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:
Apr. 16, 2013
Filed:
Jun. 08, 2009
Yasushi Kojima, Miyoshi, JP;
Kensuke Takagi, Seto, JP;
Masatoshi Kimata, Okazaki, JP;
Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha, Toyota, JP;
Abstract
A hybrid vehicle wherein such a situation that the residual capacity of a battery drops significantly below the lower limit of a reasonable range is avoided while fuel efficiency is enhanced. The hybrid vehicle, including an engine, a generator, a battery, and an electric motor for driving, is further provided with a converter for supplying the voltage of the battery that has been boosted to the electric motor, an eco-switch for selecting a first mode or a second mode in association with the boosting operation of the converter, and a hybrid ECU for changing the upper limit of the voltage boosted by the converter from a first upper limit in the first mode to a second upper limit lower than the first upper limit when the second mode is selected by the eco-switch, and changing the upper limit of the voltage boosted by the converter from the second upper limit to the first upper limit when the residual capacity of the battery drops below a threshold.