Patent ID: 9440534
Filing Date: 2016-09-13
CPC Classification: B60K,B60W,F02D

Claim Text:
1. An automotive accelerator device comprising: an accelerator member movable in response to driver operation, a position sensor associated with the accelerator member to output a position signal indicating an operation degree of the accelerator member, and signal processing means configured to receive the position signal generated by the position sensor and to generate a command for a motor vehicle engine based on the position signal and a characteristic curve of the accelerator device that defines the command for the motor vehicle engine as a function of the position signal; the accelerator device being characterized in that the signal processing means are further configured to: receive a signal indicating a current motor vehicle speed, receive a signal indicating a target motor vehicle speed, and dynamically adapt the accelerator device characteristic curve based on the current motor vehicle speed with respect to the target motor vehicle speed; wherein dynamically adapting the accelerator device characteristic curve comprises: determining lower, intermediate and upper motor vehicle speed ranges based on the target motor vehicle speed; and dynamically adapting the accelerator device characteristic curve based on the current motor vehicle speed and the lower, intermediate and upper motor vehicle speed ranges such that: for current motor vehicle speeds within the lower motor vehicle speed range, the command is directly proportional to the position signal, via a first proportionality coefficient; for current motor vehicle speeds within the upper motor vehicle speed range, the command is substantially invariant as the position signal varies; and for current motor vehicle speeds within the intermediate motor vehicle speed range, the command is directly proportional to the position signal, via a second proportionality coefficient lower than the first proportionality coefficient.