Patent ID: 8267231

Claim:
A transmission comprising: a first shaft; a second shaft; a selectable one-way clutch (SOWC) having: an axis of rotation; an actuator; a plurality of strut pieces each biased by a strut spring; a first ring connected to the first shaft that defines a plurality of strut pockets; an apply ring movable along the axis of rotation by the actuator, and having a plurality of axially-projecting teeth; an axially-moveable second ring that is connected to the second shaft and that defines a plurality of strut wells extending axially through the second ring as through-openings, wherein each of the teeth is disposed in a respective one of the strut wells; and a rotatable blocking device positioned between the first ring and the second ring; and an electric motor connected to at least one of the first shaft and the second shaft; wherein: the electric motor is operable for controlling a relative speed between the first ring and the second ring of the SOWC; the actuator moves the apply ring axially toward the second ring and moves the teeth toward the first ring into contact with the strut springs; and the blocking device is rotated about the axis of rotation by friction forces occurring during a rotation of the first ring to thereby block some, all, or none of the strut pieces and thereby select a particular mode of the SOWC.