Power train with automated clutch for use in motor vehicles

A power train for use in a motor vehicle, comprising:

• a prime mover;
• means for starting, operating and arresting said prime mover;
• a transmission arranged to receive torque from said prime mover and being shiftable into and from a plurality of gears in which said transmission tends to move the vehicle, said transmission including multiple-position means for selecting gears and for shifting into and from selected gears;
• an automated system arranged to transmit torque from said prime mover to said transmission and having engaged and disengaged conditions;
• and
• means for controlling said system, including a signal receiving, processing and transmitting control unit, an actuator arranged to select the magnitude of torque being transmitted by said system in response to processed signals from said control unit, a plurality of signal generating sensors, and means for transmitting signals from said sensors to said control unit, said sensors and said signal transmitting means being prone to malfunction and said control unit having a normal operating mode when said sensors and said signal transmitting means function properly, when said transmission receives torque from said system and when said transmission is shifted into one of said gears to thus move the vehicle, said control unit further having an emergency operating mode which is set up in response to malfunctioning of at least one of said sensors and said signal transmitting means and in which the vehicle is not set in motion while said prime mover is in operation and said transmission is shifted into one of said gears.