press r e le a s e
January 12, 2015
Pierburg
Strategic portfolio expansion:
Electric oil pump product family for transmissions
Improving fuel efficiency and reducing emissions are the present drivers of
automotive engineering developments. Within this context, a prime role is
played by the electrification of auxiliary assemblies. These can then run
independently of the I.C. engine, thus shrinking power intake and
consumption. Of growing popularity within these developments are the multitalented electrically driven oil pumps. They can be used for lubricating, cooling
or regulating the engine, they can be employed with transmissions. Of
particular importance in the latter case: automatic and hybrid vehicle
transmissions. Pierburg several years ago started developing and producing
oil pumps for use with transmissions and in the course of time has grown
these products into an efficient family for a variety of customer needs.
Electric oil pumps can perform an array of functions when used with transmissions.
On hybrids, for instance, their job is to maintain hydraulic pressure whenever the
engine is not operating such as during start-stop and “sailing” modes. On automatic
transmissions, they function as an additional pump to allow a downsizing of the
mechanical one. On manual transmissions with wet clutches as on the dual-clutch
kind, electric oil pumps have a cooling function. Irrespective of the type of
transmission they can also be used as a suction pump. Employed for this purpose,
they reduce the splashing losses caused by the gearwheels in the oil pan. Apart from
these technical requirements, the biggest advantage of an electric oil pump is to
achieve, directly or indirectly, fuel savings with no compromise in vehicle
performance.
Pierburg has developed a new generation of electric oil pumps directed especially at
low to medium pressures of less than 15 bar. In fact, this pressure range is
particularly attractive for transmission applications.
Longstanding experience generates synergies
An electrically driven oil pump has three subsystems: pump, motor, and electronic
controller. Whenever a new pump is developed, attention is paid to the integration of
these modules with a view to arriving at a further reduction of footprint, weight, and
component count. Since Pierburg has years of experience in these respects and for
some time now has been a specialist in electrically driven coolant pumps, such
development targets as the durability of the electronics under extreme ambient
conditions and vibration profiles have been achieved. Advanced communication and
diagnosis functions have been further developed and adopted from the coolant pump
family for synergy effects with the result that customers nowadays benefit from
KSPG AG
Corporate Communications · Karl-Schmidt-Straße · 74172 Neckarsulm
Tel. +49 7132 33-3141 · Fax +49 7132 33-3150 · www.kspg.com · A Rheinmetall Company
bidirectional communication between pump and controller. Meriting particular
mention are the improvements regarding noise emissions on this type of pump
attained by fine-tuning commutation and lowering pressure pulsation through
hydraulic design modifications.
Efficient products for a variety of requirements
The bottom line is a product family whose engineering features cover the
aforementioned requirements. Basically, the family is made up of three types of
product by which Pierburg, depending on customer needs, is able to supply oil
pumps with small to medium outputs.
- Pump (type 1) mounted outside the transmission casing and fitted with a threephase EC motor and normally with a gerotor.
- An oil pan-installed pump (type 2), also fitted with a three-phase EC motor and
submerged below oil level.
- A radial pump (type 3), driven by a single-phase EC motor and mounted outside
on the transmission casing.
A prime feature of type 1 is its installation flexibility. The model is designed as a plugin unit and can be mounted, with no or only slight modifications, on a variety of
transmission types, thus addressing widely different customer requirements such as
assistance in start-stop mode and taking over cooling functions. Before year-end, a
pump of this nature will be going into series production at a well-known OEM.
Type 2 pumps, in contrast, are virtually custom-tailored due to the different oil pans
used on the various kinds of vehicles. Normally, this solution is preferred by
customers wanting an additional pump parallel to the mechanical one.
Type 3 pump was developed for a very specific use: as a suction pump it keeps the
transmission oil level low and thus reduces splashing losses caused by the
gearwheels. Since pump pressure is low in such instances, a centrifugal flow pump is
most effective in terms of costs, weight, and noise emissions.
Contact:
Folke Heyer
Head of Communications
KSPG AG
Karl-Schmidt-Straße, 74172 Neckarsulm, Germany
P: +49 7132 33-3140, F: +49 7132 33-3150
folke.heyer@de.kspg.com
KSPG AG
Corporate Communications · Karl-Schmidt-Straße · 74172 Neckarsulm
Tel. +49 7132 33-3141 · Fax +49 7132 33-3150 · www.kspg.com · A Rheinmetall Company
Paul Klapproth
Senior Manager Communications USA
KSPG AG
975 S. Opdyke Road, Suite 100, Auburn Hills, MI 48326
P: 248 836 2904, F: 248 836 0249, C: 248 760 0596
paul.klapproth@kspg.com
KSPG AG
Corporate Communications · Karl-Schmidt-Straße · 74172 Neckarsulm
Tel. +49 7132 33-3141 · Fax +49 7132 33-3150 · www.kspg.com · A Rheinmetall Company