Dynamic speed governing of a vehicle
First Claim
1. An apparatus comprising:
- a vehicle having a drive train with an internal combustion engine, a transmission and a number of ground engaging wheels, said transmission being coupled to said internal combustion engine to turn said wheels to propel said vehicle, said vehicle further including;
an operator-adjustable control to select vehicle speed, said control being monitored to provide a corresponding control setting signal;
a sensor providing an observed speed signal corresponding to a measured speed of said vehicle;
a controller responsive to said setting signal and said observed speed signal to generate;
a target speed signal from said setting signal by reference to a predetermined schedule relating vehicle speed to control setting, said target speed signal corresponding to a first vehicle speed, an error signal corresponding to a difference between said target speed signal and said observed speed signal; and
wherein said engine responds to said error signal to provide said first vehicle speed and said controller is operable to regulate said engine in accordance with said error for any operating speed of said vehicle while said engine is running.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A vehicle that has a drive train with an internal combustion engine, a transmission, and a number of ground engaging wheels. An operator-adjustable throttle control is monitored to provide a position signal corresponding to position of the throttle control. A sensor provides an observed speed signal corresponding to speed of the vehicle and a controller responds to the position signal and the observed speed signal to generate a target speed signal and an error signal. The target speed signal corresponds to a desired speed of the vehicle and is generated from a predetermined relationship between vehicle speed and throttle control position in accordance with the position signal. The error signal corresponds to a difference between the target speed signal and observed speed signal. The engine responds to the error signal to provide the desired vehicle speed for all operating speeds of the vehicle including a stopped or idle condition.
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Citations
36 Claims
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1. An apparatus comprising:
- a vehicle having a drive train with an internal combustion engine, a transmission and a number of ground engaging wheels, said transmission being coupled to said internal combustion engine to turn said wheels to propel said vehicle, said vehicle further including;
an operator-adjustable control to select vehicle speed, said control being monitored to provide a corresponding control setting signal;
a sensor providing an observed speed signal corresponding to a measured speed of said vehicle;
a controller responsive to said setting signal and said observed speed signal to generate;
a target speed signal from said setting signal by reference to a predetermined schedule relating vehicle speed to control setting, said target speed signal corresponding to a first vehicle speed, an error signal corresponding to a difference between said target speed signal and said observed speed signal; and
wherein said engine responds to said error signal to provide said first vehicle speed and said controller is operable to regulate said engine in accordance with said error for any operating speed of said vehicle while said engine is running. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
said transmission is a nonmanual shift-by-wire type with a plurality of gears;
said vehicle further includes a fueling subsystem and said error signal corresponds to a fueling command to said fueling subsystem;
said control includes an accelerator pedal responsive to continuous bearing contact to maintain a selected speed of said vehicle above a minimum amount; and
said controller includes a digital memory operatively coupled thereto to store data corresponding to said schedule, and said controller includes a PID compensator to generate said fueling command from said error signal.
- a vehicle having a drive train with an internal combustion engine, a transmission and a number of ground engaging wheels, said transmission being coupled to said internal combustion engine to turn said wheels to propel said vehicle, said vehicle further including;
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10. A method, comprising:
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operating a vehicle with an internal combustion engine, the vehicle defining an operator compartment providing access to an operator-adjustable throttle control for the engine;
detecting position of the throttle control to provide a corresponding throttle signal to correspondingly increase and decrease speed of the vehicle in response to adjustment of the position;
applying a filter to the throttle signal to reduce vibration-induced variation, the filter including a predetermined deadband to provide a filtered signal that remains generally constant until the throttle signal meets a deadband limit;
determining a desired vehicle speed from the filtered signal;
sensing observed vehicle speed;
comparing the desired vehicle speed to the observed vehicle speed to provide a vehicle speed error; and
fueling the engine as a function of the vehicle speed error to provide the desired vehicle speed. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method, comprising:
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operating a vehicle having an engine with an operator-adjustable control to select vehicle speed;
selecting a first position of the control;
determining the first nonzero vehicle speed from the first position in accordance with a predetermined schedule relating a vehicle speed range to a control position range;
sensing observed vehicle speed; and
governing engine operation as a function of a difference between the first nonzero vehicle speed and the observed vehicle speed, said governing being operable to accelerate said vehicle from a stopped condition to the first nonzero vehicle speed when the observed vehicle speed is zero. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A method, comprising:
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operating a vehicle having an operator-adjustable control to select vehicle speed;
keeping the control in a first position by maintaining a bearing contact therewith;
determining a first desired speed of the vehicle corresponding to the selected position from a predetermined schedule relating a vehicle speed range to a control position range;
detecting a first observed speed of the vehicle;
adjusting operation of the vehicle to provide the first desired speed in accordance with a difference between the first observed speed and the first desired speed;
repositioning the control to a second position while maintaining the bearing contact with the control;
establishing a second desired speed of the vehicle corresponding to the second position from the schedule;
detecting a second observed speed of the vehicle; and
controlling operation of the vehicle to provide the second desired speed in accordance with a difference between the second observed speed and the second desired speed. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. An apparatus, comprising:
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a drive train configured to propel a vehicle, said drive train having an internal combustion engine and a number of ground engaging wheels; and
a means for governing operation of said engine as a function of vehicle speed, said means being responsive to an operator-adjustable throttle control to determine a desired vehicle speed from a predetermined schedule relating throttle setting to vehicle speed, said means adjusting said engine to provide said desired vehicle speed in accordance with a difference of said desired vehicle speed from a detected vehicle speed, said means being operable to govern said engine at all operating speeds of said vehicle including when said vehicle is stopped with said engine running. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
said drive train includes a shift-by-wire transmission with a plurality of gears;
said throttle control includes an accelerator pedal requiring generally continuous bearing contact to maintain a selected speed of said vehicle above a minimum amount;
said means includes a digital memory to store data corresponding to said schedule said means further includes a backlash filter and a PID compensator responsive to a difference between said desired vehicle speed and said detected vehicle speed to generate a fueling command; and
said fueling subsystem responds to said fueling command to supply fuel to said engine to provide said desired vehicle speed.
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33. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein said means governs said engine to accelerate said vehicle from a stopped condition to said desired vehicle speed when said detected vehicle speed corresponds to said stopped condition.
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34. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein said means is operable to adjust said engine to provide said desired vehicle speed in response to a movement of said operator-adjustable throttle control from a first detected position of said operator-adjustable throttle control to a second detected position of said operator-adjustable throttle control, said first detected position being different from said second detected position, said desired vehicle speed corresponding to said second detected position.
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35. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein said vehicle is accelerated as said means adjusts said engine to provide said desired vehicle speed in response to a movement of said operator-adjustable throttle control from said first detected position to said second detected position.
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36. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein said vehicle is decelerated as said means adjusts said engine to provide said desired vehicle speed in response to a movement of said operator-adjustable throttle control from said first detected position to said second detected position.
Specification