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:
Aug. 30, 2016
Filed:
Oct. 06, 2014
Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc., Erlanger, KY (US);
Matthew Eugene Fleming, Santa Ana, CA (US);
Avernethy Francisco, Torrance, CA (US);
Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc., Erlanger, KY (US);
Abstract
An automobile having an energy conversion unit, an energy storage unit, a user selection unit, a global positioning system, and a control unit. The automobile can operate in a default charging mode, which is either the charge depletion mode or the charge sustaining mode. Upon a user input, the energy conversation unit and/or the energy storage unit can operate in an extended charging mode or a forced charging mode. In the extended charging mode, the state of charge (SOC) is increased or decreased over a predetermined charging range. In the forced charging mode, the SOC is increased until a predetermined charge limit is reached. The automobile can also use global positioning system signals to operate in the charge depletion mode, the charge sustaining mode, the extended charging mode, and/or the forced charging mode.