Patent ID: 8548696

Claim:
A method for operating a multi-stable shift-by wire selector control system of a motor vehicle transmission, the vehicle having an engine and a foot brake pedal, the transmission having a number of operating modes, at least four of the operating modes being Park mode, Drive mode, Neutral mode and Reverse mode, the Park mode and the Neutral mode being so-called non drive mode and the other mode Reverse and Drive being so-called drive mode, a transmission control unit (TCU) which in use controls the ratio of the transmission, the system includes a multi-stable selector which is operable by the driver of the vehicle to select a respective one of the operating modes of the transmission, the vehicle also has an electronic transmission selector (ETS) for sensing the selected mode position of the selector and sending a command to the TCU, the system further includes an arrangement of illuminated labels (P, R, N, D) indicating the selector mode, an indexing mechanism for maintaining the immobilization of the selector in its different positions respectively P, R, N, and D and also enabling the driver to perceive the transition from one position to another and a warning device, the method comprising, when the selector has been monitored between two indexing position or intermediate position so called hysteresis range where no instruction command is sent to the TCU, the steps of: a) determining whether the selector has been moved from a non-drive mode to a drive mode; b) checking that the foot brake pedal is depressed if the selector has been moved; and c) providing a warning signal to the warning device in order to inform the driver if the selector is not in an indexed position and that a drive mode maybe selected and an instruction command to the TCU so as to maintain the current gear mode and inhibit any gear change until the selector is detected to a new position.