Patent ID: 8337363
Filing Date: 2012-12-25
Classification: B62M,F16D,F16H,Y10T

Abstract:
1. A gear change control device for a vehicle including a drive wheel, a friction clutch including a driving-side friction member and a driven-side friction member which are pressed against each other in an engaged state and released from each other in a disengaged state, and a transmission including a plurality of gears including dog clutches in which the plurality of gears are selectively disengaged and engaged by the dog clutches at a time of gear change to transmit a torque to the drive wheel at a new transmission ratio, the gear change control device comprising: a clutch actuator arranged to operate the friction clutch; a clutch shift control module programmed to actuate the clutch actuator in response to a gear change command and to shift the friction clutch to an intermediate state between the engaged state and the disengaged state in which the driving-side friction member and the driven-side friction member are pressed against each other, before the plurality of gears are selectively engaged by the dog clutches, at a pressure lower than a pressure in the engaged state but sufficient to transmit a reduced torque, compared to the engaged state, to the drive wheel; and a clutch restoration control module programmed to actuate the clutch actuator to restore the friction clutch from the intermediate state to the engaged state after the plurality of gears are selectively engaged by the dog clutches; wherein the intermediate state is a maximum disengaged state of the friction clutch during the time of gear change.