Honda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha

Naoki Uchiyama

Kazuhiko Kitano

Kenji Honda

Takahiro Yonekura

Akihiro Yamamoto

Tooru Nakasako

Toshihiko Fukuda

Hirokatsu Amanuma

Eiji Suzuki

Mitsuaki Hirakawa

Yoshimichi Tsubata

Kouhei Ohsono

Taiji Maruyama

Eiji Ohyama

Tomoyuki Kanda

Toru Nakasako

Masahiro Kanda

Satoshi Taguchi

Takafumi Hattori

Kouji Tamenori

Hidenori Okamura

A front and rear wheel drive vehicle having front and rear wheel pairs one of which is driven with an engine and the other of which is driven with an electric motor. The vehicle has a control device including a target drive-power unit which sets a target drive-power responsive to operating conditions of the vehicle and a motor-assist-mode drive-power distribution-ratio setting unit which sets a drive-power distribution-ratio between an engine drive-power and a motor drive-power according to an energy efficiency index value indicating the degree of contribution to fuel consumption based on the target drive-power and a vehicle speed. In addition the vehicle includes an electric-power-generation running-mode drive-power distribution-ratio setting unit which sets a charging-mode distribution ratio, between the engine drive-power and the motor drive-power, responsive to an energy loss index value indicating the degree of contribution to fuel consumption during a charging-mode that is on the basis of the target drive-power and the vehicle speed.

Front and rear wheel drive vehicle and control device for controlling same

A driving force control system for a front-and-rear wheel drive vehicle, which is capable of charging a battery based on a traveling condition of the vehicle. The front-and-rear wheel drive vehicle is driven while switching between a drive mode for driving front wheels by an engine and driving rear wheels by a motor, and a recharge mode for recovering running energy of the vehicle and charging the battery with the recovered running energy. Parameters (accelerator pedal opening &THgr;AP and a vehicle speed Vcar, or drive wheel speeds of the respective front and rear wheels) indicative of a driving condition of the vehicle are detected. A traveling condition of the vehicle is determined based on the parameters. It is determined, based on the traveling condition of the vehicle and the state of charge of the driving energy in the drive source, whether charging of the battery is to be executed.

Driving force control system for front-and-rear wheel drive vehicles

A control device for a front and rear wheel drive vehicle wherein one of a front wheel pair and a rear wheel pair is driven with an engine and the other one of the front and rear wheel pairs is driven with an electric motor supplied with electric power from an electric storage means is disclosed as including a drive condition detection means for detecting a running condition of the vehicle, a road surface frictional coefficient estimating means for estimating a road surface frictional coefficient, an atmospheric temperature detection means for detecting an atmospheric temperature, a temperature detection means for detecting a temperature of the electric storage means, a motor drive power calculation means for calculating a drive power of the electric motor responsive to the detected running condition and the estimated road surface frictional coefficient, and a control mode changeover means for changing over control modes during calculation of the drive power of the electric motor responsive to the detected atmospheric temperature or/and the temperature of the electric storage means.

Control device for controlling front and rear wheel drive vehicle

A power transmission mechanism for a front and rear-wheel drive vehicle in which the power of an electric motor is transmitted to rear wheels includes an output shaft adapted to rotate together with the electric motor, a middle shaft which is parallel with the output shaft, a drive shaft which is parallel with the output shaft and is adapted to rotate together with the rear wheels, a first pair of reduction gears for reducing the speed of rotation of the middle shaft relative to the output shaft, a second pair of reduction gears for reducing the speed of rotation of the drive shaft relative to the middle shaft and a rear differential disposed closer to an electric motor side than the second pair of reduction gears and coupled to the reduction gear and the drive shaft.

Power transmission mechanism for a front and rear-wheel drive vehicle

There are provided a synchronizing system which synchronizes two relatively rotating rotary bodies with each other by frictional forces generated between friction discs, such that a larger torque can be transmitted between the rotary bodies as an input torque becomes larger, and a transmission torque control device for the synchronizing system. In order to transmit torque between an input shaft and a gear member, the synchronizing system which connects the input shaft and the gear member with each other while synchronizing them urges a blocking ring toward the gear member by using a synchronizing spring, when a sleeve is caused to slide toward the blocking ring by an actuator. This starts synchronization of the input shaft and the gear member via friction discs rotating together with the blocking ring and friction discs rotating together with the gear member, and brings the tooth ends of the splines of the sleeve and the tooth ends of the splines of the blocking ring into abutment with each other, whereby the input shaft and the gear member are mechanically connected to each other.

Synchronizing system and transmission torque control device therefor

There is provided a driving force control system for a front-and-rear wheel drive vehicle, which is capable maintaining an optimum slip condition of the drive wheels even on a low-friction road surface, ensuring a proper grip of rear wheels even on a low-friction road surface or a downhill slope, even when the driver operates the steering wheel while the vehicle is performing decelerating travel on such a road, and smoothly performing the assistance of an electric motor when the vehicle is accelerated without developing a torque step, thereby ensuring stable traveling and excellent acceleration and drivability. The front-and-rear wheel drive vehicle drives the front wheels by an engine, and rear wheels by an electric motor via an electromagnetic clutch. The target driving force for driving the vehicle is calculated based on at least a vehicle speed and an accelerator pedal opening. The present traveling condition of the vehicle is determined. The driving force for driving the vehicle is controlled based on the calculated target driving force in dependence on the determined traveling condition of the vehicle.

A four-wheel drive vehicle is provided in which the main driven wheels are driven by an engine via a torque converter and the auxiliary driven wheels are driven by an electric motor. The response of the vehicle to the operation of the accelerator is improved by suppressing in advance the slip of the main driven wheels due to an excess output of the engine. The main driven wheels are driven by an engine via a torque converter and auxiliary driven wheels are driven by an electric motor. The vehicle is started by the output of the electric motor in the region in which the speed ratio of the torque converter is small (that is to say, the region in which the efficiency is low) such as when the vehicle is starting, and when it enters the region in which the speed ratio of the torque converter exceeds 0.8 and the efficiency exceeds 85% the drive of the electric motor is stopped or suspended and the vehicle is made to travel by means of the output of the engine.

Driving force control system for four-wheel drive vehicles

In a chamber R,which accommodates a transmission device comprising a drive pulley,, a driven pulley,and a belt,, a cover,is provided to cover the lower peripheral portion of the drive pulley,along the periphery. The drive pulley is positioned below the driven pulley, and raised portions,which are used for the detection of the rotational speed of the drive pulley are provided on the periphery of the drive pulley. The end surface,of the cover facing the inner wall,of the pulley chamber is positioned away from the inner wall with a clearance V therebetween. In a vehicular transmission which is constructed in this arrangement, the amount of lubrication oil that flows near to the periphery of the pulley which is positioned lower is comparatively small. Thus, this arrangement restricts agitation of the lubrication oil, which may be caused by the raised portions of the rotating pulley. Therefore, loss in the rotation of the pulley and oxidation and degradation of the lubrication oil are effectively prevented.

Vehicular transmission

A lubricating structure for a wet multi-plate clutch is disclosed. The clutch comprises a clutch center member, a clutch guide member positioned radially outward with respect to said clutch center member, a plurality of friction plates disposed between the clutch center member and the clutch guide, the friction plates being alternately coupled to the clutch center member and the clutch guide member respectively. A clutch piston is located adjacent a first end one of the friction plates, for urging the friction plates into frictional engagement with one another, wherein a gap is formed between the piston and the end friction plate before the urging of the engagement of the friction plates. The lubricating structure comprises a first bore formed in the clutch guide member at a position near the first end one of the friction plates for discharging lubricating oil therethrough, and a second bore formed in the clutch center member for supplying lubricating oil to the clutch. The lubricating oil flows from the second bore, through the gap between the clutch piston and the first end friction plate, and through the first bore, before the clutch piston urges the friction plates into engagement, wherein the gap is closed and the flow of lubricating oil through the gap is stopped, when the clutch piston urges the friction plates into engagement.

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Saitama, Japan

Naoki Uchiyama