Dog clutch control apparatus for automated transmission

A dog clutch control apparatus for an automated transmission, comprising:

• a rotary shaft which is rotatably connected to one of an input shaft of an automated transmission and an output shaft of the automated transmission, and is supported to be rotatable about an axis;
• a dog clutch transmission mechanism including
• a clutch ring which is rotatably supported at the rotary shaft and is rotatably connected to the other one of the input shaft and the output shaft, the clutch ring including a mating portion protruding towards the sleeve,
• a clutch hub which is fixed to the rotary shaft and is arranged adjacent to the clutch ring,
• a sleeve which is provided with a spline and is fitted with the clutch hub by the spline to be movable in a direction of the axis,
• an axial driving device for moving the sleeve in the direction of the axis,
• a dog clutch portion which is provided at the mating portion of the clutch ring and selectively meshes with the spline of the sleeve in response to an axial movement of the sleeve, and
• a stroke position sensor for detecting a moving position of the sleeve in the direction of the axis,
• the spline including a plurality of high teeth, the rest of the spline corresponding to a low tooth, a tooth depth of each of the high teeth is larger than a tooth depth of the low tooth, the dog clutch portion including the same number of clutch front teeth as the number of the high teeth, an outer diameter of the clutch front teeth is larger than an inner diameter of the high teeth and is smaller than an inner diameter of the low tooth, the clutch front teeth being arranged at positions which correspond to positions of the high teeth, each of the clutch front teeth being formed to be extended from a front end surface of the dog clutch portion to a rear end position of the dog clutch portion, the dog clutch portion including clutch rear teeth configured to mesh with tooth grooves of the spline, each of the clutch rear teeth being formed to be extended from a position which is retracted from the front end surface of the dog clutch portion by a predetermined amount to the rear end position of the dog clutch portion;
• and
• a control apparatus for controlling operation of the axial driving device on the basis of the moving position of the sleeve detected by the stroke position sensor, wherein
• in a rotation adjustment range where each of the high teeth of the spline advances from a front end portion of each of the clutch front teeth to a front end portion of each of the clutch rear teeth, the control apparatus controls a thrust load of the axial driving device so that a first thrust load is applied to the sleeve, and the first thrust load generates a relative rotation between the sleeve and the dog clutch portion with each other against a frictional force which is generated by contact between an end surface of each of the high teeth of the sleeve and a front end surface of each of the clutch rear teeth of the dog clutch portion.