Patent ID: 7630812

Claim:
A method for controlling a clutch that driveably connects an input and an output, comprising the steps of: producing input torque at the clutch; operating the clutch partially engaged; determining the current clutch slip; establishing a first desired portion of the input torque to be transmitted by the clutch to the output; determining a first magnitude of clutch torque corresponding to the first desired portion; determining a second magnitude of clutch torque to be transmitted to the output in proportion to the current clutch slip; changing the magnitude of torque transmitted by the clutch to the sum of the first and second magnitudes; calculating a temperature of the clutch; establishing a reference clutch temperature; comparing the calculated clutch temperature and reference clutch temperature; and if the calculated clutch temperature equals or exceeds the reference clutch temperature, then increasing the degree of clutch engagement sufficiently to reduce the calculated temperature of the clutch.