DEVELOPMENT OF A CONTINUOUSLY VARIABLE-SPEED TRANSMISSION FOR AGRICULTURAL TRACTOR

This study was carried out to develop a continuously variable-speed transmission(CVT) for agricultural tractor. A full-toroidal CVT mechanism with four discs and six rollers was selected as a device for changing speed ratio continuously. In the step of system layout design, the sizes of roller cylinders and end-load cylinder, which were critical factors for controlling the variator, were designed. Also the control pressure range was designed to limit the contact pressure of variator. In order to make the maximum speed of vehicle as 30km/h, the planetary gear and the six pairs of gears were designed. Also the hydraulic clutch, silent chain, hydraulic manifold and electronic controller were designed. After the design, a prototype with CVT controller was developed and tested. The speed of vehicle was changed continuously to the speed set by driver and the settling time was about 0.52 second at the step-response test (reduction ratio of variator 2.0 to 1.0), which was acceptable as a response time for working with tractor.