The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jan. 08, 2008
Filed:
Nov. 30, 2006
Shiho Izumi, Hitachi, JP;
Satoru Kaneka, Naka, JP;
Tatsuyuki Yamamoto, Mito, JP;
Kenta Katsuhama, Hitachinaka, JP;
Kazuya Motegi, Ohta, JP;
Hideki Miyazaki, Hitachi, JP;
Shiho Izumi, Hitachi, JP;
Satoru Kaneka, Naka, JP;
Tatsuyuki Yamamoto, Mito, JP;
Kenta Katsuhama, Hitachinaka, JP;
Kazuya Motegi, Ohta, JP;
Hideki Miyazaki, Hitachi, JP;
Hitachi, Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
An electric four-wheel drive vehicle includes: an internal combustion engine; a generator for outputting DC electrical power; an inverter for converting DC electrical power, output from the generator, into AC electrical power; and an AC electric motor, which is driven by the inverter, for driving rear wheels. An electric motor controller controls the inverter, the AC electric motor, and the generator, according to torque instructions from a vehicle. Furthermore, in a case that the output of the AC electric motor becomes negative, and excess electrical energy is generated, the electric motor controller controls the current applied to said AC electric motor such that the loss in said AC electric motor exceeds the negative output of said AC electric motor. This enables the AC electric motor to absorb excess electrical energy in the form of thermal loss.