Vehicle transmission system including clutch control to eliminate neutral idle gear rattle
AssigneeZF Meritor Automotive
InventorShan Shih
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A vehicle transmission system includes an automated clutch operator. An electronic controller determines when the transmission is in a neutral condition and controls the automated clutch operator to move the clutch into a non-engaged condition. The electronic controller also determines when the vehicle engine is operating at an idle speed and causes the automated clutch operator to move the clutch into a non-engaged condition only when the engine is idling and the transmission is in a neutral condition, which eliminates neutral idle gear rattle.
Claims17
A vehicle transmission system comprising:
- a main gear box having an input shaft that is adapted to receive a driving force from an engine, an output shaft that is adapted to provide a driving force to at least one axle and a plurality of gear members that are selectively engaged to achieve a desired gear ratio between the input shaft and the output shaft;
- a clutch that selectively couples the main gear box input shaft to the engine when the clutch is placed into an engaged condition;
- an automated clutch operator that selectively places the clutch into a non-engaged condition to uncouple the input shaft from the engine;
- and
- a controller that determines when the main gear box is in a neutral condition and when the engine is in an idle condition and controls the automated clutch operator such that the clutch is automatically placed into the non-engaged condition only when the engine is in the idle condition and the main gear box is in the neutral condition.
A method of controlling a vehicle transmission that includes an input shaft that is adapted to receive a driving force from an engine, an output shaft that is adapted to provide a driving force to at least one axle, a plurality of gear members that are selectively engaged to achieve a desired gear ratio between the input shaft and the output shaft, a manually operable clutch that selectively couples the main gear box input shaft to the engine when the clutch is placed into an engaged condition, comprising the steps of:
- (A) determining when the transmission is in a neutral condition;
- (B) determining when the engine is in an idle condition;
- (C) determining when the clutch is in the engaged condition;
- and
- (D) automatically moving the clutch into a non-engaged condition only when the engine is in the idle condition and the transmission is in the neutral condition.
A vehicle transmission system, comprising:
- a transmission input shaft;
- a transmission output shaft;
- a plurality of gears that are selectively moved to engage a desired gear ratio between the transmission input shaft and the transmission output shaft;
- a shift lever that is selectively moveable by a driver of the vehicle to select a desired gear ratio;
- a clutch that selectively couples an engine to the transmission input shaft;
- a neutral sensor that detects when the transmission is in neutral;
- a clutch actuator that automatically releases the clutch so that the engine is not coupled to the transmission input shaft only when the neutral sensor indicates that the transmission is in neutral and the engine is in an idle condition.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.