Volvo Trucks

The invention concerns an electric drive axle (12), comprising: - an electric machine (22) with a rotor shaft (28), and - a transmission (26) comprising : a. a primary reduction gearset (30) connected to the rotor shaft (28) and comprising a driving gear (34), and b. a planetary gear transmission (32) comprising : i. an outer planetary gearset (36) comprising an outer ring gear, an outer planet carrier and an outer sun gear, and ii. an inner planetary gearset (38) comprising an inner ring gear and an inner sun gear. The outer ring gear is connected to the driven gear (34) and defines the input of the planetary gear transmission (32). The inner planetary gearset (38) comprises an inner planet carrier defining the output of the planetary gear transmission (32).

Motor drive system (1) for providing power to auxiliary loads of a vehicle at least partially electrically powered, comprising: - an electric machine (2); - an AC/DC inverter (3) having its AC and DC sides (5,6) connected to the electric machine and a high voltage power system (100) of the vehicle, respectively and when the vehicle undergoes a fault causing onboard high voltage batteries to be disconnected, the inverter assumes a first configuration or a second configuration; - a controller (4) switching the inverter between the two configurations based on a comparison of a reference voltage with the DC voltage measured at the DC output of the inverter, thereby controlling an output voltage supplying the auxiliary loads.

The invention concerns a method (100) for controlling a gearbox of a vehicle. The method (100) comprises applying a high primary gear shifting strategy (102), comprising: - calculating an achievable acceleration (108) that would be achieved if using the motor at full capability ; - setting an acceleration limit (110), representing a lower threshold for shifting from a high primary gear to a low primary gear ; - calculating a factored acceleration limit (112) by multiplying the acceleration limit by a factor depending on a current acceleration command ; and - applying a primary gear selection (114), where the high primary gear is kept (116) if the achievable acceleration is greater than the factored acceleration limit and where the gearbox is shifted down to the low primary gear (118) if the achievable acceleration is equal to or smaller than the factored acceleration limit.

Apparatus (1) for transmitting power from a power generating device (100) to an electrical machine (110) suitable to be installed onboard a motor vehicle, the apparatus (1) comprising: - a power take-off, PTO, device (3) which comprises a gear wheel (3) which is suitable to receive rotary power from the power generating device (100); - a power transmission (4) which is suitable to receive rotary power from said gear wheel (3) and to transfer at least part of the received rotary power to the electrical machine (110); - a decoupler (10) that is interconnected between and transfers rotary power from the gear wheel (3) in input to the power transmission (4), wherein the decoupler (10) is at least partially fitted inside said gear wheel (3) and reduces the torque amplitude transmitted in input to the power transmission (4) relative to the torque amplitude received in input by the gear wheel (3) from the power generating device (100).

A shaft assembly (17) including a shaft (19), a gear assembly (49), comprising a first gearwheel (51) and a second gearwheel (63) locked in rotation relative to each other. The shaft assembly includes a first cylindrical joint, comprising a first cylindrical section (25), integral to the shaft, and a first central opening (53), integral to the first gearwheel, the first gearwheel being mounted on the shaft via the first central opening, a second cylindrical joint, comprising a second cylindrical section (31), integral to the shaft, and a second central opening (65), the second gearwheel being mounted on the shaft via the second central opening, and a spline joint (37), comprising a first part (35), integral to the shaft, and a second part (50), integral to the gear assembly, engaged with the first part so that the first gearwheel and the second gearwheel are locked in rotation with the shaft.

A computer-implemented method controls at least one park brake relay valve (64) of a park brake system (66) of a vehicle (20), via control signals (S₅₁) sent to a park brake control unit (62), which controls the park brake relay valve, based on requests signals (S₅₂, S₅₄, S₅₆) received from at least one requester (52, 54, 56). The request signals take either an activated value, when the request is presented, or a neutral value, when the request is not presented. The request signals are sent with a given signal frame. The method comprises a safety check performed, when a request signal (S₅₂, S₅₄, S₅₆) is received, by a request arbitrator (70) to assess if the request is valid, by determining whether or not the request signal is longer than a first predetermined time-period (Δt1) and whether or not, during a second predetermined time-period (Δt2), the request signal takes the neutral value.

A mechanical transmission system (21) for a powertrain (7) of a vehicle (1), the mechanical transmission system comprising an automated gearbox (23) comprising different gears, the gears switched between different configurations, in each configuration a gear associated to the given configuration is configured to connect a primary part (11) of the powertrain to a secondary part (15) of the powertrain with a transmission coefficient associated, a pressurized air system (25) adapted to switch the gears from one configuration to another configuration and a controller (37) commanding the switching of the gears between the different configurations according to gear selection rules. The gear selection rules evolve between normal selection rules when a pressure of the pressurized air system is above a first threshold and safety selection rules when the pressure is below the first threshold, the safety selection rules imposing a waiting time between two successive switching of the gears.

The present disclosure relates to a control unit (16, 200) for a vehicle (3), the vehicle being a full electric or a hybrid vehicle, the control unit (16, 200) comprising a communication interface (17, 226) and processing circuitry (18, 202) being coupled to the communication interface; the processing circuitry (18, 202) being adapted to receive, via the communication interface (17, 226), a message from a remote control device (20) to drive the vehicle a predefined distance, to command the gearbox (12) to engage with the highest available ratio, to command the at least one electric motor (10) in order to move the vehicle, to stop the motor when the vehicle has traversed the predefined distance, and to command to engage the at least one brake (8).

A valve system (10) including a first valve body (20) defining an outlet (24) configured to distribute a fluid; a second valve body (22) configured to be received within the first valve body and to be transitioned between at least a first position corresponding to a fully-open state of the valve system and a second position corresponding to a closed state of the valve system; a motor (40) configured to transition the second valve body between the first position and the second position by rotating a shaft (42) about an axis of rotation (A-R) in a series of angular steps; and a control unit (60) configured to operate the motor to transition the second valve body between the first position and the second position.

An ignition system (10) including an injection member (20) configured to deliver fuel to an ignition zone (140) within a combustion chamber, an ignition element (40) configured to ignite fuel within the ignition zone, and a control unit (60) configured to operate the injection member and the ignition element in a first ignition phase including ignition of a first delivery of fuel provided to the combustion chamber by the injection member and a second ignition phase including ignition of a second delivery of fuel provided to the combustion chamber by the injection member.