Control device for vehicular power transmitting apparatus

• US 20080269996A1
• Filed: 04/22/2008
• Published: 10/30/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 04/25/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: IWASE, Yuji, TABATA, Atsushi, IMAMURA, Tatsuya
• Granted Patent: US 8,126,622 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/51
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 6/44 Series-parallel type
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 6/445 Differential gearing distribution type
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/04 including control of propulsion units
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/06 including control of combustion engines
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/08 including control of electric propulsion units, e.g. motors or generators
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/10 including control of change-speed gearings
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/115 with planetary gears
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 20/00 Control systems specially adapted for hybrid vehicles hybrid vehicle design, B60K6/00; electric vehicles B60L
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 20/15 Control strategies specially adapted for achieving a particular effect
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2530/209 Fuel quantity remaining in tank
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2530/213 Fuel type
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 19/084 Blends of gasoline and alcohols, e.g. E85
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 19/088 by estimation, i.e. without using direct measurements of a corresponding sensor
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 29/02 peculiar to engines driving vehicles; peculiar to engines driving variable pitch propellers
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/30 Use of alternative fuels, e.g. biofuels
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/40 Engine management systems
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/62 Hybrid vehicles

Abstract

A control device is disclosed which can obtain increased fuel economy performance depending on a kind of fuel in a vehicle having an internal combustion engine and an electric motor when the kind of fuel supplied to the internal combustion engine is altered. A determining vehicle speed (V1) and determining output torque (T1), representing a boundary value with which a step-variable control region and a continuously variable control region of a shifting mechanism (10) are demarcated, are altered such that the higher the mixing ratio of ethanol, the lower will be the determining vehicle speed (V1) and determining output torque (T1). Therefore, the determination is made whether to operate a first electric motor (M1) depending on the mixing ratio of ethanol, making it possible to obtain increased fuel economy performance in line with the mixing ratio of ethanol.

Claims

1. A control device for a vehicular power transmitting apparatus, wherein

the vehicular power transmitting apparatus comprises (i) an electrically controlled differential portion including a differential mechanism, composed of a plurality of rotary elements, whose differential state is controlled upon controlling an operating state of a differential-action controlling electric motor connected to one of the plurality of rotary elements in power transmissive state, and (ii) a differential-state switching device operative to selectively switch the differential mechanism into a non-differential state for disenabling a rotation of a certain rotary element among the plurality of rotary elements or causing a whole of the plurality of rotary elements to move in a unitary rotation and a differential state for permitting the plurality of rotary elements to rotate relative to each other to initiate a differential action;

and

the control device is operative to alter a differential-mechanism switching condition for determining whether to switch the differential mechanism to either the non-differential state or the differential state depending on a kind of fuel used in an internal combustion engine connected to the vehicular power transmitting apparatus in power transmissive state.

3. The control device for a vehicular power transmitting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the differential-mechanism switching condition or the running-state switching condition is established for each of the kind of fuel so as to prevent component elements of the vehicle from reaching high-speed rotations beyond given rotation speeds.

5. The control device for a vehicular power transmitting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control device allows internal-combustion engine output torque, output from the internal-combustion engine, to be detected based on reactive torque of the differential-action controlling electric motor acting against the internal-combustion engine output torque for discriminating the kind of fuel based on the internal-combustion engine output torque.

6. The control device for a vehicular power transmitting apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the control device discriminates the kind of fuel when the fuel in the fuel tank mounted on the vehicle increases.

7. The control device for a vehicular power transmitting apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the control device discriminates the kind of fuel when detecting a release of a lid for closing a fueling port of the fuel tank mounted on the vehicle.

8. The control device for a vehicular power transmitting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the vehicular power transmitting apparatus comprises a shifting portion forming part of a power transmitting path extending from the internal-combustion engine to the drive wheels.

9. The control device for a vehicular power transmitting apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the shifting portion functions as an automatic transmission that automatically varies a speed ratio.

10. The control device for a vehicular power transmitting apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the shifting portion comprises a step-variable transmission.

11. The control device for a vehicular power transmitting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the electrically controlled differential portion comprises more than two electric motors and a planetary gear unit.

12. The control device for a vehicular power transmitting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the electrically controlled differential portion operates as a continuously variable transmission with controlling an operating state of the differential-action controlling electric motor.

13. The control device for a vehicular power transmitting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control device includes fuel-alteration determining means for determining alteration of the fuel, fuel-kind determining means for determining kind of the fuel, and differential-mechanism switching-condition altering means for altering switching-condition of the differential-mechanism.

14. The control device for a vehicular power transmitting apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the fuel-alteration determining means determines alteration of the fuel depending on torque of the internal combustion and an accelerator opening.

15. The control device for a vehicular power transmitting apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the fuel-kind determining means determines a mixing ratio of a special component in the fuel, depending on deviated amount of relation between the torque of the internal combustion and the accelerator opening accelerator opening, from the baseline characteristic

16. The control device for a vehicular power transmitting apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the differential-mechanism switching-condition altering means alters switching-condition of the differential-mechanism depending on vehicle speed and output torque determined, based on the mixing ratio of the special component in the fuel.

2. A control device for a vehicular power transmitting apparatus wherein

the vehicular power transmitting apparatus comprises more than one running-drive motor connected to or connectable to drive wheels in power transmissive state and is operative to allow a running state of a vehicle to be selectively switched into a motor-drive mode, in which only the running-drive motor is used as a drive-force source to cause a vehicle to run with an internal-combustion engine placed in a halted state, and a normal running mode in which the vehicle is caused to run with the internal combustion engine placed in an operating state;

and

the control device is operative to alter a running-state switching condition for determining whether to switch the running state of the vehicle to the motor-drive mode or the normal running mode depending on a kind of fuel used in the internal-combustion engine.

4. The control device for a vehicular power transmitting apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the vehicular power transmitting apparatus comprises an electrically controlled differential portion including a differential mechanism, composed of a plurality of rotary elements, whose differential state is controlled with the control device controlling an operating state of a differential-action controlling electric motor connected to one of the plurality of rotary elements among the plurality of rotary elements in power transmissive state.

17. The control device for a vehicular power transmitting apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the control device includes fuel-alteration determining means for determining alteration of the fuel, fuel-kind determining means for determining kind of the fuel, and running-state altering means for altering switching-condition of running-state.

18. The control device for a vehicular power transmitting apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the running-state switching-condition altering means alters vehicle speed and/or output torque depending on amount of the specific component in the fuel.

19. The control device for a vehicular power transmitting apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the differential-mechanism switching condition or the running-state switching condition is established for each of the kind of fuel so as to prevent component elements of the vehicle from reaching high-speed rotations beyond given rotation speeds.

20. The control device for a vehicular power transmitting apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the control device allows internal-combustion engine output torque, output from the internal-combustion engine, to be detected based on reactive torque of the differential-action controlling electric motor acting against the internal-combustion engine output torque for discriminating the kind of fuel based on the internal-combustion engine output torque.

21. The control device for a vehicular power transmitting apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the vehicular power transmitting apparatus comprises a shifting portion forming part of a power transmitting path extending from the internal-combustion engine to the drive wheels.

22. The control device for a vehicular power transmitting apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the electrically controlled differential portion comprises more than two electric motors and a planetary gear unit.

23. The control device for a vehicular power transmitting apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the electrically controlled differential portion operates as a continuously variable transmission with controlling an operating state of the differential-action controlling electric motor.