Ford Global Technolgoies, LLC

Bruce Granstrom

Jeffrey Edward Maurer

Yuji Fujii

Gregory Daniel Goleski

John Edward Brevick

David Allen Janson

Gregory Michael Pietron

David Gon Oh

A hybrid transaxle permits location of a traction motor in a more favorable location, decreasing the risk of occupant injury in a vehicle collision. Axis transfer gearing moves the generator off the engine axis, which permits placing the traction motor further forward without interference with the generator. The gearing is confined to two gear planes, reducing the transaxle width.

Hybrid transaxle

A transmission includes a main housing having a rear wall and at least one sidewall extending from the rear wall. The rear wall has an outer side and has an inner side that cooperates with the at least one sidewall to define an interior. A planetary gearset is disposed within the interior. An output shaft is coupled to the gearset and extends through a hole defined in the rear wall. An extension housing is connected to a rear portion of the main housing such that the outer side and the extension housing cooperate to define a torque-sensor cavity. The output shaft extends through the cavity. A torque sensor is disposed within the cavity adjacent to the output shaft and has an electrical connector disposed in a wall of the extension housing.

Torque sensor packaging for automatic transmissions

A powertrain incorporates a link shaft between the transmission output shaft and downstream components in order to facilitate use of a torque sensor. The link shaft includes an inner section splined to the output shaft and an outer section treated to produce a magnetic field that varies based on transmitted torque. The inner section and outer section are separated by a circumferential gap that directs the torque past the treated surface. Use of the link shaft eliminates the need to directly treat the transmission output shaft. Separating the spline and the treated surface radially reduces the axial length required for torque sensing and allows commonality among variants with and without torque sensors and between two wheel drive and four wheel drive variants.

Transmission and transfer case with torque sensing

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Dearborn, MI, United States of America

Bruce Granstrom