Vehicle transmission control system

Abstract

To provide a gear shift control device that can perform gear changes that better reflect the driver's intention to shift gears. [Solution] The system includes a manual shift determination unit 17a that determines whether manual shift control is being performed, an automatic upshift determination unit 17b that determines whether automatic upshifts performed based on the driving conditions are prohibited, a manual downshift detection unit 17c that detects whether an artificial operation requesting a downshift has been performed, a vehicle speed detection unit 17d that detects the vehicle speed, and a downshift permission setting unit 17e that permits the downshift requested by an artificial operation. The downshift permission setting unit 17e sets the permission value compared to when automatic upshifts are prohibited, and when automatic upshifts are prohibited If not set to a large value, set it to a large value.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a device for controlling the shifting by a transmission mounted on a vehicle. In particular, it relates to a device for controlling the shifting in a transmission that is added with a manual shifting function for performing shifting based on a manual operation in an automatic transmission that automatically controls the gear ratio.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, as a vehicle transmission that changes the gear ratio step by step, in an automatic transmission that sets the gear ratio according to the running state determined by the vehicle speed, driving demand amount (accelerator opening), etc., an upshift request or downshift request based on a manual operation A transmission with an added manual shifting function that performs shifting in response to is known. The manual shifting function is a function that performs shifting so as to satisfy the acceleration / deceleration request by the driver. However, from the viewpoints of protecting the drive device and maintaining the running stability of the vehicle, a downshift permission vehicle speed or a downshift permission rotational speed is set. When there is a downshift request based on a manual operation in a state where the rotational speed is higher than the downshift permission rotational speed, downshifting is prohibited until a predetermined rotational speed such as the engine rotational speed decreases to the downshift permission rotational speed. When a predetermined rotational speed such as the engine rotational speed decreases to the downshift permission rotational speed, downshifting is permitted and the requested downshift is executed.

[0003] In such control, when the vehicle is running at a relatively high vehicle speed, the downshift requested by the driver is not immediately executed, so there is a possibility that the driving intended by the driver cannot be performed. Further, since a predetermined shift time is inevitably required for downshifting, in the case of a rapid deceleration state, the rotational speed may greatly decrease during the shift time from the downshift request based on the manual operation to the downshift permission. In such a case, there is a possibility that the vehicle cannot run while maintaining the engine rotational speed at a certain rotational speed or higher.

[0004] Control devices aimed at resolving such inconveniences are described in Patent Documents 1 and 2. In the device described in Patent Document 1, when the deceleration is below a threshold, the permitted downshift speed is changed to a higher speed according to the amount of decrease in engine speed during the shift time required for downshifting. In the device described in Patent Document 2, the permitted downshift speed is corrected to the higher speed side based on the deceleration when a downshift request is made based on a downshift operation, and the amount of correction is increased according to the deceleration. [Prior art documents] [Patent Documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2006-258125 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2017-067209 [Overview of the project] [Problems that the invention aims to solve]

[0006] The correction of the permitted downshift speed or permitted downshift rotation speed described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 is a correction that limits the upper limit of engine rotation speed reached as a result of performing a downshift to below a predetermined rotation speed. In other words, in the devices described in Patent Documents 1 and 2, the permitted downshift speed or permitted downshift rotation speed is limited by a uniformly defined upper limit of engine rotation speed. Therefore, downshifting is not permitted at high rotation speeds or vehicle speeds that may exceed the uniformly defined upper limit of engine rotation speed, and in that respect, the driver may not be able to perform the driving as desired.

[0007] The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned technical problems, and the object of the present invention is to provide a gear shift control device that can perform gear shifts that better reflect the driver's intention to shift gears. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] To achieve the above objective, the present invention provides a transmission control device for a vehicle equipped with a transmission that is capable of manual transmission control that instructs a transmission change based on human operation and automatic transmission control that performs a transmission change based on a driving state including vehicle speed and requested drive amount, and is capable of selectively prohibiting automatic upshifts that reduce the transmission ratio based on the driving state, wherein the device includes a controller that performs control to change the transmission ratio in the automatic transmission control and the manual transmission control, the controller includes a manual transmission determination unit that determines whether the manual transmission control is being performed and an automatic upshift that reduces the transmission ratio based on the driving state The system comprises an automatic upshift determination unit that determines whether or not automatic upshifting is prohibited, a manual downshift detection unit that detects when the aforementioned human operation has been performed to request a downshift that increases the gear ratio, a vehicle speed detection unit that detects the vehicle speed or a parameter equivalent to the vehicle speed, and a downshift permission setting unit that sets an permitted value for the vehicle speed or parameter that permits the downshift requested by the human operation, wherein the downshift permission setting unit sets the permitted value to be larger when automatic upshifting is not prohibited compared to when automatic upshifting is prohibited.

[0009] In the present invention, the vehicle has an internal combustion engine that increases output in response to an increase in the driving requirement, and a limiting control may be implemented that limits the output of the internal combustion engine when the rotational speed of the internal combustion engine reaches a predetermined upper limit rotational speed.

[0010] In the present invention, the vehicle has a switch that can be manually operated to disable the automatic upshift, and the automatic upshift determination unit may determine whether or not the automatic upshift is disabled based on the signal from the switch. [Effects of the Invention]

[0011] According to the control device of the present invention, when automatic upshifting is prohibited, downshifting based on manual operation is permitted, for example, at a high vehicle speed, and when automatic upshifting is not prohibited, downshifting based on manual operation is permitted, for example, at a lower vehicle speed than when it is prohibited. Therefore, when a downshift operation is performed while driving at a relatively high vehicle speed, the downshift is executed without waiting for the vehicle speed to decrease. As a result, there is little delay between the manual operation for downshifting and the execution of the downshift, enabling gear changes that meet the driver's downshift request, and avoiding or suppressing deterioration of operability or discomfort. In that case, the input rotational speed of the transmission may increase, but if automatic upshifting is prohibited, it is assumed that the driver accepts the increase in the input rotational speed, so the increase in the input rotational speed does not cause discomfort or make the driver feel that something is wrong.

[0012] Conversely, if automatic upshifting is not prohibited, downshifting based on manual operation is performed only after the permitted value has decreased to a predetermined small value. Therefore, even if the input rotational speed of the transmission decreases due to downshifting based on manual operation, the vehicle speed, i.e., the rotational speed on the output side of the transmission, decreases, so the input rotational speed does not become particularly high. As a result, the control that suppresses the input rotational speed is avoided, and the change in input rotational speed and the resulting discomfort that occurs when such control is performed can be avoided. Thus, according to the control device of the present invention, the input rotational speed or the rotational speed of the internal combustion engine is not restricted to a uniformly defined upper limit rotational speed. If automatic upshifting is prohibited, it is permitted to exceed that upper limit rotational speed, so downshifting based on manual operation can be performed without causing any particular delay, and as a result, it becomes possible to shift gears that better reflect the driver's intentions. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0013] [Figure 1] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram showing a vehicle in one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] Figure 2 is a block diagram illustrating the functional configuration of the T-ECU, which corresponds to the controller in an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 3] Figure 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the control performed in an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] Figure 4 is a diagram showing an example of setting the first to third downshift permission speeds according to the deceleration. [Figure 5] Figure 5 is a time chart showing the timing of downshifts when automatic upshifts are prohibited and when they are not. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0014] Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the embodiments described below are merely examples of how the present invention can be implemented and do not limit the invention.

[0015] The vehicle 1 in the embodiment of the present invention is a vehicle equipped with an internal combustion engine (hereinafter referred to as "engine") 2 and a stepped transmission 3. The vehicle 1 may also be a so-called hybrid vehicle, equipped with an electric motor (not shown) as a driving force source in addition to the engine 2. Figure 1 schematically shows a vehicle 1 with the engine 2 as the driving force source. The vehicle 1 shown here is a front-mounted engine rear-wheel drive vehicle (FR vehicle).

[0016] A transmission 3 is connected to the output side of engine 2. Engine 2 may be a gasoline or diesel engine capable of electrically controlling the throttle opening and fuel injection amount. Transmission 3 includes a torque converter 4 and a gear transmission 5. The gear transmission 5 has multiple gear pairs and multiple sets of planetary gear mechanisms for each gear ratio, and is configured to change the gear ratio in steps. Furthermore, the gear pairs involved in the transmission of driving force and the switching of the driving force transmission path via the planetary gear mechanism are controlled electrically by actuators (not shown). The output shaft 6 of transmission 3 is connected to a differential gear 7, which is the final reduction gear. Driving torque is transmitted from the differential gear 7 to the left and right rear wheels 8.

[0017] An accelerator pedal 9 is provided in the vehicle 1. The accelerator pedal 9 is a pedal for controlling the output of the engine 2 and is operated by a driver (not shown). An accelerator sensor 10 is provided to detect the accelerator opening, which is the amount of operation of the accelerator pedal 9. The accelerator opening is the angle of depression of the accelerator pedal 9 measured from a state where the amount of depression of the accelerator pedal 9 is "0", and corresponds to the drive request amount in the embodiment of the present invention.

[0018] Further, the transmission 3 is capable of performing automatic shift control for shifting based on a driving state defined by a plurality of parameters including at least two parameters of vehicle speed and driving demand amount, and manual shift control for shifting based on a manual operation by the driver. A shift mechanism 11 for selecting these control forms or control modes and performing a manual operation for instructing a shift is provided in the vehicle 1. The shift mechanism 11 may be a conventionally known mechanism for shifting. As an example, it is configured to select a position by a lever 12. Examples of the positions include a parking (P) position for maintaining the vehicle 1 in a stopped state, a reverse (R) position for moving the vehicle 1 backward, a neutral (N) position for blocking torque to the rear wheels 8 which are driving wheels, a drive (D) position where a plurality of forward gears can be automatically set, a manual position for fixing the gear ratio, an up position for changing the fixed gear position by one stage to the high speed side, a down position for changing the fixed gear position by one stage to the low speed side, and the like. A position sensor 13 for detecting the position selected by moving the lever 12 is provided.

[0019] Furthermore, a rotation speed sensor 14 for detecting the rotation speed of the engine 2 and a vehicle speed sensor 15 are provided. The rotation speed sensor 14 may be a sensor for detecting the rotation speed of an output shaft (not shown) such as the crankshaft of the engine 2. Also, the vehicle speed sensor 15 may be a sensor for detecting the rotation speed of the output shaft 6 of the transmission 3.

[0020] An engine electronic control unit (E-ECU) 16 for controlling the engine 2 is provided. The E-ECU 16 is mainly composed of a microcomputer including an arithmetic element (CPU), a memory element (RAM, ROM), etc., performs arithmetic operations using the input data and the data stored in advance, and outputs the result of the arithmetic operation as a control signal. The detection signals of the accelerator sensor 10 and the rotation speed sensor 14 described above are input to the E-ECU 16. The E-ECU 16 outputs, as control signals, a signal for controlling the throttle opening and a signal for controlling the fuel injection amount.

[0021] In addition, an electronic control unit for a transmission (T-ECU) 17 for controlling the transmission 3 is provided. The T-ECU 17 is mainly composed of a microcomputer including an arithmetic element (CPU), a memory element (RAM, ROM), etc. It performs calculations using the input data and the data stored in advance, and outputs the result of the calculation as a control signal. Detection signals from the above-described accelerator sensor 10, rotation speed sensor 14, signals from the position sensor 13, detection signals from the vehicle speed sensor 15, etc. are input to the T-ECU 17. The T-ECU 17 outputs, as a control signal, a shift signal indicating a shift stage or a gear ratio, or an upshift signal or a downshift signal for changing the shift stage or gear ratio by one stage from the current shift stage or gear ratio.

[0022] Also, a shift map is stored in the T-ECU 17. The shift map is a map that determines the gear ratio based on the driving demand amount such as the accelerator opening and the vehicle speed. This shift map is used in automatic transmission control. In manual transmission control, regardless of the shift map, the gear ratio is selected by a control signal based on a manual operation. Further, the T-ECU 17 stores the vehicle speed or engine speed (hereinafter, these are collectively referred to as the downshift permission vehicle speed) at which the downshift is permitted when a downshift is requested by a manual operation. This downshift permission vehicle speed is determined in advance in design by experiments, simulations, etc. Further, the T-ECU 17 stores an automatic upshift permission vehicle speed that permits an automatic upshift.

[0023] Furthermore, vehicle 1 is equipped with a switch 18 that restricts automatic upshifts based on driving conditions determined by vehicle speed, accelerator opening, etc. The control that restricts automatic upshifts is a control called Vehicle Stability Control (VSC), or a control called Traction Control (TRC, TCS, TCL) which is part of VSC. With these controls, even if it is determined that any of the rear wheels 8 is rotating and the vehicle speed is increasing, upshifts are prohibited and the current gear ratio is maintained. This prevents the system from mistakenly determining that the rotation of a rear wheel 8 due to a wheel coming off, etc., is an increase in vehicle speed, which would reduce the driving torque due to an upshift.

[0024] Vehicle 1 may be equipped with paddle switches 19. The paddle switches 19 are switches located on the steering column (not shown) that, when operated by the driver with their fingers, output downshift and upshift signals. The output signals from these paddle switches 19 are input to the T-ECU 17.

[0025] The T-ECU17 described above corresponds to the controller in the embodiment of the present invention and performs gear shift control using signals input from the aforementioned sensors and pre-stored data. In particular, when a downshift instruction is given by human operation, the T-ECU17 performs control to set the downshift permission vehicle speed depending on whether an automatic upshift is possible. To perform this control, the T-ECU17 has the following functions. Figure 2 is a block diagram illustrating its functional configuration.

[0026] The T-ECU17 includes a manual shift determination unit 17a that determines whether manual shift control is being performed. Manual shift control is a control that performs gear changes based on signals from human operation. For example, in the aforementioned gear shift mechanism 11, when the manual position is selected by the lever 12, the T-ECU17 determines whether manual shift control is being performed based on the signal output from the position sensor 13. The T-ECU17 is also provided with an automatic upshift determination unit 17b that determines whether the aforementioned automatic upshift is prohibited. If the switch (not shown) that activates the aforementioned VSC or TRC is ON, automatic upshift is permitted, and if it is OFF, automatic upshift is prohibited. Therefore, the automatic upshift determination unit 17b determines whether automatic upshift is prohibited based on the signal from such a switch.

[0027] A manual downshift detection unit 17c is provided in the T-ECU 17. The manual downshift detection unit 17c determines that an artificial operation requesting a downshift has been performed. For example, in the aforementioned transmission mechanism 11, it determines that an artificial operation requesting a downshift has been performed based on the signal output from the position sensor 13 when the lever 12 is moved to the down position. The T-ECU 17 also includes a vehicle speed detection unit 17d. The vehicle speed detection unit 17d detects the vehicle speed based on the signal input from the aforementioned vehicle speed sensor 15. Furthermore, the T-ECU 17 is provided with a downshift permission setting unit 17e. The downshift permission setting unit 17e sets the aforementioned downshift permission vehicle speed value, i.e., the permission value. This permission value can be pre-set and stored in the T-ECU 17 depending on whether automatic upshifting is prohibited or not. The permission value may also be a value set according to the deceleration when performing a downshift.

[0028] Figure 3 shows a flowchart illustrating an example of the control performed by the T-ECU 17 described above. The routine shown in this flowchart is repeatedly executed by the T-ECU 17 at predetermined short intervals when vehicle 1 is in a so-called starting state or is in motion. In step S1, it is determined whether manual gear shift control (in other words, manual mode) is being performed. The function that performs this determination in step S1 is the function of the manual gear shift determination unit 17a mentioned above. Therefore, if manual gear shift control is being performed, the result of the determination in step S1 will be "yes," and if automatic gear shift control is being performed, the result of the determination in step S1 will be "no."

[0029] If the result of the judgment in step S1 is "yes", the process proceeds to step S2, where it is determined whether or not the automatic upshift control is ON. In other words, in step S2, it is determined whether or not automatic upshifting is prohibited. If automatic upshifting is not prohibited due to the activation of the aforementioned VSC or TRC, i.e., if the result of the judgment in step S2 is "yes", then in step S3, the ON signal of the manual downshift switch (SW) is detected. For example, when the lever 12 is operated to the down position in the aforementioned transmission mechanism 11, the position sensor 13 outputs a so-called down signal, and based on this, the aforementioned manual downshift detection unit 17c detects that there has been a request for a downshift based on human operation.

[0030] When a request for a downshift based on human operation is detected, in step S4, a first downshift permission speed A is calculated. This first downshift permission speed A is a rotational speed predetermined by design so that even if the engine speed increases due to the execution of a downshift, the engine speed does not increase to a predetermined upper limit, and is pre-stored in the T-ECU17 in the form of a map or the like. Furthermore, the first downshift permission speed A may be determined for each gear ratio at the time the request for a downshift based on human operation is made. In addition, the first downshift permission speed A may be a speed corrected based on the presence or absence of deceleration or brake operation.

[0031] Next, in step S5, it is determined whether the current vehicle speed V is less than or equal to the pre-stored automatic upshift permission vehicle speed Vu. If the result of the determination in step S5 is "yes", then in step S6, a shift output is executed to perform the requested downshift. That is, a control signal for downshifting is output. After that, the series of routines shown in Figure 3 is temporarily terminated. Conversely, if the result of the determination in step S5 is "no", the series of routines shown in Figure 3 is immediately terminated without outputting a control signal for downshifting.

[0032] On the other hand, if the result of the judgment in step S2 is "no" because the switch (not shown) that activates the aforementioned VSC or TRC is OFF, the process proceeds to step S7. In other words, if automatic upshifting is prohibited, the process proceeds to step S7 to detect the ON signal of the manual down switch (SW). This is the same control as the control in step S3 described above.

[0033] Next, in step S8, a second permitted downshift speed B is calculated. This second permitted downshift speed B is a higher permitted value than the first permitted downshift speed A, and is a rotational speed determined by the design without being constrained by the predetermined upper limit rotational speed mentioned above for engine rotational speed, and is pre-stored in the T-ECU17 in the form of a map or the like. Furthermore, the second permitted downshift speed B may be determined for each gear ratio at the time a downshift request based on human operation is made. Also, the second permitted downshift speed B may be a speed corrected based on the presence or absence of deceleration or brake operation.

[0034] After calculating the second downshift permission speed B, step S9 determines whether the current vehicle speed V is less than or equal to the pre-stored automatic upshift permission speed Vu. If the result of step S9 is "yes," step S10 executes the shift output to perform the requested downshift. That is, a control signal for downshifting is output. After that, the series of routines shown in Figure 3 is terminated. Conversely, if the result of step S9 is "no," the series of routines shown in Figure 3 is terminated immediately without outputting a control signal for downshifting.

[0035] In addition, in the vehicle 1 equipped with the aforementioned paddle switch 19, a shift mode is possible in which the paddle switch 19 is activated. This shift mode can be called the D-range paddle shift mode. In this shift mode, manual shift control, which is shifting based on signals from the paddle switch 19, can be intervened in the automatic shift control, which performs shifting based on the driving state of the vehicle 1.

[0036] Therefore, in the control example shown in Figure 3, if the result of step S1 is "no", step S11 determines whether or not the vehicle is in D range paddle shift mode. If the result of step S11 is "no" because the paddle switch 19 is not active, the series of routines shown in Figure 3 are terminated without any further control. Conversely, if the result of step S11 is "yes", the process proceeds to step S12 to detect the ON signal of the manual down switch (SW). The ON signal of the manual down switch (SW) is the signal output by the paddle switch 19 based on a manual downshift operation. The control in step S12 is the same as the control in steps S3 and S7 described above.

[0037] Next, in step S13, a third downshift permit speed C is calculated. This third downshift permit speed C is a permit value smaller than the first downshift permit speed A, and is a rotational speed determined in the design taking into account the predetermined upper limit rotational speed mentioned above for engine rotational speed, and is pre-stored in the T-ECU17 in the form of a map or the like. Furthermore, the third downshift permit speed C may be determined for each gear ratio at the time a downshift request based on human operation is made. Also, the third downshift permit speed C may be a speed corrected based on the presence or absence of deceleration or brake operation.

[0038] After calculating the third downshift permission vehicle speed C, step S14 determines whether the current vehicle speed V is less than or equal to the pre-stored automatic upshift permission vehicle speed Vu. If the result of step S14 is "yes," step S15 executes the shift output to perform the requested downshift. That is, a control signal for downshifting is output. After that, the series of routines shown in Figure 3 is terminated. Conversely, if the result of step S14 is "no," the series of routines shown in Figure 3 is terminated immediately without outputting a control signal for downshifting.

[0039] Here, examples of the first to third permitted downshift speeds A, B, and C described above are shown in Figure 4. As mentioned earlier, the value (permitted value) of the second permitted downshift speed B is the largest, the first permitted downshift speed A is smaller than B, and the third permitted downshift speed C is the smallest. Also, in Figure 4, the deceleration X1 is, for example, "0", and as the deceleration X increases, each permitted downshift speed A, B, and C is set to a larger value. This is because, when decelerating significantly, the vehicle speed is likely to decrease significantly during the shift time in which a downshift is performed.

[0040] Figure 5 shows a diagram illustrating the difference in downshift timing between cases where automatic upshifting is prohibited and cases where it is not prohibited. Figure 5 shows the change in engine speed Ne when, for example, the lever 12 of the transmission mechanism 11 is operated and the position sensor 13 outputs a downshift signal at time t1, when the vehicle is decelerating with the accelerator opening at "0" and the engine speed Ne is higher than the second downshift permission vehicle speed B mentioned above.

[0041] If automatic upshifting is prohibited, a second downshift permission speed B is read as the vehicle speed at which downshifting is permitted. Therefore, a downshift is executed at time t2 when the vehicle speed V has decreased to the second downshift permission speed B. The engine speed Ne increases to the rotational speed calculated as the product of the gear ratio after downshifting and the vehicle speed V, and then gradually decreases in accordance with the decrease in vehicle speed V. In this case, the engine speed Ne may exceed a predetermined target rotational speed (or upper limit rotational speed) Ne0, and if the accelerator pedal 9 is pressed in this state, limiting control measures such as fuel cut or ignition retardation may be executed to reduce the output of the engine 2. The execution of such control measures and the resulting temporary changes in the behavior of the vehicle 1 are changes that normally occur with so-called manual shifting, and therefore do not cause any particular discomfort to the driver.

[0042] On the other hand, if automatic upshifting is not prohibited, the first downshift permission speed A is read as the vehicle speed at which downshifting is permitted. Therefore, downshifting is performed only after the vehicle speed V has decreased to the first downshift permission speed A, which is lower than the second downshift permission speed B mentioned above. This point in time is shown as t3 in Figure 5. In this case as well, the engine speed Ne increases to the rotational speed calculated as the product of the gear ratio after downshifting and the vehicle speed V, but since the vehicle speed V has decreased by the time the downshift is performed at t3, the engine speed Ne reached after downshifting will be lower than the rotational speed when automatic upshifting is not prohibited. Therefore, if the accelerator pedal 9 is pressed after downshifting and an upshift is performed, the engine speed Ne will immediately decrease in accordance with the decrease in the gear ratio, and control such as fuel cut and ignition retardation will not be performed.

[0043] According to the control device of the embodiment of the present invention, when automatic upshifting is prohibited, the second downshift permission vehicle speed B for executing a downshift based on manual operation is set to a higher vehicle speed than the first downshift permission vehicle speed A when automatic upshifting is not prohibited. As a result, the delay between the manual operation for downshifting and the execution of the downshift is reduced, and as a result, the discomfort caused by the delay in downshifting can be eliminated or suppressed, and the shift operation performance can be improved.

[0044] It should be noted that the present invention can have configurations other than those described in the embodiments described above. For example, in the flowchart shown in Figure 3, if the result of the judgment in step S1 is "no", instead of proceeding to step S11, the series of routines in Figure 3 may be immediately terminated and normal automatic transmission control may be performed. Therefore, the control device of the present invention may be a control device for vehicles that do not have paddle switches. Furthermore, the transmission mechanism of the vehicle targeted by the present invention may be a configuration in which the transmission is instructed by button operation, in addition to the configuration with the lever 12 described above. Moreover, the parameter corresponding to vehicle speed in the present invention may be any parameter corresponding to vehicle speed, such as a value obtained from the rotational speed of each wheel, in addition to the rotational speed of the output shaft of the transmission. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0045] 1 vehicle 2 engines 3. Transmission 4 Torque converter 5. Gear transmission 6 Output shaft 7 Differential gear 8 Rear wheels 9. Accelerator pedal 10 Accelerator sensor 11. Transmission 12 Lever 13 Position Sensor 14. Rotation speed sensor 15. Vehicle speed sensor 16. Electronic control unit (E-ECU) for the engine 17. Electronic control unit for transmission (T-ECU) 17a Manual shift determination unit 17b Automatic Up Detector Unit 17c Manual Down Detection Unit 17d Vehicle speed detection unit 17e Download permission setting section 18 switches 19 Paddle Switches A, B, C Downshift permitted speed

Claims

1. A transmission control device for a vehicle equipped with a transmission that is capable of manual transmission control that instructs a gear change based on human operation and automatic transmission control that performs a gear change based on driving conditions including vehicle speed and drive demand, and is capable of selectively prohibiting automatic upshifts that reduce the gear ratio based on the driving conditions, The system includes a controller that performs control to change the gear ratio using the automatic shift control and the manual shift control, The aforementioned controller, A manual shift determination unit that determines whether the manual shift control is being performed, An automatic upshift determination unit that determines whether or not automatic upshifting, which is performed based on the driving conditions to reduce the gear ratio, is prohibited, A manual downshift detection unit that detects when the aforementioned human operation requesting a downshift to increase the gear ratio has been performed, A vehicle speed detection unit that detects the vehicle speed or a parameter equivalent to the vehicle speed, A downshift permission setting unit sets the vehicle speed or parameter permission value to permit the downshift requested by the aforementioned human operation. Equipped with, The downshift permission setting unit sets the permission value to be greater when automatic upshifting is not prohibited compared to when automatic upshifting is prohibited. A vehicle gear shift control device characterized by the following features.

2. A vehicle gear control device according to claim 1, The vehicle has an internal combustion engine that increases output in response to an increase in the amount of drive required. When the rotational speed of the internal combustion engine reaches a predetermined upper limit, limit control is executed to restrict the output of the internal combustion engine. A vehicle gear shift control device characterized by the following features.

3. A vehicle gear control device according to claim 1 or 2, The vehicle has a switch that can be manually operated to disable the automatic upshift, The automatic upshift determination unit determines whether or not the automatic upshift is prohibited based on the signal from the switch. A vehicle gear shift control device characterized by the following features.

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