FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to a control system for a motor-vehicle transmis sion.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A control system of the above-mentioned type is known from US 2018/0079302 Al. Ac cording to this known solution, the control system basically includes a portable device and a mounting base which is attached to a point of the passenger compartment of the vehicle (for example, attached to the centre tunnel) and has a seat adapted to receive the portable device. The portable device is configured to operate, once inserted into the respective seat in the mounting base, both as an ignition key to allow the driver to start and stop the vehi cle's engine and as a transmission control device by which the driver is able to select the various operating positions (Drive, Neutral, Park and Reverse) of the vehicle's automatic transmission and, possibly, even to select a number of driving modes of the vehicle (for example, a sport driving mode, an economy driving mode, a normal driving mode, etc.). The operating positions of the transmission may be selected by the driver for example by rotation of the portable device. The operating position of the transmission is each time shown on a screen provided on the portable device. Said screen is for example a touchscreen on which the driver can act to select the various driving modes of the vehicle.

US 2018/0079302 Al does not disclose any other function of the portable device, in addi tion to the engine start function and the transmission control function. Moreover, the port able device disclosed by this document is of cylindrical or spherical shape, which makes it difficult to use the device for other functions, such as for example the door opening/closing function.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a control system of the above- mentioned type, which can be used by the driver to control the vehicle's transmission in an easier and more intuitive manner than the prior art discussed above, and which also offers to the driver the possibility to control additional functions of the vehicle.

This and other objects are fully achieved according to the present invention by virtue of a control system having the features set forth in independent claim 1.

Preferred embodiments of the invention are defined in the dependent claims, the subject- matter of which is to be intended as forming an integral part of the following description.

In short, the invention is based on the idea of providing a control system wherein the port able device comprises, in addition to first control means operable by the user to transmit, through the mounting base, control signals for control of the vehicle transmission, second control means operable by the user to remotely control opening and closing of the vehicle's doors. Therefore, in addition to acting as a control device for controlling the vehicle's transmission, the portable device also acts as an electronic key for remotely controlling opening and closing of the vehicle's doors.

Preferably, the portable device and/or the mounting base are provided with additional con trol means for controlling further systems of the vehicle, such as for example the infotain ment system (radio, phone, multimedia player), the navigation system, the electric parking brake, etc.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, given purely by way of non-limiting example with refer ence to the appended drawings, wherein:

Figures 1 and 2 are perspective views showing the portable device and the mount ing base of a control system according to an embodiment of the present invention, in the condition where the portable device is engaged with the mounting base and in the condi- tion where the portable device is disengaged from the mounting base, respectively;

Figure 3 is a bottom view of the portable device of the control system of Figures 1 and 2;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of the portable device of a control system according to the present invention, in an operating condition where the portable device is used to select operating positions of the vehicle's transmission;

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the portable device of Figure 4, in an operating condition where the portable device is used to send or receive phone calls; and

Figure 6 is an exploded view schematically showing the main components of a portable device for a control system according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

With reference first to Figures 1 and 2, a control system for controlling a motor-vehicle transmission basically comprises a portable device 10 and a mounting base 12 adapted to accommodate the portable device 10.

The mounting base 12 is configured to be attached to a point of the passenger compartment of the vehicle which can be easily accessed by the driver, in particular on the centre tunnel where the gear shift lever is typically placed. As shown in Figure 1, the mounting base 12 has a seat 14 where the portable device 10 is received in use. Electrical connectors 16 are provided in the seat 14 to be coupled with corresponding electrical connectors (not shown) of the portable device 10 when the portable device 10 is received in the seat 14 of the mounting base 12, so as to ensure electric and electronic connection of the portable device 10 with the mounting base 12, and hence with the vehicle.

Preferably, the mounting base 12 further includes one or more control buttons (in the illus trated example, a first control button 18 and a second control button 20) operable by the driver to control respective functions of the vehicle, for example to select the parking posi tion (position "P") of the transmission (button 18) and to select a sequential operating mode (position "S") of the transmission (button 20), if any. Furthermore, in order to allow the driver to control shifting to a higher gear or lower gear when the sequential operating mode of the transmission has been activated, two control buttons, one for controlling shift ing to a higher gear and the other for controlling shifting to a lower gear, or alternatively one single tilting button, may be provided on the mounting base 12.

The above-mentioned control buttons, which in the illustrated example are made as physi cal buttons, may alternatively be made as virtual buttons, in which case the mounting base 12 will have a touchscreen where these control buttons and/or other possible control but tons are displayed.

Advantageously, the mounting base 12 further includes a release button 22 operable by the driver to disengage the portable device 10 from the mounting base 12, for example when the driver wishes to get off the vehicle, once the engine or motor has been stopped.

With reference now to Figure 3 as well, the portable device 10 has a configuration, and preferably also sizes (in particular in terms of length and width), like those of a typical electronic key of a mo tor- vehicle.

The portable device 10 comprises an outer casing 24, preferably formed by two separate half-shells 26a and 26b, that is, an upper half-shell 26a and a lower half-shell 26b, respec tively.

On the top side of the portable device 10, in a seat formed in a middle zone of the upper half-shell 26a, a plurality of control buttons are provided, each of which is operable to se lect a respective operating position or mode of the transmission. In particular, according to the embodiment illustrated in Figures 1 to 3, the portable device 10 is provided with three control buttons, which are indicated with 28, 30 and 32, respectively, and are associated to the forward driving position (position "D"), the neutral position (position "N") and the re verse position (position "R"). The control buttons 28, 30 and 32 provided on the portable device 10 thus allow, along with the control buttons 18 and 20 provided on the mounting base 12, to select all the positions typically provided for in an automatic transmission. Nat urally, the portable device 12 may have a different number, in particular a higher number, of control buttons than that of the portable device shown in Figures 1 to 3. A plurality of control buttons for controlling opening and closing of the vehicle's doors are provided on the bottom side of the portable device 10, in a seat formed in the lower half shell 26b. For example, a control button 34 for centralized opening of the vehicle's doors, a control button 36 for centralized closing of the vehicle's doors and a control button 38 for opening of the vehicle's tailgate (which control button 38 may also be used to control clos ing of the tailgate, in case of an electrically-operated tailgate) may be provided.

Since control buttons are provided on the opposite sides, i.e. on the top side and on the bot tom side, of the portable device 10, the sizes of the device are reduced, the number of but tons remaining unchanged.

The driver can then use the portable device 10, when removed from the mounting base 12, as a normal electronic key for remotely controlling opening and closing of the vehicle's doors, and, once coupled with the mounting base 12, as a control device for selecting the operating positions of the vehicle's transmission (if necessary, in case the number of con trol buttons provided on the portable device is lower than the number of operating posi tions of the transmission, by also using the additional buttons provided on the mounting base).

The portable device 10 may further comprise a mechanical key (not shown in the embodi ment of Figures 1 to 3), which is preferably made as a folding key, and can be used by the user to control opening and closing of the vehicle's doors and/or to control starting and stopping of the vehicle's engine or motor.

A further embodiment of the portable device 10 is shown in Figures 4 to 6, where parts and elements identical or corresponding to those of Figures 1 to 3 have been designated with the same reference numbers.

According to this further embodiment, the portable device 10 has on its top side, in place of the physical control buttons 28, 30 and 32, a touchscreen 40 by which the driver is able to control the vehicle's transmission (as shown in Figure 4) and also further systems of the vehicle, such as for example the infotainment system (as shown in Figure 5), if any. A specific screen associated each time to the function of the vehicle the driver wishes to control will be displayed at that time on the touchscreen 40. For example, when the porta ble device 10 is used as a control device for controlling the vehicle's transmission, a set of virtual control buttons will be displayed on the touchscreen 40, each virtual control button corresponding to a respective operating position of the transmission. In the illustrated ex ample, three virtual control buttons are displayed, corresponding to the operating positions R, N and D of the transmission, to be used in addition to the physical control buttons 18 and 20 provided on the mounting base 12, but of course a different number of virtual con trol buttons may be displayed depending on the specific application.

Furthermore, when the sequential operating mode of the transmission is selected (for ex ample, by means of the control button 20 provided on the mounting base 12), the touchscreen 40 may show two virtual control buttons "+" and to be touched by the driver to engage a higher gear or a lower gear, respectively.

On the other hand, when the portable device 10 is used as a control device for controlling the infotainment system of the vehicle, a set of screens will be conveniently displayed, each corresponding to a specific function of the system, for example one screen for the phone function (like the one shown in Figure 5), one screen for the radio function, one screen for the multimedia player function, etc.

Finally, Figure 6 of the accompanying drawings schematically shows the main parts of the portable device 10 according to the embodiment of Figures 4 and 5 (that is to say, the em bodiment wherein a touchscreen is provided on the top side of the device). In addition to the aforementioned upper half- shell 26a and lower half- shell 26b and the aforementioned touchscreen 40, the portable device 10 comprises a printed circuit board 42 and a recharge able battery 44 (preferably, a wireless rechargeable battery). Moreover, the portable device 10 is, as already explained, also preferably provided with a mechanical key (indicated with 46 in Figure 6) for controlling opening and closing of the vehicle's doors and/or starting and stopping of the vehicle's engine or motor.

Naturally, the principle of the invention remaining unchanged, the embodiments and con- structional details may vary widely from those described and illustrated purely by way of non-limiting example, without thereby departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

In particular, the touchscreen, which in the embodiment of Figures 4 to 6 is provided on one side only, in particular on the top side, of the portable device, may be provided on both opposite sides, i.e. the top side and the bottom side, of the device.

Moreover, the portable device 10 may operate as an immobilizer anti-theft device and be provided with a GPS transponder to also operate as a satellite anti-theft device.

The portable device 10 may further include a digital fingerprint recognition system to al low customized management of a number of parameters and settings of the vehicle, such as for example the vehicle's power parameters, the settings of the infotainment system, the er gonomic adjustments, etc.

Furthermore, the portable device 10 may comprise an internal memory for storing data re lating to the vehicle's state (as the device is connected to the vehicle's CAN-bus network) and/or data relating to the vehicle's owner or user, such as for example driving seat adjust ments (for example, the position of the seat and the position of the driving wheel) and pre ferred settings of the multimedia system.

The portable device 10 may also be provided with a remote communication system for re mote communication with the vehicle, thereby allowing the driver to remotely start the ve hicle's engine or motor and drive the vehicle, for example when parking in and out of tight parking spaces.

The portable device 10 may be used, if suitably programmed, on several vehicles provided with the same control system, for example on vehicles of the same family unity or vehicles of the same company vehicle fleet. Moreover, the portable device 10, or the mounting base 12, may also include a button for controlling the electric parking brake of the vehicle.

According to a further embodiment (not shown), the portable device 10 may be tiltably re- ceived in the mounting base 12 to allow the driver to engage a higher gear or a lower gear, once the sequential operating mode of the transmission has been selected, by causing the portable device to tilt in one direction or in the opposite direction, respectively.

Furthermore, the invention is to be intended as being applicable to any kind of motor- vehicles, irrespective of the type of engine or motor used to power the vehicle, which may be an internal combustion engine, an electric motor or a hybrid system with an electric mo tor coupled to an internal combustion engine, and irrespective of type of transmission mounted on the vehicle for transmission of the motion to the vehicle's wheels.