• International Journal of Precision Engineering and Manufacturing
• /
• v.9 no.1
• /
• pp.7-11
• /
• 2008

A new continuously variable transmission (CVT) for electric bicycles was developed using a traction drive mechanism with inner and outer spherical rotors. This electric bicycle CVT permits three propulsion modes: human-power only, motor-power only, or a combination of motor power and human power. In addition, the electric bicycle CVT has high power efficiency, large torque capacity, improved drivability, and good packageability. A prototype was manufactured based on a conceptual design, a performance analysis, and a detailed design. This prototype has a rated power of 250 W and input motor speed of 20 rad/s for an overall speed ratio in the range 0.3-1.2. A bench test was conducted to measure the power transmission performance of the prototype.

• International Journal of Automotive Technology
• /
• v.8 no.5
• /
• pp.593-598
• /
• 2007

A new continuously variable transmission for bicycles(B-CVT) is developed by using a traction drive mechanism having inner and outer spherical rotors. The B-CVT has high power efficiency, large torque capacity, improved drivability and good packageability. The ratio change mechanism for the B-CVT is very simple, in contrast with other traction drive CVTs. After completing a conceptual design, a performance analysis and a detail design, a prototype of the B-CVT has been manufactured. The prototype has rated power of 100 watts, pedal speed of 6 rad/s and an overall speed ratio of 1.0-4.0. A bench test and an actual bicycle test have been performed to verify the practicability of the B-CVT.

• International Journal of Automotive Technology
• /
• v.6 no.5
• /
• pp.467-473
• /
• 2005

A continuously variable transmission (CVT) with an inner spherical traction drive was conceptually designed for bicycle usage. The range of the overall speed ratio is from 1.0 to 4.5. The rated power and pedal speed are 100 Watts and 6 rad/s, respectively. The peculiar packageability, high-level power efficiency and high torque capacity were considered in the design process. A compact CVT that can be installed within a $244\times125\times160mm^3$ space and is above 0.9 in efficiency for the rated values was numerically designed. The distribution of efficiency according to the input torque and input speed were calculated. Gradeability in the prescribed operation mode was simulated.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
• /
• 2001.06b
• /
• pp.110-115
• /
• 2001

The spherical CVT, intended to overcome some of the limitations of existing CVT designs, is marked by its simple kinematic design, improved efficiency of the shift actuator, and IVT characteristics, i.e., the ability of smooth transition between the forward, neutral, and reverse states without the need for any brakes or clutches. And it has been promised much possibility of energy savings and various applications for small power capacity machinery. Due to the nonlinearity of the spherical CVT shifting dynamics, however the original open-loop system is inherently unstable. Hence a feedback controller is necessary to make the system stable and to achieve effective tracking performance. To do this, we designed a feedback controller that cancels nonlinearities and transforms the original nonlinear system dynamics into a stable and controllable linear one, based on the input-state linearization method.

• Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.31 no.1
• /
• pp.34-43
• /
• 2007

As a method to improve the poor torque capacity on the continuously variable transmission(CVT), power splitted devices(PSD) reducing the power entering into the transmission has been considered. But this kind of PSD requires for the variator to be a large coverage of the speed ratio (CSR) Since the CSRs of the well-known push belt or the toroidal ones are not enough large, the power splitted CVTs (PSCVTs) using them should be made with multiple modes. inevitably adding the do9 clutches and the associated accessories. In this paper a PSCVT with single mode is conceptually designed A new continuously variable unit (CVU) consisting of the paired inner and outer spherical rotors is used. The CVU has large CSR and excellent compactness. As a PSD. a variable bridge (VB) using the Planetary gear units (PGUs) is considered because it has an upper bound on the power ratio. An optimal design to minimize the effective efficiency of the PSCVT is carried out. Through the performance analysis on the designed model, good expectation on the practicability in the heavy vehicle system is shown.

• Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.30 no.8
• /
• pp.863-869
• /
• 2006

A new CVT, the inner spherical traction CVT (ISCVT) is introduced. Transmission of the most scooters is the self-controlled variable pulley-belt type of CVT having some disadvantages in the fuel consumption and the limitation of the transmittable power due to the slippage between the belt and pulley. Unlike this, ISCVT controlled directly by driver is more efficient and the contact mechanism having the same line of contact normal of the spherical rotors of different radii on common center causes that the power density and torque capacity are remarkably improved. The prototype with the specifications of 50cc scooter is designed and tested.

• Journal of Power System Engineering
• /
• v.12 no.2
• /
• pp.41-47
• /
• 2008

This article deals with the stress analysis of the friction drive, which transmits the power via the rolling resistance on the contract area between the two rotating bodies. On the contact area, friction drives are normally involved with shear stress due to the transmitted force, as well as normal stress. Thus the stress analysis including the shear stress is necessary for the design of the friction drive. Hertzian results can be used to estimate the normal stress distribution and elastic deflection of the contact area, although the shear stress distribution is not well defined. In order to investigate the shear stress distribution and its effects in a friction drive, we have performed the stress analysis of the spherical continuously variable transmission(CVT) using finite element method. The spherical CVT is one of friction drives, which is used in small power applications. The numerical results show that the normal stress distribution is not affected by the transmitted shear force, and the maximal shear stress is increased in small amount along with the shear force.

• International Journal of Automotive Technology
• /
• v.4 no.4
• /
• pp.165-172
• /
• 2003

This article deals with the spin loss analysis of friction drive CVTs, especially for the cases of S-CVT and SS-CVT. There are two main sources of power loss resulting from slippage in the friction drive CVT, spin and slip loss. Spin loss, which is also a main design issue in traction drives, results from the elastic contact deformation of rotating bodies having different rotational velocities. The structure and operating principles of the S-CVT and SS-CVT are first reviewed briefly. And to analyze the losses resulting from slippage, we reviewed previous analyses of the friction mechanism. A modified classical friction model is proposed, which describes the friction behavior including Stribeck (i.e., pre-sliding) effect. It is also performed an in-depth study for the velocity fields generated at the contact regions along with a Hertzian analysis of deflection. Hertzian results were employed to construct the geometric parameters and normal pressure distributions of the contact surface with respect to elastic and plastic deformations. With analytic formulations of the relative velocity field, deflection, and friction mechanism of the S-CVT and SS-CVT, quantitative analyses of spin loss for each case are carried out. As a result, explicit models of spin loss were developed.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
• /
• v.13 no.5
• /
• pp.134-141
• /
• 2005

Semi-Spherical Continuously Variable Transmission(SS-CVT) is the CVT which transmits power by rolling friction between dry metals, and its outstanding advantage is the ability of realizations of neutral, forward and reverse states without relying on any other devices. A spherical shaped variator transmits power and also changes gear ratio where keeping contact with a output disk. The frictional direction to transmit power and the other direction to change gear ratio are perpendicular to each other, so we can describe that two dimensional rolling friction is occurred in the contact point between the variator and the disk. Since magnitudes or relations of the two forces are completely unknown, they were analyzed by the experiments in this study. We determined the variables related with the friction phenomena by the dimensional analysis, and manufactured the SS-CVT test bench which could measure the related variables. Finally, the empirical formula for evaluating the two friction forces was proposed based on the experimental results.