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US 12,233,882 B2Granted
Control system for vehicle powertrain during off-road jumping
AssigneeFord Global Technologies, LLC
InventorsKeith Weston, Joshua Sharpe, Brendan F. Diamond, James Trent, David Michael Russell
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A vehicle includes at least one drive wheel, a powerplant, a clutch, and a controller. The powerplant is configured to generate and deliver power to the at least one drive wheel. The clutch is disposed between the at least one drive wheel and the powerplant. The controller is programmed to, in response to detecting the at least one drive wheel disengaging the ground during a vehicle jump, open the clutch to disconnect the at least one drive wheel from the powerplant.
Claims20
A vehicle comprising:
- a first axle having a first set of wheels;
- a second axle having a second set of wheels;
- a powerplant configured to generate and deliver power to the first and second axles to propel the vehicle;
- a transmission (i) configured to deliver power from the powerplant to the first axle and (ii) having a first clutch configured to connect and disconnect the first axle to and from the powerplant;
- a transfer case (i) configured to deliver power from the powerplant to the second axle and (ii) having a second clutch configured to connect and disconnect the second axle to and from the powerplant;
- and
- a controller programmed to,
- in response to detecting one or more of the first set of wheels disengaging the ground during a vehicle jump, open the first clutch to disconnect the first axle from the powerplant,
- in response to detecting one or more of the second set of wheels disengaging the ground during the vehicle jump, open the second clutch to disconnect the second axle from the powerplant,
- in response to detecting the one or more of the first set of wheels reengaging the ground during a vehicle landing after the vehicle jump, close the first clutch to reconnect the first axle to the powerplant, and
- in response to detecting the one or more of the second set of wheels reengaging the ground during a vehicle landing after the vehicle jump, close the second clutch to reconnect the second axle to the powerplant.
8 more elements
A vehicle comprising:
- at least one drive wheel;
- a powerplant configured to generate and deliver power to the at least one drive wheel;
- a clutch disposed between the at least one drive wheel and the powerplant;
- and
- a controller programmed to, in response to detecting the at least one drive wheel disengaging the ground during a vehicle jump, open the clutch to disconnect the at least one drive wheel from the powerplant.
2 more elements
A vehicle comprising:
- an axle having a drive wheel;
- a powerplant configured to generate and deliver power to the axle to propel the vehicle;
- a clutch disposed between the axle and the powerplant;
- and
- a controller programmed to,
- in response to detecting the drive wheel disengaging the ground during a vehicle jump, open the clutch to disconnect the axle from the powerplant, and
- adjust a speed of the drive wheel over a flight time of the vehicle during the vehicle jump such that the speed of the drive wheel corresponds to a ground speed at a time of the vehicle landing.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.