Automatic transmission system for vehicles

DETAILED DESCRIPTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved speed-change-gear type automatic transmission system for vehicles which is free from the above drawbacks.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a speed-change-gear type automatic transmission system for vehicles in which automatic gear change operation reflecting the will of the driver can be realized merely by the operation of the shift lever and the accelerator pedal, whereby the operation of the vehicle is remarkably improved.
The automatic transmission system for vehicles according to the present invention has a friction clutch and a speed-change-gear type transmission which are coupled with an internal combustion engine, means for producing at least one data indicative of the condition of operation of the vehicle, actuators for actuating the clutch and the transmission and a control means responsive to at least said data for controlling the operation of the actuators in order to carry out the gear change operation of the transmission, and is characterized in that the control means has a storing means for storing first data representing a first gear change map showing gear change characteristics for obtaining economical running and second data representing a second gear change map showing gear change characteristics for obtaining high-power-output running, a signal generating means which has an operation lever movable along a predetermined gear shift pattern used for manual operation and generates a command signal indicative of the position of the operation lever on the gear shift pattern, means responsive to the command signal and the data for controlling the actuators so as to carry out one operation among a first control operation in which the transmission is shifted to the gear position corresponding to the position of the operation lever, a second control operation in which the transmission is automatically shifted in accordance with the first gear change map and a third control operation in which the transmission is automatically shifted in accordance with the second gear change map