NEW ZF ECOSHIFT MANUAL BUS TRANSMISSION
Published at 18.08.2010 in Company news, Components
ZF presents its innovative bus transmission EcoShift at the IAA 2010. The special feature of the 6-speed manual transmission: The basic version is a flexible platform that is modularly extensible. The selection made was in favor of a manual basic transmission that is based on an extensible modular design principle and which, as a platform, is the basis for additional transmission variants.
The platform strategy targeted by ZF has numerous advantages: The uniform basic transmission enables transmission dimensions, mounting position, and possible connections to be standardized. In practice, this means that it is easier to install in the vehicle and at the same time there are fewer sources of error. This means greater flexibility for vehicle manufacturers because they no longer have to decide on one transmission version for a vehicle range. Not least, the platform strategy results in advantages in production: since over 90 percent of the basic transmission components are identical, the complexity of the transmission system can be significantly reduced.The EcoShift basic transmission is engineered for a torque range of 1,000 to 2,100 Nm. This wide range already illustrates how flexibly the innovation can be applied: EcoShift is designed for regular service buses and for suburban buses and coaches of up to 24 tons. Even future noise requirements were considered during development, which EcoShift currently already fulfills with its optimized gear set. At the same time, the new basic transmission takes over many of the benefits of the ZF Ecolite series, including the integrated clutch bell, which accounts for greater housing rigidity and thus allows for a weight-saving design. Even the shifting comfort has been significantly increased with the new basic transmission: by synchronizing the gear changes of the third and fourth gears on the countershaft, it was possible to decrease the mass moment of inertia.
As the first manual transmission series for buses, the EcoShift transmission family can be universally equipped with the Servoshift shift support system. This was only partially possible for the manual bus transmissions available on the market so far, since the individual basic transmissions were too dissimilar. EcoShift is also compatible with the new ZF Intarder generation, which enables 25 percent more braking performance than its predecessor, at less weight and with less noise. EcoShift can be automated by combining it with the popular automation module from AS Tronic lite. The result is an automated bus transmission for maximum input torques of up to 1,600 Nm, and a new member of the AS Tronic transmission family. Production start for the all-rounder EcoShift is scheduled for 2012.
