The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 04, 2009
Filed:
Aug. 04, 2006
Richard E. Robinette, Grosse Pointe Woods, MI (US);
Peter E. Wu, Brighton, MI (US);
Richard E. Robinette, Grosse Pointe Woods, MI (US);
Peter E. Wu, Brighton, MI (US);
GM Global Technology Operations, Inc., Detroit, MI (US);
Abstract
A fault-tolerant gear selector lever position apparatus is described. Included is a first sensor operable to detect each position, and a second sensor operable to detect subsets of the positions. A first controller monitors the second sensor, and a second controller monitors the first sensor. The second controller identifies and communicates one of the positions to the first controller, and the first controller validates the position and communicates the position to a control system. The lever is applicable to a power transmission device. Each sensor preferably comprises digital encoding sensor; the first sensor generates a unique signal for each position, and the second sensor generates a unique signal for each subset of the positions, preferably a unique signal for each of Park, Reverse, Neutral, and Forward Drive. The controllers identify faults in the sensors, and communicate and act accordingly.