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:
Sep. 20, 2011
Filed:
Jul. 10, 2007
Shimpei Miura, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA (US);
Shimpei Miura, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA (US);
Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc., Erlanger, KY (US);
Abstract
State of charge control for electric and hybrid vehicles. In one embodiment, a battery may be electrically connected to an electric motor to propel a vehicle. In such an embodiment, during vehicle operation a state of charge of the battery may fluctuate within a given state of charge range and may be regulated to a target state of charge. Such target state of charge may be set below the midpoint of the state of charge range. As the vehicle operates various devices may be controlled to regulate the state of charge to the target. In particular, an electric motor may be employed to lower the state of charge and an internal combustion engine may be employed to raise the state of charge. In other embodiments, regenerative braking, solar power or the like may be employed to raise the state of charge from at or below the target state of charge to the upper state of charge limit.