Honda Motor Co., Ltd.

Yoshio Okada

Noriyuki Abe

Shigemitsu Akutsu

A power plant which is capable of improving the drive efficiency and the power generation efficiency thereof when the electric power is generated using the power of a driven part thereof. A power plant has an internal combustion engine having a crankshaft, and a rotary motor having a rotor. A planetary gear train includes a sun gear, a ring gear, and a carrier rotatably supporting a planetary gear in mesh with the sun gear and the ring gear. The sun gear and the ring gear are connected to drive wheels. The carrier is connected to the crankshaft. The rotor is connected between one of the sun gear and the ring gear and the drive wheels. A transmission is connected between the other of the gears and the drive wheels, for varying a speed of power of the engine and transmitting the power to the drive wheels.

Power plant

A hybrid vehicle is provided in which, since the driving force of a generator/motor (M) is transmitted to the downstream side of an output shaft () of a transmission (T) without going through an input shaft () thereof and the output shaft (), it is possible to carry out the so-called leg shaft drive, which prevents the driving force of the generator/motor (M) from dragging along an engine (E), the input shaft (), and the output shaft (), thus reducing power consumption and enhancing energy recovery efficiency during regenerative braking. Furthermore, since the generator/motor (M) is disposed at a position sandwiched between the engine (E) and the transmission (T), it is possible to employ the same layout for the generator/motor (M) as for a conventional sandwiched generator/motor type, and the leg shaft drive system can be employed without greatly modifying the design of the transmission (T).

Growing community of inventors

Saitama-ken, Japan

Yoshio Okada