Automatic transmission with programmable shiftpoints

An apparatus for use in a vehicle having an engine driven transmission which includes a plurality of gear ratios, comprising:

• a speed sensor adapted to sense a parameter indicative of vehicle speed and responsively produce a vehicle speed signal;
• a mode selector adapted to controllably produce one of an automode signal and a custommode signal;
• a memory device having default and custom shiftpoint maps for storing upshift and downshift speeds for each gear ratio;
• programming means for allowing the operator to program the custom shiftpoint map during vehicle operation;
• a controller adapted to receive the vehicle speed, automode and custommode signals, retrieve upshift and downshift speeds for the current gear ratio from the default shiftpoint map when the automode signal is received, retrieve upshift and downshift speeds for the current gear ratio from the custom shiftpoint map when the custommode signal is received, produce an upshift signal if a signal responsive to the vehicle speed signal is above the retrieved upshift speed, and produce a downshift signal if a signal responsive to the vehicle speed signal is below the retrieved downshift speed;
• and
• an actuator adapted to receive the upshift and downshift signals and responsively control the transmission gear ratio.

An apparatus for use in a vehicle having an engine driven transmission which includes plurality of gear ratios, comprising:

• a speed sensor adapted to sense a parameter indicative of vehicle speed and responsively produce a vehicle speed signal;
• gear selector movable to a plurality of locations for indicating a desired gear ratio;
• a sensor adapted to sense the position of the gear selector and produce a desired gear ratio signal;
• a mode selector adapted to controllably producing one of a custommode signal and a programmode signal;
• a memory device having a custom shiftpoint map being adapted to provide an upshift speed and a downshift speed for each gear ratio;
• a controller adapted to receive the programmode, custommode, vehicle speed and desired gear ratio signals, operate in a program mode when the program mode signal is received and a custom mode when the custommode signal is received, the program mode being operative to produce a transmission control signal responsive to the desired gear ratio signal, record a signal responsive to the vehicle speed signal for each upshift and downshift which occurs, produce average upshift and downshift speed signals responsive to averages of the recorded signals for each gear ratio, and update the custom shiftpoint map with the average upshift and downshift speed signals, the custom mode being operative to retrieve upshift and downshift speeds from the custom shiftpoint map for the current gear ratio, and process the retrieved data and a signal responsive to the vehicle speed signal to produce a transmission control signal;
• and
• an actuator adapted to receive the upshift and downshift signals and responsively control the transmission gear ratio.

A method for use in a vehicle having an engine driven transmission which includes plurality of gear ratios, a sensor adapted to sense an operating parameter and responsively produce a parameter signal, a shiftpoint map for storing data which relates transmission gear ratio to the parameter signal, a gear selector movable to a plurality of locations for indicating a desired gear ratio, and a sensor adapted to sense the position of the gear selector and produce a desired gear ratio signal, comprising the steps of:

• controllably producing one of a custommode signal and a programmode signal;
• operating in a program mode in response to programmode signal, the program mode being operative for producing a transmission control signal responsive to the desired gear ratio signal, recording the value of the parameter signal for each gear change, and updating the shiftpoint map with the recorded values;
• operating in a custom mode in response to the custommode signal, the custom mode being operative to retrieve a data from the shiftpoint map and process the retrieved data and the parameter signal to produce a transmission control signal;
• and
• controlling the transmissions gear ratio in response to the transmission control signal.

A method for use in a vehicle having an engine driven transmission which includes plurality of gear ratios, a speed sensor adapted to sense a parameter indicative of vehicle speed and responsively produce a vehicle speed signal, default and custom shiftpoint maps which are adapted to provide upshift and downshift speeds for each gear ratio, a gear selector movable to a plurality of locations for indicating a desired gear ratio signal, and a sensor adapted to sense the position of the gear selector and produce a desired gear ratio signal, comprising the steps of:

• controllably producing one of an automode, a custommode and a programmode signals;
• operating in an automatic mode in response to the automode signal, the automatic mode being operative to retrieve the upshift and downshift speeds for the current gear ratio from the default shiftpoint map and process the retrieved speeds and a signal responsive to the vehicle speed signal to produce a transmission control signal;
• operating in a program mode in response to programmode signal is received, the program mode being operative to record a signal responsive to the vehicle speed signal for each upshift and downshift which occurs, produce average upshift and downshift speed signals responsive to averages of the recorded signals for each gear ratio, and update the custom shiftpoint map with the average upshift and downshift speed signals;
• operating in a custom mode in response to the custommode signal, the custom mode being operative to retrieve upshift and downshift speeds for the current gear ratio from the custom shiftpoint map and process the retrieved speeds and a signal responsive to the vehicle speed signal to produce a transmission control signal;
• and
• controlling the transmission gear ratio in response to the transmission control signal.