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:
Jun. 07, 2016
Filed:
Dec. 02, 2014
Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc., Erlanger, KY (US);
Geoffrey D. Gaither, Nagoya, JP;
Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc., Erlanger, KY (US);
Abstract
A method/system is provided for improving reverse hill climb performance of a hybrid vehicle. An electronic control unit (ECU) determines whether pre-charging is needed based on vehicle state and environmental conditions. This determination can be based on a grade value of a hill upon which the vehicle is positioned, a state of charge (SOC) of the battery, and/or the expected distance that the vehicle will travel uphill. The ECU sets a charging rate and a target charge value based on the foregoing data. The battery may be charged to have an SOC that exceeds an actual needed target charge value by a hysteresis margin. A message may be displayed requesting the driver to wait until pre-charging is complete. The engine charges the battery at the charging rate until the SOC reaches the target charge value. The driver is prompted that he or she can start reverse driving.