METHOD FOR PRODUCING VARIOUS VARIANTS OF A SERIES OF AN ELECTRICALLY OPERABLE ACTUATION SYSTEM, FULLY ELECTRICALLY OPERABLE OR HYBRID-OPERABLE DRIVE TRAIN OF A MOTOR VEHICLE, AND CONFIGURATION SYSTEM FOR PRODUCING VARIOUS VARIANTS OF A SERIES OF AN ELECTRICALLY OPERABLE ACTUATION SYSTEM

Abstract

The disclosure relates to a method for producing various variants of a series of an electrically operable actuation system for actuating components which can be connected into and/or disconnected from a drive train of a motor vehicle. The actuation system comprises a drive unit, a transmission unit, and a control unit. The actuation system is assembled from a modular kit including the following components: a first group of first drive units, at least a second group of second drive units, a first group of first transmission units, at least a second group of second transmission units, a first group of first control units, and a second group of second control units. The groups of the drive units, the groups of the transmission units and/or the groups of the control units can be mechanically and electrically coupled to each other.

Claims

1. A method for producing variants of an electrically operable actuation system for actuating components configured to be connected into and/or disconnected from a drive train of a motor vehicle, the electrically operable actuation system comprising a drive unit, a transmission unit, and a control unit, and the electrically operable actuation system is assembled from a modular kit comprising: a first group of first drive units and at least one second group of second drive units, a first group of first transmission units and at least one second group of second transmission units, and a first group of first control units and a second group of second control units, and any one drive unit of the groups of drive units, any one transmission unit of the groups of transmission units, and any one control unit of the groups of control units are configured to be mechanically and electrically coupled together, the method comprising: selectively removing a drive unit from one of: i) the first group of first drive units, or ii) the at least one second group of second drive units, selectively removing a transmission unit from one of: i) the first group of first transmission units, or ii) the at least one second group of second transmission units, selectively removing a control unit from one of: i) the first group of control units, or ii) the second group of second control units; and mechanically and electrically coupling the selectively removed drive unit, the selectively removed transmission unit, and the selectively removed control unit together to form a variant of a structural unit of the electrically operable actuation system.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the drive unit is an electric rotary motor, an electric linear motor, or a solenoid.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the transmission unit is configured to convert a rotary movement into a linear movement.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the transmission unit is configured as a spindle drive having a rotatable spindle coupled to the drive unit and meshing with a rotationally fixed but translationally displaceable spindle nut.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the spindle nut has a sensor target configured for determining a position of the spindle nut, the position detected by a sensor arranged in the transmission unit, wherein and a sensor signal from the sensor corresponding to the position of the spindle nut is sent to the control unit.

6. The method according to claim 4, wherein the spindle nut is displaceable in at least one translational direction against at least one spring element.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the electrically operable actuation system is configured to actuate a parking lock.

8. The method according to claim 2, wherein mechanically and electrically coupling the selectively removed drive unit, the selectively removed transmission unit, and the selectively removed control unit occurs via a form-fitting or a force-fitting connection.

9. The method of claim 1, utilized to produce a parking lock and a clutch device of a fully electric or hybrid operable drive train of a motor vehicle.

10. A configuration system for producing variants of an electrically operable actuation system for actuating components which can be connected into and/or disconnected from a drive train of a motor vehicle, the configuration system comprising: the electrically operable actuation system having a drive unit, a transmission unit, and a control unit, and a server with a memory for storing configuration data of the variants of the electrically operable actuation system, and the electrically operable actuation system is assembled from a modular kit comprising: a first group of first drive units and at least one second group of second rive units, a first group of first transmission units and at least one second group of second transmission units, and a first group of first control units and a second group of second control units, and any one drive unit of the groups of drive nits, any one transmission unit of the groups of transmission units, and any one control unit of the groups of control units are configured to be mechanically and electrically coupled together, and the configuration system allows a selection of desired components from the modular kit and carries out a calculation of design data of the electrically operable actuation system comprised of the desired components, and the configuration system generates control commands for an at least partially automated production of the electrically operable actuation system based on the selection of desired components from the modular kit.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the transmission unit is configured to convert linear movement into a rotary movement.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein the transmission unit is a spindle drive.

13. The method according to claim 7, wherein the electrically operable actuation system is configured to actuate a clutch device.

14. The method according to claim 1, wherein the electrically operable actuation system is configured to actuate a clutch device.

15. The method according to claim 1, wherein a power output of each one of the first group of first drive units is greater than a power output of each one of the at least one second group of second drive units.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein a memory capacity of each one of the first group of control units is smaller than a memory capacity of each one of the second group of second control units.

17. A method for producing variants of an electrically operable actuation system for actuating components configured to be connected into and/or disconnected from a drive train of a motor vehicle, the electrically operable actuation system comprising a drive unit and a transmission unit, and the electrically operable actuation system is assembled from a modular kit comprising: a first group of first drive units and at least one second group of second drive units, and a first group of first transmission units and at least one second group of second transmission units, and any one drive unit of the groups of drive units is configured to be mechanically and electrically coupled to any one transmission unit of the groups of transmission units, the method comprising: selectively removing a drive unit from one of: i) the first group of first drive units, or ii) the at least one second group of second drive units, and selectively removing a transmission unit from one of: i) the first group of first transmission units, or ii) the at least one second group of second transmission units, and mechanically and electrically coupling the selectively removed drive unit to the selective removed transmission unit to form a variant of a structural unit of the electrically operable actuation system.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the transmission unit is configured to actuate a parking lock.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the transmission unit is configured to actuate a clutch device.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein the drive unit is an electric rotary motor, an electric linear motor, or a solenoid.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0044] The disclosure will be explained in more detail below with reference to figures without limiting the general concept of the disclosure.

[0045] In the figures:

[0046] FIG. 1 shows a modular kit for producing various variants of a series of an electrically operable actuation system for actuating components which can be connected into and/or disconnected from a drive train of a motor vehicle,

[0047] FIG. 2 shows a drive train of a motor vehicle with components that can be connected into and/or disconnected therefrom, with various variants of a series of an electrically operable actuation system, and

[0048] FIG. 3 shows a configuration system for producing various variants of a series of an electrically operable actuation system for actuating components that can be connected into and/or disconnected from a drive train of a motor vehicle.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0049] Based on FIG. 1, a method for producing various variants of a series of an electrically operable actuation system 1 for actuating components 4 that can be connected into and/or disconnected from a drive train 2 of a motor vehicle 3 is first explained in more detail.

[0050] Each variant of the actuation system 1 initially comprises a drive unit 5, a transmission unit 6 and a control unit 7. As outlined in FIG. 1, the actuation system 1 is assembled from a modular kit 22, which has the following components:

[0051] A first group 8 of first drive units 5 and at least one second group 9 of second drive units 5; a first group 10 of first transmission units 6 and at least one second group 11 of second transmission units 6; and a first group 12 of first control units 7 and a second group 13 of second control units 7.

[0052] The first group 8 of first drive units 5 has, for example, a powerful motor, while the second group 9 of second drive units 5 has a relatively weaker motor, which is indicated by the size of the motors in FIG. 1.

[0053] The first group 10 of first transmission units 6 has a spring element 14 which rests on the outside of a piston connected to the spindle nut 29, while the second group 11 of second transmission units 6 has a spring element 14 arranged in the piston. The figure also shows that the spindle nut 29 can be displaced in at least one translational direction against the action of at least one spring element 14.

[0054] The first group 12 of first control units 7 has, for example, a smaller memory while the second group 13 of second control units 7 has a larger memory, which is indicated by the size of the rectangle symbolizing the memory.

[0055] The groups 8, 9 of the drive units 5, the groups 10, 11 of the transmission units 6 and/or the groups 12, 13 of the control units 12 can be mechanically and electrically coupled to one another, i.e., they are correspondingly compatible with one another. From the modular kit 22, for example, the differently configured actuation systems 1 shown in the lower part of FIG. 1, which are designated there by a and b, can be implemented.

[0056] For example, the actuation system 1 designated a can be configured to actuate a parking lock 15 and the actuation system 1 designated b can be configured to actuate a clutch device 16.

[0057] To produce a variant of the series of actuation system 1, a drive unit 5 is first removed from one of the groups 8, 9 of drive units 5, a transmission unit 6 is removed from one of the groups 10, 11 of transmission units 6 and a control unit 7 is removed from one of groups 12, 13 of control units 7.

[0058] Subsequently, the mechanical and electrical coupling of the removed drive unit 5, transmission unit 6 and control unit 7 is then carried out to form a structural unit of a variant of the series of the electrically operable actuation system 1. The coupling of one of the drive units 5, transmission unit 6 and control units 7 to form a structural unit takes place in a form-fitting and/or force-fitting manner. This can be done, for example, by plugging the components together, each of which has mutually compatible mechanical and/or electrical coupling means.

[0059] A drive unit 5 can, for example, be selected from the group of electric rotary motors, electric linear motors and/or solenoids. The transmission unit 6 can be designed in particular to convert a rotary movement into a linear movement and/or vice versa, in particular in the form of a spindle drive, as indicated in the figures.

[0060] The transmission unit 6, designed as a spindle drive, has a rotatable spindle 8 which can be coupled to the drive unit 5 and which meshes with a rotationally fixed but translationally displaceable spindle nut 9. The spindle nut 9 has a sensor target 11 for determining the position of the spindle nut 9, which can be detected by a sensor 12 arranged in the transmission unit 6, wherein a sensor signal 13 from the sensor 12 representing the position of the spindle nut 9 is sent to the control unit 7.

[0061] FIG. 2 shows an example application of the variants of a series of an electrically operable actuation system 1 produced using the method described. Here a fully electric or hybrid drive train 2 of a motor vehicle 3 can be seen with a parking lock 15 and a clutch device 16, wherein the parking lock 15 and the clutch device 16 are produced according to the aforementioned method. In principle, it would of course also be possible to provide further actuation systems 1 from the series in the drive train 2, for example to actuate a braking device for actuating a multi-speed, shiftable transmission.

[0062] Finally, FIG. 3 shows a configuration system 17 for producing various variants of a series of an electrically operable actuation system 1 for actuating components 4 which can be connected into and/or disconnected from a drive train 2 of a motor vehicle 3, as are also shown by way of example in FIG. 2. The configuration system 17 has a server 18 with a memory for storing configuration data 19 from various variants of a series of actuation systems 1. This configuration data 19 represents the components from the modular kit 22. The configuration system 17 now allows a user to select the desired components from the modular kit 22, i.e., the configuration of various variants of a series of an actuation system 1. The selection and the corresponding configuration data 19 are then used to calculate design data 20 of the actuation system 1 consisting of the selected components, such as design dimensions and electrical parameters. Based on the selection of components from the modular kit 22, the configuration system 17 subsequently generates control commands 21 for the at least partially automated production of the actuation system 1.

[0063] The disclosure is not limited to the embodiments shown in the figures. The above description is therefore not to be regarded as limiting, but rather as illustrative.

LIST OF REFERENCE SYMBOLS

[0064] 1 Actuation system [0065] 2 Drive train [0066] 3 Motor vehicle [0067] 4 Components [0068] 5 Drive unit [0069] 6 Transmission unit [0070] 7 Control unit [0071] 8 Group [0072] 9 Group [0073] 10 Group [0074] 11 Group [0075] 12 Group [0076] 13 Group [0077] 14 Spring element [0078] 15 Parking lock [0079] 16 Clutch device [0080] 17 Configuration system [0081] 18 Server [0082] 19 Configuration data [0083] 20 Data [0084] 21 Control commands [0085] 22 Modular kit [0086] 28 Spindle [0087] 29 Spindle nut