Eaton Corporation

Richard Earl Zuppann

Todd William Fritz

Kerfegar Khurshed Katrak

Ian Daniel McKenzie

Naresh Kumar Kodela

John Manyala

Christopher Pollack

Ken R Anderson

Receiving sensor data related to position of a gear in a transmission, the sensor data including data from a first sensor and data from a second sensor; determining a first indicated position of the gear from the data from the first sensor; determining a second indicated position of the gear from the data from the second sensor; comparing the first indicated position to the second indicated position; and determining based on the comparison a gear engagement status of the gear.

Shift rail transmission position sensing

A number N of position sensors, each associated with one of N shift rails in a shift rail transmission system, wherein the set of N sensors is divided into subsets and each subset is provided a common reference from a control module; and a processing component that determines from data from each sensor whether the shift rail associated with that sensor is in a position of engagement of a first gear, a position of engagement of a second gear, or in a neutral position. Further, providing a first common reference to a first set of shift rail position sensors; providing a second common reference to a second set of shift rail position sensors; receiving sensor data from each position sensor; determining that the data from the first set of position sensors is unreliable; and operating a transmission using only the gears related to the position sensors in the second set.

Shift rail transmission position sensing with tolerance for sensor loss

A set of inputs each selectively provides a discrete signal, whereby the sensor inputs together provide a plurality of discrete signals. A memory includes instructions executable by a processor for receiving the discrete signals, identifying a bit pattern from the discrete signals, and determining a position of a physical member according to the bit pattern and an error condition detected from the discrete signals.

Discrete sensor inputs

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Kalamazoo, MI, United States of America

Richard Earl Zuppann