Automobile automatic transmission responsive to passenger load - allows higher ratios for low chassis load for higher economy

摘要

The transmission has a number of discrete transmission ratios between which it is switched in dependence on the velocity and the carried load. The latter is detected by a device comprising a sensor (58), a load switch (60), a holding circuit (62) and an electromagnetic setting element (64), to allow the transmission to be switched to a higher or a lower gear than that which would normally correspond to the vehicle velocity, or to allow or prevent an additional transmission ratio from being brought into use. The transmission allows greater flexibility to accord with the actual passenger load, so that the vehicle is not held in an unnecessarily low gear, to give better fuel economy.