Coupling and control assembly including controllable coupling assembly having speed sensor and methods of controlling the controllable coupling assembly using information from the speed sensor for park/hill-hold operations

A coupling and control assembly comprising:

• a controllable coupling assembly including a first coupling member and a second coupling member supported for rotation relative to the first coupling member about an axis, the first coupling member having a first coupling face oriented to face radially with respect to the axis and having a speed sensor, the second coupling member having a second coupling face oriented to face radially with respect to the axis and having locking formations, the coupling members being positioned relative to each other so that the speed sensor is in a close-spaced opposition to the locking formations;
• a first electromechanical component configured to move a first locking element between (i) a coupling position in which the first locking element engages one of the locking formations to thereby prevent rotation of the second coupling member in a first direction about the axis and (ii) a non-coupling position in which the first locking element is disengaged from the locking formations;
• a second electromechanical component configured to move a second locking element between (i) a coupling position in which the second locking element engages one of the locking formations to thereby prevent rotation of the second coupling member in a second direction opposite to the first direction about the axis and (ii) a non-coupling position in which the second locking element is disengaged from the locking formations;
• wherein the speed sensor is configured to sense the locking formations rotate past the sensor as the second coupling member rotates relative to the first coupling member about the axis to generate a speed signal indicative of a speed of rotation of the second coupling member;
• and
• a controller operative to receive the speed signal from the speed sensor, the controller is configured to, in response to receiving a Park command, control the electromechanical components to move the locking elements from the non-coupling position to the coupling position while the speed of rotation of the second coupling member is less than a park speed threshold, and the controller is further configured to, irrespective of receiving the Park command, control the electromechanical components to maintain the locking elements in the non-coupling position while the speed of rotation of the second coupling member is greater than the park speed threshold.

A method for use with a coupling and control assembly having (a) a controllable coupling assembly including a first coupling member and a second coupling member supported for rotation relative to the first coupling member about an axis, the first coupling member having a first coupling face oriented to face radially with respect to the axis and having a speed sensor, the second coupling member having a second coupling face oriented to face radially with respect to the axis and having locking formations, the coupling members being positioned relative to each other so that the speed sensor is in a close-spaced opposition to the locking formations, (b) a first electromechanical component configured to move a first locking element between (i) a coupling position in which the first locking element engages one of the locking formations to thereby prevent rotation of the second coupling member in a first direction about the axis and (ii) a non-coupling position in which the first locking element is disengaged from the locking formations, and (c) a second electromechanical component configured to move a second locking element between (i) a coupling position in which the second locking element engages one of the locking formations to thereby prevent rotation of the second coupling member in a second direction opposite to the first direction about the axis and (ii) a non-coupling position in which the second locking element is disengaged from the locking formations, the method comprising:

• sensing, using the speed sensor, the locking formations rotating past the sensor as the second coupling member rotates relative to the first coupling member about the axis and generating, by the speed sensor, a speed signal indicative of a speed of rotation of the second coupling member;
• receiving, by a controller, the speed signal from the speed sensor;
• and
• controlling, by the controller, one of the electromechanical components to move the locking element corresponding to the one of the electromechanical components from the non-coupling position to the coupling position and controlling, by the controller, the other one of the electromechanical components to maintain the locking element corresponding to the other one of the electromechanical components in the non-coupling position upon the speed of rotation of the second coupling member decreasing to be lower than a hill-hold speed threshold.