Uninterrupted Shift Transmission and Its Shift Characteristics

A novel transmission concept, the uninterrupted shift transmission (UST), is introduced in this paper, which retains most of the components common or similar to normal automated transmissions such as automated manual transmission or dual clutch transmission, but offers an uninterrupted torque from engine to wheels during the shifting process with the so-called multimode controllable shifters. An UST dynamic model is established to analyze UST's shift characteristics. The special control logic involving the engine, clutch and transmission are put forward to improve UST's shift quality, and are applied in the simulation model using MATLAB/Simulink tools. To validate the simulation model and the control logic, a proto test bench has been designed and built with corresponding data acquisition system and controlling equipment. Finally UST's torque uninterrupted functionality during shift, effectiveness of the proposed control logic and validity of the proposed dynamic model have all been verified experimentally.