FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for controlling transmission of a DCT, which provide a safety mechanism based on gear position monitoring.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

In general, a transmission is referred to as a transmission and also a transmission device that transmits power generated by various engines to required rotational force according to a speed .

Such a transmission constitutes various transmission steps according to the nature of a vehicle. Also, there is a manual method in which a manual operation is performed or an automatic method in which shifting is automatically performed through a transmission to match a speed according to whether a person operates a clutch.

Both the manual and automatic transmissions have advantages and disadvantages, and recently, in the case of automatic transmission vehicles using dual clutch transmission (hereinafter, referred to as a DCT) , automatic and manual dual clutch transmission are often used.

The DCT is provided with two clutches, and the two clutches are respectively connected to an odd-numbered gear and an even-numbered gear to transmit or interrupt torque of the engine.

For example, in the case of five-speed shifting, a first clutch is configured to be engaged with first, third, and fifth gears, and a second clutch is configured to be engaged with second, fourth, and R gears. When the first clutch is engaged to travel at a speed of a specific shift gear (for example, the first gear) , the second clutch stands by in the state of being engaged with the next gear (the second gear) before an up-shift or a down-shift occurs, and then, when the shift occurs, the second gear is configured to be engaged to travel at a speed of the next shift gear (the second gear) .

In the conventional DCT, a transmission system is provided as a normally-open type clutch, and when a transmission control unit (TCU) sets a power stage state to OFF, the clutch is opened. In this system, when a dangerous situation is detected by a safety mechanism of the TCU, which is called LEVEL 2 monitoring, the power stage state is set to OFF to open the clutch, and the engine power may not be transmitted to a wheel. Thus, a safe state may be achieved.

On the other hand, in the case in which the transmission system is constituted by a normally-closed type clutch, when the TCU sets the power stage state to OFF, the clutch is closed. Here, in the case in which the safety mechanism of the TCU, which is called LEVEL 2 monitoring, is applied in the same manner, when a dangerous situation is detected to set the power stage state to OFF, the clutch is not opened, and the engine power is transmitted to the wheel so that the safe state is not maintained.

Thus, there is a problem of changing the transmission system to provide an additional system that opens the clutch of the transmission . As the background art of the present invention, "apparatus and method for controlling transmission of DCT system" is disclosed in Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2016-0032628 (published on March 24, 2016) . DESCRIPTION

According to one aspect of the present invention, the present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and a method for controlling transmission of a DCT which applies a safety mechanism based on gear position monitoring in a transmission including a normally-closed type clutch .

An apparatus for controlling transmission of a DCT according to one aspect of the present invention is characterized by including: a gear lever detecting unit receiving a gear lever operation of a driver; a gear position monitoring unit monitoring a position of a gear in the transmission; and a control unit grasping driver' s intention to operate the gear lever and determining whether a gear shift is abnormal on the basis of the driver' s intention to operate the gear lever and the gear position monitored through the gear position monitoring unit so that the transmission is maintained in a neutral state.

In the present invention, the control unit may set the power stage state to OFF at a preset critical point before the gear position input from the gear position monitoring unit reaches a synchronization point when it is determined that the gear position is abnormal.

In the present invention, the control unit may determine that the gear shift is abnormal when the gear position input from the gear position monitoring unit moves to a gear position lower than a preset reference value.

In the present invention, the control unit may determine that the gear shift is abnormal when the gear position input from the gear position monitoring unit moves to the D range in a case in which the driver' s intention to operate the gear lever detected through the gear lever detecting unit is within a P or N range.

In the present invention, the control unit may determine that the gear shift is abnormal when the gear position input from the gear position monitoring unit moves to an R range in the case in which the driver' s intention to operate the gear lever detected through the gear lever detecting unit is in a D range, or when the gear position input from the gear position monitoring unit moves to the D range in the case in which the driver' s intention to operate the gear lever detected through the gear lever detecting unit is within an R range.

In the present invention, the transmission may include a normally-closed type clutch.

A method for controlling transmission of a DCT according to another aspect of the present invention is characterized by including steps of: allowing a control unit to grasp driver's intention to operate a gear lever through a gear lever detecting unit; allowing the control unit to receive a monitored gear position from a gear position monitoring unit; allowing the control unit to determine whether a gear shift is abnormal on the basis of the driver' s intention to operate the gear lever and the monitored gear position; and allowing the transmission to be maintained in a neutral state when the gear shift is abnormal as a result of the determination.

In the controlling of the transmission to be maintained in the neutral state according to the present invention, the control unit may set a power stage state to OFF at a preset critical point before the gear position input from the gear position monitoring unit reaches a synchronization point when it is determined that the gear position is abnormal.

In the determining of whether the gear shift is abnormal according to the present invention, the control unit may determine that the gear shift is abnormal when the gear position input from the gear position monitoring unit moves to a gear position lower than a preset reference value.

In the determining whether the gear shift is abnormal according to the present invention, the control unit may determine that the gear shift is abnormal when the gear position input from the gear position monitoring unit moves to a D range in a case in which the driver' s intention to operate the gear lever detected through the gear lever detecting unit is within a P or N range.

In the determining of whether the gear shift is abnormal according to the present invention, the control unit may determine that the gear change is abnormal when the gear position input from the gear position monitoring unit moves to an R range in the case in which the driver' s intention to operate the gear lever detected through the gear lever detecting unit is in a D range, or when the gear position input from the gear position monitoring unit moves to the D range in the case in which the driver' s intention to operate the gear lever detected through the gear lever detecting unit is within an R range.

In the apparatus and method for controlling transmission of a DCT according to an embodiment of the present invention, the safety mechanism based on the gear position monitoring may be applied in the transmission including the normally-closed type clutch to maintain the safe state, thereby achieving the safe state without additionally changing the transmission system in the existing safety mechanism.

Also, in the apparatus and method for controlling transmission of a DCT according to an embodiment of the present invention, the same safety mechanism may be used regardless of the normally-opened type clutch and the normally-closed type clutch to improve the convenience of the transmission safety control.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an apparatus for controlling transmission of a DCT according to an embodiment of the present invention .

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining a method for controlling transmission of the DCT according to an embodiment of the present invention . FIGS. 3 to 5 are views illustrating an example of an abnormal gear shift in the apparatus and method for controlling transmission of the DCT according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, an apparatus and method for controlling transmission of a DCT according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In this process, thicknesses of lines and sizes of components illustrated in the drawings may be exaggerated for clarity and convenience of explanation.

Also, the terms described below are defined in consideration of functions of the present invention. Thus, definitions of the terms should be made based on the contents throughout this specification .

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an apparatus for controlling transmission of a DCT according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 3 to 5 are views illustrating an example of an abnormal gear shift in the apparatus and method for controlling transmission of the DCT according to an embodiment of the present invention. The apparatus for controlling the transmission of the DCT will be described with reference to the drawings.

First, in a DCT system constituted by the conventional normally-opened type clutch, when a control unit (30) sets a power stage state to OFF, a clutch is maintained in an opened state by a specific mechanical system for opening the clutch. Here, in this embodiment, a safety mechanism called level 2 (LEVEL 2) monitoring is applied. When a dangerous situation is detected through the level 2 monitoring, the power stage is set to OFF so that the clutch is opened, and engine power may not be transmitted to a wheel. Thus, a safe state may be achieved.

However, in the DCT constituted by the normally-closed type clutch, when a dangerous situation is detected, and the power stage state is set to OFF, the safe state may not be maintained because the clutch is closed. Thus, in this embodiment, when the safety mechanism called the level 2 monitoring is applied, the safe state may be achieved without additionally changing the transmission system even in the transmission including the normally-closed type clutch.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the apparatus for controlling the transmission of the DCT according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a gear position monitoring unit (10), a gear lever detecting unit (20) , a control unit (30) , and a power stage driving unit (40) .

The gear position monitoring unit (10) monitors a position of a gear to transmit the monitored position to the control unit (30) . The gear position monitoring unit (10) may monitor whether the position of the gear is located at the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, or R stages. Here, the gear position monitoring unit (10) may be provided in the transmission, and its position is not limited.

The gear lever detecting unit (20) detects a position of a gear lever to transmit the detected position to the control unit (30) . That is to say, when a driver operates the gear lever, the gear lever operation of the driver is received and transmitted to the control unit (30) so that the control unit (30) grasps driver's intention to operate the gear lever. Here, the gear lever detecting unit (20) may detect a range in which the driver operates the gear lever in a P stage, an R stage, an N stage, and a D stage.

The power stage driving unit (40) changes the state of the power stage to on or off when receiving an ON/OFF command from the control unit (30) . Here, when the power stage state is turned off by the power stage driving unit (40) , the normally-closed type clutch closes the clutch, and the normally-opened type clutch opens the clutch. The control unit (30) receives the monitored gear position from the gear position monitoring unit (10) . Also, the position of the gear lever is received from the gear lever detecting unit (20) to grasp the driver's intention to operate the gear lever.

Also, the control unit (30) may determine whether a gear shift is an abnormal gear shift on the basis of the driver's intention to operate the gear lever detected through the gear lever detecting unit (20) and the gear position input from the gear position monitoring unit (10) .

Here, the control unit (30) may control the transmission to maintain a neutral state in the case of the abnormal gear shift as the result of the determination. That is to say, the control unit (30) sets the power stage state to OFF when the gear position input from the gear position monitoring unit (10) reaches a preset critical point before reaching a synchronization point.

That is to say, the control unit (30) sets the power stage state to OFF to maintain the neutral state before the gear position reaches the synchronization point to be synchronized. That is to say, the critical point for setting the power stage state to OFF should be set before the synchronization point.

Here, in this embodiment, the control unit (30) may be a transmission control unit (TCU) .

A case in which the control unit (30) determines that the gear shift is abnormal in this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5. Here, in this embodiment, a normally-closed type clutch five-speed transmission system will be described as an example.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the control unit (30) may determine that the gear shift is abnormal if the gear position input from the gear position monitoring unit (10) moves to a gear position that is lower than a predetermined reference value. For example, in the case of down-shifting from the fifth stage to the first stage, too low a gear engagement may result in a dangerous situation. Thus, the control unit (30) determines that the situation is a dangerous situation and sets the power stage state to OFF before the gear reaches the synchronization point.

Next, as illustrated in FIG. 4, the control unit (30) may determine the shift as the abnormal gear shift through the gear lever detecting unit (20) when the gear position moves to a D range in the case in which the driver' s intention to operate the gear lever is in the P range or N range.

For example, when the gear position shifts from an initial position in which a neutral state is maintained to the first gear, it is determined that the vehicle is in a dangerous situation, that it is undesired to allow the vehicle to move in a stop state, and the power stage state is turned off before the gear reaches the synchronization point.

Then, as illustrated in FIG. 5, the control unit (30) may determine that the gear shift is abnormal when the gear position input from the gear position monitoring unit (10) moves to the R range in the case in which the driver' s intention to operate the gear lever detected through the gear lever detecting unit (20) is in the D range, or when the gear position input from the gear position monitoring unit (10) moves to the D range in the case in which the driver' s intention to operate the gear lever detected through the gear lever detecting unit (20) is within an R range.

For example, when the driver moves the gear lever to the D range but the vehicle is moving backward, or when the driver moves the gear lever to the R range but the vehicle is moving forward, it is determined to be a dangerous situation, and thus, the power stage state is set to OFF before the gear reaches the synchronization point.

That is to say, the control unit (30) applies the level 2 monitoring to set the power stage state to OFF when it is determined to be a dangerous situation and tries to switch the transmission to the neutral state by setting the power stage state to OFF before gear synchronization starts . Thus, in the dangerous situation, it is possible to switch to the neutral state before the gear is abnormally engaged to achieve the safe state.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining a method for controlling the transmission of the DCT according to an embodiment of the present invention, and the method for controlling the transmission of the DCT will be described as follows.

First, the control unit (30) receives the position of the gear lever by the gear lever operation from the gear lever detecting unit (20) (S100) .

That is to say, when the driver operates the gear lever, the gear lever detecting unit (20) receives the gear lever operation of the driver to transmit the received gear lever operation to the control unit (30) so that the control unit (30) grasps the driver's intention to operate the gear lever.

Next, the control unit (30) receives the monitored gear position from the gear position monitoring unit (10) (S200) .

The gear position monitoring unit (10) may monitor whether the position of the gear is located at the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, or R stages to transmit the monitor position to the control unit (30) .

Then, the control unit (30) may determine whether a gear shift is an abnormal gear shift on the basis of the driver's intention to operate the gear lever detected through the gear lever detecting unit (20) and the gear position input from the gear position monitoring unit (10) (S300) .

That is to say, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the control unit (30) may determine that the gear shift is abnormal if the gear position input from the gear position monitoring unit (10) moves to a gear position that is lower than a predetermined reference value.

Also, as illustrated in FIG. 4, the control unit (30) may determine the shift as the abnormal gear shift through the gear lever detecting unit (20) when the gear position input from the gear position monitoring unit (10) moves to a D range in the case in which the driver' s intention to operate the gear lever is in the P range or N range.

Also, as illustrated in FIG. 5, the control unit (30) may determine that the gear shift is abnormal when the gear position input from the gear position monitoring unit (10) moves to the R range in the case in which the driver' s intention to operate the gear lever detected through the gear lever detecting unit (20) is in the D range, or when the gear position input from the gear position monitoring unit (10) moves to the D range in the case in which the driver' s intention to operate the gear lever detected through the gear lever detecting unit (20) is within the R range.

When it is determined to be the abnormal gear shift in the step S300, the control unit (30) sets the power stage state to OFF (S400) .

Here, the control unit (30) may transmit an off command to the power stage driving unit (40) to set the power stage state to OFF. That is to say, the control unit (30) sets the power stage state to OFF so that the transmission is maintained in the neutral state .

That is to say, the control unit (30) sets the power stage state to OFF when the gear position input from the gear position monitoring unit (10) reaches a preset critical point before reaching a synchronization point.

That is to say, the control unit (30) sets the power stage state to OFF to maintain the neutral state before the gear position reaches the synchronization point to be synchronized. On the other hand, in the step S300, when the control unit (30) does not determine that the gear shift is the abnormal gear shift, the control unit (30) terminates and maintains the power stage state in the ON state.

In summary, the control unit (30) applies the level 2 monitoring to set the power stage state to OFF when it is determined to be a dangerous situation and tries to switch the transmission to the neutral state by setting the power stage state to OFF before gear synchronization starts. Thus, in the dangerous situation, it is possible to switch to the neutral state before the gear is abnormally engaged to achieve the safe state.

As described above, in the apparatus and method for controlling transmission of a DCT according to an embodiment of the present invention, the safety mechanism based on the gear position monitoring may be applied in the transmission including the normally-closed type clutch to maintain the safe state, thereby achieving the safe state without additionally changing the transmission system in the existing safety mechanism.

Also, in the apparatus and method for controlling transmission of a DCT according to an embodiment of the present invention, the same safety mechanism may be used regardless of the normally-opened type clutch and the normally-closed type clutch to improve the convenience of the transmission safety control.

While the present invention has been shown and described particularly with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims .

Therefore, the technical protection scope of the present invention should be defined by the following claims. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS

10: Gear position monitoring unit

20: Gear lever detecting unit

30: Control unit

40: Power stage driving unit