Lucas Industries Public Limited Company

Michael J Howes

Barry John Bridgens

Benjamin J Bradshaw

Douglas W Glover

A traction control system is provided for a vehicle having driven wheels driven via a limited slip differential. The amount of wheel spin of each driven wheel is compared with a threshold to detect excessive wheel spin. If excessive spin is detected for both driven wheels, an engine management system reduces the demand output of a vehicle engine. If excessive wheel spin is detected for only one of the driven wheels an engine output greater than the reduced demanded output is demanded so as to allow the limited slip differential to transfer torque to the other driven wheel.

Traction control system

A wheel spin detector monitors the speeds of vehicle wheels and supplies a signal to an engine management system when excessive wheel spin is detected. The engine management system includes a fuel controller which, in response to the signal from the detector, reduces engine torque by inhibiting the supply of fuel to one or more cylinders of the engine such that either all cylinders are continuously fuelled or continuously unfuelled or one and only one cylinder is intermittently fuelled. When an unfuelled cylinder is fuelled again, the mixture supplied to it may be temporarily enriched.

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Solihull, United Kingdom

Michael J Howes