Process of modulation control of the torque of a heat engine associated with an automatic transmission

Claim 1

A process of modulation control of a heat engine associated with an automatic transmission having an electronic control unit, comprising the steps of: initiating a gear shift of said automatic transmission by said electronic control unit, wherein said gear shift is one of an upshift and a downshift; and immediately after said step of initiating a gear shift, delivering a torque modulation signal to an engine torque control means of the heat engine for reducing engine torque during said shift, wherein said signal is an on-off, time modulated, signal, and wherein, for downshifting from a gear N to a gear N-i, where i-1,2, the modulation signal is a dual signal with each of the two dual signals having a duration equal to a threshold time T threshold , the two signals being separated by a constant time ε, the modulation signal being triggered when the engine speed Ω m is equal to a value Ω m e ; Ω m e being defined by the relation: Ω.sub.m.sup.e =k.sub.5 ·Ω.sub.Vh.sup.N where: Ω Vh N is the speed of the vehicle in gear N at the beginning of shifting, and k 5 is a constant.