Electronic control of a transmission
AssigneePolaris Industries Inc.
InventorsMatthew P. McGuire, Cole A. Sytsma, Brian D. Krosschell
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A recreational vehicle is provided including a power source, such as an engine or an electric motor, and a transmission having a variable gear ratio. A sub-transmission coupled to an output of the transmission includes a plurality of selectable gear configurations including park gear and at least one of a forward gear, a neutral gear and a reverse gear. An electronic controller is operative to electronically control the gear configuration of the sub-transmission in response to a set of conditions.
Claims16
A recreational vehicle for operation by an operator, the recreational vehicle including:
- a chassis;
- a plurality of ground engaging members supporting the chassis;
- a drivetrain including
- a power source supported by the chassis;
- and
- a transmission driven by the power source to operatively couple the power source to at least a portion of the plurality of ground engaging members;
- an attachment coupled to a front of the recreational vehicle and supported by the plurality of ground engaging members;
- an operator input device which is actuatable to alter a direction of travel of the recreational vehicle, the operator input device including a plurality of inputs supported adjacent a portion of the operator input device sized and shaped to be grasped by a hand of the operator, the operator input device being operative to receive a plurality of actuations, the operator input device being operative to alter a characteristic of the drivetrain in response to a first actuation of the plurality of inputs and being operative to alter a characteristic of the attachment in response to a second actuation of the plurality of inputs;
- and
- at least one controller operatively coupled to the plurality of inputs of the operator input device to control the drivetrain and the attachment,
- wherein the operator input device in response to a third actuation of the plurality of inputs overrides at least one other of the plurality of actuations.
A recreational vehicle for operation by an operator, the recreational vehicle including:
- a chassis;
- a plurality of ground engaging members supporting the chassis;
- a drivetrain including
- a power source supported by the chassis;
- and
- a transmission driven by the power source to operatively couple the power source to at least a portion of the plurality of ground engaging members;
- an attachment coupled to a front of the recreational vehicle and supported by the plurality of ground engaging members;
- an operator input device which is actuatable to alter a direction of travel of the recreational vehicle, the operator input device including a plurality of inputs supported adjacent a portion of the operator input device sized and shaped to be grasped by a hand of the operator, the operator input device being operative to receive a plurality of actuations, the operator input device being operative to alter a characteristic of the drivetrain in response to a first actuation of a first set of the plurality of inputs and being operative to alter a characteristic of the attachment in response to a second actuation of a second set of the plurality of inputs;
- and
- at least one controller operatively coupled to the plurality of inputs of the operator input device to control the drivetrain and the attachment,
- wherein the first set of inputs are the same as the second set of inputs.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.