1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an adaptive control for controlling jaw clutch engagement during completion of a transmission upshift. In particular, the present invention relates to a control wherein a controller commands engagement of jaw clutches when transmission input shaft speed is or is expected to be within a predetermined offset of a true synchronous speed (IS=OS*GR.sub.T). The magnitude of the offset (i.e., the width of the "synchronous window") is adaptively varied as a function of the rate of change of vehicle speed (d/dt(OS)) and of engine rotational speed (d/dt(ES)).
The adaptive control may be utilized with a fully or partially automated vehicular transmission system or with the range or, preferably, the splitter section of a controller-assisted, manually shifted transmission.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Compound manually shifted mechanical transmissions of the range, splitter and/or combined range/splitter type are in wide use in heavy-duty vehicles and are well known in the prior art, as may be seen by reference to U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,754,665; 5,272,929; 5,370,013 and 5,390,561, 5,546,823; 5,609,062 and 5,642,643, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. Typically, such transmissions include a main section shifted directly or remotely by a manual shift lever and one or more auxiliary sections connected in series therewith. The auxiliary sections most often were shifted by a slave actuator, usually pneumatically, hydraulically, mechanically and/or electrically operated, in response to manual operation of one or more master switches. Shift controls for such system may be seen by reference to U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,455,883; 4,550,627; 4,899,607; 4,920,815; 4,974,468; 5,000,060; 5,272,931; 5,281,902; 5,222,404 and 5,350,561, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Fully or partially automated transmission systems wherein a microprocessor-based electronic control unit (ECU) receives input signals indicative of various system operating conditions and processes same according to logic rules to issue command output signals to one or more system actuators are known in the prior art, as may be seen by reference to U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,361,060; 4,593,580; 4,595,986; 4,850,236; 5,435,212; 5,582,069; 5,582,558; 5,620,392; 5,651,292 and 5,679,096; 5,682,790; the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds