Modular Hydraulic Actuation Layout for Quiet Redundant Brake Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing hydraulic actuating systems for vehicles face challenges in achieving compactness, silent operation, high reliability, and precise feedback control, particularly in electric vehicles and autonomous driving systems, where noise reduction, modular design, and redundancy are critical due to constrained installation spaces and increasing demands for safety and efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A modular hydraulic actuating system combining a pressure supply device, electromotive drive, transmission mechanism, and valve arrangement with an electrical control unit, allowing for compact design, silent operation, and high feedback control accuracy, with redundant components and connections for enhanced reliability and safety, including hydraulic and electrical connections for brake pedal simulation and emergency braking functions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If components are integrated into a compact 1-box solution, then installation space is reduced, but manufacturing complexity and assembly difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system is divided into modular components: a bulkhead-mounted unit containing the vacuum booster and ABS/ESP control unit, and a separate pressure supply device with electric motor and pump. This segmentation allows compact integration while maintaining manufacturability and simplifying assembly procedures for each module independently.
Solution Approach 2:
The pressure supply device serves multiple functions: it provides vacuum pressure for brake boosting, supplies hydraulic pressure for ABS/ESP operations, and integrates feedback control capabilities. This multi-functionality reduces the number of separate components needed, achieving compactness without proportionally increasing assembly complexity.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple sensors and electrical functions are integrated, then system functionality is improved, but number of plug connectors and installation complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple sensors (pedal travel sensors, fill level sensors) and electrical functions are merged into integrated assemblies. The control unit consolidates multiple electrical connections and signal processing functions, reducing the number of separate plug connectors needed while maintaining full system functionality for brake control and monitoring.
3Reliability
If installation length is reduced for crash safety, then safety is improved, but accessibility for installation and maintenance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system transitions from a longitudinally extended arrangement to a compact three-dimensional integration on the bulkhead. The vacuum booster, pressure supply device, and control unit are arranged in a compact configuration that reduces installation length in the longitudinal direction while providing accessible connection points for hydraulic lines and electrical connectors from multiple directions.
4Volume of moving object
If noise-generating components are positioned on bulkhead, then installation space is optimized, but noise transmission to passenger compartment increases
Solution Approach 1:
The noise-generating electric motor and pump are extracted from the bulkhead-mounted vacuum booster assembly and positioned separately in the motor compartment. This separation removes the primary noise source from proximity to the passenger compartment while maintaining the compact bulkhead installation for the remaining components.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system achieves a compact, silent, and highly reliable hydraulic actuating system with improved feedback control accuracy and safety, suitable for electric vehicles and autonomous driving, by integrating key components into a single module with redundant systems for fault tolerance and noise reduction.
Implementation Method 1
an electromotive drive and an interposed transmission mechanism
Implementation Method 2
an electromotive drive and an interposed transmission mechanism, in particular a recirculating-ball mechanism or trapezoidal spindle mechanism
Implementation Method 3
a valve arrangement with at least one solenoid valve, hydraulic ports for at least two hydraulic consumers of the hydraulic actuating system
Implementation Method 4
a valve arrangement with at least one solenoid valve
Data Source
AI summary
A device for a hydraulic actuating system, e.g., a motor vehicle brake, a clutch or a gear selector, may include the following components arranged in one housing, forming a main module: at least one pressure supply device driven by an electric motor drive, and a valve arrangement comprising at least one solenoid valve. The device may further include an electrical control unit (ECU) and valve output stages and sensors. The main module may be electrically and/or hydraulically connected to at least one further system component, which system component may include and actuating device and a travel simulator.