Posted by MoparNorm on Friday, July 27, 2007 at 19:49:10 :
In Reply to: Re: most not CTD posted by M Fanoni on Friday, July 27, 2007 at 11:09:54 :
My mistake, it's a 6 speed. As for the Cummins not being covered, remember that Cummins is a seperate company from Chrysler and already warrantys the motor for 70,000 miles.
From Allpar:
Chrysler designed an automatically operated manual transmission, reportedly was for trucks and minivans; these have been tried before - Mercedes, for example, had a troublesome system in the past - but never successfully applied to light-duty vehicles, and never with the degree of sophistication and cleverness being applied by Chrysler engineers. This transmission, whose development started around 1998, is now confirmed for production. The company wrote:
A new automated manual (dual-clutch) transmission – developed in partnership with Getrag [based on many Chrysler patents] – will be used in significant volumes in 2010 model-year vehicles. The transmission is expected to deliver a fuel economy improvement of up to six percent, based on preliminary testing.
The new transmission is equipped with two independent lay-shaft style gear sets with separate clutches, using manual transmission-based components. During shifts, the next gear is anticipated and pre-selected. Then one clutch is opened while the other is closed, allowing shifting without torque interruption. The result is quicker acceleration and refined shift quality.
First, third, and fifth gear will be operated by one clutch; second, fourth, and sixth, by the other. The transmission will be used with the Phoenix V6 to create one of the world’s most advanced powertrains. If it works well, and sees customer acceptance, it could replace both conventional automatics and CVTs at Chrysler. Production is currently set at 700,000 units per year, according to Frank Klegon, as quoted in Automotive News (July 2, 2007). That would be enough for every nearly Dodge made for the first six months of 2007 (Chrysler as a whole made 1.36 million vehicles across all brands in the first half of 2007, so 700,000 transmissions per year could equip over one quarter of Chrysler’s fleet - in its second year).
Unlike Toyota's sequential automatic and most other clutchless models, it had systems to avoid slipping at traffic lights (on hills), to make getting into gear very, very fast, and to make extremely fast, smooth shifts. Unconfirmed reports said it was set to go into Rams when Stuttgart objected to the cost and temporarily ended the project. The transmission will be made in a joint venture with Chrysler's traditional German partner, Getrag, to reduce up-front production costs and to make use of Getrag’s dual-clutch patents.
This is a very exciting system - think of cutting 1-2 seconds off each car's 0-60 times while raising gas mileage, and making the car more pleasant to drive.
Large parts of the dual-clutch system (as it will be referred to in most reports) are used by the Chrysler ME-412, and may show up in Mercedes supercars as well.
The 62TEM (front-wheel drive transverse electromechanical transmission) will reportedly have one overdrive with 500 Nm (370 pound-feet) maximum input torque, 10,000 lbs GVW, 210,000 miles durability, using an integrated final drive and differential.
The dual-clutch will be a major advantage for Dodge trucks and minivans, especially given that many see the Chrysler automatics as being “a reason not to buy;” some speculate that the Cummins turbodiesels are being held back in power to avoid transmission damage, costly to Dodge’s image during a truck power war. At the moment, it appears that Chrysler is giving preference to front wheel drive vehicles, and is building the 62TEM first. The 79REM, for trucks, has been developed, but may be released after the 62TEM; no announcements have been made but this does not mean that the company is not working on it.
A June 4, 2000 patent with inventor Donald L. Carriere was granted for "an electro-mechanical automatic transmission having... a first input shaft and a second input shaft concentric with the first input shaft....with a pair of electro-mechanical clutch actuators for selectively disengaging dual clutches... as well as an electro-mechanical shift actuator system which operatively engage the synchronizer devices for selectively engaging the drive gears. ... The dual clutch system of the present invention includes two dry discs driven by a common flywheel assembly. Two electro-mechanical clutch actuators are provided to control disengagement of the two-clutch discs independently. Shifts are accomplished by engaging the desired gear prior to a shift event and subsequently engaging the corresponding clutch. ...The transmission of the present invention can be in two different gear ratios at once, but only one clutch will be engaged and transmitting power. To shift to the new gear ratio, the driving clutch will be released and the released clutch will be engaged. The two-clutch actuators perform a quick and smooth shift as directed by an on-board vehicle control system using closed-loop control reading engine RPMs or torque. The transmission shaft that is disengaged will then be shifted into the next gear ratio in anticipation of the next shift." Clever!
We'll also note that a May 18 patent from Jeffrey P. Cherry is for an "electro-mechanical clutch actuator system ... for a transmission having dual input shafts with respective clutches."
Patent 6,491,147 describes a way to more easily add a clutch pedal to a car with an automatic. Why? We don't know. Maybe one of the patent engineers was feeling frisky. We certainly would prefer the option to drive a stick-shift.
October 15, 2002: control of a dual clutch (manual) transmission, where the first clutch acts to transmit torque to the first driven gear, and the second clutch transmits torque to the second driven gear. Richard G. Reed, Jr.; Jeffrey P. Cherry. The goal is to make a far smoother manual transmission, while increasing efficiency and power transmission, without excessive heat buildup. But could this also be a step in creating an automatically operated manual transmission.