| US 7,491,150 B2 | ||
| Robotized gear change for motor vehicles | ||
| Sergio Damiani, Orbassano (Italy); Gianfranco Burzio, Orbassano (Italy); and Silvia Quattrocolo, Orbassano (Italy) | ||
| Assigned to C.R.F. Societa Consortile per Azioni, Orbassano (Italy) | ||
| Filed on Jul. 26, 2006, as Appl. No. 11/493,377. | ||
| Claims priority of application No. 05425551 (EP), filed on Jul. 27, 2005. | ||
| Prior Publication US 2007/0032338 A1, Feb. 08, 2007 | ||
| Int. Cl. F16D 48/06 (2006.01) | ||
| U.S. Cl. 477—74 | 17 Claims |
| 1. A robotized gear change for vehicles, in particular vehicles for disabled persons, comprising:
a gear change coupled in a releasable way to the engine of the vehicle through a clutch, said gear change and said clutch
provided with respective actuator means for controlling engagement and disengagement of the gears, and, respectively, release
and engagement of the clutch;
an electronic control unit configured for controlling said actuator means for implementing a plurality of operating modes
of the robotized gear change, said operating modes comprising an automatic gear-change mode, in which release and engagement
of the clutch and selection and engagement and disengagement of the gears are governed in a completely automatic way by the
electronic control unit, and a semiautomatic gear-change mode in which release and engagement of the clutch and engagement
and disengagement of the gears are governed in a completely automatic way by the electronic control unit, whilst selection
of the gears is performed by the driver of the vehicle; and
means for selection of the operating modes of the robotized gear change and of the gears, which can be operated by the driver;
said electronic control unit configured for enabling the driver, through said selection means, to select first operating modes
associated with the automatic gear-change mode, when the vehicle is stationary and a brake pedal is depressed, and second
operating modes corresponding to the level of performance of the engine desired by the driver when the vehicle is moving.
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