Vehicular automatic speed change gear assembly

Claim 2

An automatic speed change gear assembly for a vehicle, comprising: advancement direction indicating switch means having at least two settings, said switch means being manually operable to indicate forward movement at one of said two settings and backward movement at another setting; a vehicle stop sensor for detecting when said vehicle is stopped; operating condition change-over means for providing one of forward, backward and neutral operating conditions in response to forward, backward and neutral control signals, respectively; and control means responsive to said advancement direction indicating switch and said vehicle stop sensor for providing said neutral control signal when said advancement direction indicating switch means is switched from a forward movement indication to a backward movement indication and said vehicle stop sensor indicates that said vehicle is not stopped, and thereafter for automatically providing said backward control signal when said vehicle stop sensor indicates that said vehicle has stopped.

Claim 3

An assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein said operating condition change-over device comprises means for switching oil paths for the supply of oil pressure from an oil pressure source to selected one of a plurality of frictional engagement devices, to provide one of said forward, backward and neutral operating conditions.

Claim 4

An automatic speed change gear assembly for a vehicle, comprising: advancement direction indicating switch means having at least two settings, said switch means being manually operable to indicate forward movement at one of said two settings and backward movement at another setting; a vehicle stop sensor for detecting when said vehicle is stopped; a parking brake operation sensor for detecting the operation of a manually operable parking brake device; operating condition change-over means for providing one of forward, backward and neutral operating conditions in response to forward, backward and neutral control signals, respectively, and control means responsive to said advancement direction indicating switch means, said vehicle stop sensor and said parking brake operation sensor for providing said neutral control signal when said vehicle stop sensor indicates that said vehicle is stopped and said parking brake operation sensor indicates that said parking brake has been operated.

Claim 5

An automatic speed change gear assembly for a vehicle, comprising: advancement direction indicating switch means having at least two settings, said switch means being manually operable to indicate forward movement at one of said two settings and backward movement at another setting; a vehicle stop sensor for detecting when said vehicle is stopped; a parking brake operation sensor for detecting the operation of a manually operable parking brake device; operating condition change-over means for providing one of forward, backward and neutral operating conditions in response to forward, backward and neutral control signals, respectively, and control means responsive to said advancement direction indicating switch means, said vehicle stop sensor and said parking brake operation sensor for providing said neutral control signal when said vehicle stop sensor indicates that said vehicle is stopped and said parking brake operation sensor indicates that said parking brake has been operated.

Claim 6

An assembly as claimed in claim 3, wherein in said operating condition change-over device comprises means for switching oil paths for the supply of oil pressure from an oil pressure source to selected ones of a plurality of frictional engagement devices, to provide one of said forward, backward and neutral operating conditions.

Claim 7

An automatic speed change gear assembly for a vehicle, comprising: advancement direction indicating switch means having at least two settings, said switch means being manually operable to indicate forward movement at one of said two settings and backward movement at another setting; a vehicle stop sensor for detecting when said vehicle is stopped; an engine stop sensor for detecting the stopping of an engine of said vehicle; operating condition change-over means for providing one of forward, backward and neutral operating conditions in response to forward, backward and neutral control signals, respectively; and control means responsive to said advancement direction indicating switch means, said vehicle stop sensor and said engine stop sensor for providing said neutral control signal when said engine stop sensor indicates that said engine has stopped.

Claim 8

An automatic speed change gear assembly for a vehicle, comprising: advancement direction indicating switch means having at least two settings, said switch means being manually operable to indicate forward movement at one of said two settings and backward movement at another setting; a vehicle stop sensor for detecting when said vehicle is stopped; an engine stop sensor for detecting the stopping of an engine of said vehicle; operating condition change-over means for providing one of forward, backward and neutral operating conditions in response to forward, backward and neutral control signals, respectively; and control means responsive to said advancement direction indicating switch means, said vehicle stop sensor and said engine stop sensor for providing said neutral control signal when said engine stop sensor indicates that said engine has stopped.

Claim 9

An assembly as claimed in claim 5, wherein, when the stoppage of said engine is detected by said signal from said engine stop sensor, said indicating switch means is automatically set to a forward movement indicating position.

Claim 10

An assembly as claimed in claim 5, including an engine speed sensor for detecting the speed of said engine, and means for obtaining a forward operating condition when re-starting said engine after the same has been stopped, when it is detected that a speed of said engine is maintained higher than a first predetermined value for a predetermined period of time and thereafter lower than a second predetermined value higher than said first predetermined value.

Claim 11

An assembly as claimed in claim 5, wherein in said operating condition change-over device comprises means for switching oil paths for the supply of oil pressure from an oil pressure source to selected ones of a plurality of frictional engagement devices, to provide one of said forward, backward and neutral operating conditions.

Claim 12

An automatic speed change gear assembly for a vehicle, comprising: a speed change gear mechanism capable of providing at least forward, backward and neutral ranges and having an output means, and including a parking mechanism for stopping the rotation of said output means to thereby place said vehicle in a parked state; actuating means for operating said parking mechanism; a vehicle stop sensor for detecting the stoppage of said vehicle; a key switch for controlling the start and stop of an engine; a seat switch for detecting when an operator sits on a driver's seat of said vehicle; a parking brake operation sensor for detecting the operation of a manually operable parking brake device; and control means for applying signals to said actuating means to engage or disengage said parking mechanism according to signals from said vehicle stop sensor, seat switch, key switch and parking brake operation sensor, said control means applying a signal to said actuating means to place said parking mechanism in an engagement state when said vehicle stop sensor indicates that said vehicle is stopped, said parking brake operation sensor indicates that said parking brake has not been operated and said seat switch indicates that said driver's seat is not occupied.

Claim 13

An automatic speed change gear assembly for a vehicle, comprising: a speed change gear mechanism capable of providing at least forward, backward and neutral ranges and having an output means, and including a parking mechanism for stopping the rotation of said output means to thereby place said vehicle in a parked state; actuating means for operating said parking mechanism; a vehicle stop sensor for detecting the stoppage of said vehicle; a key switch for controlling the start and stop of an engine; a seat switch for detecting when an operator sits on a driver's seat of said vehicle; a parking brake operation sensor for detecting the operation of a manually operable parking brake device; and control means for applying signals to said actuating means to engage or disengage said parking mechanism according to signals from said vehicle stop sensor, seat switch, key switch and parking brake operation sensor, said control means applying a signal to said actuating means to place said parking mechanism in an engagement state when said vehicle stop sensor indicates that said vehicle is stopped, said parking brake operation sensor indicates that said parking brake has not been operated and said seat switch indicates that said driver's seat is not occupied.

Claim 14

An assembly as claimed in claim 9, further including release switch means for producing a signal for releasing said parking mechanism, said signal being given priority over said signals from said vehicle stop sensor and said key switch.

Claim 15

An automatic speed change gear assembly for a vehicle, comprising: a speed change gear mechanism capable of providing at least forward, backward and neutral ranges and having an output means, and including a parking mechanism for stopping the rotation of said output means to thereby place said vehicle in a parked state; actuating means for operating said parking mechanism; a vehicle stop sensor for detecting the stoppage of said vehicle; a key switch for controlling the start and stop of an engine; a seat switch for detecting when an operator sits on a drivers seat of said vehicle; a sensor for detecting the operation of said engine; a parking brake operation sensor for detecting the operation of a manually operable parking brake device; and control means for applying signals to said actuating means to engage or disengage said parking mechanism in accordance with signals from said vehicle stop sensor, said key switch, said seat switch, said engine sensor and said parking brake operation sensor, said control means applying a signal to said actuating means to place said parking mechanism in an engagement state when said vehicle stop sensor indicates that said vehicle is stopped and said key switch is in an "off" position, and said control means operating to provide a signal to release said parking mechanism when said seat switch indicates that an operator is sitting on said drivers seat, said engine sensor indicates that said engine is being operated and said parking brake operation sensor indicates that said parking brake has been operated.

Claim 16

An automatic speed change gear assembly for a vehicle, comprising: a speed change gear mechanism capable of providing at least forward, backward and neutral ranges and having an output means, and including a parking mechanism for stopping the rotation of said output means to thereby place said vehicle in a parked state; actuating means for operating said parking mechanism; a vehicle stop sensor for detecting the stoppage of said vehicle; a key switch for controlling the start and stop of an engine; a seat switch for detecting when an operator sits on a drivers seat of said vehicle; a sensor for detecting the operation of said engine; a parking brake operation sensor for detecting the operation of a manually operable parking brake device; and control means for applying signals to said actuating means to engage or disengage said parking mechanism in accordance with signals from said vehicle stop sensor, said key switch, said seat switch, said engine sensor and said parking brake operation sensor, said control means applying a signal to said actuating means to place said parking mechanism in an engagement state when said vehicle stop sensor indicates that said vehicle is stopped and said key switch is in an "off" position, and said control means operating to provide a signal to release said parking mechanism when said seat switch indicates that an operator is sitting on said drivers seat, said engine sensor indicates that said engine is being operated and said parking brake operation sensor indicates that said parking brake has been operated.