Hydraulic vehicle performance sensor and shift point indicator

Claim 1

A vehicle performance monitoring system for instructing a vehicle operator when and into which gear a vehicle transmission, having a plurality of gear ranges, should be shifted in order to maintain the vehicle operating within a desired range of performance for each gear range in which the transmission is operated, comprising a first plurality of switching means actuated upon placing a vehicle transmission in a gear range for enabling an electrical circuit to be established for each gear range in which the vehicle transmission is operated, each one of said first plurality of switching means being mutually exclusively actuated upon the shifting of the vehicle transmission into one of the gear ranges in which the transmission is operated, a source of electrical power adapted to be mutually exclusively coupled through each one of said first plurality of switching means when the vehicle transmission is shifted into each one of the gear ranges in which the transmission is operated, indicator means actuable to convey information for informing a vehicle operator when and into which gear range the vehicle transmission should be shifted, an electrical circuit coupled between said first plurality of switching means and said indicator means for actuating said indicator means in response to the coupling of electrical power thereto, monitoring means operatively coupled to a vehicle torque converter for providing a source of pressurized hydraulic fluid at a pressure determined by the rotational speed of the torque converter, a second plurality of switching means operatively connected in fluid communication to said source of hydraulic fluid for actuation thereby in response to the hydraulic pressure coupled thereto, said second plurality of switching means being interposed in said electrical circuit between said first plurality of switching means and said indicator means for coupling said source of electrical power to said indicator means in response to the actuation of said second plurality of switching means to inform the vehicle operator when and into which gear the vehicle transmission should be shifted.

Claim 14

A method of monitoring the performance of a vehicle for instructing a vehicle operator when and into which gear a vehicle transmission, having a plurality of gear ranges should be shifted in order to maintain the vehicle operating within a desired range of performance for each gear range in which the transmission is operated comprising the steps of monitoring the rotational output speed of a vehicle torque converter and producing thereby a hydraulic fluid signal in response to the output speed of the vehicle torque converter, producing an enabling signal from the vehicle transmission for the gear range in which the vehicle transmission is then operating, coupling the hydraulic fluid signal to a plurality of switching devices selectively actuable upon receipt of said hydraulic fluid signal to thereby complete an electrical circuit, and coupling the enabling signal from the vehicle transmission to indicator means actuable to display when and into which gear the vehicle transmission should be shifted, through said plurality of selectively actuable switching devices to complete the electrical circuit for actuating said indicator means in response to the hydraulic fluid signal coupled to said switching devices to inform the vehicle operator when and into which gear the vehicle transmission should be shifted.

Claim 15

A method of monitoring the performance of a vehicle for instructing a vehicle operator when and into which gear a vehicle transmission, having a plurality of gear ranges should be shifted in order to maintain the vehicle operating within a desired range of performance for each gear range in which the transmission is operated comprising the steps of monitoring the rotational output speed of a vehicle torque converter and producing thereby a hydraulic fluid signal in response to the output speed of the vehicle torque converter, producing an enabling signal from the vehicle transmission for the gear range in which the vehicle transmission is then operating, coupling the hydraulic fluid signal to a plurality of switching devices selectively actuable upon receipt of said hydraulic fluid signal to thereby complete an electrical circuit, and coupling the enabling signal from the vehicle transmission to indicator means actuable to display when and into which gear the vehicle transmission should be shifted, through said plurality of selectively actuable switching devices to complete the electrical circuit for actuating said indicator means in response to the hydraulic fluid signal coupled to said switching devices to inform the vehicle operator when and into which gear the vehicle transmission should be shifted.