Parking Lock Pawl Insulating Guide Reduces Friction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing parking lock devices for automatic transmissions face issues with high friction between the locking pawl and guide plate, leading to delayed engagement and potential spark formation due to leakage currents, which can cause material damage.
Innovation Solution
A low-friction, electrically insulating supporting element, such as a rolling body or ceramic material, is used to guide the locking pawl, reducing friction and preventing charge equalization, thereby enhancing safety and engagement reliability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a metal locking pawl directly contacts the guide plate, then the structural simplicity is maintained, but high friction occurs causing delayed engagement and potential spark formation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a supporting element as an intermediary component between the locking pawl and the guide plate. This supporting element mediates the contact interaction, providing low-friction support while maintaining the locking function. The supporting element is specifically designed to reduce friction forces during engagement while preventing direct metal-to-metal contact that would cause sparking.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the friction parameter by introducing a supporting element with specific friction characteristics. The supporting element is designed to have low friction properties, fundamentally altering the friction parameter of the contact interface between the locking pawl and guide plate, thereby enabling faster and safer engagement.
2Reliability
If metal-to-metal contact occurs between locking pawl and guide plate, then electrical conductivity is maintained, but leakage currents cause spark formation and material damage
Solution Approach 1:
The supporting element serves as an electrical insulator intermediary between the conductive locking pawl and the guide plate. This intermediary breaks the electrical contact path, preventing leakage currents from flowing through the locking mechanism and eliminating the risk of spark formation while maintaining mechanical support function.
3Productivity
If friction forces are high during engagement, then the locking mechanism is simple, but the engagement time is delayed reducing safety
Solution Approach 1:
The supporting element is integrated into the existing locking mechanism as a mediator component that reduces friction during engagement. By placing this low-friction element at the contact interface, the patent achieves faster engagement speeds without requiring a complete redesign of the locking mechanism, thus balancing productivity improvement with acceptable device complexity.
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 solution significantly reduces friction during parking lock engagement, ensuring quicker and more reliable operation while preventing spark formation and material damage from electrical discharges.
Implementation Method 1
by virtue of rolling friction a smaller transverse force is exerted on the locking pawl
Implementation Method 2
the supporting element is in the form of an electrically insulating element or body, i.e. an electrically non-conducting or poorly-conducting intermediate element
Data Source
AI summary
A parking lock device (1) for an automatic transmission of a motor vehicle. The parking lock device (1) comprises a locking pawl (3) that is fixed to the transmission housing and mounted so that the locking pawl (3) can pivot. The parking lock device (1) has a guiding element (3b) and a guide plate (5) fixed to and supported by the housing in which the guide element (3b) of the locking pawl (3) is guided laterally. One of a low-friction supporting element (7, 8) and an electrically insulating supporting element in a form of an insulating body (107) laterally guides the locking pawl (3).