Automatic Transmission

Automatic Transmission
• An Automatic transmission will select an appropriate gear ratio without any
operator intervention.

• Epicyclic Gearing or Planetary Gearing are used in an automatic transmission.

• They primarily use hydraulics to select gears, depending on pressure exerted by

fluid within the transmission assembly.

• Rather than using a clutch to engage the transmission, a fluid flywheel, or torque
converter is placed in between the engine and transmission.

• It is possible for the driver to control the number of gears in use or select reverse,
though precise control.
Automatic gear box
 Epicyclic gear trains
• Epicyclic gear trains are used to
get the various gear ratios.
• At least one wheel not only
rotates about its own axis but
also rotates about some other
axis
• Automatic gearboxes typically use
one or more compound planetary
gear sets having two sun gears
and two sets of intermeshing
planet gears.
• There is still only one ring gear.
Working:
• Automatic transmissions contain many gears in various combinations. The gears
are never physically moved and are always engaged to the same gears. This is
accomplished through the use of planetary gear sets.

• The basic planetary gear set consists of a

 sun gear,

 a ring gear and

 two or more planet gears, all remaining in constant mesh.

• The planet gears are connected to each other through a common carrier which
allows the gears to spin on shafts called "pinions" which are attached to the carrier.
• Also, locking any two of the three components together will lock up the
whole device at a 1:1 gear reduction.
• Notice that the first gear ratio listed above is a reduction -- the output
speed is slower than the input speed.
• The second is an overdrive -- the output speed is faster than the input
speed.
• The last is a reduction again, but the output direction is reversed. There
are several other ratios that can be gotten out of this planetary gear set,
but these are the ones that are relevant to our automatic transmission.
• So this one set of gears can produce all of these different gear ratios
without having to engage or disengage any other gears.
• With two of these gear sets in a row, we can get the four forward gears
and one reverse gear our transmission needs.
 Low gear(First gear):
• By connecting the ring gear to the
input shaft coming from the engine,
connecting the planet carrier to the
output shaft, and locking the sun
gear so that it can't move.

• In this scenario, when we turn the

ring gear, the planets will "walk"
along the sun gear (which is held
stationary) causing the planet carrier
to turn the output shaft in the same
direction as the input shaft but at a
slower speed causing gear reduction
(similar to a car in first gear).
High Gear(Fourthgear):
• If we unlock the sun gear and lock
any two elements together, this will
cause all three elements to turn at
the same speed so that the output
shaft will turn at the same rate of
speed as the input shaft. This is like a
car that is in third or high gear.

Reverse Gear:
• Another way that we can use a
Planetary gear set is by locking the
planet carrier from moving, then
applying power to the ring gear
which will cause the sun gear to turn
in the opposite direction giving us
reverse gear.
Construction:

The input shaft is connected to the ring gear

(Blue).
The Output shaft is connected to the planet
carrier (Green) which is also connected to a
"Multi-disk" clutch pack.
The sun gear is connected to a drum (yellow)
which is also connected to the other half of
the clutch pack.
Surrounding the outside of the drum is a
band (red) that can be tightened around the
drum when required to prevent the drum
with the attached sun gear from turning.
• The clutch pack is used, in this instance, to
lock the planet carrier with the sun gear
forcing both to turn at the same speed.
 Working:
• If both the clutch pack and the band
were released, the system would be in
neutral.
• Turning the input shaft would turn the
planet gears against the sun gear, but
since nothing is holding the sun gear, it
will just spin free and have no effect on
the output shaft.
• To place the unit in first gear, the band is
applied to hold the sun gear from
moving.
• To shift from first to high gear, the band
is released and the clutch is applied
causing the output shaft to turn at the
same speed as the input shaft.
 Advantages
Advantages of Automatic Transmission over Manual Transmission:

• Better fuel efficiency

• No loss of torque transmission from the engine to the driving wheels

during gear shifts

• Very smooth gear-shift operations

• Appeals to drivers due to overall fast shifts and rapid responses, along
with the latest technology .
 Disadvantages
Disadvantages of Automatic Transmission over Manual Transmission:

• Mechanical efficiency is less than that of a manual transmission type.

• Its requires a specialized transmission fluid/lubricants which is expensive

and need to be changed regularly.

• It is expensive to manufacture.

• It is heavier than an conventional manual transmission gearbox.

• It has much higher rate of failure due to complexity.

 Steering column -mounted gear change
mechanisms
• Where most floor-mounted gear change mechanisms rely on a remote
control shaft, steering column gear changes use a rod running to either
the middle or the side of the steering column itself.
• The gear change lever is pivoted to the top of this rod. A bracket which
provides the fulcrum for the gear lever is also connected to the rod and
can turn with it.
• To change gear the driver moves the lever across the gate which means
either pulling the lever towards them or pushing it away from them.
• This movement turns the rod in the bushes that support it and selects the
gear to be changed.
• The driver then lifts the lever clockwise or anti-clockwise and this results
in the rod either moving down or up respectively.
• These movements are used to actually move the selector forks into
position and to change the gears.
 Gear shift mechanisms

Steering column gear shift Floor shift

Gear shift mechanism
 Steering column-mounted gear levers
The main advantages were :

– the styling innovations that it allowed .

– With a steering column gear lever a bench seat could be fitted.

A steering column gear change disadvantages:

– The linkage to the gearbox is complex, involving a series of rods and swivels.

– These are relatively costly to manufacture and

– Require accurate adjustment if a reliable gear change is to be achieved

– Lubrication of the linkage is a further problem.

END