Patent ID: 7108631

Claim:
A continuously variable transmission apparatus comprising: an input shaft; an output shaft; a toroidal continuously variable transmission; a differential unit comprising a plurality of gears; and a controller for changing a transmission ratio of the toroidal continuously variable transmission, wherein the toroidal continuously variable transmission comprises: an input side disk rotated by the input shaft; an output side disk concentrically supported with the input side disk and rotatable relative to the input side disk; a plurality of power rollers interposed between the input side disk and the output side disk; a plurality of support members rotatably supporting the respective power rollers respectively; and an actuator, for changing the transmission ratio between the input side disk and the output side disk, by displacing the respective support members, and the differential unit comprises a first input portion rotated with the input side disk by a rotation of the input shaft; and a second input portion connected to the output side disk, wherein the differential unit transmits a rotation to the output shaft in accordance with a speed difference between the first and the second input portions, and further comprising: an input side rotation sensor for detecting a rotational speed of the input side disk; and an output side rotation sensor for detecting a rotational speed of the output side disk, wherein the controller controls the transmission ratio of the troidal continuously variable transmission so as to change relative displacement speeds of the plurality of gears, thereby a rotational state of the output shaft is converted to regular rotation and reverse rotation, interposing a stationary state, while the input shaft is brought into a state of being rotated in one direction, the controller calculates a rotational speed of the output shaft, based on the rotational speed of the input side disk detected by the input side rotation sensor, the rotational speed of the output side disk detected by the output side rotational sensor, and a gear ratio of the differential unit, and if a no-running condition in which rotation of the input shaft is not transmitted to the output shaft is selected, the controller controls the transmission ratio of the toroidal continuously variable transmission, so that the rotation speed of the output shaft becomes null.