Maybe we wheel very different terrains, but most "trails" I've ever been on dont require 4lo for even half the time. The rubicon transfer case recommends not exceeding 25mph in 4lo. There's no way I'm running dirt road sections that slow. Even the rubicon trail I'm out of 4lo once past observation point. Dirt roads don't need 4lo.
I remember having to get out to lock the front hubs before shifting into 4HI. Doesn't seem that long ago, but I guess it was decades! LOL!
It isn't that the article is poorly written, it is written by a writer and not a technician. It is a description of the patent summary interpreted by the writer and re-written at a fifth grade level. The author probably has no understanding that a transfer case is even a thing. The article also starts with " advancement in hybrid off-road vehicles " and the figure b. of the article clearly results in 'electric motor command torque' as the final output. It definitely is automatic transmission only.
I had a 1995 Ford F-150 (older box style) that had manual locking front hubs. By then "shift on the fly" hubs had been around for about 15 years. That F-150 was my last vehicle with manual locking hubs. So about 30 years, yes decades.
It seems that you aren't really familiar with the patent process. As the holder of multiple international patents through a major corporation, I can assure you that patents are issued without "big bucks" being spent. Also, demand for something may have little impact on a company's desire to patent it. Sometimes, the company just wants to protect their 'invention' while they figure out what to do with it.
Yes, and no. I worked for CCC - next to the guy who handled their patent applications, as well as a few yards away from one of their biggest patent holders for the company.
TBF manual hubs, although inconvenient, were far superior to early automatic hubs. My 1990 4Runner had autos- I swapped them for OEM Toyota Aisin manual hubs I found in a junk yard and gained 1 MPG from it. Turns out that unlocking it properly disengaged the CVs, causing less rolling resistance. Pretty sure Ford still puts them on the SuperDuty's, too.
I worked at a Jeep/Pontiac/Renault dealership in my High school days. I remember the time we did a parts inventory purge. I was shocked at all the stuff we were told to chuck. Things that were sitting unsold for years on the shelves. The craziest thing I saw was manual Warn locking hubs BNIB in the trash . I'm talking complete assemblies.
