Ratio control method for a continuously variable transmission

• US 7,831,365 B2
• Filed: 08/21/2007
• Issued: 11/09/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 11/19/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: ZF Friedrichshafen AG (Zeppelin - Stiftung der Stadt Friedrichshafen)
• Original Assignee: ZF Friedrichshafen AG (Zeppelin - Stiftung der Stadt Friedrichshafen)
• Inventors: Herbster, Kai-Uwe, Iden, Oliver, Spörl, Peter
• Primary Examiner(s): MANCHO, RONNIE M
• Application Number:
  US11/894,430
• Publication Number:
  US 20080004781A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,176 Days
• Field of Search: 701/51, 701/52, 701/61, 701/58, 701/54, 701/70, 701/79, 701/85, 701/94, 701/95, 701/99, 701/110, 477/37, 477/52, 477/41, 477/34, 474/8, 474/18, 474/28, 604/87, 475/52, 475/72
• US Class Current: 701/58
• CPC Class Codes: F16H 59/18 dependent on the position of the accelerator pedal
• CPC Class Codes: F16H 61/66254 controlling of shifting being influenced by a signal derived from the engine and the main coupling

Abstract

A method for adjusting a ratio of a continuously variable automatic transmission where a nominal ratio is determined according to an accelerator pedal signal value. The nominal ratio is determined according to a modified accelerator pedal signal. When the periodic curve of the accelerator pedal signal has a relative extreme value to the modified accelerator pedal signal, a starting value is assigned which is equal to this extreme value. Until the value of the modified accelerator pedal signal is again equal to the value of the unmodified accelerator pedal signal, the value of the modified accelerator pedal signal is determined by a transfer function.

Claims

1. A method of controlling a variator ratio for a single stage continuously variable automatic transmission at any point across an entire range of the variator ratio, the method comprising the steps of:

determining a change in a value of an accelerator pedal signal;

feeding to an electronic transmission control an accelerator pedal signal corresponding to the movement of the accelerator pedal;

determining a modified accelerator pedal signal from the accelerator pedal signal in the electronic transmission control;

adjusting the variator ratio according to the modified accelerator pedal signal by the steps of;

testing whether a periodic curve of the accelerator pedal signal has a change in slope;

maintaining the modified accelerator pedal signal at a value equal to the unmodified accelerator pedal signal where a change in slope is not detected, and

detecting a change in slope of the periodic curve and assigning a starting value (f_start1) to the modified accelerator pedal signal where the change in slope is detected, and determining the modified accelerator pedal signal according to a transfer function until the value of the modified accelerator pedal signal is the same as the value of the unmodified accelerator pedal signal.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the modified accelerator pedal signal value determined by the transfer function is not greater than a sum of the unmodified accelerator pedal signal value and a maximum positive divergence of the modified accelerator pedal signal value with respect to the unmodified accelerator pedal signal value and not smaller than a sum of the unmodified accelerator pedal signal value and a maximum negative divergence of the modified accelerator pedal signal value with respect to the unmodified accelerator pedal signal value.

3. The method according to claim 2, further comprising the step of determining the modified accelerator pedal signal value by the transfer function, beginning with the starting value, and changing monotonically in a direction of the unmodified accelerator pedal signal value until the modified accelerator pedal signal value is equal to the unmodified accelerator signal value.

4. The method according to claim 3, further comprising the step of dropping the modified accelerator pedal signal value linearly with a presettable gradient (α

) when the modified accelerator pedal signal value is greater than the unmodified accelerator pedal signal value and a difference between the two accelerator pedal signal values is smaller than the maximum positive divergence.

5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of setting the modified accelerator pedal signal value, determined by the transfer function, equal to the starting value until one of a maximum positive or a maximum negative divergence is reached or until the unmodified accelerator pedal signal value is equal to the starting value.

6. The method according to claim 5, further comprising the step of, when one of the maximum positive or the maximum negative divergence is reached, setting the modified accelerator pedal signal value equal to the unmodified accelerator pedal signal value.