Electrically driven parallel shaft transmission that maintains delivered power while shifting
AssigneeHamilton Sundstrand Corporation
InventorRichard A. Himmelmann
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An electrically powered driveline assembly includes a first electric motor and a second electric motor that drive corresponding input shafts to drive an output shaft. The first and second electric motors are selectively coupled to facilitate constant torque and speed output of the output shaft during shifting and also in the event of failure of one of the electric motors.
Claims20
An electrically powered driveline assembly comprising:
- a first electric motor driving a first input shaft,
- a second electric motor driving a second input shaft,
- a plurality of gears driven by one of said first electric motor and said second electric motor;
- an output shaft including a plurality of output gears corresponding with and driven by a selected gear from said plurality of gears;
- and
- a controller for operating the first and second electric motors and controlling engagement of the plurality of gears to the plurality of output gears, wherein the controller equalizes an output power of the first and second electric motors once a desired one of the output gears is engaged.
A method of operating an electric motor powered driveline assembly including the steps of:
- a) selectively driving a plurality of gears with at least one of a first electric motor and a second electric motor;
- b) continuously driving an output shaft including a plurality of output gears engaged with a selected one of the plurality of gears driven by a selected one of said first electric motor and said second electric motor;
- and
- c) equalizing power output of the first and second electric motors once a desired one of the plurality of gears is engaged.
A method of operating an electric motor powered driveline assembly including the steps of:
- selectively driving a plurality of gears with at least one of a first electric motor and a second electric motor, wherein said plurality of gears comprises a first plurality of gears driven by the first electric motor and a second plurality of gears driven by the second electric motor, wherein the first plurality of selectable gears are identical to the second plurality of selectable gears;
- and
- continuously driving an output shaft including a plurality of output gears engaged with a selected one of the plurality of gears driven by a selected one of said first electric motor and said second electric motor.
An electrically powered driveline assembly comprising:
- a first electric motor driving a first input shaft,
- a first plurality of gears driven by the first electric motor;
- a second electric motor driving a second input shaft,
- a second plurality of gears driven by said second electric motor, where the second plurality of gears is identical to the first plurality of gears;
- an output shaft including a plurality of output gears corresponding with and driven by a selected gear from at least one of said first and second plurality of gears;
- and
- a controller for operating the first and second electric motors and controlling engagement of the plurality of gears to the plurality of output gears.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.