Control system for automatic transmission

• US 5,728,026 A
• Filed: 06/14/1996
• Issued: 03/17/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 06/16/1995
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Aisin AW Company Limited (Aisin Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Aisin AW Company Limited (Aisin Corp.)
• Inventors: Nishimura, Junichi, Sakaguchi, Yoshikazu, Saito, Masao, Kusafuka, Muneo, Unoki, Masamichi
• Primary Examiner(s): Ta, Khoi Q.
• Assistant Examiner(s): KWON, TAI CHOON
• Application Number:
  US08/663,980
• Time in Patent Office: 641 Days
• Field of Search: 477/107, 477/110, 477/120, 477/901, 477/904, 477/905, 364/424.694, 364/431.07
• US Class Current: 477/110
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 28/16 responsive to, or preventing, skidding of wheels brake control systems for vehicle drive stability B60T8/1755; arrangements responsive to a speed condition for adjusting wheel braking force B60T8/32; control of vehicle driving stability otherwise than by controlling the propulsion unit only B60W30/02; preventing wheel slippage by reducing power in rail vehicles B61C15/00
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2530/16 Driving resistance
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2720/106 Longitudinal acceleration
• CPC Class Codes: F16H 2059/142 of driving resistance calculated from weight, slope, or the like
• CPC Class Codes: F16H 2059/506 Wheel slip
• CPC Class Codes: F16H 59/24 dependent on the throttle opening
• CPC Class Codes: F16H 59/48 Inputs being a function of acceleration
• CPC Class Codes: F16H 59/66 Road conditions, e.g. slope, slippery
• CPC Class Codes: F16H 61/0213 characterised by the method for generating shift signals

Abstract

A control system for an automatic transmission having a running status detector for detecting the running status of a vehicle to include an input torque from the engine; a running resistance estimator for estimating a running resistance on the basis of the running status of the vehicle; and shift characteristic changer for changing shift characteristics in accordance with the running resistance of the vehicle. The control system further comprises an engine output controller for reducing the output of the engine by a sub-throttle valve which acts independently of the driver at an overrun time of drive wheels; and an action status detector for detecting the action status of the sub-throttle valve. The running resistance estimator estimates the running resistance of the vehicle on the basis of the running status detector and the action status detector of the sub-throttle valve.

Claims

1. A control system for an automatic transmission, comprising:

running status detecting means for detecting a running status of a vehicle, to include an input torque from an engine;

running resistance estimating means for estimating a running resistance on a basis of the running status of the vehicle, the running resistance including a road gradient;

shift characteristic changing means for changing shift characteristics in accordance with the running resistance of the vehicle;

engine output control means for reducing an output of the engine by controlling a sub-throttle valve which acts independently of a driver'"'"'s operation at an overrun time of drive wheels; and

action status detecting means for detecting an action status of said sub-throttle valve, wherein said running resistance estimating means estimates the running resistance of the vehicle on a basis of said running status detecting means detection of the running status of the vehicle and said action status detecting means detection of the action status of said sub-throttle valve during operation of the engine output control means.

2. A control system for an automatic transmission according to claim 1, further comprising:

reference acceleration computing means for computing an acceleration of the vehicle on a flat road based on the running status of the vehicle;

actual acceleration computing means for computing an actual acceleration of the vehicle based on the running status of the vehicle; and

running resistance comparing means for comparing the estimated running resistance and a preset reference value, wherein said running resistance estimating means estimates the running resistance of the vehicle on the basis of the reference acceleration and the actual acceleration, and said shift characteristics changing means changes shift characteristics in accordance with a result of the comparison by the running resistance comparing means.

3. A control system for an automatic transmission according to claim 2, wherein the reference acceleration is computed by weighting and averaging preceding reference accelerations and a present reference acceleration, and the actual acceleration is computed by weighting and averaging preceding actual accelerations and a present actual acceleration.

4. A control system for an automatic transmission, comprising:

reference acceleration computing means for determining an input torque of an engine based on a throttle opening of a main throttle and an engine RPM thereby to compute a reference acceleration of a vehicle for a flat road on the basis of the input torque;

actual acceleration computing means for computing an actual acceleration of the vehicle on the basis of a signal from a vehicle speed sensor;

running resistance estimating means for estimating a running resistance of the vehicle on the basis of the reference acceleration and the actual acceleration;

running resistance comparing means for comparing the estimated running resistance and a preset reference value;

shift characteristics changing means for changing shift characteristics in accordance with a result of comparing by said running resistance comparing means;

engine output control means for reducing the output of said engine by a sub-throttle valve which acts independently of operation of a driver during slippage of drive wheels; and

action status detecting means for detecting an action status of said sub-throttle valve, wherein during an action of said engine output control means, said reference acceleration computing means computes said reference acceleration from a throttle opening of said sub-throttle valve and the engine RPM, and said running resistance estimating means estimates the running resistance of the vehicle on the basis of the reference acceleration, as computed on the basis of the input torque determined based on the throttle opening of said sub-throttle valve, the engine RPM, and the actual acceleration.

5. A control system for an automatic transmission according to claim 4, wherein the reference acceleration is computed by weighting and averaging preceding reference accelerations and a present reference acceleration, and the actual acceleration is computed by weighting and averaging preceding actual accelerations and a present actual acceleration.