Propulsion control using longitudinal acceleration and steering angle to determine slip threshold

Claim 1

In a propulsion control system for motor vehicles for preventing unstable driving conditions, having a recognition eans for recognizing the tendency to spin of the driven wheels of at least one axle, having a control system means for affecting a power control element of the vehicle engine in parallel to a gas pedal, having a vehicle speed sensor means, having a longitudinal acceleration sensor means, and having a steering angle sensor means, the improvement comprising: an electronic means for receiving the output signal of the steering angle sensor, for receiving the output signal of the longitudinal acceleration sensor starting at the point in time at which the spinning tendency of at least one wheel is determined by said recognition means for a certain duration, and for generating threshold valve of vehicle speed; first means in said electronic means for determining a value of the lateral acceleration from the value of the longitudinal acceleration that is determined when the spinning tendency of a wheel occurs; second means in said electronic means for determining threshold value of the vehicle speed from said determined lateral acceleration value and the steering angle and for providing it as a output signal; and a comparator means for comparing the output signals of the vehicle speed sensor means and of the electronic means and for emitting an output signal when the vehicle speed exceeds the threshold value; and said control system means affects a power reduction of the power control element of the vehicle engine in response to the output of said comparator means.