Transmission gear life monitor system
First Claim
1. A transmission integral gear life monitor system, comprising:
- a first sensor for measuring a rotational speed of a rotating component in a vehicle driveline for a particular gear ratio and generating a first signal;
a second sensor for measuring a torque of the rotating component in the vehicle driveline for the particular gear ratio and generating a second signal; and
a processor electrically coupled to the first and second sensors for determining a gear life that is remaining in the particular gear ratio by using the first and second signals to determine an equivalent amount of time of gear life for the particular gear ratio.
2 Assignments
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Accused Products
Abstract
An integral gear life monitor system and method for determining gear use and damage is disclosed. The system includes a first and second sensors for measuring the rotational speed and torque of a driveline component, such as an input shaft of a vehicle transmission, for a particular gear ratio at one or more time intervals over a period of time. Each time interval may be in the range of 40 ms to 100 ms. The period of time may be hours, days, month, or even years. A processor performs a statistical summation technique to transform the signals from the first and second sensors into an equivalent amount time for the particular gear ratio during that period of time. A driveline vibration analyzer can perform an online determination of the torsional vibrations for the particular gear ratio to determine whether vibration is a root cause of why a gear ratio is worn or damaged. The transformed signals can be stored in a non-volatile memory of the processor for later retrieval as a diagnostic tool to statistically measure the amount of life used by each gear ratio, to determine if a gear ratio is worn or damaged, to determine the root cause of why a gear ratio is worn or damaged, and to take proactive and/or reactive measures to extend the life of the transmission.
15 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A transmission integral gear life monitor system, comprising:
-
a first sensor for measuring a rotational speed of a rotating component in a vehicle driveline for a particular gear ratio and generating a first signal;
a second sensor for measuring a torque of the rotating component in the vehicle driveline for the particular gear ratio and generating a second signal; and
a processor electrically coupled to the first and second sensors for determining a gear life that is remaining in the particular gear ratio by using the first and second signals to determine an equivalent amount of time of gear life for the particular gear ratio. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 18)
where, Hours=“
equivalent”
hours at “
SR”
input speed and “
TR”
input torque for the particular gear ratio of the vehicle driveline,R=rotational speed of the vehicle driveline at input torque “
T”
during event “
i”
;
T=input shaft torque of the vehicle driveline during event “
i”
;
SR=reference input rotational speed of the vehicle driveline;
TR=reference input torque of the vehicle driveline; and
X=exponent value.
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8. A gear life monitor system for a transmission of a vehicle driveline, comprising:
-
a first sensor for measuring a rotational speed of a rotating component during one or more interval of times for a particular gear ratio and generating a first signal for each interval of time;
a second sensor for measuring a torque of the rotating component during the one or more intervals of time for the particular gear ratio and generating a second signal for each interval of time; and
a processor electrically coupled to the first and second sensors for determining a gear life that is remaining in the particular gear ratio by performing a statistical summation technique of the first and second signals for each interval of time to determine an equivalent amount of time of gear life for the particular gear ratio. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 19)
where, Hours=“
equivalent”
hours at “
SR”
input speed and “
TR”
input torque for the particular gear ratio of the vehicle driveline;
R=rotational speed of the vehicle driveline at input torque “
T”
during event “
i”
;
T=input shaft torque of the vehicle driveline during event “
i”
;
SR=reference input rotational speed of the vehicle driveline;
TR=reference input torque of the vehicle driveline; and
X=exponent value.
-
-
14. A method of determining a gear life in a transmission, comprising the steps of:
-
sensing a rotational speed of a rotating component in a vehicle driveline during one or more intervals of time for a particular gear ratio and generating a first signal at each time interval;
determining a torque of the rotating component in the vehicle driveline during the one or more intervals of time for the particular gear ratio and generating a second signal at each time interval; and
using the first and second signals to determine an equivalent amount of time of gear life for the particular gear ratio. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 20)
where, Hours=“
equivalent”
hours at “
SR”
input speed and “
TR”
input torque for the particular gear ratio of the vehicle driveline;
R=rotational speed of the vehicle driveline at input torque “
T”
during event “
i”
;
T=input shaft torque of the vehicle driveline during event “
i”
;
SR reference input rotational speed of the vehicle driveline;
TR=reference input torque of the vehicle driveline; and
X=exponent value.
-
Specification