Jaguar Land Rover Limited

Shaun Wick

Russell Osborn

Ian Beverley

Pete Stares

Paul Beever

Brett Hallam

Mark Rathbone

Sam Anker

Steve Mullane

Bruce Buckley

A vehicle having a four-wheel-drive system including an auxiliary portion that has an auxiliary driveshaft and drive means between the auxiliary driveshaft arranged to releasably connect a second group of wheels to the driveline via a releasable torque transmitting device. The releasable torque transmitting device is operable to allow slippage of the input portion with respect to the output portions, thereby to vary an amount of torque that is transmitted to the second group of wheels.

Vehicle and method of controlling a vehicle

A motor vehicle having: a prime mover; first and second groups of one or more wheels; and a driveline to connect the prime mover to the first and second groups of wheels such that the first group of one or more wheels is driven by the prime mover when the driveline is in a first mode of operation and the second group of one or more wheels is additionally driven by the prime mover when the driveline is in a second mode of operation, the driveline including an auxiliary driveline comprising releasable torque transmitting means operable to connect the second group of one or more wheels to the prime mover when the driveline transitions between the first mode and the second mode, wherein when in the first mode the driveline is operable to transition to the second mode responsive to an output of a reactive evaluator and a predictive evaluator.

Vehicle controller for changing the number of driven wheels

Embodiments of the present invention provide a motor vehicle having: prime mover means; at least first and second groups of one or more wheels; and a driveline operable to connect the prime mover means to the first and second groups of one or more wheels such that the first group of one or more wheels and not the second group is coupled to a torque transmission path from the prime mover means when the driveline is in a first mode of operation and both the first and second groups of one or more wheels are coupled to a torque transmission path from the prime mover means when the driveline is in a second mode of operation, the driveline including an auxiliary portion for connecting the second group to the torque transmission path from the prime mover means, the auxiliary portion comprising first and second releasable torque transmitting means and a prop shaft, the first releasable torque transmitting means being operable to connect a first end of the prop shaft to the torque transmission path from the prime mover means, the second releasable torque transmitting means being operable to connect a second end of the prop shaft to the second group of one or more wheels, the vehicle further comprising control means operable to control the first and second torque transmitting means to switch the driveline between the first and second modes of operation such that in the first mode the prop shaft is disconnected from both the torque transmission path from the prime mover means and said second group of one or more wheels, wherein when in the first mode the vehicle is operable to control the driveline to switch from first mode to the second mode responsive to a speed of the vehicle.

Embodiments of the present invention provide a motor vehicle having: a prime mover; first and second groups of one or more wheels; and a driveline to connect the prime mover to the first and second groups of one or more wheels such that the first group of one or more wheels and not the second group may be driven by the prime mover when the driveline is in a first mode of operation and both the first and second group of one or more wheels may be driven by the prime mover when the driveline is in a second mode of operation, the driveline including an auxiliary portion comprising a first releasable torque transmitting means, a prop shaft and a second releasable torque transmitting means, the first releasable torque transmitting means being operable to connect a first end of the prop shaft to the prime mover, the second releasable torque transmitting means being operable to connect a second end of the prop shaft to the second group of one or more wheels, the vehicle further comprising control means operable to control the first and second torque transmitting means to switch the driveline between the first and second modes of operation such that in the first mode the prop shaft is disconnected from both the prime mover and said second group of one or more wheels by means of the first and second releasable torque transmitting means, in the first mode the control means being operable automatically to connect the prop shaft to only one selected from amongst the prime mover and the second group of one or more wheels by means of the first or second releasable torque transmitting means responsive to a value of a temperature parameter determined by the control means, the temperature parameter corresponding to a temperature of a component of the vehicle.

Growing community of inventors

Solihull, United Kingdom

Shaun Wick