Patent ID: 7962268

Claim:
A shift-by-speech transmission system for a vehicle configured to provide a manual gear selection indicated by a driver's voice command in a dedicated manual-shift mode distinct from an automatic-shifting mode, the shift-by-speech transmission system comprising: a microphone configured to pick up the driver's voice command in the dedicated manual-shift mode distinct from the automatic-shifting mode; a voice recognition program configured to analyze the driver's voice command for a driver's particular gear selection, wherein the voice recognition program generates an output signal indicating the driver's particular gear selection if the driver's voice command is successfully understood; a shift-by-speech transmission control system operatively connected to or containing a manual-shifting mode control logic block operatively connected to a transmission gearbox, wherein the output signal of the voice recognition program to the shift-by-speech transmission control system enables a new gear engagement corresponding to the driver's particular gear selection for the transmission gearbox; and a transmission and/or engine protection logic block contained or operatively connected to the shift-by-speech transmission control system, wherein the transmission and/or engine protection logic block prevents a mechanically-detrimental manual gear selection if the driver's particular gear selection initiated by the driver's voice command in the dedicated manual-shift mode exceeds a desired rev-limit or causes potential harm to the vehicle.