Hydrostatic continuously variable transmission

A hydrostatic continuously variable transmission comprising a swashplate type hydraulic pump having a pump swashplate and annularly arranged pump plungers whose suction and discharge strokes are provided by said pump swashplate, a swashplate type hydraulic motor having a motor swashplate and annularly arranged motor plungers whose expansion and shrinkage strokes are provided by said motor swashplate, and a hydraulic closed circuit formed between said hydraulic pump and said hydraulic motor, said hydrostatic continuously variable transmission having at least one of a relationship that a middle point of a discharge region of said hydraulic pump is angularly delayed at a given angle in a direction of rotation of said hydraulic pump relative to a tilting axis of the pump swashplate and a relationship that a middle point of an expansion region of said hydraulic motor is angularly advanced at a given angle in a direction of rotation of said hydraulic motor relative to a tilting axis of said motor swashplate,

• wherein said pump plungers and said motor plungers are slidably received in cylinder bores defined in a cylinder block, respectively;
• and further including a transmission shaft connected to a central portion of said cylinder block, one of said pump swashplate and motor swashplate being supported at its back surface on a flat surface of a trunnion shaft having a semicircular section, said trunnion shaft being rotatably supported at its cylindrical surface, with no clearance, on a swashplate anchor fixedly mounted on a casing, and said swashplate anchor being rotatably supported on said transmission shaft.

A hydrostatic continuously variable transmission comprising a swashplate type hydraulic pump having a pump swashplate and annularly arranged pump plungers whose suction and discharge strokes are provided by said pump swashplate, a swashplate type hydraulic motor having a motor swashplate and annularly arranged motor plungers whose expansion and shrinkage strokes are provided by said motor swashplate, and a hydraulic closed circuit formed between said hydraulic pump and said hydraulic motor, said hydrostatic continuously variable transmission having at least one of a relationship that a middle point of a discharge region of said hydraulic pump is angularly delayed at a given angle in a direction of rotation of said hydraulic pump relative to a tilting axis of the pump swashplate and a relationship that a middle point of an expansion region of said hydraulic motor is angularly advanced at a given angle in a direction of rotation of said hydraulic motor relative to a tilting axis of said motor swashplate,

• wherein one group of said pump plungers and said motor plungers are slidably received in cylinder bores annularly arranged in a cylinder block;
• and further including concentrically arranged annular higher and lower pressure oil passages provided in said cylinder block and adapted to be alternately brought into communication with each of said cylinder bores by radially reciprocatable distributor valves, and an eccentric ring disposed eccentrically from a rotational center of said cylinder block to abut against outer ends of said distributor valves for providing reciprocal movement to each of said distributor valves with rotation of said cylinder block, one of said pump swashplate and motor swashplate engaged by said one plunger group being supported on a swashplate anchor secured to a casing, said anchor having a cylinder holder connected thereto for rotatably supporting said cylinder block, and said eccentric ring being attached to said cylinder holder.

A hydrostatic continuously variable transmission comprising a swashplate type hydraulic pump having a pump swashplate and annularly arranged pump plungers whose suction and discharge strokes are provided by said pump swashplate, a swashplate type hydraulic motor having a motor swashplate and annularly arranged motor plungers whose expansion and shrinkage strokes are provided by said motor swashplate, and a hydraulic closed circuit formed between said hydraulic pump and said hydraulic motor, said hydrostatic continuously variable transmission having at least one of a relationship that a middle point of a discharge region of said hydraulic pump is angularly delayed at a given angle in a direction of rotation of said hydraulic pump relative to a tilting axis of the pump swashplate and a relationship that a middle point of an expansion region of said hydraulic motor is angularly advanced at a given angle in a direction of rotation of said hydraulic motor relative to a tilting axis of said motor swashplate,

• wherein annularly arranged pump cylinder bores having said pump plungers slidably received therein and annularly arranged motor cylinder bores having said motor plungers slidably received therein are provided in a cylinder block which further includes higher and lower pressure oil passages concentrically provided therein and a large number of distributor valves arranged therein for radial reciprocal movement to bring each of said cylinder bores into alternate communication with said higher and lower pressure oil passages;
• and further including at least one eccentric ring supported on a support system for at least one of said pump swashplate and said motor swashplate in an eccentric manner with respect to a rotational center of said cylinder block to abut against outer ends of said distributor valves for providing reciprocal movement to each of said distributor valves with rotation of said at least one swashplate relative to the ring, and a forcing ring disposed between said eccentric ring and said cylinder block and connecting said distributor valves to one another in concentrical relation to said eccentric ring.

A hydrostatic continuously variable transmission comprising a swashplate type hydraulic pump having a pump swashplate and annularly arranged pump plungers whose suction and discharge strokes are provided by said pump swashplate, a swashplate type hydraulic motor having a motor swashplate and annularly arranged motor plungers whose expansion and shrinkage strokes are provided by said motor swashplate, and a hydraulic closed circuit formed between said hydraulic pump and said hydraulic motor, wherein said hydrostatic continuously variable transmission has at least one of a relationship that a middle point of a discharge region of said hydraulic pump is angularly delayed at a given angle in a direction of rotation of said hydraulic pump relative to a tilting axis of the pump swashplate and a relationship that a middle point of an expansion region of said hydraulic motor is angularly advanced at a given angle in a direction of rotation of said hydraulic motor relative to a tilting axis of said motor swashplate,

• further including a pump cylinder in said swashplate type hydraulic pump and a motor cylinder in said swashplate type hydraulic motor, said pump and motor cylinders being integrally coaxially interconnected to form a cylinder block;
• an inner annular oil passage and an outer annular oil passage surrounding said inner oil passage, both passages being concentrically defined in said cylinder block;
• a large number of first distributor valves adapted to reciprocally move between radially inner and outer positions in said cylinder block to bring a large number of cylinder bores having said pump plungers slidably received therein into alternate communication with said inner and outer oil passages, respectively and a large number of second distributor valves likewise adapted to reciprocally move between radially inner and outer positions in said cylinder block to bring a large number of cylinder bores having said motor plungers slidably received therein into alternate communication with said inner and outer oil passages, respectively, said first and second distributor valves being radially arranged in said cylinder block;
• a first eccentric ring mounted to engage said first distributor valves for providing reciprocal movement to each of said distributor valves to bring said cylinder bores in a discharge stroke in said pump cylinder into communication with said outer oil passage and to bring said cylinder bores in a suction stroke into communication with said inner oil passage with relative rotation between said cylinder block and an input member of said hydraulic pump;
• and a second eccentric ring mounted to engage said second distributor valves for providing reciprocal movement to each of said distributor valves to bring said cylinder bores in an expansion stroke in said motor cylinder into communication with said outer oil passage and to bring said cylinder bores in a shrinkage stroke into communication with said inner oil passage with rotation of said cylinder block, said outer oil passage comprising an annular groove and a large number of recesses provided in a zigzag fashion in opposite side walls of said annular groove, and said first and second distributor valves being arranged to pass through said recesses.

A hydrostatic continuously variable transmission comprising a swashplate type hydraulic pump having a pump swashplate and annularly arranged pump plungers whose suction and discharge strokes are provided by said pump swashplate, a swashplate type hydraulic motor having a motor swashplate and annularly arranged motor plungers whose expansion and shrinkage strokes are provided by said motor swashplate, and a hydraulic closed circuit formed between said hydraulic pump and said hydraulic motor, wherein said hydrostatic continuously variable transmission has at least one of a relationship that a middle point of a discharge region of said hydraulic pump is annularly delayed at a given angle in a direction of rotaiton of said hydraulic pump relative to a tilting axis of the pump swashplate and a relationship that a middle point of an expansion region of said hydraulic motor is angularly advanced at a given angle in a direction of rotation of said hydraulic motor relative to a tilting axis of said motor swashplate,

• further including a pump cylinder in said swashplate type hydraulic pump and a motor cylinder in said swashplate type hydraulic motor, said pump and motor cylinders being integrally coaxially interconnected to form a cylinder block;
• an annular higher pressure oil passage connected to cylinder bores in a discharge stroke in said hydraulic pump and an annular lower pressure oil passage connected to cylinder bores in a suction stroke in said hydraulic pump, said oil passages being concentrically defined in said cylinder block;
• a large number of distributor valves radially arranged for reciprocal movement between radially inner and outer positions in said cylinder block to bring a large number of cylinder bores having the motor plungers of said motor cylinder slidably received therein into alternate communication with said higher pressure oil passage and said lower pressure oil passage;
• and an eccentric ring supported on a support system for said cylinder block in an eccentric manner with respect to a rotational center of said cylinder block to engage said distributor valves for providing reciprocal movement to each of said distributor valves with rotation of said cylinder block, said eccentric ring being supported for movement between a clutch ON position in which said distributor valves are controlled to bring the cylinder bores of said motor cylinder into alternate communication with said higher pressure oil passage and said lower pressure oil passage and a clutch OFF position in which said distributor valves are controlled to open said higher pressure oil passage to a lower pressure portion.

A hydrostatic continuously variable transmission comprising a swashplate type hydraulic pump having a pump swashplate and annularly arranged pump plungers whose suction and discharge strokes are provided by said pump swashplate, a swashplate type hydraulic motor having a motor swashplate and annularly arranged motor plungers whose expansion and shrinkage strokes are provided by said motor swashplate, and a hydraulic closed circuit formed between said hydraulic pump and said hydraulic motor, wherein said hydrostatic continuously variable transmission has at least one of a relationship that a middle point of a discharge region of said hydraulic pump is annularly delayed at a given angle in a direction of rotation of said hydraulic pump relative to a tilting axis of the pump swashplate and a relationship that a middle point of an expansion region of said hydraulic motor is angularly advanced at a given angle in a direction of rotation of said hydraulic motor relative to a tilting axis of said motor swashplate,

• further including a pump cylinder in said swashplate type hydraulic pump and a motor cylinder in said swashplate type hydraulic motor, said pump and motor cylinders being integrally coaxially interconnected to form a cylinder block;
• annular lower and higher pressure oil passages concentrically defined in said cylinder block, so that cylinder bores in a suction stroke in said pump cylinder and cylinder bores in a shrinkage stroke in said motor cylinder are brought into communication with said lower pressure oil passage, while cylinder bores in a discharge stroke in said pump cylinder and cylinder bores in an expansion stroke in said motor cylinder are brought into communication with said higher pressure oil passage;
• and a transmission shaft secured to a central portion of said cylinder block and provided with a main oil passage supplied with an oil from a supplement pump, a supplement hole permitting said main oil passage to communicate with said lower pressure oil passage, and a lubrication hole permitting said main oil passage to communicate with portions to be lubricated of said hydraulic pump and said hydraulic motor, said supplement hole being provided with a check valve for blocking a reverse flow of a working oil from said lower pressure oil passage toward said main oil passage.

A hydrostatic continuously variable transmission comprising a swashplate type hydraulic pump having a pump swashplate and annularly arranged pump plungers whose suction and discharge strokes are provided by said pump swashplate, a swashplate type hydraulic motor having a motor swashplate and annularly arranged motor plungers whose expansion and shrinkage strokes are provided by said motor swashplate, and a hydraulic closed circuit formed between said hydraulic pump and said hydraulic motor, wherein said hydrostatic continuously variable transmission has at least one of a relationship that a middle point of a discharge region of said hydraulic pump is angularly delayed at a given angle in a direction of rotation of said hydraulic pump relative to a tilting axis of the pump swashplate and a relationship that a middle point of an expansion region of said hydraulic motor is angularly advanced at a given angle in a direction of rotation of said hydraulic motor relative to a tilting axis of said motor swashplate,

• further inlcuding a pump cylinder in said swashplate type hydraulic pump and a motor cylinder in said swashplate type hydraulic motor, said pump and motor cylinders being integrally coaxially interconnected to form a cylinder block;
• annular lower and higher pressure oil passages concentrically defined in said cylinder block, so that cylinder bores in a suction stroke in said pump cylinder and cylinder bores in a shrinkage stroke in said motor cylinder are brought respectively into communication with said lower pressure oil passage, while cylinder bores in a discharge stroke in said pump cylinder and cylinder bores in an expansion stroke in said motor cylinder are brought respectively into communication with said higher pressure oil passage;
• and a transmission shaft secured to a central portion of said cylinder block and perforated with a main oil passage passing through a central portion of said transmission shaft to lead to a supplement pump, and a supplement hole radially extending from said main oil passage to said lower pressure oil passage, with a cylindrical oil filter being placed in said main oil passage and internally connected to said supplement pump.

A hydrostatic continuously variable transmission comprising a swashplate type hydraulic pump having a pump swashplate and annularly arranged pump plungers whose suction and discharge strokes are provided by said pump swashplate, a swashplate type hydraulic motor having a motor swashplate and annularly arranged motor plungers whose expansion and shrinkage strokes are provided by said motor swashplate, and a hydraulic closed circuit formed between said hydraulic pump and said hydraulic motor, wherein said hydrostatic continuously variable transmission has at least one of a relationship that a middle point of a discharge region of said hydraulic pump is angularly delayed at a given angle in a direction of rotation of said hydraulic pump relative to a tilting axis of the pump swashplate and a relationship that a middle point of an expansion region of said hydraulic motor is angularly advanced at a given angle in a direction of rotation of said hydraulic motor relative to a tilting axis of said motor swashplate,

• further including a pump cylinder having cylinder bores in which a large number of the pump plungers of said swashplate type hydraulic pump are slidably received, and a motor cylinder having cylinder bores in which a large number of the motor plungers of said swashplate type hydraulic motor are slidably received, said pump and motor cylinders being coaxially integrally connected to form a cylinder block;
• an annular inner oil passage and an annular outer oil passage surrounding said inner oil passage, both passages being concentrically defined in said cylinder block, so that cylinder bores in a suction stroke in said pump cylinder and cylinder bores in a shrinkage stroke in said motor cylinder are brought respectively into communication with said lower pressure oil passage, while cylinder bores in a discharge stroke in said pump cylinder and cylinder bores in an expansion stroke in said motor cylinder are brought respectively into communciation with said higher pressure oil passage;
• a transmission shaft secured to a central portion of said cylinder block and perforated with a main oil passage supplied with an oil from a supplement pump, and a first supplement hole permitting said main oil passage to communicate with said inner oil passage;
• and a second supplement hole made in said cylinder block to permit said main oil passage to communicate with said outer oil passage, said second supplement hole being formed to pass between adjacent two of the cylinder bores in a section where the associated plungers are always in sliding engagement with the bores and having a diameter larger than a wall thickness of the cylinder block between said adjacent two cylinder bores.