Control apparatus and applicable control method and control program for vehicle

• US 6,725,144 B2
• Filed: 12/18/2002
• Issued: 04/20/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 12/28/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Aisin AW Company Limited (Aisin Corp.), Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Aisin AW Company Limited (Aisin Corp.), Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Ogawa, Fumiharu, Inoue, Daisuke, Tamura, Tadashi, Okasaka, Kazuomi, Taniguchi, Hiroji, Shiimado, Toshihiro, Imanaga, Yuuji
• Primary Examiner(s): Beaulieu, Yonel
• Application Number:
  US10/321,352
• Publication Number:
  US 20030130779A1
• Time in Patent Office: 489 Days
• Field of Search: 701/65, 701/51, 701/61, 701/64, 701/55, 477/34
• US Class Current: 701/65
• CPC Class Codes: F16H 2302/00 Determining the way or trajectory to new ratio, e.g. by determining speed, torque or time parameters for shift transition
• CPC Class Codes: F16H 61/66259 using electrical or electronical sensing or control means

Abstract

A vehicle control apparatus including an automatic transmission which changes a speed of rotation of an input shaft drivingly connected to a driving source and outputs the rotation of the input shaft to an output shaft, and a shift execution device that executes shifting of the automatic transmission, including a shift control device that calculates a predetermined target input shaft rotation number based on road information and vehicle state information, and controls an input shaft rotation number such that the input shaft rotation number becomes equal to the predetermined target input shaft rotation number, by executing shifting of the shift execution device; and a shifting speed setting device that sets a shifting speed, when control based on the road information begins after switching from control based on the vehicle state information by the shift control device, to a predetermined shifting speed such that shifting is executed rapidly, and sets the shifting speed, when shifting needs to be executed during the control based on the road information by the shift control device, such that the shifting speed is lower than the predetermined shifting speed.

Claims

1. A vehicle control apparatus including an automatic transmission which changes a speed of rotation of an input shaft drivingly connected to a driving source and outputs the rotation of the input shaft to an output shaft, and shift execution means that executes shifting of the automatic transmission, comprising:

shift control means that calculates a predetermined target input shaft rotation number based on road information and vehicle state information, and controls an input shaft rotation number such that the input shaft rotation number becomes equal to the predetermined target input shaft rotation number, by executing shifting of the shift execution means; and

shifting speed setting means that sets a shifting speed, when control based on the road information begins after switching from control based on the vehicle state information by the shift control means, to a predetermined shifting speed such that shifting is executed rapidly, and sets the shifting speed, when shifting needs to be executed during the control based on the road information by the shift control means, such that the shifting speed is lower than the predetermined shifting speed.

2. The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the shift control means has road information shift control means that calculates the predetermined target input shaft rotation number based on the road information, and controls the input shaft rotation number such that the input shaft rotation number becomes equal to the predetermined target input shaft rotation number by executing shifting of the shift execution means, and the vehicle control apparatus further comprises continuous control detection means that detects shifting needs to be executed while the control by road information shift control means is continued during the control by the road information shift control means, and the shifting speed setting means sets the shifting speed to a predetermined shifting speed such that shifting is executed rapidly when the control by the road information shift control means starts, and sets the shifting speed such that the shifting speed is lower than the predetermined shifting speed when shifting needs to be executed during the control by the road information control means, based on a detection result of the continuous control detection means.

3. The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the road information is information including at least one of a corner shape and a road gradient.

4. The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the vehicle state information is information including at least one of an accelerator opening degree and a vehicle speed.

5. The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising road information control detection means that detects the execution of control by the road information shift control means, wherein the continuous control detection means detects the need to execute shifting while the control by the road information shift control means is continued, based on a detection result of the road information control detection means.

6. The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the road information control detection means is downshift control detection means that detects execution of downshift control by the road information shift control means, the continuous control detection means detects the need to decelerate by continuing downshift control by the road information shift control means during the downshift control by the road information shift control means, based on a detection result of the downshift control detection means, and the shifting speed setting means sets the shifting speed, when control by the road information shift control means starts, to the predetermined shifting speed such that shifting is executed rapidly, and sets the shifting speed, when it is necessary to decelerate during the control by the road information shift control means, such that the shifting speed is lower than the predetermined shifting speed, based on the detection result of the continuous control detection means.

7. The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the shifting speed setting means sets on the occasion of executing upshift control, when the downshift control by the road information shift control means is completed and a corner is passed, the shifting speed such that the shifting speed is lower than a normal shifting speed.

8. The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the shift control means calculates the predetermined target input shaft rotation number when an operation indicating an intention of a driver to decelerate is detected.

9. The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 8, further comprising an accelerator sensor that detects one of an on and an off state of an accelerator pedal, wherein the shift control means calculates the predetermined target input shaft rotation number when the accelerator sensor detects the off state of the accelerator pedal.

10. The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 8, further comprising a throttle opening sensor that detects a degree of opening of a throttle valve, wherein the shift control means calculates the predetermined target input shaft rotation number when the throttle opening sensor detects a predetermined opening degree of the throttle valve.

11. The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the shift control means calculates one of a target input shaft rotation number which is intermittently calculated at a start of the control based on the road information after switching from the predetermined target input shaft rotation number calculated based on vehicle state information to the predetermined target input shaft rotation number calculated based on the road information, and the target input shaft rotation number which is intermittently calculated during continuation of the control based on the road information, the calculation of the latter being executed within a predetermined time once the input shaft rotation number has reached substantially the predetermined target input shaft rotation number by the shift control means, and the shifting speed setting means sets the shifting speed, when the control by the shift control means starts, to the predetermined shifting speed before the input shaft rotation number reaches substantially the target input shaft rotation number for when the control based on the road information is started, and when control needs to be executed such that the input shaft rotation number becomes equal to the target input shaft rotation number during continuation of the control based upon the road information, it is determined that shifting needs to be executed during execution of the continuous control by the shift control means, and the shifting speed control means sets the shifting speed such that the shifting speed is lower than the predetermined shifting speed.

12. A vehicle control apparatus including an automatic transmission which changes a speed of rotation of an input shaft drivingly connected to a driving source and outputs the rotation of the input shaft to an output shaft, and a shift execution means that executes shifting of the automatic transmission, comprising:

shift control means that calculates a predetermined target input shaft rotation number with respect to a first specified corner based on road information and vehicle state information, and controls an input shaft rotation number such that the input shaft rotation number becomes equal to the predetermined target input shaft rotation number, by executing shifting of the shift execution means;

continuous control corner detection means that detects a second specified corner requiring control by the shift control means to be continued during the control with respect to the first specified corner; and

shifting speed setting means that sets a shifting speed, based on a detection result of the continuous control corner detection means, such that the shifting speed for the first specified corner requiring the control by the shift control means is different from the shifting speed for the second specified corner requiring the control by the shift control means to be continued.

13. The vehicle control apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the shifting speed setting means sets the shifting speed, based on a detection result of the continuous control corner detection means, to a predetermined shifting speed such that shifting is executed rapidly when a vehicle is running around the first specified corner requiring the control by the shift control means, and sets the shifting speed such that the shifting speed is lower than the predetermined shifting speed when the vehicle is running around the second specified corner requiring the control by the shift control means to be continued.

14. A vehicle control method for executing shifting of an automatic transmission which changes a speed of rotation of an input shaft drivingly connected to a driving source and which outputs the rotation of the input shaft to an output shaft, comprising the steps of:

calculating a predetermined target input shaft rotation number based on road information and vehicle information;

controlling an input shaft rotation number such that the input shaft rotation number becomes equal to the predetermined target input shaft rotation number by execution of shifting of the automatic transmission; and

setting a shifting speed to a predetermined shifting speed such that shifting is executed rapidly when the control of the input shaft rotation number begins, and setting the shifting speed such that the shifting speed is lower than the predetermined shifting speed when shifting needs to be executed during the control of the input shaft rotation number.

15. The vehicle control method according to claim 14, further comprising detecting shifting needs to be executed while the controlling the input shaft number is continued and the shifting speed is set to a predetermined shifting speed such that shifting is executed rapidly when the controlling starts, and setting the shifting speed such that the shifting speed is lower than the predetermined shifting speed when shifting needs to be executed during the controlling based on the detecting shifting needs to be executed.

16. The vehicle control method according to claim 15, wherein the road information is information including at least one of a corner shape and a road gradient.

17. The vehicle control method according to claim 15, wherein the vehicle state information is information including at least one of an accelerator opening degree and a vehicle speed.

18. A vehicle control method for executing shifting of an automatic transmission which changes a speed of rotation of an input shaft drivingly connected to a driving source and outputs the rotation of the input shaft to an output shaft, and executes shifting of the automatic transmission, comprising:

calculating a predetermined target input shaft rotation number with respect to a first specified corner based on road information and vehicle state information;

controlling an input shaft rotation number such that the input shaft rotation number becomes equal to the predetermined target input shaft rotation number, by executing shifting of the shift execution means;

detecting a second specified corner requiring control to be continued during the control with respect to the first specified corner; and

setting a shifting speed, based on the detecting result such that the shifting speed for the first specified corner requiring the control is different from the shifting speed for the second specified corner requiring the control to be continued.

19. The vehicle control method according to claim 18, wherein the setting of the shifting speed, based on the detecting result, to a predetermined shifting speed such that shifting is executed rapidly when a vehicle is running around the first specified corner requiring the controlling and sets the shifting speed such that the shifting speed is lower than the predetermined shifting speed when the vehicle is running around the second specified corner requiring the controlling to be continued.

20. A vehicle program for causing an automatic transmission which changes a speed of rotation of an input shaft drivingly connected to a driving source and which outputs the rotation of the input shaft to an output shaft, and a vehicle control computer for executing shifting of the automatic transmission, to function as:

shift control means that calculates a predetermined target input shaft rotation number based on road information and vehicle state information, and controls an input shaft rotation number such that the input shaft rotation number becomes equal to the predetermined target input shaft rotation number, by executing control of the automatic transmission; and

shifting speed setting means that sets a shifting speed to a predetermined shifting speed such that shifting is executed rapidly when the control by the shift control means starts, and sets the shifting speed such that the shifting speed is lower than the predetermined shifting speed when shifting needs to be executed during the control by the shift control means.