input or primary shaft and the other is arranged on the output or secondary shaft, wherein one of the two gears of each speed is mounted as a fixed gear and the other is mounted as an idle gear, respectively, on the respective shaft, and wherein the idle gear for driving a shift device of the correspondent shift group can be coupled in a rotationally restrained manner with the corresponding shaft. 
     Advantageously, the driving gears of the reverse speed and of the first speed are mounted in a rotationally restrained manner as fixed gears on the input or primary shaft, while the driven gears of the reverse speed and of the first speed are mounted in a rotationally free manner as idle gears on the output or secondary shaft so that, in the reverse speed or in the first speed, respectively, one of these two driven idle gears can be connected at choice, by means of a shift device of the first shift group, in a rotationally restrained manner with the output or secondary shaft. A corresponding consideration is advantageously valid also for the second speed and the fourth speed, in which the driving gears are also suitably mounted as fixed gears on the input or primary shaft. Correspondingly, the driven gears are mounted as idle gears in a rotationally free manner on the output or secondary shaft, wherein one of these driven idle gears can be coupled at choice by means of a shift device of the second shift group in a rotationally restrained manner with the output or secondary shaft. 
     On the contrary, in the third, fifth, sixth and seventh speed the driven gears are advantageously mounted as fixed gears on the output or secondary shaft, while the driving gears are mounted as idle gears on the input or primary shaft. In this case, one of the two idle driving gears of the third speed and of the fifth speed can be connected at choice by means of a shift device of the third shift group, in a rotationally restrained manner, with the input or primary shaft, while one of the two idle driving gears of the sixth and of the seventh speed can be connected at choice by means of a shift device of the fourth shift group, in a rotationally restrained manner, with the input or primary shaft. 
     The transmission is suitably a shift sleeve transmission, in which the idle gears on the corresponding shaft are only rotatable, but they are not slidable in the axial direction, and in which the idle gears with the aid of shift devices in the form of shift sleeves are connected in a rotationally restrained manner with the corresponding shaft. In this regard, each shift group has a single shift sleeve, with which one of the two idle gears of the two speeds belonging to the shift group can be driven at choice, i.e. it can be engaged or disengaged. 
     For reversing the run direction in the reverse speed, the latter advantageously comprises a third gear which is arranged between the driving gear mounted on the input or primary shaft and the driven gear mounted on the output or secondary shaft. 
     The drive of the two front wheels of the motor vehicle is preferably carried out through a drive shift leading from the gearbox to a front axle differential, the rear end of the drive shaft being connected in a rotationally restrained manner with the front end of the output or secondary shaft. On the other hand, the drive of the two rear wheels of the motor vehicle is preferably carried out through a drive shaft lead from the gearbox under the drive engine up to a rear axle differential, the front end of the drive shaft being connected in a rotationally restrained manner with the rear end of a short tertiary shaft driven by the output or secondary shaft. The tertiary shaft preferably carries a single gear which is in mesh with the driven gear of a third speed on the output or secondary shaft. 
     In order to increase the rigidity of the system and to improve the stability during the working, both the input or primary shaft and the output or secondary shaft are each supported in three journal bearings, which are arranged close to a center and to two opposite front ends of the shafts. In order to make the installation of the central journal bearings easier, the gear box is suitably divided along a central dividing plane thereof into two casing parts arranged one behind the other in the axial direction. 
     The transmission is preferably an automatic transmission, the speeds of which are engaged in an electro-hydraulic way, preferably through four axially movable shift bars, each of which is firmly connected with the shift sleeve of one of the four shift groups and can be shifted inside the gearbox parallel to the rotation axes of the input or primary shaft and the output or secondary shaft with the aid of two hydraulic cylinders at the two opposite front ends of the shift bar. The hydraulic shifting of the shift bars is carried out with the aid of a hydraulic group, which is suitably flanged at the front end of the transmission opposite to the drive engine outside the gearbox and which is connected through hydraulic ducts with the hydraulic cylinders. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
       The present invention is disclosed hereafter more in detail with reference to an exemplary embodiment shown in the drawing. 
         FIG. 1  shows a perspective view of a transmission according to the invention constructed as a shift sleeve transmission; 
         FIG. 2  shows a schematic view of shafts, gears and shift sleeves of the transmission; 
         FIG. 3  shows a partially cutaway perspective view of the transmission, however from a point of view opposite to  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 4  shows an enlarged detailed view of a particular of  FIG. 3 ; 
         FIG. 5  shows a cross-sectioned view of the transmission. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     The 7-speed transmission  1  illustrated in the drawing for a two-seater sports car is intended to be installed, in the forward direction, in front of a drive engine (not shown) inserted in the tail of the sports car, so that transmission  1  after the installation is arranged inside a central tunnel T ( FIG. 5 ) of the sports car, which tunnel extends forwards through the driver and passenger compartment between the seats. 
     Transmission  1  has a gearbox  2  divided into two parts in the forward direction of the motor vehicle with a front casing part  3  and a rear casing part  4 , which are mutually connected in a separable manner along a dividing plane  5 . The rear casing part  4  is provided at its front end facing the drive engine with a flanged clutch  6  constructed as a dual disk clutch, while the front casing portion  3  at its front end opposite to the drive engine is provided with a hydraulic group  7  of an electro-hydraulic gear shift. 
     As shown in the best way in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , two shafts extending substantially on the whole length of transmission  1  are arranged inside gearbox  2 , namely an input or primary shaft  8  driven by the drive engine through clutch  6  and an output or secondary shaft  9  parallel to the input or primary shaft  8 , the front front end of which, with respect to the forward direction, is connected in a rotationally restrained manner with a drive shaft  10  leading to a front axle or to a front axle differential of the motor vehicle, as it is schematically shown in  FIG. 2 . Furthermore, transmission  1  on the side of the drive engine is provided with a short second output shaft or tertiary shaft  11  which is driven by shaft  9  and the rear front end of which is connected in a rotationally restrained manner with a drive shaft  12  leading under the drive engine to a rear axle or to a rear axle differential of the motor vehicle, as it is schematically shown in  FIG. 2 . In order to let drive shaft  12  pass under the drive engine, on the one hand the output or secondary shaft  9  is arranged aslant under the input or primary shaft  8 , as shown in  FIG. 5 . On the other hand, also the second output shaft or tertiary shaft  11  is arranged aslant under the output or secondary shaft  9 . 
     As shown in the best way in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , the input or primary shaft  8  and the output or secondary shaft  9  are each supported in three journal bearings,  13 ,  14 ,  15  or  16 ,  17 ,  18 , respectively, of gearbox  2 , of which two,  13 ,  15  or  17 ,  18 , respectively, are arranged at the two opposite front ends of gearbox  2  and the third,  14  or  17 , respectively, is arranged contiguous to the dividing plane  5 , in the rear casing part  4  adjacent to the drive engine. 
     Transmission  1  is a synchronized transmission in which the input or primary shaft  8  carries eight driving gears  19 ,  20 ,  21 ,  22 ,  23 ,  24 ,  25 ,  26 , each of them being in a permanent mesh with one of eight driven gears  27 ,  28 ,  29 ,  30 ,  31 ,  32 ,  33 ,  34  on the output or secondary shaft  9 . 
     Gears  19 ,  20 ,  21 ,  22 ,  23 ,  24 ,  25 ,  26  and  27 ,  28 ,  29 ,  30 ,  31 ,  32 ,  33 ,  34  are each cylindrical cogwheels, which are provided in pairs with a straight or slanted complementary toothing. Each pair of gears  19 ,  27 ;  20 ,  28 ;  21 ,  29 ;  22 ,  30 ;  23 ,  31 ;  24 ,  32 ;  25 ,  33 ;  26 ,  34  on the input or primary shaft  8  and on the output or secondary shaft  9  is associated to one of the eight speeds of transmission  1 . These eight speeds comprise seven forward speeds V 1 , V 2 , V 3 , V 4 , V 5 , V 6 , V 7  and one reverse speed R, the arrangement of which along the two shafts  8 ,  9  is indicated in  FIG. 2  above gears  19 ,  20 ,  21 ,  22 ,  23 ,  24 ,  25 ,  26 . As shown in  FIG. 2 , speeds V 1 , V 2 , V 3 , V 4 , V 5 , V 6 , V 7  and R, namely their pairs of gears  19 ,  27 ;  22 ,  30 ;  26 ,  34 ;  21 ,  29 ;  25 ,  33 ;  24 ,  32 ;  23 ,  31  and  20 ,  28  are arranged, starting from the front ends of shafts  8 ,  9  opposite to the drive engine, in the following sequence: first speed V 1  with the two gears  19  and  27 , reverse speed R with the two gears  20  and  28 , fourth speed V 4  with the two gears  21  and  29 , second speed V 2  with the two gears  22  and  30 , seventh speed V 7  with the two gears  23  and  31 , sixth speed V 6  with the two gears  24  and  32 , fifth speed V 5  with the two gears  25  and  33 , as well as third speed V 3  with the two gears  26  and  34 . 
     All the gears  19 ,  20 ,  21 ,  22 ,  23 ,  24 ,  25 ,  26 , and  27 ,  28 ,  29 ,  30 ,  31 ,  32 ,  33 ,  34  are applied in a non slidable manner on the relevant shaft  8  or  9 , respectively. One of the two gears  19 ,  20 ,  21 ,  22 ,  31 ,  32 ,  33 ,  34  of each pair of gears  19 ,  27 ;  20 ,  28 ;  21 ,  29 ;  22 ,  30 ;  23 ,  31 ;  24 ,  32 ;  25 ,  33 ;  26 ,  34  is mounted in a rotationally restrained manner as a fixed gear on the relevant shaft  8  or  9 , respectively, while the other of the two gears  27 ,  28 ,  29 ,  30 ,  23 ,  24 ,  25 ,  26  of the each pair of gears  19 ,  27 ;  20 ,  28 ;  21 ,  29 ;  22 ,  30 ;  23 ,  31 ;  24 ,  32 ;  25 ,  33 ;  26 ,  34  is inserted in a rotationally free manner as an idle gear on the relevant shaft  9  or  8 , respectively, and can be coupled in a rotationally restrained manner with shaft  9  or  8 , respectively. 
     Among the eight driving gears  19 ,  20 ,  21 ,  22 ,  23 ,  24 ,  25 ,  26  mounted on the input or primary shaft  8 , four are constructed as fixed gears and four as idle gears. The fixed gears are gears  19 ,  20 ,  21 ,  22  of the first speed V 1 , the reverse speed R, the fourth speed V 4  and the second speed V 2 , which are arranged in  FIG. 2  from left to right one beside the other on the half of the input or primary shaft  8  opposite to the drive engine. The idle gears are gears  23 ,  24 ,  25 ,  26  of the seven speed V 7 , the sixth speed V 6 , the fifth speed V 5  and the third speed V 3 , which are arranged in  FIG. 2  from left to right one beside the other on the half of the input or primary shaft  8  adjacent to the drive engine. 
     Among the eight driven gears  27 ,  28 ,  29 ,  30 ,  31 ,  32 ,  33 ,  34  mounted on the output or secondary shaft  9 , gears  27 ,  28 ,  29 ,  30  of the first speed V 1 , the reverse speed R, the fourth speed V 4  and the second speed V 2  are mounted from left to right in  FIG. 2  as idle gears on the half of shaft  9  opposite to the drive engine, while gears  31 ,  32 ,  33 ,  45  of the seventh speed V 7 , the sixth speed V 6 , the fifth speed V 5  and the third speed V 3  are mounted as fixed gears on the half or shaft  9  adjacent to the drive engine. 
     Gear  34 , constructed as a fixed gear, of the third speed V 3  is in a permanent mesh with a further gear  35  which is mounted as a fixed gear in a rotationally restrained manner on the second output shaft or tertiary shaft  11  which does not carry any further gear other than gear  35 . Thus, the fixed gear  34  on the output or secondary shaft  9  can perform at the same time two function since on the one hand it forms together with the idle gear  26  on the input or primary shaft the gear stage for the third speed V 3  and on the other hand it forms together with the fixed gear  35  on the second output shaft or tertiary shaft  11  the gear stage for driving the drive shaft  12 . With this arrangement, i.e. with the two fixed gears  34 ,  35  on shafts  9  and  11 , the drive shafts  10  and  12  in all the seven forward speeds from V 1  to V 7  and in the reverse gear are driven together. Furthermore, with this arrangement a separate gear stage or at least one gear for driving the drive shaft  12  can be saved. 
     In order to drive the two drive shafts  10  and  12  with the same number of revolutions, the two fixed gears  34  and  35  have the same diameter and the same number of teeth, so that a transmission ratio equal to 1 is provided between these gears  34  and  35 . 
     The eight speeds V 1 , V 2 , V 3 , V 4 , V 5 , V 6 , V 7  and R are combined in pairs into four shift groups S 1 , S 2 , S 3 , S 4 , wherein a first shift group S 1  comprises the reverse speed R and the first speed V 1 , a second shift group S 2  comprises the second speed V 2  and the fourth speed V 4 , a third shift group S 3  comprises the third speed V 3  and the fifth speed V 5 , and a fourth shift group S 4  comprises the sixth speed V 6  and the seventh speed V 7 . 
     Speeds V 1 , R; V 2 , V 4 ; V 3 , V 5  and V 6 , V 7  combined in pairs into a shift group S 1 , S 2 , S 3 , S 4  are each shifted by means of a common shift device of the electro-hydraulic gear shift. The common shift device of each shift group S 1 , S 2 , S 3 , S 4  comprises a shift sleeve  36  arranged between the adjacent idle gears of the two speeds V 1 , R; V 2 , V 4 ; V 3 , V 5  and V 6 , V 7  and a shift bar  37  serving to control the shift sleeve  36 . The shift sleeves  36  of the first and second shift groups S 1  and S 2  are arranged on the output or secondary shaft  9  between the two idle gears  28 ,  27  of the reverse gear R and the first speed V 1  and between the two idle gears  30 ,  29  of the second speed V 2  and the fourth speed V 4 , respectively, while the shift sleeves  36  of the third and fourth shift group S 3  and S 4  are arranged on the input or primary shaft  8  between the two idle gears  26 ,  25  of the third speed V 3  and the fifth speed V 5  and between the two idle gears  24 ,  23  of the sixth speed V 6  and the seventh speed V 7 , respectively, as shown in  FIG. 2 . 
     As shown in the best way in  FIG. 4 , considering for example the shift group S 1  on the output or secondary shaft  9 , the shift sleeve  36  of each shift group is connected through a toothing  38  with shaft  9  so that the shift sleeve  36  with respect to shaft  9  is rotationally restrained and slidable in the axial direction. In a central rest position of the shift sleeve  36 , neither idle gear  29 ,  30  of the two adjacent speeds V 4  and V 2  is coupled with shaft  9 . In order to couple the idle gear  29 ,  30  of one of speeds V 4 , V 2  in a rotationally restrained manner with shaft  9 , the shift sleeve  36  is shifted toward the idle gear  29 ,  30  in one of the two opposite shift positions in which toothing  38  of the shift sleeve  36  engages with a complementary toothing  39  of the idle gear  29  or  30 , respectively, and thus it connects the idle gear  29  or  30 , respectively, in a rotationally restrained manner with shaft  9 . When the shift sleeve  36  is shifted, a synchronizing device provides for the synchronization of the movement in synchrony between the shift sleeve  36  and the idle gear  29  or  30 . The shift sleeves  36  close to the corresponding synchronizing device have a structure already known and therefore they do not need to be disclosed more in detail. 
     The shifting of each shift sleeve  36  is carried out with the aid of the relevant shift bar  37 , one of which is shown in  FIG. 4  and three are shown in  FIG. 5 . As shown in an exemplificative way in  FIG. 4 , the opposite front ends of each shift bar  37  are each guided in an axially slidable manner in a hydraulic cylinder  40  formed by the gearbox  2 , so that the shift bar  37  by applying hydraulic oil to one of the hydraulic cylinders  40 , oil which comes from the hydraulic group  7 , can be shifted in opposite directions. A collar  41  having a protrusion  42  projecting toward the shift sleeve  36  and in engagement with the shift sleeve  36  so that the shift sleeve  36  is moved together with the shift bar  37  is fastened to the shift bar  37 . In order to keep the shift sleeve  36  firm with respect to gearbox  2  in the rest position and in the two shift positions, gearbox  2  has a stop device  43  embodied as a spherical stop which is these positions engages with the shift bar  37 . 
     The hydraulic cylinders  40  are connected with the hydraulic group  7  by means of hydraulic ducts  44 , which hydraulic group is connected through signal lines (not shown) with a shift sectors guide of a gear shift lever or gearbox lever and which hydraulically converts electric shift signals received through the signal lines into corresponding movements of the shift bars  37 . 
     As it can be seen from  FIG. 2 , with the exception of the fourth shift group S 4  for the sixth and seventh speeds V 6  and V 7 , two speeds V 1 , R; V 2 , V 4 ; V 3 , V 5  which do not follow each other in an immediate way but are instead separated by at least one speed are associated to each of the three remaining shift groups S 1 , S 2  and S 3 . Thus, for example, in the upshift from the second speed V 2  to the third speed V 3 , the shift bar  37  of the second shift group S 2  serving for the disengagement of the second speed V 2  can be moved simultaneously or in overlap with the engagement of the shift bar  37  of the third shift group S 3  serving for the engagement of the third speed V 3 . This allows an almost uninterrupted shift of the drive force between the first speed V 1  and the sixth speed V 6 , which means between speeds V 1 , V 2 , V 3 , V 4 , V 5  and V 6  in which a sporty drive is desired. On the other hand, this is no more necessary in the shift from the sixth speed V 6  to the seventh speed V 7 , since the seventh speed V 7  has to be rather considered as a long overdrive. Thus, with only four shift groups S 1 , S 2 , S 3  and S 4  an ideal combination of sports transmission  1  with a long overdrive is obtained. 
     LIST OF THE REFERENCE NUMBERS 
     
         
         
           
               1  Transmission 
               2  Gearbox 
               3  Front gear casing 
               4  Rear gear casing 
               5  Dividing plane 
               6  Clutch 
               7  Hydraulic group 
               8  Input or primary shaft 
               9  Output or secondary shaft 
               10  Drive shaft front axle 
               11  Second output shaft or tertiary shaft 
               12  Drive shaft rear axle 
               13  Journal bearing 
               14  Journal bearing 
               15  Journal bearing 
               16  Journal bearing 
               17  Journal bearing 
               18  Journal bearing 
               19  Fixed driving gear 
               20  Fixed driving gear 
               21  Fixed driving gear 
               22  Fixed driving gear 
               23  Idle driving gear 
               24  Idle driving gear 
               25  Idle driving gear 
               26  Idle driving gear 
               27  Idle driven gear 
               28  Idle driven gear 
               29  Idle driven gear 
               30  Idle driven gear 
               31  Fixed driven gear 
               32  Fixed driven gear 
               33  Fixed driven gear 
               34  Fixed driven gear 
               35  Tertiary shaft fixed gear 
               36  Shift sleeve 
               37  Shift bar 
               38  Toothing 
               39  Toothing 
               40  Hydraulic cylinder 
               41  Collar 
               42  Protrusion 
               43  Stop device 
               44  Hydraulic ducts 
             V 1  First speed 
             V 2  Second speed 
             V 3  Third speed 
             V 4  Fourth speed 
             V 5  Fifth speed 
             V 6  Sixth speed 
             V 7  Seventh speed 
             R Reverse speed 
             S 1  First shift group 
             S 2  Second shift group 
             S 3  Third shift group 
             S 4  Fourth shift group 
             T Central tunnel