Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha

Tetsuya Abe

Masaaki Yamaoka

Shoichi Sasaki

Yutaka Taga

Seitoku Kubo

Kunio Morisawa

Hiroshi Itoh

Eiji Yamada

Yasutomo Kawabata

Ryoji Habuchi

Akihiro Kimura

Takeshi Kotani

Masatoshi Uchida

Hideaki Matsui

Nobuyuki Kato

Katsumi Kouno

Akihiko Kanamori

Akihiro Yamanaka

Satoshi Koide

In a hybrid vehicle where an engine, a first motor, and a driveshaft are all connected to a planetary gear mechanism and the driveshaft is further linked to a second motor, when a battery is in an unchargeable state in the release of both an accelerator and a brake (step S), a throttle opening TH* and a valve timing VVT* for air intake and exhaust are set to increase a pumping loss of the engine with an increase in absolute value of a braking power demand, which is to be output to the driveshaft (step S). The engine is controlled with the throttle opening TH* and the valve timing VVT*, while the second motor is under regenerative control to generate electric power. The first motor used for motoring of the engine is then controlled to consume the electric power generated by the regenerative control of the second motor.

Hybrid vehicle and control method of hybrid vehicle

Power output apparatus, hybrid vehicle equipped with the same and method for controlling operating point of engine

A power output unit of the present invention sufficiently ensures the performance of a vehicle by sufficiently developing the performance of an engine without enlarging a motor. In a hybrid vehicle, a power requirement for the engine is set based on a vehicle speed and an accelerator opening degree. Usually, while giving priority to efficiency, an operation state of the engine is set based on a power requirement. Once the operation state of the engine is set, operation states of first and second motors are set based on a vehicle speed and a drive force. If the thus-set operation state of the first or second motor exceeds a threshold value, the operation state of the first or second motor is set so as not to exceed the threshold value. Based on the setting result and the power requirement, an operation state of the engine is set.

Power output unit, method of controlling the power output unit, and hybrid vehicle

A power output apparatus 110 includes a planetary gear 120 having a planetary carrier, a sun gear, and a ring gear, an engine 150 having a crankshaft 156 linked with the planetary carrier, a first motor MG1 attached to the sun gear, and a second motor MG2 attached to the ring gear. Part of the torque generated by the engine 150 is output to a power feed gear 128 via the ring gear, while the first motor MG1 receives the residual torque. The second motor MG2 outputs a torque having a greater magnitude than and an opposite direction to this torque, so as to rotate the ring gear reversely. The electric power consumed by the second motor MG2 is supplied by the electric power regenerated by the first motor MG1. This structure enables the power output from the engine 150 to be converted to a power of reverse direction and output to the ring gear.

Power output apparatus and method of controlling the same

The object of the present invention is to carry out control and enable an engine to output a desired power, thereby preventing unexpected charge or discharge of storage battery means. A power output apparatus of the present invention sets energy Pe to be output from an engine, in order to cancel a deviation .DELTA.Pb of a charge-discharge electric power Pb of a battery from its target value Pb* , and controls operation of the engine to output the energy Pe. The energy Pe output from the engine is subjected to torque conversion by means of a clutch motor and an assist motor and output to a drive shaft as a required power. In case that the converted energy is not equal to the required power, the battery is charged with the surplus electric power or is discharged to supplement the shortage of electric power. Namely regulation of the energy Pe results in controlling the charge-discharge electric power Pb of the battery. When the target value Pb* is set equal to zero, the power output apparatus enables a desired power to be output to the drive shaft without causing unexpected charge or discharge of the battery.

In the process of starting an engine 150, the structure of the present invention lags an open and close timing of an intake valve 152 of the engine 150, thereby enabling a first motor MG1 mechanically linked with a crankshaft 156 via a damper 157 to motor the engine 150. When the revolving speed of the engine 150 exceeds a specific range that causes a resonance, the open and close timing of the intake valve 152 is returned to an ordinary level, so as to start controls of a fuel supply to the engine 150 and ignition. The lagged open and close timing of the intake valve 152 decreases the effective compression ratio of the engine 150, thus enabling smooth rotations of the engine 150 and reducing the amplitude of the torsional vibrations of the crankshaft 156. This structure enables the revolving speed of the engine 150 to swiftly pass through the specific range that causes a resonance.

Driving system with engine starting control

A power output apparatus 110 includes a planetary gear 120 having a planetary carrier, a sun gear, and a ring gear, an engine 150 having a crankshaft 156 linked with the planetary carrier, a first motor MG1 attached to the sun gear, and a second motor MG2 attached to the ring gear. When the driver steps on an accelerator pedal 164 to change the driving point of the engine 150, the power output apparatus 110 calculates an angular acceleration of the sun gear, calculates a torque used for changing the driving point of the engine 150 by multiplying the angular acceleration by a moment of inertia seen from the first motor MG1 of an inertial system consisting of the first motor MG1 and the engine 150, and drives the second motor MG2 by taking into account the torque. This structure enables a desired torque to be output even in a transient time.

An apparatus for controlling a vehicle continuously variable transmission, including a directional control valve having a first spool movable between a shift-down and a shift-up position, a flow control valve including a second spool movable between a flow-restricting and a non-restricting position, and a first and a second solenoid-operated valve for applying an actuating pressure to the first and second spools. The directional and flow control valves and the solenoid-operated valves are adapted such that the first and second spools are moved toward the shift-up and flow restricting positions, respectively, when the actuating pressure is not applied to the spools, or when solenoid coils of the two solenoid-operated valves are both off. The directional control valve may have a shift-down chamber for receiving a pilot pressure to move the first spool to the shift-down position when a failure of one of the solenoid coils exists while the vehicle speed is lower than a predetermined limit.

Growing community of inventors

Toyota, Japan

Tetsuya Abe