METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FAULT-TOLERANT TRANSMISSION GEAR SELECTOR LEVER POSITION DETERMINATION
First Claim
1. Apparatus to determine a position of a lever having a plurality of operator-selectable positions, comprising:
- a first lever-position sensor operable to detect each of the operator-selectable positions;
a second lever-position sensor operable to detect each of a subset of the operator-selectable positions;
a first controller adapted to monitor the second lever-position sensor;
a second controller adapted to monitor the first lever-position sensor;
the second controller operable to identify and communicate a specific one of the operator-selectable positions to the first controller;
the first controller operable to validate the specific one of the operator-selectable positions and communicate the validated specific one of the operator-selectable positions to a control system.
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Abstract
A fault-tolerant gear selector lever position apparatus is described. Included is a first sensor operable to detect each position, and a second sensor operable to detect subsets of the positions. A first controller monitors the second sensor, and a second controller monitors the first sensor. The second controller identifies and communicates one of the positions to the first controller, and the first controller validates the position and communicates the position to a control system. The lever is applicable to a power transmission device. Each sensor preferably comprises digital encoding sensor; the first sensor generates a unique signal for each position, and the second sensor generates a unique signal for each subset of the positions, preferably a unique signal for each of Park, Reverse, Neutral, and Forward Drive. The controllers identify faults in the sensors, and communicate and act accordingly.
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Citations
24 Claims
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1. Apparatus to determine a position of a lever having a plurality of operator-selectable positions, comprising:
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a first lever-position sensor operable to detect each of the operator-selectable positions; a second lever-position sensor operable to detect each of a subset of the operator-selectable positions; a first controller adapted to monitor the second lever-position sensor; a second controller adapted to monitor the first lever-position sensor; the second controller operable to identify and communicate a specific one of the operator-selectable positions to the first controller; the first controller operable to validate the specific one of the operator-selectable positions and communicate the validated specific one of the operator-selectable positions to a control system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. Method for determining a position of a gear selector lever having a plurality of operator-selectable positions, comprising:
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detecting one of a plurality of operator-selectable positions of the gear selector lever; detecting one of a plurality of subsets of the operator-selectable positions; validating the specific one of the operator-selectable positions based upon the detected one of the subset of operator-selectable positions; and
,communicating the validated specific one of the operator-selectable positions to a control system. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. Apparatus for determining position of a transmission gear selector lever in a vehicle having a propulsion system equipped with an automatic transmission utilizing shift-by-wire shifting architecture and a distributed electronic controller architecture, comprising:
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a range encoder, operable to provide a signal output for each valid transmission gear selector lever position; a direction encoder, operable to provide signal outputs corresponding to the Park, Reverse, Neutral, and Forward positions of the transmission gear selector lever, and, mechanically aligned with the range encoder; a first control module; adapted to read and decode the signal output from the direction encoder; adapted to identify faults of the direction encoder; adapted to validate a transmission gear selector lever position communicated from a second control module; and
,adapted to provide a control signal to the propulsion system comprising the validated transmission gear selector lever position; and
,the second control module; adapted to read and decode the signal output from the range encoder to determine transmission gear selector lever position; adapted to identify faults of the range encoder; adapted to communicate the transmission gear selector lever position to the first control module; and
,adapted to provide a control signal to the propulsion system comprising a limp-home mode when a fault is identified in one of the direction encoder, the range encoder, and the first control module.
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Specification