System for control of a gearbox

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9243708-B2
Application number	US-201013392159-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 10, 2010
Priority date	Sep 14, 2009
Publication date	Jan 26, 2016
Grant date	Jan 26, 2016

Abstract

A system for control of a gearbox: At least one control unit controls the gearbox in a motor vehicle which comprises an engine connected to drive the gearbox. The system responds to receiving an indication by choosing for the gearbox a gear among various possible gears which causes the engine to reach a desired speed ω KD in a shorter time than with any other gear from among the various possible gears. Also, a method, a motor vehicle, a computer program and a computer program product thereof for performing the method are disclosed.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A system for controlling gear change of a gearbox of a motor vehicle with an engine connected to drive the gearbox, the gearbox having a plurality of gears, the system comprising:
at least one control unit configured and operable for controlling the gearbox; and
the system is configured and operable for responding to receiving an indication by choosing for the gearbox a target gear of the plurality of gears that causes the engine to achieve a desired speed ω KD in a shorter time than with any gear of the plurality of gears other than the target gear,
wherein the target gear minimises a time function T max power =T shift +T acceleration , where T Shift is the time taken to effect the gear change, and
T Acceleration is the time taken to accelerate the vehicle to maximum power speed +/−Δω after changing gear,
where Δω is an engine speed value of the order of 100-300 rpm.

2. A system according to claim 1 , further comprising a control device connected to the system, wherein the control device provides the indication.

3. A system according to claim 2 , wherein the control device comprises an accelerator pedal comprising a kickdown function, for thereby producing the indication.

4. A system according to claim 1 , wherein the desired engine speed ω KD is within an engine speed range which comprises the maximum power speed of the engine.

5. A system according to claim 4 , wherein the engine speed range is defined as the maximum power speed of the engine +/−Δω.

6. A system according to claim 1 , wherein the target gear is the current gear or a lower gear.

7. A system according to claim 1 , wherein the target gear is chosen on the basis of calculations in real time.

8. A system according to claim 1 , wherein the indication is an electrical control signal.

9. A system according to claim 1 , wherein the gearbox is an automatic gearbox or an automated manual gearbox comprising the plurality of gears, and the vehicle comprises one of a truck and a bus.

10. A system according to claim 1 , wherein candidate gears for the target gear are a current gear and gears lower than the current gear.

11. A system according to claim 1 , wherein the indication is an electrical control signal generated by a kickdown function initiated by a driver.

12. A system according to claim 1 , wherein T Acceleration is determined by

T
acceleration

=

∫

⁢

ω
1

ω
2

⁢

M
e

-

F
res

⁢
r

i

m
+

I
e

⁢

i
2

r
2

⁢

⁢

ⅆ
ω

where M e is a torque for the flywheel of the engine, I e the moment of inertia of the engine and F res , r, i and m are respectively a running resistance, a wheel radius, a total transmission ratio and a weight for the vehicle.

13. A motor vehicle comprising at least one system according to claim 1 .

14. A computer-readable medium product incorporating a program comprising program code which, when the program code is executed in a computer, causes the computer to effect the method according to claim 13 .

15. A method for controlling a gear change in a gearbox in a motor vehicle, wherein the vehicle comprises an engine connected to drive the gearbox, the gearbox having a plurality of gears, the method comprising:
receiving an indication; and

responding to the indication by choosing for the gearbox a target gear of the plurality of gears that causes the engine to achieve a desired speed ω KD in a shorter time than with any gear of the plurality of gears other than the target gear,
wherein the target gear minimises a time function T max power =T shift +T acceleration , where T Shift is the time taken to effect the gear change, and
T Acceleration is the time taken to accelerate the vehicle to maximum power speed +/−Δω after changing gear,
where Δω is an engine speed value of the order of 100-300 rpm.

16. A computer-readable medium program product according to claim 15 , wherein the computer-readable medium product comprises at least one of ROM (read-only memory), PROM (programmable ROM), EPROM (erasable PROM), flash memory, EEPROM (electrically erasable PROM) and hard disc unit.

17. A system for controlling gear change of a gearbox of a motor vehicle with an engine connected to drive the gearbox, the gearbox having a plurality of gears, the system comprising:
at least one control unit configured and operable for controlling the gearbox; and
the system is configured and operable for responding to receiving an indication by choosing for the gearbox a target gear of the plurality of gears that causes the engine to achieve a desired speed ω KD in a shorter time than with any gear of the plurality of gears other than the target gear,
wherein the desired engine speed ω KD is within an engine speed range which comprises a maximum power speed of the engine,
wherein the engine speed range is defined as the maximum power speed of the engine +/−Δω,
where Δω is an engine speed value of the order of 100-300 rpm.

Assignees

• Swartling Fredrik
• Öun Mikael
• Scania Cv Ab

Inventors

• Swartling Fredrik
• Öun Mikael

Classifications

• F16H61/0204

  for gearshift control, e.g. control functions for performing shifting or generation of shift signal · CPC title

• F16H59/20 Primary

  Kickdown · CPC title

• F16H61/0213 Primary

  characterised by the method for generating shift signals · CPC title

• Y10T477/68

  Cross-Sectional Technologies · mapped topic

• F16H2061/022

  Calculation or estimation of optimal gear ratio, e.g. best ratio for economy drive or performance according driver preference, or to optimise exhaust emissions · CPC title