| Patent application number | Description | Published |
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| 20100168973 | System and Method for Controlling Lockup Clutch Engagement in a Torque Converter - A torque converter has a pump that is rotatably driven by an internal combustion engine and that is fluidly coupled to a turbine, and a lockup clutch connected between pump and the turbine. Controlling engagement of the lockup clutch may include controlling the lockup clutch to an initial lockup clutch activation value, determining rotational speed of the pump, determining rotational speed of the turbine, and if the rotational speed of the turbine is greater than the rotational speed of the pump, increasing rotational speed of the engine until the rotational speed of the pump is within a threshold value of the rotational speed of the turbine followed by controlling the lockup clutch to full engagement. | 07-01-2010 |
| 20100168976 | SYSTEM FOR CONTROLLING VEHICLE OVERSPEEDING VIA CONTROL OF ONE OR MORE EXHAUST BRAKE DEVICES - A method and system are provided for controlling overspeeding of a vehicle carrying an internal combustion engine having one or more exhaust brake devices controllable to apply braking torque to the engine. The system may be operable determine a desired speed of the vehicle, to determine a road speed of the vehicle, and if the road speed of the vehicle exceeds the desired speed of the vehicle by more than a threshold speed, to determine a target brake torque required to reduce the road speed of the vehicle speed to the desired speed of the vehicle, and to then control the one or more exhaust brake devices to apply the target brake torque to the engine to thereby control the road speed of the vehicle to the desired speed of the vehicle. | 07-01-2010 |
| 20100305822 | System for determining a vehicle mass-based breakpoint for selecting between two different transmission shift schedules - A method is provided for selecting between economy mode and performance mode shift schedules for a transmission in a motor vehicle. A desired vehicle acceleration profile is specified, and a cumulative net tractive force of the vehicle is determined over the desired vehicle acceleration profile. A change in vehicle speed over the desired vehicle acceleration profile is also determined. A vehicle mass-based shift schedule breakpoint is computed as a function of the cumulative net tractive force of the vehicle and the change in vehicle speed over the desired vehicle acceleration profile. The vehicle mass-based shift schedule breakpoint is compared to a current vehicle mass indicator, and one of the economy mode and performance mode shift schedules is selected for operation of the transmission based on the comparison. Shifting between gear ranges of the transmission is controlled using the selected one of the economy mode and performance mode shift schedules. | 12-02-2010 |
| 20110021310 | System for Managing Torque in a Vehicle Driveline Coupled to an Internal Combustion Engine and an Electric Motor - A system is provided for managing torque in a vehicle driveline coupled to an internal combustion engine and to a hybrid motor/generator. An engine control circuit provides to a transmission control circuit an engine torque value corresponding to torque applied by the engine to the driveline. A hybrid control circuit provides to the transmission control circuit a motor torque value corresponding to torque applied by the hybrid motor/generator to the driveline. The transmission control circuit controls operation of at least one friction device and controls shifting of the transmission, and also manages torque applied to the drive line by the engine and by the hybrid motor/generator based on the engine torque value and the motor torque value such that the friction device control and shift schedule instructions do not require modification to accommodate inclusion of the hybrid motor/generator in the system or exclusion of the hybrid motor/generator from the system. | 01-27-2011 |
| 20110054749 | System for Controlling Torque Converter Temperature During Torque Converter Stall Conditions - A method and system are provided for controlling the operating temperature of a torque converter during torque converter stall conditions. The torque converter has a pump rotatably driven by an internal combustion engine and a rotatable turbine fluidly coupled to the pump. The system first determines whether the torque converter is currently in a torque converter stall condition, and, if so, determines a slip speed as a difference in rotational speeds between the pump and the turbine, determines an engine output torque limit as a function of the slip speed and a desired slip speed, and controls the operating temperature of the torque converter by limiting output torque produced by the engine based on the engine output torque limit. | 03-03-2011 |
| Patent application number | Description | Published |
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| 20080249693 | METHOD OF SELECTING A TRANSMISSION SHIFT SCHEDULE - A method for selecting a shift schedule for a transmission in a motor vehicle is provided. The method includes the steps of determining whether a signal-to-noise ratio exceeds a threshold and calculating a tractive effort of the motor vehicle. A vehicle mass and a road grade is then estimated from the tractive effort using a recursive least squares estimator with multiple forgetting when the signal-to-noise ratio exceeds the threshold. A vehicle mass is selected and the road grade estimated from the vehicle mass and tractive effort when the signal-to-noise ratio does not exceed the threshold. A shift schedule is then selected based on the vehicle mass and the estimated road grade. | 10-09-2008 |
| 20080312034 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CONTROLLING TRANSMISSION TEMPERATURE - A method for controlling a transmission in a motor vehicle includes determining a temperature of a fluid in the transmission, determining whether the torque converter lockup clutch is applied, and determining an engine torque of the motor vehicle. Then, the torque converter lockup clutch is applied and the transmission is prohibited from up-shifting if the temperature of the fluid exceeds a threshold, the torque converter lockup clutch is not applied, and the engine torque exceeds a second threshold. Next, a tractive effort of the motor vehicle is determined and the torque converter lockup clutch is deactivated when the temperature of the fluid is less than a third threshold, the tractive effort is less than a fourth threshold, or the engine torque is less than the second threshold. | 12-18-2008 |
| 20090215586 | TRANSMISSION TURBINE ACCELERATION CONTROL FOR MANAGING VEHICLE ACCELERATION - Methods and systems for managing acceleration of a motor vehicle having an automatic transmission by controlling transmission turbine acceleration are provided. A desired transmission turbine acceleration is determined based on vehicle speed, turbine speed, and other information obtained from the vehicle transmission. One or more torque limits are determined as a function of the turbine acceleration. The torque limits are applied to manage acceleration of the vehicle. | 08-27-2009 |
| 20100258080 | VARIABLE EXHAUST BRAKE CONTROL VIA TURBINE VANE POSITIONING - A control system comprising a brake torque determination module that determines a desired brake torque and a vane position determination module that determines a vane position based on an engine speed and the desired brake torque, and that adjusts the vane position to a position between an open position and a closed position. A method comprising determining a desired brake torque, determining a vane position based on an engine speed and the desired brake torque, and adjusting the vane position to a position between an open position and a closed position. | 10-14-2010 |
