US 2022/0010871 A1 · TRANSMISSION HEALTH INDICATION AND LIFE PREDICTION

Abstract

To detect the occurrence of slippage, a transmission health monitor integrates speed measurements for an engine shaft and a transmission shaft to determine a number of revolutions for each shaft. The monitor then uses a ratio of the revolutions adjusted for a transmission gear ratio to determine whether slippage has occurred. Based on the slippage, the monitor can determine a cumulative amount of wear on a clutch for each gear and track the rate of change of slippage over time to determine a rate at which wear is occurring. The monitor can also correlate slippage calculations with torque measurements to identify operating conditions at which slippage is occurring. The monitor uses the cumulative amount of slippage, the rate of change of slippage, and the operating conditions at which slippage is occurring to estimate a remaining lifespan for a clutch or indicate that a clutch should be repaired or replaced.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A method comprising:

obtaining first speed measurements for a first shaft and second speed measurements for a second shaft, wherein the first shaft and the second shaft are connected by a transmission;
determining, using the first speed measurements and the second speed measurements from a first time window, a number of revolutions of the first shaft and a number of revolutions of the second shaft;
calculating, for the first time window, first slip revolutions caused by a first clutch of the transmission based, at least in part, on the number of revolutions of the first shaft and the number of revolutions of the second shaft, wherein the first clutch operates in connection with a first gear range of the transmission;
and
indicating a health status of the first clutch based, at least in part, on the first slip revolutions.

2 more elements

One or more non-transitory machine-readable media comprising program code, the program code to:

obtain first speed measurements for a first shaft and second speed measurements for a second shaft, wherein the first shaft and the second shaft are connected by a transmission;
determine, using the first speed measurements and the second speed measurements from a first time window, a number of revolutions of the first shaft and a number of revolutions of the second shaft;
calculate, for the first time window, first slip revolutions caused by the first clutch of the transmission based, at least in part, on the number of revolutions of the first shaft and the number of revolutions of the second shaft;
and
indicate a health status of the first clutch based, at least in part, on the first slip revolutions.

2 more elements

An apparatus comprising:

a transmission connected to a first shaft and a second shaft;
a first speed sensor for obtaining first speed measurements related to the first shaft,
a second speed sensor for obtaining second speed measurements related to the second shaft;
a first clutch for a first gear range of the transmission;
a processor;
and
a machine-readable medium having program code executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to,
determine, using the first speed measurements and the second speed measurements from a first time window, a number of revolutions of the first shaft and a number of revolutions of the second shaft;
calculate, for the first time window, first slip revolutions caused by the first clutch of the transmission based, at least in part, on the number of revolutions of the first shaft and the number of revolutions of the second shaft;
and
indicate a health status of the first clutch based, at least in part, on the first slip revolutions.

8 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Transmission health indication and life prediction

Life of this patent

Transmission health indication and life prediction

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims20