Description:FORM 2
THE PATENTS ACT 1970
39 OF 1970
&
THE PATENT RULES 2003
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
(SEE SECTIONS 10 & RULE 13)
1. TITLE OF THE INVENTION

AN ACCELERATION CONTROL SYSTEM TO FACILITATE AN ACCELERATOR PEDAL FREE DRIVE (APFD) OF A VEHICLE
2. APPLICANTS (S)
NAME NATIONALITY ADDRESS

MARUTI SUZUKI INDIA LIMITED

Indian
Maruti Suzuki India Limited
1, Nelson Mandela Road, Vasant Kunj,
New Delhi - 110070
India
3. PREAMBLE TO THE DESCRIPTION

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION

The following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed.

AN ACCELERATION CONTROL SYSTEM TO FACILITATE AN ACCELERATOR PEDAL FREE DRIVE (APFD) OF A VEHICLE

TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The present disclosure relates to a control system to facilitate an accelerator pedal free drive (APFD) of a vehicle. In particular, the present disclosure relates to an acceleration control system, where the control system enables acceleration of the vehicle to be controlled by hand instead of a leg-controlled accelerator pedal.
BACKGROUND
[0002] Typically, in a car, a clutch is used to facilitate while shifting of gears from one position to another and an accelerator pedal and a brake pedal is applied in order to increase speed or slow down the vehicle, respectively. The clutch pedal, the brake pedal and the accelerator pedal are controlled by foot of a driver. However, there is a facility of two pedal drive in automatic cars where a driver has to only control the brake pedal and the accelerator pedal by foot, respectively. The drive mode available in such cars ensures automatic selection of gears thereby allowing the vehicle to move.
[0003] It is a very common practice existent among drivers of the vehicle that they press the accelerator pedal instead of the brake pedal unintentionally under panic driven circumstances due to pedal misapplications. A reasonable amount of accidents by a vehicle is reported due to such unintended actions. This is because if the accelerator pedal is pressed instead of the brake pedal under heavy traffic condition on road, the driver may hit other vehicles resulting into severe accidents.
[0004] In a similar manner, learners also tend to press the accelerator pedal unintentionally instead of the brake pedal out of nervousness due to their lack of experiences under adverse situations while driving. These types of acceleration are usually uncontrolled and may result into deadly accidents.
[0005] Therefore, there is a pressing need to design and develop a system along with a scheme to have control on the acceleration of the vehicle by other than the foot of the drivers.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
[0006] Some of the objects of the present disclosure, which at least one embodiment herein satisfy, are listed herein below.
[0007] It is an object of the present subject matter to overcome the aforementioned and other drawbacks existing in the prior art systems and methods.
[0008] It is a significant object of the present disclosure to facilitate better control of a vehicle during traffic and panic driven conditions.
[0009] It is another principal object of the present disclosure to provide an acceleration control system such that the acceleration of the vehicle is controlled via hand instead of leg.
[0010] It is another object of the present disclosure to provide the acceleration control system such that the system is able to facilitate automatic shifting of gear in proportional to degree of change in position of the gear shift lever of an automated manual transmission (AMT) based vehicle.
[0011] It is another object of the present disclosure to provide the acceleration control system such that the system is able to apply regenerative force when gear is shifted and pushed in backward direction from current position.
[0012] It is yet another object of the present disclosure to provide the acceleration control system such that the system is easy to implement.
[0013] These and other objects and advantages of the present subject matter will be apparent to a person skilled in the art after consideration of the following detailed description taking into consideration with accompanied drawings in which preferred embodiments of the present subject matter are illustrated.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0014] This summary is provided to introduce concepts related to a control system to facilitate an accelerator pedal free drive (APFD) of a vehicle. The concepts are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.
[0015] According to an embodiment of a present disclosure, there is provided an acceleration control system to facilitate an accelerator pedal free drive (APFD) of a vehicle. The acceleration control system comprises a leg controlled brake pedal to apply mechanical brake while the vehicle is in motion, a gear selection device facilitating automated manual transmission (AMT) of the vehicle, where the gear selection device is having a gear shift lever. The position of the gear shift lever is changed based on one or more drive modes of the vehicle. The acceleration control system further comprises an acceleration throttle coupled to the gear shift lever to enable hand control of speed of the vehicle when the gear shift lever is positioned to an accelerator pedal free drive (APFD) mode of the one or more drive modes of the vehicle.
[0016] In an aspect, in the acceleration control system, the gear selection device comprises a displacement sensor to detect forward or reverse movement of the gear shift lever in defined path of the accelerator pedal free drive (APFD) mode, where the displacement sensor is coupled with the transmission control unit to transmit real time input of the gear shift lever to determine amount of acceleration or de-acceleration.
[0017] In an aspect, in the acceleration control system, the gear shift lever is operated by a transmission control unit, where the transmission control unit is to receive input from the gear selection device to disable functioning of an accelerator pedal when the gear shift lever is positioned to the accelerator pedal free drive (APFD) mode of the one or more drive modes of the vehicle.
[0018] In an aspect, in the acceleration control system, the transmission control unit is configured to determine percentage of applied acceleration based on inputs received from the displacement sensor according to position of the gear shift lever in the path of the accelerator pedal free drive (APFD) mode in the gear selection device and facilitate automatic shifting of gear proportional to degree of change in position of the gear shift lever in forward (+y)/backward (-y) direction in the path of the accelerator pedal free drive (APFD) mode in the gear selection device.
[0019] In an aspect, in the acceleration control system, the gear shift lever is coupled with a spring to pull back the gear shift lever at neutral position upon release of forward/backward force on the gear shift lever in the accelerator pedal free drive (APFD) mode.
[0020] In an aspect, in the acceleration control system, the transmission control unit is configured to apply regenerative force, in the accelerator pedal free drive (APFD) mode when the gear shift lever is pushed in backward direction from current position.
[0021] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided a method to facilitate an accelerator pedal free drive (APFD) of a vehicle. The method comprises receiving information by a gear selection device regarding position of a gear shift lever, transmitting received information from the gear selection device to a transmission control unit, sharing received information by the transmission control unit with a vehicle control unit to powertrain the vehicle and determining torque by the vehicle control unit to powertrain an engine of the vehicle.
[0022] In an aspect, the method includes disabling of an accelerator pedal by the transmission control unit when the gear shift lever is positioned to the accelerator pedal free drive (APFD) mode of the one or more drive modes of the vehicle.
[0023] In an aspect, the method includes determining by the transmission control unit about percentage of applied acceleration based on inputs received from a displacement sensor according to position of the gear shift lever in the path of accelerator pedal free drive (APFD) mode in the gear selection device and facilitating automatic shifting of gear in proportion to degree to change in position of the gear shift lever in forward (+y)/backward (-y) direction in the path of the accelerator pedal free drive (APFD) mode in the gear selection device.
[0024] In an aspect, the method includes pulling back the gear shift lever at neutral position upon release of forward/backward force on the gear shift lever in the accelerator pedal free drive (APFD) mode.
[0025] In an aspect, the method includes applying a regenerative force by the transmission control unit in the accelerator pedal free drive (APFD) mode when the gear shift lever is pushed in backward direction from current position.
[0026] To further understand the characteristics and technical contents of the present subject matter, a description relating thereto will be made with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the drawings are illustrative only but not used to limit the scope of the present subject matter.
[0027] Various objects, features, aspects, and advantages of the inventive subject matter will become more apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, along with the accompanying drawing figures in which numerals represent like components.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWING(S)
[0028] It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only typical embodiments of the present subject matter and are therefore not to be considered for limiting of its scope, for the invention may admit to other equally effective embodiments. The detailed description is described with reference to the accompanying figures. In the figures, a reference number identifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. The same numbers are used throughout the figures to reference like features and components. Some embodiments of system or methods or structure in accordance with embodiments of the present subject matter are now described, by way of example, and with reference to the accompanying figures, in which
[0029] Figure 1 depicts one or more drive modes of a vehicle in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0030] Figure 2 illustrates an exemplary flow of operation of an acceleration control system of the vehicle in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0031] Figure 3 depicts an exemplary operation of the acceleration control system in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;
[0032] Figure 4 (a)-(b) illustrates an exemplary operation of a gear shift lever in an acceleration pedal free drive (APFD) mode of the vehicle in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; and
[0033] Figure 5 (a)-(c) illustrates an example method for operation of the acceleration control system in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0034] The figures depict embodiments of the present subject matter for the purposes of illustration only. A person skilled in the art will easily recognize from the following description that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the disclosure described herein.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0035] The following is a detailed description of embodiments of the disclosure depicted in the accompanying drawings. The embodiments are in such detail as to clearly communicate the disclosure. However, the amount of detail offered is not intended to limit the anticipated variations of embodiments; on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims.
[0036] While the embodiments of the disclosure are subject to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiment thereof have been shown by way of example in the figures and will be described below. It should be understood, however, that it is not intended to limit the disclosure to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the disclosure is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternative falling within the scope of the disclosure.
[0037] The terms “comprises”, “comprising”, or any other variations thereof used in the disclosure, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a device, system, assembly that comprises a list of components does not include only those components but may include other components not expressly listed or inherent to such system, or assembly, or device. In other words, one or more elements in a system or device proceeded by “comprises… a” does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of other elements or additional elements in the system or device.
Non-limiting Definitions
[0038] In the disclosure hereinafter, one or more terms are used to describe various aspects of the present disclosure. These one or more terms are related to motion of a gear lever with reference to different aspects of driving a vehicle using one or more drive modes (also shown in Figure 1). Therefore, a few definitions are provided herein for a better understanding of the present disclosure.
[0039] “Reverse mode” (110-R) refers to a mode that is activated from a “Neutral mode” (110-N) on pressing a brake pedal and moving a gear shift lever from neutral in upward direction.
[0040] “Drive mode” (110-D) refers to a mode that is activated from the “Neutral mode” (110-N) via pressing the brake pedal and moving the gear shift lever in downward direction.
[0041] “Neutral mode” (110-N) refers to a mode that is activated from the ‘Reverse mode’ (110-R) or the ‘Drive mode’ (110-D) on pressing the brake pedal.
[0042] “Manual gear mode” (110-M) is the mode that is activated by moving the gear shift lever on left side of the “Drive mode” (110-D).
[0043] “Accelerator pedal free drive (APFD) mode” (110-A) is the mode that is activated through a hand controlled accelerator pedal throttle by moving the gear shift lever on right side from the “Drive mode” (110-D). The “accelerator pedal free drive (APFD) mode” (110-A) allows to move the vehicle in forward direction based on the throttle forward percentage.
Exemplary implementations/embodiments
[0044] The present disclosure relates to an acceleration control system that is able to provide acceleration control of the vehicle via a hand-controlled mechanism instead of leg controlled accelerator pedal. Herein, the acceleration control system allows a driver to move foot back and forth only for the purpose of braking thereby rendering better control of the vehicle in traffic and panic-stricken conditions. The structural and operational attributes of the proposed acceleration control system are discussed in the subsequent sections.
[0045] Figure 2 illustrates an exemplary flow of operation of an acceleration control system (100) of the vehicle in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. Herein, the acceleration control system (100) comprises of a gear selection device (102) and a transmission control unit (TCU) (104).
[0046] In an aspect, the gear selection device (102) facilitates the automated manual transmission (AMT) of the vehicle and comprises of the gear shift lever (202). The position of the gear shift lever (202) is changed based on one or more drive modes of the vehicle as discussed in the previous section.
[0047] In an aspect, there is provided an acceleration throttle coupled to the gear shift lever (202), where the acceleration throttle enables hand control of speed of the vehicle when the gear shift lever (202) is positioned to an accelerator pedal free drive (APFD) mode (110-A) (shown in Figure 1) of the one or more drive modes of the vehicle.
[0048] In an aspect, the gear shift lever (202) is operated by the transmission control unit (TCU) (104). Herein, the transmission control unit (TCU) (104) receives input from the gear selection device (102) and disables functioning of the accelerator pedal (206) when the gear shift lever (202) is positioned to the accelerator pedal free drive (APFD) mode (110-A) of the one or more drive modes of the vehicle. Therefore, driver’s demand on the accelerator pedal (206) is ignored and the vehicle is restricted from accelerating even if the driver’s foot remains pressed on the accelerator pedal (206).
[0049] In an aspect, after receiving input from the gear selection device (102), the transmission control unit (TCU) (104) also determine the necessary amount of torque that is required to powertrain an engine of the vehicle. This determination of torque is based on information regarding position of the gear shift lever (202) and current state of a transmission unit (106).
[0050] In an aspect, the transmission control unit (TCU) (104) may be equipped with processing device(s). The processing device(s) may be implemented as one or more microprocessors, microcomputers, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, central processing units, logic circuitries, and/or any devices that manipulate data based on operational instructions received from the gear selection device (102) present in the acceleration control system (100). Among other capabilities, the one or more processor(s) present in the transmission control unit (TCU) (104) are configured to fetch and execute computer-readable instructions stored in the memory of the acceleration control system (100). The memory may store one or more computer-readable instructions or routines, which may be fetched and executed to create or share the data units over a network service. The memory may include any non-transitory storage device including, for example, volatile memory such as RAM, or non-volatile memory such as EPROM, flash memory, and the like.
[0051] Figure 3 depicts an exemplary operation of the acceleration control system (100) in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. Herein, when the vehicle is started from the neutral mode (110-N) and is intended to be accelerated, the gear shift lever (202) is positioned at the drive mode (110-D). On entering the drive mode (110-D), a default creep mode is activated, and the vehicle moves at a very less speed, say around 5 kmph. In this state the gear is automatically locked in 1st gear.
[0052] Now, when the driver intends to accelerate further, the gear shift lever (202) is positioned to right side from the drive mode (110-D) to the accelerator pedal free drive (APFD) mode (110-A). As already mentioned, the transmission control unit (TCU) (104) disables the accelerator pedal (206) on receiving information about switching of the gear shift lever (202) from the drive mode (110-D) to the accelerator pedal free drive (APFD) mode (110-A). Therefore, acceleration of the vehicle is controlled solely by hand and only the brake pedal is mechanically controlled by foot.
[0053] Figure 4 (a)-(b) illustrates an exemplary operation of the gear shift lever (202) in the acceleration pedal free drive (APFD) mode (110-A) of the vehicle in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0054] In an aspect, the gear selection device (102) comprises of a displacement sensor to detect forward or reverse movement of the gear shift lever (202) in a pre-defined path of the accelerator pedal free drive (APFD) mode (110-A). Herein, the displacement sensor is coupled with the transmission control unit (104) and transmits real time information of the gear shift lever (202). This enables the transmission control unit (TCU) (104) to determine amount of acceleration or de-acceleration as required for driving the vehicle.
[0055] In an aspect, the transmission control unit (TCU) (104) determine percentage of applied acceleration based on inputs received from the displacement sensor, where the displacement sensor sends suitable inputs depending on position of the gear shift lever (202) in the path of the accelerator pedal free drive (APFD) mode (110-A) in the gear selection device (102).
[0056] In an aspect, it is to be mentioned in this context that the transmission control unit (TCU) (104) facilitates automatic shifting of gear proportional to degree to change is position of the gear shift lever (202) in forward (+y)/backward (-y) direction in the path of the accelerator pedal free drive (APFD) mode (110-A) in the gear selection device (102). The gear shift lever (202) is coupled with a mechanism to pull back the gear shift lever (202) at neutral position upon release of forward/backward force on the gear shift lever in the accelerator pedal free drive (APFD) mode (110-A). Herein, the mechanism may be spring controlled, electromagnetic controlled or pneumatic controlled in nature.
[0057] In an aspect, the transmission control unit (TCU) (104) is also configured to apply a regenerative force, in the accelerator pedal free drive (APFD) mode (110-A) when the gear shift lever (202) is pushed in backward direction from current position.
[0058] For example, say the gear shift lever (202) is initially at the neutral mode (110-N). Now upon turning on the ignition, if the driver moves the gear shift lever (202) from the neutral mode (110-N) to the drive mode (110-D) and further right to the accelerator pedal free drive (APFD) mode (110-A), the function of the accelerator pedal (206) is internally disabled by the transmission control unit (TCU) (104) as mentioned previously. However, at neutral (i.e. 0th) position of the gear shift lever (202) in the accelerator pedal free drive (APFD) mode (110-A), the vehicle remains in creep mode. So a minimum speed of say 5 kmph is going to be maintained in case driver is not pressing the gear shift lever (202) forward.
[0059] If the driver now wants to accelerate the vehicle in forward direction (+y), say by an amount of ‘d1’, the gear shift lever (202) needs to be positioned at a distance of ‘d1’ from neutral (i.e. 0th) position. Therefore, ideally, switching of the gear shift lever (202) by an amount equal to 100% from neutral (or 0th) position in forward (+y) direction would result into pressing the accelerator pedal (206) by the amount equal to 100%.
[0060] Now when the gear shift lever (202) is released from ‘d1’, the gear shift lever (202) gradually shifts in backward direction (-y) till it reaches the neutral (or 0th) point. The vehicle coasts on occurrence of such phenomenon and speed of the vehicle is brought down to creep speed (i.e. the minimum speed of vehicle having no throttle and no brake pedal in the drive mode).
[0061] It is to be noted that in both the exemplary cases as mentioned above, the brake pedal functions in a usual manner and the vehicle comes to stop if the brake pedal is applied by the driver.
[0062] In an aspect, for an example, if the gear shift lever (202) is pushed backward from ‘d1’ till the neutral (or 0th) point and further backward (-y) direction, the transmission control unit (104) applies a regenerative brake till speed of the vehicle reaches to zero. The regenerative braking is different from the mechanical braking controlled by leg as the regenerative braking is an energy recovery mechanism and converts kinetic energy resulting due to motion of the vehicle into some other form of energy that may be stored for future purpose. This feature improves efficiency and performance of the vehicle.
[0063] In an aspect, herein in case speed of the vehicle is below a pre-defined threshold value, say less than 3 kmph, the gear shift lever (202) does not generate any braking demand even if the gear shift lever (202) is pushed backward. During this time, the driver may use the leg controlled brake pedal to control the vehicle’s motion.
[0064] Additionally, if there is a case when the gear shift lever (202) and the brake pedal is applied simultaneously, the vehicle control unit (VCU) calculates distribution of mechanical brake and regenerative brake based on available information obtained from the transmission control unit (TCU) (104).
[0065] However, for example, say the gear shift lever (202) is in the drive mode (110-D) and the driver switches the gear shift lever (202) from the drive mode (110-D) to the accelerator pedal free drive (APFD) mode (110-A), the vehicle creeps as initially the gear shift lever (202) is in neutral (0th) position. On further switching the gear shift lever (202) from neutral (0th) position to forward direction (+y), the speed of the vehicle gradually increases and may be controlled accordingly by positioning of the gear shift lever (202) as discussed in the previous section.
[0066] Figure 5 (a)-(c) illustrates an example method for operation of the acceleration control system in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. The order in which the method is described is not intended to be construed as a limitation, and any number of the described method blocks may be combined in any order to implement the methods (400-A, 400-B, 400-C), or an alternative method. Furthermore, methods (400-A, 400-B, 400-C) may be implemented by the transmission control unit (TCU) (104) and further by a vehicle control unit (VCU) through any suitable hardware.
[0067] At block (402), the method includes receiving information by the gear selection device (102) regarding position of the gear shift lever (202).
[0068] At block (404), the method includes transmitting received information from the gear selection device (102) to the transmission control unit (104).
[0069] At block (406), the method includes sharing received information by the transmission control unit (TCU) (104) with the vehicle control unit (VCU) to powertrain the vehicle.
[0070] At block (408), the method includes determining torque by the vehicle control unit (VCU) to powertrain an engine of the vehicle.
[0071] At block (410), the method includes disabling of the accelerator pedal (206) by the transmission control unit (TCU) (104) when the gear shift lever (202) is positioned to the accelerator pedal free drive (APFD) (110-A) mode of the one or more drive modes of the vehicle.
[0072] At block (412), the method includes determining by the transmission control unit (TCU) (104) about percentage of applied acceleration based on inputs received from a displacement sensor according to position of the gear shift lever (202) in the path of accelerator pedal free drive (APFD) mode (110-A) in the gear selection device (102).
[0073] At block (414), the method includes facilitating automatic shifting of gear in proportion to degree to change in position of the gear shift lever (202) in forward (+y)/backward (-y) direction in the path of the accelerator pedal free drive (APFD) mode (110-A) in the gear selection device (102).
[0074] At block (416), the method includes pulling back the gear shift lever (202) at neutral position upon release of forward/backward force on the gear shift lever (202) in the accelerator pedal free drive (APFD) (110-A) mode.
[0075] At block (418), the method includes applying a regenerative force by the transmission control unit (TCU) (104) in the accelerator pedal free drive (APFD) mode (110-A) when the gear shift lever (202) is pushed in backward direction from current position.
[0076] However, in all the cases as explained in the present disclosure, it is assumed that a person skilled in the art is having a detailed knowledge of driving a vehicle in automatic gear mode and is also well acquainted with shifting the gears while driving a vehicle.
[0077] Technical Advantages
All in all, the acceleration control system (100) described in the present disclosure is having the following advantages:
a) The present system (100) prevents the vehicle from causing severe accidents during traffic or panic driven conditions
b) The present system (100) enables application of a regenerative force when gear is pushed in backward direction from current position thereby enhancing performance and efficiency of the vehicle
c) The present system (100) is easy to implement
Equivalents
[0078] It should be noted that the description and figures merely illustrate the principles of the present subject matter. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that conception and specific embodiment disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present subject matter. It should also be appreciated by those skilled in the art that by devising various systems that, although not explicitly described or shown herein, embody the principles of the present subject matter and are included within its spirit and scope. Furthermore, all examples recited herein are principally intended expressly to be for pedagogical purposes to aid the reader in understanding the principles of the present subject matter and the concepts contributed by the inventor(s) to furthering the art and are to be construed as being without limitation to such specifically recited examples and conditions. The novel features which are believed to be characteristic of the present subject matter, both as to its organization and method of operation, together with further objects and advantages will be better understood from the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying figures.
[0079] Although embodiments for the present subject matter have been described in language specific to package features, it is to be understood that the present subject matter is not necessarily limited to the specific features described. Rather, the specific features and methods are disclosed as embodiments for the present subject matter. Numerous modifications and adaptations of the system/device of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and thus it is intended by the appended claims to cover all such modifications and adaptations which fall within the scope of the present subject matter.
[0080] It will be understood by those within the art that, in general, terms used herein, and especially in the appended claims (e.g., bodies of the appended claims) are generally intended as “open” terms (e.g., the term “including” should be interpreted as “including but not limited to,” the term “having” should be interpreted as “having at least,” the term “includes” should be interpreted as “includes but is not limited to,” etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitation no such intent is present. For example, as an aid to understanding, the following appended claims may contain usage of the introductory phrases “at least one” and “one or more” to introduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles “a” or “an” limits any particular claim containing such introduced claim recitation to inventions containing only one such recitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases “one or more” or “at least one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or “an” (e.g., “a” and/or “an” should typically be interpreted to mean “at least one” or “one or more”); the same holds true for the use of definite articles used to introduce claim recitations. In addition, even if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should typically be interpreted to mean at least the recited number (e.g., the bare recitation of “two recitations,” without other modifiers, typically means at least two recitations, or two or more recitations). Furthermore, in those instances where a convention analogous to “at least one of A, B, and C, etc.” is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, and C” would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). In those instances where a convention analogous to “at least one of A, B, or C, etc.” is used, in general such a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, or C” would include but not be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that virtually any disjunctive word and/or phrase presenting two or more alternative terms, whether in the description, claims, or drawings, should be understood to contemplate the possibilities of including one of the terms, either of the terms, or both terms. For example, the phrase “A or B” will be understood to include the possibilities of “A” or “B” or “A and B.”
[0081] It will be further appreciated that functions or structures of a plurality of components or steps may be combined into a single component or step, or the functions or structures of one-step or component may be split among plural steps or components. The present invention contemplates all of these combinations. Unless stated otherwise, dimensions and geometries of the various structures depicted herein are not intended to be restrictive of the invention, and other dimensions or geometries are possible. In addition, while a feature of the present invention may have been described in the context of only one of the illustrated embodiments, such feature may be combined with one or more other features of other embodiments, for any given application. It will also be appreciated from the above that the fabrication of the unique structures herein and the operation thereof also constitute methods in accordance with the present invention. The present invention also encompasses intermediate and end products resulting from the practice of the methods herein. The use of “comprising” or “including” also contemplates embodiments that “consist essentially of” or “consist of” the recited feature.

, Claims:We claim:
1. An acceleration control system (100) to facilitate an accelerator pedal free drive (APFD) of a vehicle, the acceleration control system (100) comprising:
- a leg-controlled brake pedal to apply mechanical brake while the vehicle is in motion.
- a gear selection device (102) facilitating automated manual transmission (AMT) of the vehicle, wherein the gear selection device (102) is having
a gear shift lever (202), wherein position of the gear shift lever (202) is changed based on one or more drive modes of the vehicle; and
- an acceleration throttle coupled to the gear shift lever (202) to enable hand control of speed of the vehicle when the gear shift lever (202) is positioned to the accelerator pedal free drive (APFD) mode (110-A) of the one or more drive modes of the vehicle.

2. The acceleration control system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the gear selection device (102) comprises a displacement sensor to detect forward or reverse movement of the gear shift lever (202) in defined path of the accelerator pedal free drive (APFD) mode (110-A), wherein the displacement sensor is coupled with a transmission control unit (104) to transmit real time input of the gear shift lever (202) to determine amount of acceleration or de-acceleration.

3. The acceleration control system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the gear shift lever (202) is operated by the transmission control unit (104), and wherein the transmission control unit (104) is to receive input from the gear selection device (102) to:
disable functioning of an accelerator pedal (206) when the gear shift lever (202) is positioned to the accelerator pedal free drive (APFD) mode (110-A) of the one or more drive modes of the vehicle.

4. The acceleration control system (100) as claimed in claim 3, wherein the transmission control unit (104) configured to:
- determine percentage of applied acceleration based on inputs received from the displacement sensor according to position of the gear shift lever (202) in the path of the accelerator pedal free drive (APFD) mode (110-A) in the gear selection device (102); and
- facilitate automatic shifting of gear proportional to degree of change in position of the gear shift lever (202) in forward (+y)/backward (-y) direction in the path of the accelerator pedal free drive (APFD) mode (110-A) in the gear selection device (102).

5. The acceleration control system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the gear shift lever (202) is coupled with a spring to pull back the gear shift lever (202) at neutral position upon release of forward/backward force on the gear shift lever (202) in the accelerator pedal free drive (APFD) mode (110-A).

6. The acceleration control system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the transmission control unit (104) is configured to:
apply regenerative force, in the accelerator pedal free drive (APFD) mode (110-A) when the gear shift lever (202) is pushed in backward direction from current position.

7. A method to facilitate an accelerator pedal free drive (APFD) of a vehicle, the method comprising:
- receiving (402) information by a gear selection device (102) regarding position of a gear shift lever (202);
- transmitting (404) received information from the gear selection device (102) to a transmission control unit (104);
- sharing (406) received information by the transmission control unit (104) with a vehicle control unit (VCU) to powertrain the vehicle; and
- determining (408) torque by the vehicle control unit (VCU) to powertrain an engine of the vehicle.

8. The method as claimed in claim 7, wherein the method includes disabling (410) of an accelerator pedal (206) by the transmission control unit (104) when the gear shift lever (202) is positioned to the accelerator pedal free drive (APFD) mode (110-A) of the one or more drive modes of the vehicle.

9. The method as claimed in claim 8, wherein the method includes:

- determining (412) by the transmission control unit (104) about percentage of applied acceleration based on inputs received from a displacement sensor according to position of the gear shift lever (202) in path of the accelerator pedal free drive (APFD) mode (110-A) in the gear selection device (102); and
- facilitating (414) automatic shifting of gear in proportion to degree to change in position of the gear shift lever (202) in forward (+y)/backward (-y) direction in the path of the accelerator pedal free drive (APFD) mode (110-A) in the gear selection device (102).

10. The method as claimed in claim 8, wherein the method includes pulling (416) back the gear shift lever (202) at neutral position upon release of forward/backward force on the gear shift lever (202) in the accelerator pedal free drive (APFD) mode (110-A).

11. The method as claimed in claim 10, wherein the method includes applying (418) a regenerative force by the transmission control unit (104) in the accelerator pedal free drive (APFD) mode (110-A) when the gear shift lever (202) is pushed in backward direction from current position.

Dated this 29th day of July, 2022

AMIT JAIN
PATENT AGENT
IN/PA – 2189
OF L. S. DAVAR & CO.,
APPLICANT’S AGENT