Patent ID: 8512205

Claim:
A method of controlling an automatic transmission of a vehicle, in which a hold gear function is activated by a request from a driver and deactivated depending on a return condition, the method comprising the steps of: activating the gear hold function with a transmission control unit, to prevent a gear shift, when the driver signals the request for the hold gear function; establishing, with the transmission control unit, the return condition based on: a flexible time span which is measured by a timer, the time span is extendable by an amount of time that the vehicle is at a stand still; and at least one of: either a rotational speed of an engine of the vehicle or at least one parameter correlated with the rotational speed of the engine; one of a new drive request, a same drive request, or a different drive request by the driver; a change in operating condition of the vehicle; and a plausibility check under consideration of a startup procedure; deactivating the hold gear function when the return condition is recognized by the transmission control unit.