Control system for transmission

Claim 2

A control system for a vehicle that is driven by an engine through a transmission that includes planetary gearing and also includes a hydraulic drive unit that is adjustable for variably and reversibly driving a reaction component of the planetary gearing through a series of ranges of vehicle speed, the transmission further including clutches for activating gear trains for the series of ranges, said control system having in combination: a manually operable master control movable through a series of ranges of movement corresponding to said series of ranges of vehicle speed; program means movable through a series of ranges of movement corresponding to said series of ranges of vehicle speed, said program means including a first programmer to program the adjustments of the hydraulic drive unit through the series of ranges of vehicle speed, said program means including a second programmer connected to the first programmer to program the operations of the clutches through the series of ranges of vehicle speed, said master control being movable independently of said program means; and means responsive to the master control to urge the program means to positions corresponding to the instant positions of the master control with permitted lag in the movement of the program means.

Claim 3

A combination as set forth in claim 1 which includes means to control the rate of movement of the program means.

Claim 4

A combination as set forth in claim 1 in which said means to control the rate is connected to the master control.

Claim 5

A combination as set forth in claim 1 in which said master control is manually movable independent of the program means; and which includes means to cause the program means to follow the movements of the master control.

Claim 6

A combination as set forth in claim 4 which includes means directly connected to the program means to control the rate of movement of the program means.

Claim 7

A control system for a vehicle that is driven by an engine through a transmission that includes planetary gearing and also includes a hydraulic drive unit that is adjustable for variably and reversibly driving a reaction component of the planetary gearing through a series of ranges of vehicle speed, the transmission further including clutches for activating gear trains for the series of ranges, said control system having in combination: a manually operable master control movable through a series of ranges of movement corresponding to said series of ranges of vehicle speed; program means movable in response to said master control through a series of ranges of movement corresponding to said sEries of ranges of vehicle speed, said program means including a first programmer to program the adjustments of the hydraulic drive unit through the series of ranges of vehicle speed, said program means including a second programmer correlated with the first programmer to program the operations of the clutches through the series of ranges of vehicle speed, said master control being manually movable independent of the program means; and means to cause the program means to follow the movements of the master control, said means to cause the program means to follow the movements of the master control comprising a lost-motion connection between the master control and the program means together with spring means stressed by the lost-motion connection to urge the program means to positions corresponding to the instant positions of the master control.

Claim 8

A control system for a vehicle that is driven by an engine through a transmission that includes planetary gearing and also includes a hydraulic drive unit that is adjustable for variably and reversibly driving a reaction component of the planetary gearing through a series of ranges of vehicle speed, the transmission further including clutches for activating gear trains for the series of ranges, said control system having in combination: a manually operable master control movable through a series of ranges of movement corresponding to said series of ranges of vehicle speed; program means movable in response to said master control through a series of ranges of movement corresponding to said sEries of ranges of vehicle speed, said program means including a first programmer to program the adjustments of the hydraulic drive unit through the series of ranges of vehicle speed, said program means including a second programmer correlated with the first programmer to program the operations of the clutches through the series of ranges of vehicle speed, said master control being manually movable independent of the program means; and means to cause the program means to follow the movements of the master control, said means to cause the program means to follow the movements of the master control comprising a lost-motion connection between the master control and the program means together with spring means stressed by the lost-motion connection to urge the program means to positions corresponding to the instant positions of the master control.

Claim 9

A combination as set forth in claim 6 in which said means to cause the program means to follow the movements of the master control comprises: an input member operatively connected to the master control for movement therewith; an output member operatively connected to the program means for operation thereof; and servo means operatively connected to the output member, said servo means being responsive to the input member to cause the output member to seek positions corresponding to the instant positions of the input member.

Claim 10

A combination as set forth in claim 7 which includes means to control the rate of response of the output member to changes in position of the input member.

Claim 11

A control system for a vehicle that is driven by an engine through a transmission that includes planetary gearing and also includes a hydraulic drive unit that is adjustable for variably and reversibly driving a reaction component of the planetary gearing through a series of ranges of vehicle speed, the transmission further including clutches for activating gear trains for the series of ranges, said control system having in combination: a manually operable master control movable through a series of ranges of movement corresponding to said series of ranges of vehicle speed; program means movable in response to said master control through a series of ranges of movement corresponding to said series of ranges of vehicle speed, said program means including a first programmer to program the adjustments of the hydraulic drive unit through the series of ranges of vehicle speed, said program means including a second programmer correlated with the first programmer to program the operations of the clutches through the series of ranges of vehicle speed, and motion-amplifying means to increase the range of movement of said program means relative to the range of movement of the master control.

Claim 12

A control system for a vehicle that is driven by an engine through a transmission that includes planetary gearing and also includes a hydraulic drive unit that is adjustable for variably and reversibly driving a reaction component of the planetary gearing through a series of ranges of vehicle speed, the transmission further including clutches for activating gear trains for the series of ranges, said control system having in combination: a manually operable master control movable through a series of ranges of movement corresponding to said series of ranges of vehicle speed; program means movable in response to said master control through a series of ranges of movement corresponding to said series of ranges of vehicle speed, said program means including a first programmer to program the adjustments of the hydraulic drive unit through the series of ranges of vehicle speed, said program means including a second programmer correlated with the first programmer to program the operations of the clutches through the series of ranges of vehicle speed, and motion-amplifying means to increase the range of movement of said program means relative to the range of movement of the master control.

Claim 13

A combination as set forth in claim 1 in which said fluid-pressure-actuated adjustment means comprises a cam responsive to the master control and fluid-pressure-actuated means controlled by the cam to vary the adjustment of the hydraulic drive unit.

Claim 14

A combination as set forth in claim 10 which includes servo-positioner means having an input member and an output member, said input member being operatively connected to the master control for simultaneous movement therewith, said output member being connected both to said second programmer and to the cam for actuation thereof.

Claim 15

A control system for a vehicle that is driven by an engine through a transmission that includes planetary gearing and also includes a hydraulic drive unit that is adjustable for variably and reversibly driving a reaction component of the planetary gearing through a series of ranges of vehicle speed, the transmission further including clutches for activating gear trains for the series of ranges, said control system having in combination: a manually operable master control movable through a series of ranges of movement corresponding to said series of ranges of vehicle speed; program means mOvable in response to said master control through a series of ranges of movement corresponding to said series of ranges of vehicle speed, said program means including a first programmer to program the adjustments of the hydraulic drive unit through the series of ranges of vehicle speed, said program means including a second programmer correlated with the first programmer to program the operations of the clutches through the series of ranges of vehicle speed, said master control being movable forwardly along a first path from a zero-speed position to advance through forward speed ranges, said master control being movable rearwardly along a second path from a zero-speed position to advance through a reverse speed range, said fluid-pressure-actuated adjustment means comprising a cam responsive to the master control and fluid-paessure-actuated means controlled by the cam to vary the adjustment of the hydraulic drive unit, a portion of the cam being movable in a given direction both to advance through a given forward speed range and to advance through said reverse speed range; and means to move said cam in said given direction both in response to advance of the master control forwardly through said given forward speed range and in response to advance of the master control rearwardly through said reverse speed range.

Claim 16

A control system for a vehicle that is driven by an engine through a transmission that includes planetary gearing and also includes a hydraulic drive unit that is adjustable for variably and reversibly driving a reaction component of the planetary gearing through a series of ranges of vehicle speed, the transmission further including clutches for activating gear trains for the series of ranges, said control system having in combination: a manually operable master control movable through a series of ranges of movement corresponding to said series of ranges of vehicle speed; program means mOvable in response to said master control through a series of ranges of movement corresponding to said series of ranges of vehicle speed, said program means including a first programmer to program the adjustments of the hydraulic drive unit through the series of ranges of vehicle speed, said program means including a second programmer correlated with the first programmer to program the operations of the clutches through the series of ranges of vehicle speed, said master control being movable forwardly along a first path from a zero-speed position to advance through forward speed ranges, said master control being movable rearwardly along a second path from a zero-speed position to advance through a reverse speed range, said fluid-pressure-actuated adjustment means comprising a cam responsive to the master control and fluid-paessure-actuated means controlled by the cam to vary the adjustment of the hydraulic drive unit, a portion of the cam being movable in a given direction both to advance through a given forward speed range and to advance through said reverse speed range; and means to move said cam in said given direction both in response to advance of the master control forwardly through said given forward speed range and in response to advance of the master control rearwardly through said reverse speed range.

Claim 17

A combination as set forth in claim 6 which includes motion-reversing gearing and which includes means to make said motion-reversing gearing effective between the master control and the cam in response to shifting of the master control from said first path to said second path.

Claim 18

A combination as set forth in claim 13 in which said second programmer and said cam are interconnected for simultaneous movement so that a portion of the movement of the second programmer corresponds to said portion of the cam; in which clutches for said given forward speed range are responsive to movement of the master control into and out of said first path; and in which clutches for said reverse speed range are responsive to movement of the master control into and out of said second path.

Claim 19

A combination as set forth in claim 14 in which said second programmer is a control valve; in which said clutches are operated by fluid pressure; in which fluid-pressure-actuated clutch valves supply fluid pressure to the clutches selectively; in which said clutch valves are responsive to changes in adjustment of said control valve; and which includes means to change the responsiveness of the clutch valves to the control valve in response to shift of the master control from said first path to said second path.

Claim 20

A control system for a vehicle that is driven by an engine through a transmission that includes planetary gearing and also includes a hydraulic drive unit that is adjustable for variably and reversibly driving a reaction component of the planetary gearing through a series of ranges of vehicle speed, the transmission further including clutches for activating gear trains for the series of ranges, said control system having in combination: a manually operable master control movable through a series of ranges of movement corresponding to said series of ranges of vehicle speed; program means movable in response to said master control through a series of ranges of movement corresponding to said series of ranges of vehicle speed, said program means including a first programmer to program the adjustments of the hydraulic drive unit through the series of ranges of vehicle speed, said program means including a second programmer correlated with the first programmer to program the operations of the clutches through the series of ranges of vehicle speed; two clutches for power flow from the hydraulic drive unit to the planetary gearing for a first forward speed range, both of said clutches being operable by fluid pressure; a source of fluid pressure to actuate the two clutches; and meanS to cut off said source from one of the two clutches when said master control is positioned at its neutral position thereby to ensure that the vehicle is in free wheeling when the master control is at its neutral position.

Claim 21

A control system for a vehicle that is driven by an engine through a transmission that includes planetary gearing and also includes a hydraulic drive unit that is adjustable for variably and reversibly driving a reaction component of the planetary gearing through a series of ranges of vehicle speed, the transmission further including clutches for activating gear trains for the series of ranges, said control system having in combination: a manually operable master control movable through a series of ranges of movement corresponding to said series of ranges of vehicle speed; program means movable in response to said master control through a series of ranges of movement corresponding to said series of ranges of vehicle speed, said program means including a first programmer to program the adjustments of the hydraulic drive unit through the series of ranges of vehicle speed, said program means including a second programmer correlated with the first programmer to program the operations of the clutches through the series of ranges of vehicle speed; two clutches for power flow from the hydraulic drive unit to the planetary gearing for a first forward speed range, both of said clutches being operable by fluid pressure; a source of fluid pressure to actuate the two clutches; and meanS to cut off said source from one of the two clutches when said master control is positioned at its neutral position thereby to ensure that the vehicle is in free wheeling when the master control is at its neutral position.

Claim 22

A control system for a vehicle that is driven by an engine through a transmission that includes planetary gearing and also includes a hydraulic drive unit that is adjustable for variably and reversibly driving a reaction component of the planetary gearing through a series of ranges of vehicle speed, the transmission further including clutches for activating gear trains for the series of ranges, said control system having in combination: a manually operable master control movable through a series of ranges of movement corresponding to said series of ranges of vehicle speed; program means movable in response to said master control through a series of ranges of movement corresponding to said series of ranges of vehicle speed, said program means including a first programmer to program the adjustments of the hydraulic drive unit through the series of ranges of vehicle speed, said program means including a second programmer correlated with the first programmer to program the operations of the clutches through the series of ranges of vehicle speed; a first piston included in said fluid-pressure-actuated adjustment means to advance to adjust the hydraulic drive unit in one respect; a second piston included in said fluid-pressure-actuated adjustment means to advance to adjust the hydraulic drive unit in the opposite respect; two springs to urge the two pistons respectively to advance; stop means to terminate the pressures of the two springs respectively when the hydraulic drive unit is at neutral adjustment; a four-way valve to control the application of fluid pressure to the two pistons thereby to control the adjustment of the hydraulic drive unit; and means responsive to the master control to control said valve to cause adjustments of the hydraulic drive unit to follow the movements of the master control.

Claim 23

A control system for a vehicle that is driven by an engine through a transmission that includes planetary gearing and also includes a hydraulic drive unit that is adjustable for variably and reversibly driving a reaction component of the planetary gearing through a series of ranges of vehicle speed, the transmission further including clutches for activating gear trains for the series of ranges, said control system having in combination: a manually operable master control movable through a series of ranges of movement corresponding to said series of ranges of vehicle speed; program means movable in response to said master control through a series of ranges of movement corresponding to said series of ranges of vehicle speed, said program means including a first programmer to program the adjustments of the hydraulic drive unit through the series of ranges of vehicle speed, said program means including a second programmer correlated with the first programmer to program the operations of the clutches through the series of ranges of vehicle speed; a first piston included in said fluid-pressure-actuated adjustment means to advance to adjust the hydraulic drive unit in one respect; a second piston included in said fluid-pressure-actuated adjustment means to advance to adjust the hydraulic drive unit in the opposite respect; two springs to urge the two pistons respectively to advance; stop means to terminate the pressures of the two springs respectively when the hydraulic drive unit is at neutral adjustment; a four-way valve to control the application of fluid pressure to the two pistons thereby to control the adjustment of the hydraulic drive unit; and means responsive to the master control to control said valve to cause adjustments of the hydraulic drive unit to follow the movements of the master control.

Claim 24

A control system for a vehicle that is driven by an engine through a transmission that includes planetary gearing and also includes a hydraulic drive unit that is adjustable for variably and reversibly driving a reaction component of the planetary gearing through a series of ranges of vehicle speed, the transmission further including clutches for activating gear trains for the series of ranges, said control system having in combination; a manually operable master control movable through ranges of movement corresponding to the ranges of said series of ranges of vehicle speed, said master control being movable in one direction from a given position through a forward speed range and being movable from the given position in the opposite direction through a reverse speed range, cam means operatively responsive to the movements of said master control, said cam means having a control surface of a profile corresponding to a graph of the changes in adjustment of the hydraulic unit through said ranges of the series of ranges of vehicle speed, said control surface of the cam having a point corresponding to said given position of the master control such control surface of the cam progressively changing in elevation in one respect in one direction from said point for said forward speed range and progressively changing in elevation in the opposite respect in the opposite direction for said reverse speed range, means to vary the adjustments of the hydraulic drive unit; follower means cooperative with said control surface of the cam and operatively connected to said adjustment-varying means to program the adjustments of the hydraulic drive unit through said ranges of the series of ranges of vehicle speed; and means responsive to movements of the master control to program the operation of the clutches through said ranges of the series of ranges of vehicle speed, two of said clutches being engaged for both said forward speed range and said reverse speed range, whereby the master control may be gradually shifted forwardly and rearwardly from its zero-speed position to inch the vehicle forwardly through said forward speed range and rearwardly through said reverse speed range without disengaging said two clutches.

Claim 25

A control system for a vehicle that is driven by an engine through a transmission that includes planetary gearing and also includes a hydraulic drive unit that is adjustable for variably and reversibly driving a reaction component of the planetary gearing through a series of ranges of vehicle speed, the transmission further including clutches for activating gear trains for the series of ranges, said control system having in combination; a manually operable master control movable through ranges of movement corresponding to the ranges of said series of ranges of vehicle speed, said master control being movable in one direction from a given position through a forward speed range and being movable from the given position in the opposite direction through a reverse speed range, cam means operatively responsive to the movements of said master control, said cam means having a control surface of a profile corresponding to a graph of the changes in adjustment of the hydraulic unit through said ranges of the series of ranges of vehicle speed, said control surface of the cam having a point corresponding to said given position of the master control such control surface of the cam progressively changing in elevation in one respect in one direction from said point for said forward speed range and progressively changing in elevation in the opposite respect in the opposite direction for said reverse speed range, means to vary the adjustments of the hydraulic drive unit; follower means cooperative with said control surface of the cam and operatively connected to said adjustment-varying means to program the adjustments of the hydraulic drive unit through said ranges of the series of ranges of vehicle speed; and means responsive to movements of the master control to program the operation of the clutches through said ranges of the series of ranges of vehicle speed, two of said clutches being engaged for both said forward speed range and said reverse speed range, whereby the master control may be gradually shifted forwardly and rearwardly from its zero-speed position to inch the vehicle forwardly through said forward speed range and rearwardly through said reverse speed range without disengaging said two clutches.

Claim 26

A combination as set forth in claim 18 in which the master control is movable laterally from said zero-speed position to release one of said two clutches to place the vehicle in free wheeling.

Claim 27

A combination as set forth in claim 19 in which said two clutches connect the hydraulic drive unit to two different components of the planetary gearing.

Claim 28

A combination as set forth in claim 18 in which the master control is operatively connected to the cam means by motion-amplifying means.

Claim 29

A combination as set forth in claim 18 which includes servo-positioning means having an input member and an output member; in which motion-amplifying means operatively connects said follower to said input member; and in which the output member is operatively connected to said adjustment-varying means.

Claim 30

A combination as set forth in claim 18 in which said control surface of the cam includes dwells for pauses in the operation of said adjustment-varying means at transitions between successive ranges of speed to permit changing the clutches during the transitions.

Claim 31

A combination as set forth in claim 23 in which the means to program the operation of the clutches is constructed and arranged for overlapping operation of the clutches during the transition periods.