VEHICLE CONTROL SYSTEM

• US 20150315991A1
• Filed: 12/13/2012
• Published: 11/05/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/13/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: MIURA, Mitsuhiro, SHONO, Shoichi, MOTOZONO, Yoshikaza
• Granted Patent: US 9,605,614 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 10/02 including control of driveline clutches
• 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 2050/0075 Automatic parameter input, automatic initialising or calibrating means
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/103 Accelerator thresholds, e.g. kickdown
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/10 Historical data
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2710/0627 Fuel flow rate
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/18018 Start-stop drive, e.g. in a traffic jam
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/18072 Coasting
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 2200/0625 Fuel consumption, e.g. measured in fuel liters per 100 kms or miles per gallon
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 29/02 peculiar to engines driving vehicles; peculiar to engines driving variable pitch propellers
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 41/04 Introducing corrections for particular operating conditions F02D41/14 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 41/08 for idling F02D41/06, F02D41/16 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 41/123 the fuel injection being cut-off
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/40 Engine management systems
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 10/84 Data processing systems or methods, management, administration

Abstract

The present invention relates to a vehicle control system for executing a fuel saving control effectively by making an assessment of effectiveness of the control based on a learned value obtained from an actual running. The vehicle control system is configured to execute the fuel saving control by stopping fuel supply to an engine upon satisfaction of a predetermined condition. The control system makes an assessment of the fuel saving control by learning fuel consumption within a predetermined learning zone, and inhibits the fuel saving control or executes another control in the learning zone next time the vehicle travels through the learning zone, if the assessment shows a fact that the fuel saving control executed in the learning zone did not effective to save fuel.

Claims

1. A vehicle control system that is configured to execute a fuel saving control by stopping fuel supply to an engine upon satisfaction of a predetermined condition,

wherein the vehicle control system is configured to:

make an assessment of the fuel saving control by learning fuel consumption within a predetermined learning zone including a zone where the fuel saving control is executed; and

select the fuel saving control to be executed or determine not to execute the fuel saving control based on an assessment result.

2. The vehicle control system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the learned value includes the fuel consumption in the learning zone.

3. The vehicle control system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the vehicle control system is further configured to save the learned value while associating with the learning zone.

4. The vehicle control system as claimed in claim 1, wherein a curvature of the learning zone is smaller than a predetermined value and a length of the learning zone is longer than a predetermined distance.

5. The vehicle control system as claimed in claim 1,

wherein the engine includes an internal combustion engine adapted to increase an output power according to an opening degree of an accelerator;

and

wherein the learning zone includes a zone from a point at which an opening degree of the accelerator is reduced to a point at which the opening degree is reduced again after being increased.

6. The vehicle control system as claimed in claim 1,

wherein the engine includes an internal combustion engine adapted to increase an output power according to an opening degree of an accelerator;

and

wherein the learning zone includes a zone from a point at which an opening degree of the accelerator is reduced to a point at which the opening degree is increased.

7. The vehicle control system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the vehicle control system is further configured to:

compare the fuel consumption obtained during execution of the fuel saving control to the fuel consumption obtained without executing the fuel saving control in the same learning zone; and

learn increment of the fuel consumption in the learning zone based on the larger fuel consumption.

8. The vehicle control system as claimed in claim 1,

wherein the fuel saving control includes a plurality of controls executed based upon different execution conditions;

and

wherein the vehicle control system is further configured to;

compare actual fuel consumption obtained during an actual running under the fuel saving control to fuel consumption obtained from a simulation based on the actual running under another kind of the fuel saving control; and

learn increment of the fuel consumption during the actual running if the actual fuel consumption is larger than the fuel consumption obtained from the simulation.

9. The vehicle control system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the vehicle control system is further configured to select the fuel saving control that was effective to save the fuel next time the vehicle travels through the learning zone, if a plurality of learned value is available in the learning zone.

10. The vehicle control system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the fuel saving control includes:

a neutral coasting control in which the engine is disconnected from a powertrain when the engine is not required to generate power during running;

a free-run stop and start control in which the engine is disconnected from a powertrain while stopping fuel supply thereto when the engine is not required to generate power during running;

a deceleration-based stop and start control in which the engine is disconnected from a powertrain while stopping fuel supply thereto when an engine braking fore is not required during decelerating the vehicle; and

a stop-based stop and start control in which fuel supply to the engine is stopped when the vehicle is stopped.