Transmission

The transmission in automobiles is a system of

parts usually contained within a housing,
connecting the engine to the wheels. Suitable
torque, or turning force, is generated by the
engine only within a narrow range of engine
speeds, i.e., rates at which the crankshaft is
turning. However, the wheels must turn with
suitable torque over a wide range of speeds.
While its speed is held roughly constant, the
engine turns an input shaft on the transmission
whose output shaft can be adjusted to turn the
wheels at an appropriate speed.
Manual Transmission
 The manual transmissionis the simplest (and earliest) of transmissions,
and consist of a system of interlocking gearwheels. These wheels are
arranged so that by operating a lever the driver can choose one of several
ratios of speed between the input shaft and the output shaft. These ratios
are called gears, first gear being the arrangement that gives the lowest
output speed, second gear the next lowest, and so forth. To allow smooth
shifting from one gear to another, a clutch is provided to disengage the
engine from the transmission. The commonly used dry single disk clutch
has a steel disk with a friction lining that is sandwiched between a
flywheel on the engine shaft and a pressure plate on the transmission
input shaft. When the driver takes his foot off the clutch pedal, springs
squeeze the friction disk into the space between the flywheel and the
pressure plate, enabling the engine shaft to turn the transmission.
For many cars and for normal driving conditions a transmission with three
forward gears and one reverse gear is sufficient. In cars having small
engines transmissions with four or five forward speeds are used; racing
cars often have as many as six forward speeds.
 Synchromesh Transmission

A synchromesh transmission is a
manual transmission in which all
forward gear wheels are held in mesh
at all times. Used on most American
cars with a manual transmission, it
allows the driver to shift gears more
smoothly and makes the car run
more quietly.
Automatic Transmission
 The introduction of the automatic transmission did this
by offering a "no-muss, no-fuss" form of shifting. The
earliest automobiles offered only manual transmissions,
which were similar in principle to today's stick-shift
vehicles. These cars sported two forward gears and one
reverse, coupled to the engine via a series of pedals.
But as cars grew larger and traffic got worse, engineers
began searching for a way to have the car
"automatically" shift from one gear to another.
Designers spent decades perfecting the modern
automatic transmission. Here we offer a brief
introduction and overview of the history of the
automatic transmission.
 The automatic transmission, introduced in 1939, switches to the optimum
gear without driver intervention except for starting and going into
reverse. The type of automatic transmission used on current American
cars usually consists of a fluid device called a torque converter and a set
of planetary gears. The torque converter transmits the engine's power to
the transmission using hydraulic fluid to make the connection. For more
efficient operation at high speeds, a clutch plate is applied to create a
direct mechanical connection between the transmission and the engine.
The introduction of microprocessor-controlled electronic sensors has
enhanced the performance of automatic transmissions still more. Data
about engine speed, exhaust pressure, and other performance
characteristics are sent to a processor that controls the changing of gears
and the clutch plate in the torque converter via electrical switches, or
solenoids. New approaches to transmission design combine the best
features of manual and automatic transmissions to provide more efficient
ways of channeling engine power to the wheels.
 The First Automatic
Transmissions
The first automatic transmission was invented in 1921 by a
Canadian steam engineer, Alfred Horner Munro. Munro designed his
device to use compressed air rather than hydraulic fluid so it lacked
power and never became sold commercially. General Motors then
developed the first automatic transmission using hydraulic fluid in
the 1930s, and introduced the "Hydra-Matic" transmission in 1940.
The 1948 Oldsmobile was the first model to use a true automatic
transmission. The Hyrda-Matic, developed by GM engineer, Earl
Thompson, was advertised as: "The greatest advance since the self-
starter." The Hydra-Matic went through continual upgrading and
refinements through 1955, but the basic design and theory used
were consistent throughout its remarkably long life span. General
Motors replaced the Hydra-Matic in 1956 with the Jetaway. The "Jet"
was not a roaring success and quickly gave way to the Turbo Hydra-
Matic in 1969.
 The Hydra-Matic
Transmission
The original Hydra-Matic transmission was one of the most important
innovations in the history of the automobile. It wasnt the first
automatic transmission, but it was the first one that really worked and
its resounding commercial success paved the way for every
subsequent autoshifter.
The technology came along at an opportune time in history as North
America was abundant with victory from World War II and building up
steam for the post-war boom. Scads of babies and cars were produced
(not necessarily in that order). Into those cars they dropped
thousands of automatic transmissions. With its simplicity and ease of
use, the automatic transmission offered up the automobile to the
masses, fulfilling the promise of President Hoover, whom a generation
earlier had promised "a car in every garage and a chicken in every
pot." At the very least it widened the perspective of an increasingly
mobile workforce, fed the flow of migration to the suburbs, and
welcomed women back into the economy following the war effort.
 The most significant changes/improvements in
automatic transmission design to date are the
number of forward gears transmissions now
have and the switch from mechanically
controlled to electronically controlled
transmission operations. Mechanically controlled
automatic transmissions have reached their limit
in terms of future improvements while
electronically (or computer) controlled automatic
gearboxes have only touched the surface of the
possibilities.
 1937:General Motors introduced the first semi-automatic
transmission, which they called and promoted as the
Automatic Safety Transmission or AST for short. The AST
had four forward speeds and used a planetary gear set and
a friction clutch. Cadillac and Oldsmobile used the AST is
some models from 1937 through 1939 and Buick offered it
in the 1938 Buick Special for a limited time. In short, the
Automatic Safety Transmission was pretty much labeled a
failure from the very beginning. Besides being unreliable,
the AST was a $80 option but cost Oldsmobile $140 per
unit to manufacturer. Vehicle buyers at the time were also
unreceptive to the AST, which made the decision to
discontinue the transmission after just 2 short years quite
easy.
 1940:Although unsuccessful as the Automatic Safety Transmission, a
newly designed version of the AST by General Motors called the Hydra-
Matic would become legendary. This fully automatic transmission (the
first transmission requiring no clutch pedal) debuted as a $57 option in
the 1940 Oldsmobile. The Hydra-Matic was the world's first mass-
produced and commercially used fully automatic transmission.
Just as Oldsmobiles advertising had overstated the capabilities and
reliability of the Automatic Safety Transmission, advertisements
promoting the new Hydra-Matic transmission were equally as bold. One
advertisement claimed that the Hydra-Matic transmission represented
the mostsignificant technological advancement since the electric
starter. Another advertisement claimed that the Hydra-Matic
transmission increased fuel economy by 10 15% over a standard
transmission. But, this time it was all true. The Hydra-Matic fully
automatic transmission was truly groundbreaking - it established the
foundation from which future automatic transmissions would be designed
and built.
 1941:Being the first true automatic
transmission (no clutch pedal)
consumers ordered the $57 Hydra-
Matic transmission option in
impressive numbers. By 1941,
roughly 40% of all Oldsmobile
passenger cars and 30% of all
Cadillac passenger cars sold in the
U.S. were ordered with Hydra-Matic
transmissions.
 1942:In 1942, when automobile
manufacturing plants stopped manufacturing
vehicles to build war machinery, more than
200,000 Hydra-Matic automatic
transmissions had been sold.
The Hydra-Matic transmission did not have
Park. Instead, a parking pawl engaged when
the transmission was shifted into Reverse
and the engine was shut off, which kept the
vehicle from rolling when it was parked.
 War Time:With automobile manufacturing plants building tanks instead of cars,
use of the Hydra-Matic transmission in military applications (primarily tanks),
without any major changes to the transmission solidified the Hydra-Matic as being
one of the most significant and important developments in automotive history.
Post War:During the post war boom, the demand for vehicles with automatic
transmissions continued to grow despite the increased cost. By late 1948, 86% of
new Oldsmobile passenger vehicles sold were equipped with the optional (and
more expensive) Hydra-Matic transmission. During this same year, sales of Hydra-
Matic equipped Cadillac passenger vehicles had reached 95%. For Cadillac, the
Hydra-Matic was a $175 option. By this time, the Pontiac division of General
Motors offered the Hydra-Matic tranny as a $150 option, which three out of four
buyers chose.
Even the loudest critics of the automatic transmission could not ignore the facts;
the commercial success of the Hydra-Matic automatic transmission in passenger
vehicles mandated that all car manufacturers offer an automatic transmission as
an option to the standard "manual" transmission or risk going out of business.
With the introduction of new automatic transmissions in the late 40s and early 50s,
the automatic transmission wars between the big automakers was underway.
 1948, 1949 and 1950:In 1948, the first fully
automatic transmission using a torque converter was
introduced by Buick. Buick called their transmission
the "Dynaflow". Packard and Chevrolet promptly
followed Buick with their own transmission designs,
both of which incorporated the use of a torque
converter. Packard introduced the Ultramatic fully
automatic transmission in 1949 and Chevrolet
introduced the Powerglide fully automatic transmission
in 1950. While these transmissions had only two
forward speeds, the use of a torque converter enabled
additional torque multipliers, effectively increasing the
forward gear ratios and forward speeds.
 Early 1950s:The first three-speed automatic
transmissions using torque converters were
developed by Borg Warner in the early 1950s for
a number of automakers including Ford and
Studebaker. In 1953, Chrysler introduced the
two-speed torque converter driven PowerFlite
automatic transmission. Other vehicle
manufacturers, including Rolls Royce, Hudson,
Bentley and even Lincoln (a Ford Motor Company
division) purchased Hydra-Matic transmissions
from General Motors to fill their needs.
 Late 1950s:Through the late 1950s, General Motors
produced multiple-turbine torque converter
transmissions. The Dynaflow and Turboglide are two
examples of these multiple-turbine torque converter
transmissions. In these transmissions, shifting took
place in the torque converter instead of using pressure
valves to change planetary gear connections. With
these multiple-turbine torque converter transmissions,
each turbine was connected to the drive shaft through
a different gear train. Rather than gear shifts, the
different gear ratios were phased in according to speed
allowing for very smooth transitions from one gear ratio
to the next.
 1960s:By the end of the 1960s, the two-
speed and four-speed fluid coupling design
automatic transmissions had been replaced
with three-speed transmissions all using torque
converters. The use of whale oil in automatic
transmission fluid was discontinued at around
this time.
Torque converters are still used in modern-day
automatictransmissions. The images to the
right are examples of today's torque
converters.
 Late 1970s and Early 1980s:In the late 1970s, three-speed
automatic transmissions were quickly being replaced by
automatic transmissions with overdrive, which provided four or
more forward gears. By the early 1980s, most every automaker
offered automatic transmissions with overdrive. Transmissions
with overdrive are more efficient and provide improved fuel
economy over three-speed transmissions. Another
improvement in efficiency and fuel economy came with the
introduction of the lock-up torque converter at about this same
time. As the name implies, the lock-up torque converter locks
the torque converter pump to the turbine of the torque
converter once the vehicle reaches cruising speed. By locking
these two components together at cruising speed, slip is
eliminated enabling the full power of the engine to be passed
through the transmission to the drive wheels.
 1980s to Date:The most significant changes (improvements)
in automatic transmission design since the 1980s to date are
the number of forward gears transmissions now have and the
switch from mechanically controlled to electronically controlled
transmission operations.
The four-speed automatic transmissions of the 1980s are still
available today but are slowly being phased out by the next
generation of automatic gearboxes that have five and six
forward gears. In the mid to late 2000s, the first seven and
eight speed automatic transmissions were offered on certain
high-end vehicles.
In 2003, Mercedes Benz introduced the 7G-Tronic (seven speed)
automatic gearbox. Four years later, in 2007, Toyota unveiled
the first 8-speed automatic gearbox which they offered
exclusively on their high end Lexus brand, the Lexus LS 460.
 Newer, electronically controlled automatic transmissions rely on
data received from various electronic sensors and use an
electronic control unit (either a dedicated Transmission Control
Module (TCM) or the vehicles Engine Control Module (ECM) to
operate solenoids in the valve body to shift gears. This process
enables timelier, faster and more precise shifts than the shifts
produced in a mechanically controlled automatic transmission,
which relies on a cable or vacuum operated modulator to
determine and effect shift timing and gear shifts. The time it
takes for a mechanically controlled transmission to shift gears is
also slower, which causes slipping and increases heat in the
transmission. Slower shifts also increase fuel consumption.
In addition to the above benefits and advantages, electronically
controlled transmissions are also more reliable than
mechanically controlled units.
 Lastly, the electronically controlled automatic transmissions ability to
gather and process large amounts of information every few milliseconds
combined with advanced control strategies based on fuzzy logic (a method
of programming control systems using human-type reasoning) gives it
nearly limitless capabilities. Some of these transmissions are already
capable of learning and adjusting the way they shift based on travel
conditions. For example, when driving through a mountainous terrain, some
electronically controlled automatic transmissions will learn to automatically
downshift when going downhill in order to control speed, which adds a
measure of safety and reduces wear on the braking system. Another
example occurs when driving through turns where the transmission learns
to stay in the present gear through turns rather than continuously upshifting
and downshifting every time the car slows down when entering a turn and
speeds up after exiting the turn.
Mechanically controlled automatic transmissions have reached their limit in
terms of future improvements while electronically (or computer) controlled
automatic gearboxes have only touched the surface of the possibilities.
Manumatic Transmission
A manumatic transmission is an
automatic transmission with an
added manual-shift mode; typically,
a floor-mounted shifter offers an
alternative selector path
supplemented by buttons mounted
on the steering wheel.
 Continuously Variable
Transmission
A continuously variable transmission
(CVT) uses a belt that connects two
variable-diameter pulleys to provide
an unlimited number of ratio changes
and uninterrupted power to the
wheels; CVT transmissions offer
better fuel efficiency than
conventional automatic
transmissions, which change the
transmission ratio by shifting gears.
Sequential Manual Gearbox

A sequential manual gearbox (SMG),

developed for Formula One cars,
uses computer-controlled actuators
to operate the clutch and change
gears when prompted by the driver;
both manual and automatic modes
are possible, and there is no clutch
pedal.
Dual Clutch Transmission
The dual clutch transmission (DCT), also
called the direct shift gearbox (DSG),
substitutes dual clutches for the conventional
single-sided clutch to transfer power from the
engine through two parallel paths; the
gearbox features two sets of gears, identical
to those in conventional manual transmissions
one set being the odd gears (1st, 3rd, 5th)
and the other the even gears (2nd, 4th, 6th)
the gears must be shifted in sequence, and
power to the wheels is never interrupted.