Patent ID: 8131438

Claim:
A method of controlling an automated friction clutch arranged in a drivetrain of a motor vehicle in a force flow, between a drive motor ( 3 ) and a drive transmission ( 4 ), the automated friction clutch being passively engaged by spring pressure and being disengaged and engaged by a controllable clutch actuator ( 14 ), and comprising a path sensor ( 24 ) for detecting a respective actuator travel (x_K) of at least one of the clutch actuator ( 14 ) and an associated transmission element ( 17 ) such that, during operation of the motor vehicle, a current key point (x_K_Anl, x_K_Zu) of a torque characteristic ( 28 ), provided for control of the friction clutch ( 2 ), is determined and used for adapting the torque characteristic ( 28 ), the method comprising the steps of: determining several values of the actuator travel (x_K), with the friction clutch ( 2 ) engaged and without the clutch actuator ( 14 ) exerting any force, at fixed time intervals; computing, from the several values of the actuator travel (x_K), a current engagement point (x_K_Zu) close to an actual engagement point of the torque characteristic ( 28 ); adapting the torque characteristic ( 28 ) with regard to the current engagement point (x_K_Zu); and detecting the several values of the actuator travel (x_K) within a relatively short period of time; and determining the current engagement point (x_K_Zu) as an extreme value (x_K_max) with a largest actuator travel value (x_K) in a release direction.