Toroidal type continuous variable transmission system

• US 6,171,210 B1
• Filed: 08/12/1998
• Issued: 01/09/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 08/12/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: NSK Limited
• Original Assignee: NSK Limited
• Inventors: Miyata, Shinji, Imanishi, Takashi
• Primary Examiner(s): ESTREMSKY, SHERRY LYNN
• Application Number:
  US09/132,669
• Time in Patent Office: 881 Days
• Field of Search: 475/207, 475/215, 475/216
• US Class Current: 475/216
• CPC Class Codes: F16H 2015/383 with two or more sets of toroid gearings arranged in parallel
• CPC Class Codes: F16H 2037/088 Power split variators with summing differentials, with the input of the CVT connected or connectable to the input shaft
• CPC Class Codes: F16H 37/086 CVT using two coaxial friction members cooperating with at least one intermediate friction member

Abstract

A toroidal type continuous variable transmission system to be used as a transmission of an automobile comprises: an input shaft rotatably actuated by means of a drive source; an output shaft for acquiring power stemming from rotation of the input shaft; a variator which is interposed between the input and output shafts and includes a pair of input disks which rotate on the basis of rotation of the input shaft, a pair of output disks which are provided in a coaxial relationship with the input disks and rotate in synchronous with each other, and power rollers which are provided between the input and output disks while remaining in contact with the disks and which rotate at an angle; a planetary gear mechanism which is interposed between the input and output shafts and includes a sun gear, a ring gear provided around the sun gear, a plurality of planetary gears which are provided between the sun gear and the ring gear so as to be rotatable, and carriers supporting the planet gears; a pressing mechanism which presses the input or output disk against the output or input disk by way of the power rollers; a first power transmission mechanism which transmits the rotation of the output disks to the planetary gear mechanism; and a second power transmission mechanism which transmits the rotation of the input shaft to the planetary gear mechanism.

Claims

1. A toroidal continuous variable transmission system to be used as a transmission of an automobile comprising:

an input shaft rotatably actuated by means of a drive source;

an output shaft for acquiring power stemming from rotation of the input shaft;

a variator which is interposed between said input and output shafts, is disposed on the drive source side, and includes,

a pair of input disks which rotate on the basis of rotation of said input shaft,

a pair of output disks which rotate synchronously with each other that are provided in a coaxial relationship with said input disks, and

power rollers which are provided between the input and output disks while remaining in contact with the disks and which rotate at an angle;

a planetary gear mechanism which is interposed between said input and output shafts is disposed coaxially with said drive source and said variator, and includes,

a sun gear,

a ring gear provided around said sun gear,

a plurality of planetary gears which are provided between said sun gear and said ring gear so as to be rotatable, and

carriers supporting said planetary gears,

a pressing mechanism which presses one of said input disks and said output disks against the other by way of said power rollers;

a first power transmission mechanism which transmits said rotation of said output disks to said planetary gear mechanism; and

a second power transmission mechanism which transmits the rotation of said input shaft to said planetary gear mechanism,

so that said first power transmission mechanism circulates the power of said planetary gear mechanism through said variator, and said second power transmission mechanism transmits the rotation of said input shaft to the planetary gear mechanism by bypassing said variator.

2. A toroidal continuous variable transmission system to be used as a transmission of an automobile comprising:

an input shaft rotatively actuated by means of a drive source;

an output shaft for acquiring power stemming from rotation of the input shaft;

a variator which is interposed between the input and output shafts, is disposed on the drive source side, and includes,

a pair of input disks which rotate in association with rotation of the input shaft,

a pair of output disks which rotate synchronously with each other that are provided in a coaxial relationship with the input disks, and

power rollers which are provided between the input and output disks while remaining in contact with the disks and which rotate at an angle;

a planetary gear mechanism which is interposed between the input and output shafts, is disposed coaxially with both of said drive source and said variator, and includes,

a sun gear,

a ring gear provided around the sun gear,

a plurality of planetary gears which are provided between the sun gear and the ring gear so as to be rotatable, and

carriers supporting the planetary gears,

a mechanical pressing mechanism which presses one of said pair of input disks against one of said pair of output disks, or one of said pair of output disks against one of said pair of input disks by way of the power rollers;

a first power transmission mechanism which transmits the rotation of the output disks to the planetary gear mechanism and circulates the power of the planetary gear mechanism through the variator; and

a second power transmission mechanism which transmits the rotation of the input shaft to the planetary gear mechanism by bypassing the variator.

3. The toroidal continuous variable transmission system as defined in claim 2, wherein said pair of input disks are provided at the center of said variator so as to face opposite directions, said pair of output disks are provided so as to face said inputs disks, said ring gear rotates said output shaft, said second power transmission mechanism includes a bypass shaft which transmits the rotation of said input shaft to said planetary gear mechanism by bypassing said variator, and said bypass shaft is disposed at the outside of said variator.

4. The toroidal continuous variable transmission system as defined in claim 2, wherein said mechanical pressing mechanism presses one of said input disks against one of said output disks by way of said power rollers.

5. The toroidal continuous variable transmission system as defined in claim 4, wherein said ring gear rotates said output shaft, and

wherein said first power transmission mechanism is constituted of a counter shaft which transmits the rotation of said output disk to said sun gear and circulates the power of said planetary gear mechanism through said variator, and said second power transmission mechanism is constituted of a bypass shaft which transmits the rotation of said input shaft to said carriers by bypassing said variator.

6. The toroidal continuous variable transmission system as defined in claim 5, wherein said bypass shaft is provided outside of said variator and transmits the rotation of said input shaft to said carriers.

7. The toroidal continuous variable transmission system as defined in claim 2, wherein said mechanical pressing mechanism presses one of said output disks against one of said input disks by way of said power rollers.

8. The toroidal continuous variable transmission system as defined in claim 7, wherein said ring gear rotates said output shaft, said first power transmission mechanism includes a counter shaft which transmits the rotation of said output disks to said sun gear and circulates the power of said planetary gear mechanism through said variator, said second power transmission mechanism includes a power transmission shaft which transmits the rotation of said input shaft to said planetary gear mechanism by bypassing said variator, and said power transmission shaft passes through the inside of said variator.

9. A toroidal continuous variable transmission system to be used as a transmission of an automobile comprising:

a start clutch for transmitting an output from a drive source;

an input shaft rotatably actuated by means of the drive source;

an output shaft for acquiring power stemming from rotation of the input shaft;

a variator which is interposed between the input and output shafts and includes

a pair of input disks which are provided so as to face each other and rotate in association with rotation of the input shaft,

a pair of output disks which rotate synchronously with each other that are provided between the pair of input disks in a coaxial relationship with the input disks, and

power rollers which are provided between the input and output disks while remaining in contact with the disks and which rotate at an angle;

a planetary gear mechanism which is interposed between the input and output shafts and includes

a sun gear for rotating the output shaft,

a ring gear provided around the sun gear,

a plurality of planetary gears which are provided between the sun gear and the ring gear so as to be rotatable, and

carriers supporting the planetary gears,

a hydraulic pressing mechanism which is interposed between the input shaft and the input disks and presses one of said input disks against one of said output disks by way of the power rollers;

a first power transmission mechanism which transmits the rotation of the output disks to the carriers; and

a second power transmission mechanism which transmits the rotation of the input shaft to the ring gear.

10. A toroidal continuous variable transmission system to be used as a transmission of an automobile comprising:

an input shaft rotatably actuated by means of a drive source;

an output shaft for acquiring power stemming from rotation of said input shaft;

a variator which is interposed between said input and output shafts, is disposed on the drive source side, and includes,

a pair of input disks which rotate on the basis of rotation of said input shaft,

a pair of output disks which rotate synchronously with each other that are provided in a coaxial relationship with the input disks, and

power rollers which are provided between said input and output disks while remaining in contact with said disks and which rotate at an angle;

a planetary gear mechanism which is interposed between said input and output shafts, is disposed coaxially with said drive source and said variator and includes

a sun gear,

a ring gear provided around said sun gear,

a plurality of planetary gears which are provided between said sun gear and said ring gear so as to be rotatable, and

carriers supporting said planetary gears,

a loading cam which is provided between said input shaft and said input disks and presses one of said input disks against one of said output disks by way of said power rollers; and

a power transmission shaft provided in a coaxial relationship with said input shaft, wherein the rotation of said power transmission shaft is freely input to one member of the group consisting of said sun gear, said ring gear, and said carriers;

the rotation of said pair of output disks is freely input to another member of said group, to which the rotation of said power transmission shaft is not transmitted; and

the other one member of said group to which neither the rotation of said power transmission shaft nor the rotation of said output disk is transmitted is connected to said output shaft,

wherein said input shaft and said power transmission shaft are rotatable synchronous with each other, one of said pair of input disks located close to the loading cam is rotatable supported on the power transmission shaft so as to rotate in accordance with the rotation of said input shaft through said loading cam, and the other of said pair of input disks located away from the loading cam is coupled with said power transmission shaft so as to rotate synchronously with said power transmission shaft.

11. A toroidal continuous variable transmission system to be used as a transmission of an automobile comprising:

an input shaft rotatively actuated by means of a drive source;

an output shaft for acquiring power stemming from rotation of the input shaft;

a variator which is interposed between the input and output shafts, and includes,

a pair of input disks, provided at the center of said variator so as to face opposite directions, which rotate in association with rotation of the input shaft,

a pair of output disks which rotate synchronously with each other that are provided in a coaxial relationship with said input disks so as to face said input disks, and

power rollers which are provided between the input and output disks while remaining in contact with the disks and which rotate at an angle;

a planetary gear mechanism which is interposed between the input and output shafts, and includes,

a sun gear which rotates said output shaft,

a ring gear provided around the sun gear,

a plurality of planetary gears which are provided between the sun gear and the ring gear so as to be rotatable, and

carriers supporting the planetary gears,

a mechanical pressing mechanism which presses one of said pair of input disks against one of said pair of output disks by way of the power rollers;

a first power transmission mechanism which transmits the rotation of the output disks to the planetary gear mechanism and circulates the power of the planetary gear mechanism through the variator; and

a second power transmission mechanism which transmits the rotation of the input shaft to the planetary gear mechanism by bypassing the variator.

12. The toroidal continuous variable transmission system as defined in claim 11, wherein said first power transmission mechanism transmits the rotation of said output disks to said carriers, and said second power transmission mechanism is constituted of a bypass shaft which transmits the rotation of said input shaft and that of said input disks to said planetary gear mechanism by bypassing said variator.

13. A toroidal continuous variable transmission system to be used as a transmission of an automobile comprising:

an input shaft rotatively actuated by means of a drive source;

an output shaft for acquiring power stemming from rotation of the input shaft;

a variator which is interposed between the input and output shafts, and includes,

a pair of input disks, provided at the center of said variator so as to face opposite directions, which rotate in association with rotation of the input shaft,

a pair of output disks which rotate synchronously with each other that are provided in a coaxial relationship with said input disks so as to face said input disks, and

power rollers which are provided between the input and output disks while remaining in contact with the disks and which rotate at an angle;

a planetary gear mechanism which is interposed between the input and output shafts, and includes,

a sun gear which rotates said output shaft,

a ring gear provided around the sun gear,

a plurality of planetary gears which are provided between the sun gear and the ring gear so as to be rotatable, and

carriers supporting the planetary gears,

a mechanical pressing mechanism which presses one of said pair of output disks against one of said pair of input disks by way of the power rollers;

a first power transmission mechanism which transmits the rotation of the output disks to the planetary gear mechanism and circulates the power of the planetary gear mechanism through the variator; and

a second power transmission mechanism which transmits the rotation of the input shaft to the planetary gear mechanism by bypassing the variator.

14. The toroidal continuous variable transmission system as defined in claim 13, wherein said first power transmission mechanism transmits the rotation of said output disks to said carriers, and said second power transmission mechanism is constitited of a bypass shaft which transmits the rotation of said input shaft and that of said input disks to said planetary gear mechanism by bypassing said variator.

15. A toroidal continuous variable transmission system to be used as a transmission of an automobile comprising:

an input shaft rotatively actuated by means of a drive source;

an output shaft for acquiring power stemming from rotation of the input shaft;

a variator which is interposed between the input and output shafts, and includes,

a pair of input disks which rotate in association with rotation of the input shaft,

a pair of output disks which rotate synchronously with each other that are provided in a coaxial relationship with said input disks, and

power rollers which are provided between the input and output disks while remaining in contact with the disks and which rotate at an angle;

a planetary gear mechanism which is interposed between the input and output shafts, and includes,

a sun gear which rotates said output shaft,

a ring gear provided around the sun gear,

a plurality of planetary gears which are provided between the sun gear and the ring gear so as to be rotatable, and

carriers supporting the planetary gears,

a mechanical pressing mechanism which presses one of said pair of input disks against one of said pair of output disks by way of the power rollers;

a first power transmission mechanism including,

a counter shaft which transmits the rotation of said output disks to said carriers and circulates the power of said planetary gear mechanism through said variator; and

a second power transmission mechanism including,

a bypass shaft which transmits the rotation of said input shaft to said planetary gear mechanism by bypassing said variator.

16. The toroidal continuous variable transmission system as defined in claim 15, wherein said bypass shaft passes through the inside of said variator and transmits the rotation of said input shaft to said ring gear.

17. The toroidal continuous variable transmission system as defined in claim 15, wherein said bypass shaft is provided outside said variator and transmits the rotation of said input shaft to said ring gear.

18. A toroidal continuous variable transmission system to be used as a transmission of an automobile comprising:

an input shaft rotatively actuated by means of a drive source;

an output shaft for acquiring power stemming from rotation of the input shaft;

a variator which is interposed between the input and output shafts, and includes,

a pair of input disks which rotate in association with rotation of the input shaft,

a pair of output disks which rotate synchronously with each other that are provided in a coaxial relationship with said input disks, and

power rollers which are provided between the input and output disks while remaining in contact with the disks and which rotate at an angle;

a planetary gear mechanism which is interposed between the input and output shafts, and includes,

a sun gear,

a ring gear provided around the sun gear which rotates said output shaft,

a plurality of planetary gears which are provided between the sun gear and the ring gear so as to be rotatable, and

carriers supporting the planetary gears,

a mechanical pressing mechanism which presses one of said pair of output disks against one of said pair of input disks by way of the power rollers;

a first power transmission mechanism including,

a counter shaft which transmits the rotation of said output disks to said carriers and circulates the power of said planetary gear mechanism through said variator; and

a second power transmission mechanism which transmits the rotation of the input shaft to the planetary gear mechanism by bypassing the variator.

19. A toroidal continuous variable transmission system to be used as a transmission of an automobile comprising:

an input shaft rotatively actuated by means of a drive source;

an output shaft for acquiring power stemming from rotation of the input shaft;

a variator which is interposed between the input and output shafts, and includes,

a pair of input disks which rotate in association with rotation of the input shaft,

a pair of output disks which rotate synchronously with each other that are provided in a coaxial relationship with said input disks, and

power rollers which are provided between the input and output disks while remaining in contact with the disks and which rotate at an angle;

a planetary gear mechanism which is interposed between the input and output shafts, and includes,

a sun gear,

a ring gear provided around the sun gear, said ring gear rotating said output shaft,

a plurality of planetary gears which are provided between the sun gear and the ring gear so as to be rotatable, and

carriers supporting the planetary gears,

a mechanical pressing mechanism which presses one of said pair of input disks against of said pair of output disks by way of the power rollers;

a first power transmission mechanism including,

a counter shaft which transmits the rotation of said output disks to said sun gear and circulates the power of said planetary gear mechanism through said variator; and

a second power transmission mechanism including,

a bypass shaft which transmits the rotation of said input shaft to said carrier by bypassing said variator,

wherein said bypass shaft passes through the inside of said variator and transmits the rotation of said input shaft to said carriers.