Method for the automatic control of a gearbox, in particular on a motor vehicle

Claim 1

A method for controlling a gearbox with a plurality of gear ratios provided with dogs, on a vehicle which includes, an engine, a clutch, means for opening and closing said clutch, gearbox control means, gearbox condition detector means, memory means, ratio selection means, means for determining rotational speeds of input and output shafts of said gearbox, engine speed control means, means for determining the speed of said engine, means for determing the acceleration of said vehicle, and means including controls for effecting a sequence of operations, which operations are carried out automatically and including electrical and electronic circuits which operate as loop chains, comprising: (a) opening the clutch; (b) putting said gearbox into neutral, by means of said gearbox control means; (c) selecting the largest gear ratio n' of more than one gear ratios useable at the existing speed of said vehicle; (d) memorizing by said memory means an electrical binary code representing said selected gear ratio n', and simultaneously memorizing by said memory means data representing the character of a change in gear ratios; (e) using said gearbox control device to place said gearbox into said selected gear ratio n'; (f) simultaneously closing said clutch; (g) using said gearbox condition detector to determine whether the gearbox is in said selected gear ratio n', with the dogs of gear ratio n' meshed together; (h) comparing selected gear ratio n' with the condition of said gearbox as determined by said gearbox condition detector to determine whether said condition is equivalent to said selected gear ratio; and (i) if said condition is equivalent to said selected gear ratio, cancelling said date memorized in said memory means to prepare for a new cycle.

Claim 2

A method for controlling a gearbox with a plurality of gear ratios provided with dogs, on a vehicle which includes, an engine, a clutch, means for opening and closing said clutch, gearbox control means, gearbox condition detector means, memory means, ratio selection means, means for determining rotational speeds of input and output shafts of said gearbox, engine speed control means, means for determining the speed of said engine, means for determing the acceleration of said vehicle, and means including controls for effecting a sequence of operations, which operations are carried out automatically and including electrical and electronic circuits which operate as loop chains, comprising: (a) opening the clutch; (b) putting said gearbox into neutral, by means of said gearbox control means; (c) selecting the largest gear ratio n' of more than one gear ratios useable at the existing speed of said vehicle; (d) memorizing by said memory means an electrical binary code representing said selected gear ratio n', and simultaneously memorizing by said memory means data representing the character of a change in gear ratios; (e) using said gearbox control device to place said gearbox into said selected gear ratio n'; (f) simultaneously closing said clutch; (g) using said gearbox condition detector to determine whether the gearbox is in said selected gear ratio n', with the dogs of gear ratio n' meshed together; (h) comparing selected gear ratio n' with the condition of said gearbox as determined by said gearbox condition detector to determine whether said condition is equivalent to said selected gear ratio; and (i) if said condition is equivalent to said selected gear ratio, cancelling said date memorized in said memory means to prepare for a new cycle.

Claim 9

A method according to either one of claims 6 or 7, including: retaining said gearbox in the gear ratio n' on full release of said accelerator to effect breaking action of said engine.

Claim 10

A method according to any one of claims 6 or 7, including: changing to a different ratio n' when the acceleration of said vehicle exceeds a predetermined limit.

Claim 11

A method according to anyone of claims 6 or 7, including: changing to a different ratio n' when the speed of said engine reaches anyone of predetermined points on an engine speed cut-off curve.

Claim 14

An apparatus for controlling a gearbox with a plurality of gear ratios provided with dogs, on a vehicle which includes, an engine, a clutch, means for determining rotational speeds of input and output shafts of said gearbox, engine speed control means, means for determining the speed of said engine, means for determining the acceleration of the vehicle having said gearbox, and means including controls for automatically carrying out a sequence of operations including electrical and electronic circuits which operate as loop chains, said means including controls further comprising: (a) means for opening and closing the clutch; (b) a gearbox control device for putting said gearbox into neutral; (c) a ratio selection means for selecting the largest gear ratio n' of more than one gear ratio useable at the existing speed of said vehicle, n'; (d) a memory means adapted to memorize an electrical binary code representing said selected gear ratio n', and to simultaneously memorize data representing the character of a change in gear ratio; (e) a gearbox control device adapted to place said gearbox into said selected ratio n'; (f) a gearbox condition detector adapted to determine whether the gearbox is in said selected ratio n', with the dogs of the gear ratio n' meshed together; (g) means for comparing the selected gear ratio n' with the condition of said gearbox as determined by said gearbox condition detector to determine whether said condition is equivalent to said selected gear ratio n'; and (h) means for cancelling said data memorized in said memory means to prepare for a new cycle.

Claim 15

An apparatus for controlling a gearbox with a plurality of gear ratios provided with dogs, on a vehicle which includes, an engine, a clutch, means for determining rotational speeds of input and output shafts of said gearbox, engine speed control means, means for determining the speed of said engine, means for determining the acceleration of the vehicle having said gearbox, and means including controls for automatically carrying out a sequence of operations including electrical and electronic circuits which operate as loop chains, said means including controls further comprising: (a) means for opening and closing the clutch; (b) a gearbox control device for putting said gearbox into neutral; (c) a ratio selection means for selecting the largest gear ratio n' of more than one gear ratio useable at the existing speed of said vehicle, n'; (d) a memory means adapted to memorize an electrical binary code representing said selected gear ratio n', and to simultaneously memorize data representing the character of a change in gear ratio; (e) a gearbox control device adapted to place said gearbox into said selected ratio n'; (f) a gearbox condition detector adapted to determine whether the gearbox is in said selected ratio n', with the dogs of the gear ratio n' meshed together; (g) means for comparing the selected gear ratio n' with the condition of said gearbox as determined by said gearbox condition detector to determine whether said condition is equivalent to said selected gear ratio n'; and (h) means for cancelling said data memorized in said memory means to prepare for a new cycle.

Claim 22

An apparatus according to anyone of claims 18 or 19, including: means for retaining said gearbox in the selected ratio n' upon release of said accelerator to effect breaking action by said engine.